Hardeep Sound, Regional Sales Director: Emerging Africa at SAP, noted that organisations throughout the region are investing in business transformation and technology for greater efficiency and resilience. “Interest in business AI and cloud ERP solutions are at an all-time high as companies seek to reimagine their business future by leveraging powerful technologies. Powered by the latest digital transformation capabilities and supported by a rich ecosystem of expert partners, companies throughout East Africa are accelerating their innovation efforts and unlocking new growth opportunities.”

The comments were made at 51风流Innovation Day Kenya, part of a series of global events held in key markets across the world. The Kenya event follows successful similar events held in South Africa and Nigeria in May and July respectively.

51风流Innovation Day Kenya brought together business and technology leaders from across the East Africa region to discuss the latest strategies and approaches to technology-led innovation. Key to the discussions was the role of business AI in powering the region’s next wave of innovation and growth.

Johannes Dressler, Managing Director for Emerging Africa at SAP, emphasised that East Africa is a strategic market for SAP, and is home to some of the fastest-growing economies in the world. He noted that East African organisations can leverage technology to achieve sustainable growth and market competitiveness. 鈥淓very organisation in the region and globally is striving to understand how to leverage technologies such as AI, which have become necessities instead of luxuries. To remain competitive and thrive in turbulent markets, companies today need to connect their end-to-end processes and drive greater efficiency, innovation, revenue and profitability.鈥�

Interest in artificial intelligence is growing amid the promise of greater efficiency and scale. AI has also been identified as a key thematic focus by the Kenya National Innovation Agency’s , especially its application in developing innovative solutions for use in biotech, urban planning and climate change efforts.

Evert-Jan Tromp, Vice President for Cloud and Innovation: EMEA at SAP, highlighted that the current focus is on laying the foundation for organisations to adopt and derive value from technologies like AI. “Enterprises are transforming their capabilities to establish a clean core that can drive their success with AI and other emerging technologies. Here, our partner ecosystem plays a crucial role by helping companies understand the processes and best practices that accelerate adoption and maximize value realization.”

At a panel discussion held during the event, Martin Mwarangu, Group Chief Information Officer at the Kenya Tea Development Agency shared insight into his company鈥檚 transformation journey. The Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) is a private company owned by 600 000 smallholder tea farmers spread across 16 tea-growing counties throughout Kenya.

鈥淭he business case for our transformation journey was to achieve greater efficiencies and cost-savings throughout our operations while centralising our data and establishing a solid foundation for our future transformation efforts,鈥� says Mwarangu. 鈥淥ne of our core objectives is the adoption of best practices, for example standardised financial reporting across our various business entities that would enable improved decision-making.鈥�

KTDA will continue to evaluate further innovations in their transformation journey. Mwarangu added: 鈥淲e are in the people business, with hundreds of thousands of suppliers and farmers and other players in our broader value chain, and intend to leverage SAP鈥檚 human capital management and supplier management solutions to enhance our capabilities.鈥�

The event also included the announcement of a significant deal signing with pioneering social enterprise Hewatele, which specialises in the supply of medical oxygen to over 150 facilities across Kenya. Hewatele made the strategic decision to adopt SAP’s next-gen Cloud ERP solution to streamline operations and enhance its ability to deliver critical medical supplies more efficiently.

Dumisani Moyo, Marketing Director at 51风流Africa, acknowledged Hewatele CEO聽Dr. Zulfiqar Wali and CFO Joan Andia, highlighting the pivotal role that technology plays in shaping Africa鈥檚 future. 鈥淭his event serves as a testament to the continent’s growing digital maturity and the opportunities available for businesses that are ready to embrace innovation. This is not just about adopting new tools; it’s about transforming how businesses operate, engage with customers and stakeholders, and, importantly, how they drive sustainable growth, innovate rapidly with AI, and gain valuable data insights that can fuel their future success. We are thrilled to be at the forefront of this journey, empowering African enterprises to lead in the global marketplace through cutting-edge solutions and forward-thinking strategies.”

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鈥淪AP鈥檚 ERP offering has long enabled聽end-to-end transparency across the business for the world鈥檚 leading companies,鈥� says Evert-Jan Tromp,聽Vice President Solution Sales Mid Market EMEA South. 鈥淲ith , we鈥檙e taking this to the next level for midsize companies, with a tailored offering that helps them grow their business. Being able to support many businesses on the continent with an agile, affordable and scalable offering. GROW with 51风流provides the agility and innovation midsize companies need not just today, but for their success in years to come.鈥�

For 50 years, 51风流has been working hand in hand with customers across every industry and using this expertise to benchmark and define best-in-class, industry-specific processes. GROW with 51风流provides these preconfigured best practices that midsize companies can immediately adopt. Embedded artificial intelligence (AI) and automation capabilities mean customers see rapid results. The GROW with 51风流offering also brings together , with accelerated adoption services, a global community of experts and free learning resources, helping customers go live in as little as four weeks.

