Indian business has witnessed a revolution of sorts in the last ten years with the remarkable growth of enterprise applications. Today, the entire information cycle of enterprises from sectors as diverse as retail, telecom, automotive, real estate, construction or government, is being automated with the aid of enterprise solutions. This move – that has brought unprecedented quality, speed and reliability to the Indian terrain – has placed India Inc. at par with global standards. It is no wonder then that India has not only become the cynosure of global investors, but has also become a major global player in terms of mergers and acquisitions. 

One of the prominent contributors responsible for catalyzing this evolution is SAP India. The company is reaping the benefit of the value add by cruising ahead at industry leading growth rates. SAP India has come a long way since1996 when it began its India operations. The last 12 years have seen SAP India emerge as the undisputed leader of the Indian enterprise software market, establishing itself as the leading player in the segments of ERM, CRM, SCM and Business Intelligence, among others.

Today, SAP India is the third-largest and fastest-growing subsidiary of SAP worldwide, with over 3,200 customers and more than 5,000 employees. It has direct presence in nine Indian cities, apart from customers and partners in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

IDC estimates that SAP India has 40-per cent market share in enterprise applications and leads the SME market with 27-per cent share. Frost & Sullivan estimates are even higher. According to it, the company has 42.5-per cent market share in terms of revenues with a share of 36.5 per cent in ERP, 34.8 per cent in CRM and 33.2 per cent in SCM.

It doesn’t come as a surprise then that SAP is the solution of choice for eight out of 12 Navaratnas, nine out of ten largest Indian companies, 25 out of 40 Indian companies named by Forbes and seven out of 13 Indian firms named by BusinessWeek in “Asia’s hot-growth companies” list.

The Growth Story
SAP India’s growth curve can be traced parallel to the evolution of the Indian market. The organization has created strategic positioning and product innovations to suit Indian businesses – gradually diversifying and deepening its reach. SAP India has also been actively involved in creating awareness about how to leverage technology to power business growth and success, as a result of which the country is witnessing the “third wave” of IT adoption among Indian businesses.

Over its first ten years in India, SAP built a customer base of 1,000 and in August 2006, it became the first enterprise software vendor in India to cross the 1,000th customer mark with Subhiksha Retail as the landmark customer. The following year, in 2007, SAP blazed a triple digit-growth trail that more than doubled the number of customers and which now stands at over 3,000. SAP India’s performance in 2007 highlighted an unprecedented growth of 100 per cent – both in terms of licence revenue and customer acquisition. Incidentally, this performance was also the best ever for the company since the inception of its Indian operations in 1996.

Declared as the “Hub of the Year in Asia-Pacific and Japan” in 2007, SAP India has also been named the “Jewel in the Crown” of SAP Globally. Its list of customers today includes some of the best and the biggest names such as Brigade Group, Larsen & Toubro, Bangalore International Airport, Reliance Communications, Tata Power, Kribhco and Marmugao Port, across diverse industries including utilities, automotive, retail, e-governance and construction.

Apart from new customer acquisitions, SAP India has also witnessed a large number of competitive win-backs with enterprises like Moser Baer, Sasken Communications and Greaves Cotton Ltd. migrating to SAP from using other applications. Ranjan Das, President & CEO, SAP Indian Subcontinent, says, “SAP India has emerged as a de-facto partner for corporate India on its journey to global competitiveness. Our solutions speak for themselves and our growing customer base is a clear proof that SAP is the preferred choice of India Inc.” Keen on maintaining the growth momentum of SAP in India, the company announced its commitment in 2006 to invest US$1 billion in the country across the next few years.

Nagaraj Bhargava, Vice-President – Marketing, SAP Indian Subcontinent, says, “In the last 12 years of operations, we have focussed on three markets, i.e. India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and now 60 of the top 100 companies in these geographies run SAP. SAP has emerged as the partner of choice for organizations which are on their journey to global competitiveness.”

India’s most comprehensive business and technology event, the SAP Summit today has evolved into an "go to" forum for organizations in the Indian subcontinent which aims to effectively leverage technology to achieve and maintain profitability, efficiency, and growth. Similarly, SAP ACE “Awards for Customer Excellence” have become an annual barometer of how best to utilize the power of SAP solutions to enable business competitiveness.

SAP Ecosystem 
SAP believes in fostering an ideal environment for innovation and value creation. This is where the SAP Ecosystem comes into the picture. Bringing together customers, partners and individuals, it takes collaboration to an altogether new level.

The ecosystem of SAP India comprises of 200 partners across solutions, verticals and geographies. Besides, the company works with five Global Services Partners from India – Wipro, TCS, HCL, Infosys and Satyam. SAP India offers partnership categories for every strategic business area and customer need, including content, education, hosting, SAP xApps, services, small and midsize enterprise (SME), software, support, and technology. SAP also encourages its partners in the Independent Solution Providers (ISV) category to develop solutions and sell in the global markets using SAP platforms such as SAP NetWeaver, BusinessObjects Enterprise XI or Enterprise SOA. SAP has two types of partner recognition programmes. The first – SAP Diamond Circle – is a top-level award programme aimed at recognizing account executives from partners and their SAP peers. The second is the SAP Pinnacle Awards, which recognize those services, technology, outsourcing, and software partners who have excelled in developing the partnership and mutual business with SAP by providing quality products, solutions, and services to customers.

