Adopting digital technologies such as SAP cloud-based solutions presents a major opportunity for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Thailand to pave the way for sustainable recovery and successfully prepare their businesses for the “Next Normal.”
In April, SAP and Oxford Economics surveyed 600 people across six Southeast Asian nations — Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand — with 400 coming from SMEs and 200 from larger corporations. Titled “Digital, resilient, and experience-driven: How enterprises in SEA can prepare for the new economy”, the regional study revealed significant challenges in key business areas of enterprises and growth opportunities for them in a post-pandemic environment.
COVID-19 has intensified the need to further digitalise business processes in order to make organisations more resilient, especially for SMEs. Implementing business software has been one of the most popular and effective options companies have taken to empower digital resiliency that is needed to adapt to the “Next Normal”. In particular, SAP and Oxford Economics’ survey showed that SMEs in Thailand are primarily concerned with lowering prices for their goods and services and providing user-friendly digital experiences as a secondary goal for improving customer and employee experiences.
Atul Tuli, Managing Director at SAP Indochina, believes that a large number of organisations are still finding it difficult to fully optimise their approach towards integrating new digital technologies to transform the way they operate and do business. He explained:
“At SAP, 80{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of our customers worldwide are SMEs. SAP helps Thai SMEs customers embark on the digital transformation journey and transform their business into an intelligent enterprise across diverse industries such as Retail, Healthcare, and Consumer. We found that they are now facing significant challenges in the areas of talent attraction and retention, cloud adoption, and gaining insights from data.”
Enabling Digital Transformation in Thailand Through SAP Cloud-Based Solutions
SAP’s cloud business rose by 18{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} in the Asia-Pacific region in 2020, making it a third of the company’s total revenue. Specifically, the German tech giant’s concierge service to the Intelligent Enterprise RISE with SAP has been gaining traction globally since its introduction in January this year. During a regional media briefing on the sidelines of SAPPHIRE NOW 2021, Scott Russell, former SAP APJ President and is now SAP Executive Board Member and Lead of Customer Success, said that more than 100 customers have already signed up for the Business Transformation-as-a-Service (BTaaS) offering.
Noppadon Chareonthong, SAP Sales Director, Thailand and Emerging Market, stressed that SMEs are the backbone of the Thai economy and that cloud-based services will play a critical role in boosting operational capability as the country adapts to the post-COVID landscape. He then cited two examples of businesses that have already transformed their processes to stay resilient on the cloud: DoHome and Thai Medical Glove.
Leading comprehensive retail and wholesale construction materials and home decoration business DoHome decided to embark on a digital transformation journey and shifted away from its traditional business model in order to expand its operations. The company leveraged SAP solutions to help the management better understand situations in real-time and make more effective decisions during these unprecedented times. Meanwhile, Thai Medical Glove, one of the major rubber glove manufacturers in SEA, also used cloud technologies including RISE with SAP to transform their company into an intelligent enterprise, removing complexity with simplified engagement and guided journeys.
For Chareonthong, SAP cloud-based solutions will boost the competitiveness of SMEs to engage rapidly in digital transformation and empower them to bounce back strongly. He maintained:
“SAP is here to support and ready to be the trusted partner to offer cloud-based solutions like RISE with SAP and other comprehensive solutions that will help business transform holistically by changing the whole culture and mindset and redesigning business processes to unlock new ways of running business.”
