SAP India, one of the fastest-growing subsidiaries of SAP SE, and SAP Labs India, the tech company’s largest Research and Development center outside Germany, have been long-established key players in the country’s IT sector contributing to the rapidly growing digital transformation market forecasted to hit the $710 billion mark by 2024 with a CAGR of 74{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}. In 2021, SAP India achieved a historical double digit-growth across all market segments, which prompted SAP to double its contribution from the country by 2025.

Responsible for the remarkable achievements and innovations of the two SAP entities in India are Kulmeet Bawa, SAP Indian Subcontinent Managing Director, and Sindhu Gangadharan, SVP, SAP User Enablement & Managing Director, SAP Labs India. Most recently, the tech giant’s esteemed leaders Bawa and Gangadharan have been given the opportunity to extend their capacity outside SAP as the Chairman of ASSOCHAM’s National Council on IT & ITEs & Digital Commerce and an independent board director of Siemens India, respectively.

Kulmeet Bawa to Lead the IT Sector’s Global Competitiveness

SAP Indian Subcontinent MD Bawa has been appointed by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) as Chairman of its National Council on IT & ITEs & Digital Commerce in a bid to realise the ‘New India’ vision that is anchored on four key priorities: Sustainability, Empowerment, Entrepreneurship, and Digitisation.

“In my role as ASSOCHAM IT, ITeS, and Digital Commerce chair, I look forward to partnering with all stakeholders in supporting the industry through IT policies and best practices conducive to the holistic growth of the entire ecosystem,” Bawa stated.

As the body responsible for creating value from digital transformation, the National Council on IT, ITeS & Digital Commerce is expected to design policies and implementation guidelines on emerging technologies including cloud computing, IoT, AI, and Blockchain. ASSOCHAM also explained that the council collaborates with other stakeholders for policy advocacy as well as delving into cyber-physical systems like Industry 4.0 and smart cities.

“The IT & ITeS industry today stands at an inflection point with newer and emerging technologies playing an instrumental role in steering India’s digital transformation. Under Mr. Kulmeet’s leadership, the council will work together to further strengthen the industry’s global competitiveness and foster its diverse array of priorities that will help foster India’s inclusive and long-term socio-economic growth,” the trade body explained.

Prior to Bawa’s onboarding as President & Managing Director of SAP Indian subcontinent in 2020, the industry veteran had held various executive positions in other major tech companies such as Microsoft and Adobe.

Sindhu Gangadharan as Independent Director in Siemens India

SAP long-timer Gangadharan has recently taken the role of independent director in Siemen’s Board of Directors. Aside from the comprehensive portfolio of Siemens India, she highlighted that the company’s market-oriented organisation structure and global and local technology competence have been transformative factors in the industry. About her latest appointment, she said:

“I’m thrilled at the opportunity to work with some of the finest minds in the industry to transform every day for people leveraging the power of Siemens technology.”

Gangadharan wears many hats including NASSCOM EC Member, Board of Directors – Qualtrics, Independent Director, Titan Company Ltd, and Indo-German Chamber of Commerce Steering Cmte Member as shared in her LinkedIn profile. She has also been a testament to SAP’s advocacy on equality and inclusivity as the first woman to lead SAP Labs India– breaking the glass ceiling not only in the tech space but most importantly in India where women empowerment has just started to gain momentum. 

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According to Dr Lovneesh Chanana, Vice President of Government Affairs for the Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) at SAP,  the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the concept of ‘Digital First’ to the forefront and that organisations must seize this opportunity to establish agile, resilient, and responsive models that can be changed on demand.

With going digital being considered by an increasing number of businesses, such as those in the MSME sector, as a way of surviving, recovering, and growing during the pandemic, Chanana added that SAP India’s Global Bharat initiative will empower Indian MSMEs in the following focus areas:

• ‌Providing digital business networks to help them expand their reach to global markets.

• ‌Helping stakeholders with their collective responsibility to promote awareness about technology solutions.

• ‌Promoting the availability of a digital talent pool to meet the needs of the MSME sector, an area that necessitates collaboration between an industries and the government.

• ‌Fostering learning from peers in the segment or the horizontal replication of experiences.

Just recently, SAP Indian Subcontinent President and Managing Director Kulmeet Bawa noted that the company has seen a lot of traction coming in from the MSME segment, even over the last few months. He stressed that the sector is one of the key pillars of SAP India’s strategy, adding that it is an area where the leadership team can “actually make a dent and help the Indian economy.”

Launched in association with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), NASSCOM Foundation, and the Pratham InfoTech Foundation, Global Bharat also reinforces the Indian government’s goal to empower the MSME industry by equipping them with the latest digital technologies and making significant investments to help them establish their businesses.

ASSOCHAM Joins SAP’s Global Bharat Initiative to Boost MSMEs in India

Moreover, Chanana said that the program will help MSMEs become globally competitive and future-ready by transforming their business processes and digitally skilling their workforce. Additionally, he stated that SAP has partnered with state governments, Central Ministries and other organisations to educate the youth on enterprise software to help facilitate a talent pool for MSMEs.