Another initiative that stands out in terms of strengthening the partner community is the PartnerEdge programme. Previously available only to SAP Channel Partners, the programme has now been rolled out to all SAP solution providers and service partners in India. PartnerEdge provides enhanced infrastructure and support that ensures success and profitability for the partner community. SAP and its partners are equally engaged in this successful multi-channel, go-to-market strategy to help SME customers leverage the full value of SAP solutions. Then again, unlike other partner programmes, SAP PartnerEdge recognizes and rewards its partners not just for sales success, but for their commitment and ability to successfully satisfy their mutual customers. A significant investment, the programme represents SAP’s continued focus toward expanding its partner ecosystem and is upgraded continually.

Within this PartnerEdge scheme, SAP has recently started a referral programme, which rewards referrals from both SAP partners and non-partners in the small business and midsize companies. Referral members are rewarded when a deal is closed and, in general, five per cent of the deal’s net software licence value is paid as a closing reward. A one-time registration enables members to access the programme through a dedicated referral member portal. The portal updates members with new opportunities and gives access to regular status updates on the referred lead. The portal also provides exclusive sales material on the complete portfolio of SAP solutions for small business and midsize companies and e-learning sessions.

Registration for the SAP Referral Programme is, however, strict, with a number of rules defining eligibility for the programme in order to secure transparency and compliance with legal requirements and business ethics. Taking partnership to an altogether new level, SAP India has become the preferred partner in the government and public sectors. To address the burgeoning needs of the Indian retail market, the company has a Retail Centre of Excellence in Mumbai.

Storming the SME Market 
Mid-sized enterprises in India are experiencing dramatic growth and are adopting scaleable and flexible IT platforms that support their business agenda. SAP has responded by bringing in enterprise-class solutions such as SAP Business one and SAP Business All-in-One, with the former targeting enterprises with 100 people and the latter supporting enterprises with 500 to 2,500 people. To plug the gap in between the company offers an adaptable on-demand business solution to the SMBs – SAP Business ByDesign. Complementing existing solutions, Business ByDesign targets companies with 100 to 500 employees, including growing companies that typically have not invested in such integrated business solutions before.

Deb Deep Sengupta, Vice-President – SMEs & Channels, SAP Indian Subcontinent, says, “Growing economies like India demand a heterogeneous range of requirements. SAP’s expanding portfolio consisting of scalable solutions best fits these unique needs and addresses the major IT challenges of small and midsize businesses vis-à-vis low total cost of ownership (TCO), fast time to value and long-term investment protection.”

Today, the SME customer base for SAP in India has touched 2,300. Among the special initiatives begun by SAP for this segment is the Fast-Start Programme that has seen an incredible response in the Indian market with over 60 customer wins across verticals and multiple go-lives in the first half of 2008. Designed to deliver rapid business results with a fixed price and fixed scope, the programme targets midsize companies in the manufacturing, services and trade industries. It provides them with the preconfigured industry-specific processes needed to streamline and gain visibility into their core business operations. Innovative online configuration enables prospective customers to tailor the solution to their business requirements and receive a comprehensive cost estimate for the complete SAP Business All-in-One solution. Customers benefit both from the established SAP solution as well as the industry- and country-specific know-how of qualified local SAP Channel Partners.

Nagaraj explains, “We have a 2 tiered structure for SAP Business one with leaders like HP, eSys, KLG as distributors and 80-plus channel partners spread across the subcontinent. We have well over 40 partners who have developed vertically templated SAP All-in-One solutions. These include Wipro, KPIT Cummins, IBM, HCL Technologies, Spectrasoft, among others. We have launched the Fast-Start Programme for SAP Business All-in-One designed to deliver rapid business results at lower TCO for midsize companies.”

SAP Education 
Talent development is a key to sustained success at SAP. The company continues to invest in intense talent development programmes for its employees. It has 55 eLearning centres across the country growing rapidly at a rate of 100 per cent YoY.

New Ventures – SAP Ventures 
Riding the success wave created by SAP India, SAP AG has decided to foster and nurture innovation in corporate India via investments through SAP Ventures. Directly investing in India for the first time, the company will help Indian entrepreneurs build fast- growing companies with a global footprint. For the last 12 years, SAP Ventures has been investing in companies in the USA and Europe that build innovative new technologies and applications. Investing in India has now become a key focus for SAP Ventures since India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and also due to the large talent pool that is at the forefront of the technology revolution.

As Nino Marakovic, SVP and Head of SAP Ventures, comments, “Indian innovation already benefits the global economy. Indian companies have been building products on an outsourced basis for some time, but have now started developing and selling directly to value-conscious customers worldwide. We are thrilled to be investing directly in Indian start-ups with a broad investment focus. We look forward to being party to the powerful innovative spirit and ecosystem in this country.” SAP Ventures operates under two independent but synergistic imperatives. First, it acts autonomously in discovering and pursuing opportunities for outstanding financial returns that may be independent of or central to SAP's corporate strategic focus. Second, it brings substantial benefit to both its portfolio companies and SAP by facilitating interaction between innovative young companies and the SAP ecosystem.

The Way Ahead 
Clearly, India features prominently in SAP AG’s global plans. The company has not only established a sound footing in the Indian market, but has also built a robust partner network and a large customer base. Accolades and awards have been pouring in. Last year, Frost & Sullivan honoured SAP India with “The 2007 Enterprise Application Software Market Leader Award”. PC Quest named SAP as “India’s Most Wanted Brand in ERP, CRM, BI and HRM”. The CTO Forum 2007 bestowed upon SAP the title of “India’s Most Trusted Vendor in the Enterprise Application Space – 2007”. On the other hand, SAP India has also recognized and felicitated 38 customers for excellence at the SAP ACE 2007, which is fast becoming a major industry award.

With India becoming the “new” land of possibilities, SAP has a number of plans to leverage the full potential in the coming times. In this sense, SAP India is truly partnering India’s success story.