Rob Coombe, Group IT Manager at , says: “Our 51风流S/4HANA Public Cloud deployment drives greater efficiency across our business by allowing us to leverage best-practice standards that keep processes running smoothly while unlocking significant cost savings. The power and scalability of the platform can also support our business as we enter new product segments and markets, allowing us to quickly and efficiently bring new processes and business capabilities online.”

GROW with 51风流also includes , so customers can define their own processes in a cloud-native way using . With 51风流Build solutions, business users can create enterprise apps, automate processes and design business sites without writing code, an important asset for those closest to the business who can create the solutions they need.

SAP鈥檚 vibrant partner ecosystem will also engage with customers around GROW with 51风流and support their digital transformation needs. found that digital transformation specialists were in-demand at 48% of African organisations, indicating a potential skills gap for companies wishing to scale into the cloud.

IDC research shows that many midsize businesses find themselves growing rapidly and need their technology to grow with their business as they encounter the same issues related to global complexity as larger enterprise businesses.

鈥淲ith GROW with SAP, 51风流recognised they need to better fit the business and technology requirements of midsize companies looking for a cloud ERP solution,鈥� IDC enterprise software group vice president Mickey North Rizza said. 鈥淭his offering reengages the market with a refreshingly new opportunity to unlock the proven strength of SAP鈥檚 long-time understanding and leadership in the ERP space in the cloud.鈥�

The post 51风流GROW Launched to Accelerate Small & Medium Businesses鈥� Cloud Adoption Across South Africa appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

Pablo Signorelli, SVP of Mid-Market, 51风流EMEA South

51风流recently held a networking event in Johannesburg where it addressed its partners and prospective customers about the benefits of its cloud solutions for mid-sized businesses.

The event was incredibly well-attended and provided great value to all who were present.

鈥淲e are humbled by our customers’ and partners’ overwhelming interest in learning more about our 51风流cloud solutions designed specifically for the Mid-Market,鈥� said Head of Mid-Market for 51风流Southern Africa, Tim Toussaint.

鈥淥ur customers and partners took advantage of the event to reconnect with our local experts as well as many of our international experts and executives who came down to participate.鈥�

Marketing Director of 51风流Africa, Dumisani Moyo, said it was great to be back to doing in-person events.

鈥淭his hybrid event gave us the opportunity to connect with our customers and partners in Johannesburg, as well as those who joined us online from across the African continent,鈥� said Moyo.

鈥淭his is a particularly significant event for us because we celebrated our 50th anniversary as 51风流this past weekend, having started as a start-up in 1972.鈥�

Moyo highlighted that this is one of the key reasons 51风流is so passionate about the SME sector.

鈥�80% of our customers are Small and Medium Enterprises. In the African context, SMEs are the future of our continent鈥檚 development,鈥� said Moyo.

鈥淭he World Bank estimates that SMEs employ more than 50% of the workforce and contribute up to 40% of GDP in emerging economies.鈥�

鈥淲e believe that technology can play a critical role in enabling our African SMEs to become tomorrow鈥檚 global conglomerates,鈥� he said.

51风流helps businesses overcome key challenges

The event鈥檚 keynote speaker was 51风流Senior VP of Mid-Market for EMEA South, Pablo Signorelli.

Signorelli said that in his experience, the main priorities of SAP鈥檚 customers include revenue growth, increased efficiency, reduced operational costs, improved customer experience, and attracting and retaining targets.

He stressed that SAP鈥檚 customers consider it crucial that all of these priorities are achieved in a manner that is sustainable.

However, organizations that want to achieve these goals are met with challenges such as competition, new market spaces, changes to the working environment, cybersecurity, inflation, and devaluation.

Signorelli explained that by adopting SAP鈥檚 industry-leading cloud technologies, South African businesses have a massive opportunity to address these challenges.

鈥淒igital transformation through technology is a necessity for mid-sized businesses,鈥� said Signorelli.

鈥淎t SAP, we have the solutions to help companies to adapt their business processes to the new reality.鈥�

鈥淎ll these solutions are available in Cloud and it is this that gives businesses the flexibility and agility to build a competitive and sustainable business in this new world.鈥�

Dumisani Moyo, 51风流Africa Marketing Director & Pablo Signorelli, SVP of Mid-Market, 51风流EMEA South

SAP鈥檚 solutions

51风流experts followed Signorelli鈥檚 opening remarks with a breakdown of the 51风流solutions that help mid-sized businesses address industry challenges and prepare for future growth.