One of these is ASSOCHAM, a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group that fosters the growth of trade and industry in India. Akhilesh Jain, Chairman of MSME Sector Council at ASSOCHAM Eastern Region, and Perminder Kaur, Director of East and North East ASSOCHAM, said in a joint statement:

“With a legacy spanning 101 years, ASSOCHAM brings a wealth of experience and perspective along with an exhaustive range of industry and sector knowledge beneficial for the growth of our MSMEs.”

“We are bringing the Global Bharat movement along with SAP to the local businesses in the state of West Bengal, Assam and Odisha to ensure that MSMEs leverage technology to grow their businesses and become future-ready, leading to overall industry growth,” they added.

Through the Global Bharat movement, MSMEs in India particularly in the states of West Bengal, Assam, and Odisha will benefit from the following SAP partner networks and technologies:

• ‌Access to SAP Ariba Discovery where members can register themselves as suppliers, get sales enquiries, and sell their products worldwide through the SAP Ariba Network — the largest digital B2B marketplace.

• ‌Opportunities to digitally upskill their workforce with more than 240 courses on Digital Financial, Soft Skills, and Productivity Technologies through SAP India’s Code Unnati — a Golden Peacock Award-winning digital skilling initiative.

• ‌Access to affordable, world-class ERP software solution, SAP’s Business One Starter Pack on the cloud, that aims to support businesses in providing reliable services and products to their clients.

Subramanian Ananthapadmanabhan, Vice President, Mid-Market, SAP Indian Subcontinent, said that SAP understands the technological needs and specific business requirements of MSMEs with more than 80{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of its customer base accounting for this segment.

“By bringing SAP’s Global Bharat movement along with ASSOCHAM to the local businesses, we are ensuring that they take full advantage of the offering to become future-ready and lead the charter in their industries for digital transformation,” he emphasised.

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Since COVID-19 became a global concern, SAP has always been at the forefront of the battle offering solutions not only to its partners and customers but also to governments around the world. From freeing up access to select SAP offerings like COVID-19 Pre-Screen & Routing by Qualtrics to creating new digital platform BacktoBest.com and hosting virtual events like SAP Forward Together, the German software company has been filling the gaps and helping organisations continue to become intelligent enterprises.

In India, programmes such as SAP Transformation Demo webinar session, All-Hands Meeting with Thomas Saueressig, COVID-19 City Scale Epidemic simulator, and the CSR initiatives of the company keep SAP’s community together. SAP’s COVID-19 efforts in the country did not come unnoticed by the ASSOCHAM recognising the software company as one of the companies that have been supporting the fight against the pandemic, specifically, in the State of Karnataka.

Recognising COVID-19 Relief Work

On the 14th October 2020, the ASSOCHAM Southern Region office, in partnership with DCTE – Government of Karnataka, SAP India, Smile Foundation, and STEM Learning, organised the CSR and NGO Awards that recognise the COVID-19 efforts of corporates, institutions, and NGO’s in Karnataka. SAP India and Dell India were given the “Excellence in Community Support for COVID Relief” award.

According to the Karnataka ASSOCHAM State Head B V Naidu, the objective of the awarding event is to acknowledge, motivate, and incentivise corporate members and non-profits to contribute towards social and environmental goals. The award also aims to give the CSR mandate a different outlook beyond just being part of compliance and more of as an opportunity to move towards strategic social impact.

Gunjan C. Patel, Head, CSR, APJ & India at SAP India, joined the event along with other CSR leaders, NGOs, civil society, and the government officials who have shared how they are making a difference in people’s lives in the State of Karnataka.

Extending Hand to Karnataka

SAP’s COVID-19 initiatives in the south region can be traced back to May 2020 when the Karnataka State Government launched a pandemic response platform. 

The COVID-19 data-tracking platform to Karnataka was developed by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) taskforce including SAP Labs, Microsoft, Intel, Infosys, Fractal Analytics, Mindtree, Accenture, Wipro, and many other member companies. The data analysis tool is designed to help the state take data-driven measures to contain and manage the pandemic.

Based on a plug and play concept, the platform has user-friendly features that can integrate with their existing platform. It has dashboards that include: 

• COVID-19 summary– shows useful information for officials about the state and district level numbers
• COVID-19 source analysis­– cases in the last 24 hours and their origin & spread analysis
• Testing summary– COVID+ rates by number of tests
• Tests by category– information about the source of infection
• Hospital capacity– bed occupancy and availability by district
• India Summary– state-level summary of COVID

C N Ashwath Narayan, Deputy Chief Minister of the Government of Karnataka, shared last May:

“We have been driving all our efforts tirelessly to fight this ongoing crisis and it has been great to witness the industry joining their hands against our war on COVID-19. In these testing times, technology innovation has been our greatest ally. Using innovative technology solutions to fight the pandemic, we are taking a huge step towards showcasing the country’s capacity to solve real-time issues in any environment.”

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