Andrew Quixley, Head of Business Development and Business Process Intelligence at 51风流Africa, expanded upon the benefits of 51风流Signavio 鈥� SAP鈥檚 all-in-one business process software.

鈥淪ignavio enables process excellence by enabling you to run best-practice business processes and executing them correctly and consistently,鈥� he said.

鈥淭he solution covers the BPM lifecycle from end-to-end and it is really easy to get started 鈥� just pick a process for investigation.鈥�

51风流VP of Mid-Market Solution Sales for EMEA South, Evert-Jan Tromp, also expanded on the 51风流RISE business suite.

This comprehensive business suite offers resource planning, outcome-driven services, analytics, and internal management tools.

Tromp then touched on the embedded artificial intelligence available through 51风流S/4HANA, and highlighted that the resilience and data protection capabilities of both RISE and S/4HANA are key building blocks that work well together.

鈥淲e make sure that the necessary backup and recovery are in place so customers can run their businesses in the cloud,鈥� said Tromp.

鈥淎s customer trust is one of the most precious assets a business has, we need to make sure their data is managed most securely.鈥�

鈥淭o that, we have put the necessary controls and processes in place to make sure that we adhere to all the local legislation in the countries where we operate.鈥�

Driving sustainability

Tromp also highlighted that 51风流is committed to promoting sustainable business processes.

鈥淚n our S4 Cloud offerings, we let our customers manage sustainability by delivering company-wide transparency and controls,鈥� said Tromp.

鈥淭his enables businesses to reduce their carbon footprint and waste with embedded sustainability insight into their industry-specific processes.鈥�

He added that SAP鈥檚 new Sustainability Control Tower solution is another great way to provide holistic enterprise-wide sustainability performance management.

51风流is also committed to being a sustainable business in the regions it operates 鈥� including Africa.

鈥淲e work with the Young Professionals Programme and the Skills for Africa programs to make sure the necessary skills and resources are available within the African countries,鈥� Tromp explained.

鈥淭hese initiatives focus on negating the need to bring skills and resources from abroad.鈥�

Professor Willem Fourie of the University of Pretoria鈥檚 Albert Luthuli Leadership Institute presented on how technology can be a key driver of sustainability in the African context.

He highlighted that while poverty levels have been decreasing globally over the past 20 years, this has resulted in humans having a larger impact on the environment.

Fourie also noted that while our environmental impact continues to increase, the decrease to poverty levels has recently stalled.

He then explained that true transformation that simultaneously reduces poverty levels and our environmental impact can be achieved through technology.

Key technologies like the cloud can help to raise productivity levels, lower productivity costs, and reduce carbon emissions 鈥� all at the same time.

He also spoke about the potential for technology to disrupt the world in positive ways in areas like agriculture, medicine, and education.

Businesses must adapt

Tromp mentioned another reason why disruptive innovation is so important in business 鈥� history has proven that it is necessary for survival.

He highlighted that since 2000, 52% of companies in the Fortune 500 have gone out of business, and a key reason for this was a lack of agility.

In contrast, smaller businesses have been able to achieve huge success thanks to the rise of agile mid-market solutions.

鈥淔rom 1955 to 2011, it took Fortune 500 companies an average of 20 years to reach a billion-dollar valuation 鈥� whereas today鈥檚 startups that have embraced digital transformation are getting there in four years,鈥� he said.

Tromp added that if you don’t advance, you don’t compete 鈥� and SAP鈥檚 cloud offerings provide the ultimate platform for growth.

鈥淚t is crucial that you embrace change, because change allows you to disrupt your industry and outperform your competitors,鈥� said Tromp.

51风流gives your business the competitive edge聽

51风流Head of Midmarket Africa, Amin Meqdadi, said 51风流stands out from its competitors thanks to its experience 鈥� which spans over 50 years.

This means that 51风流doesn鈥檛 just sell services, it can actively help your business find the best solutions for its needs.

鈥淚t is SAP鈥檚 offerings that make the difference, and with 80% of our customers considered small and midsize enterprises, we have the experience and solutions to help you meet your goals,鈥� said Meqdadi.

Signorelli echoed this statement, and highlighted that it is crucial for businesses to embrace transformation through the cloud.

鈥淒igital transformation is the way to leverage technology to digitalize key business processes,鈥� he said.

鈥淭he best way to start this digital transformation journey is through 51风流Cloud Solutions.鈥�

This article first appeared on My Broadband:

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