An increasing number of SMEs today are exploring how operational efficiency and agility could help them address business challenges and seize new opportunities along the way. According to the IDC Info Snapshot in association with SAP titled Business Reimagined: Driving Greater Efficiency and Resiliency, 33{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of SMEs regard “becoming more agile and flexible” as a top-five priority. Indeed, COVID-19 has pushed the concept of ‘Digital First’ to the forefront with organisations looking for more ways to establish agile, resilient, and responsive models for their business processes.

In India, going digital is being considered by more and more SMEs as a way of surviving, recovering, and growing during the pandemic. With this, SAP’s Global Bharat launched in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), NASSCOM Foundation, and Pratham InfoTech Foundation strengthens the Indian government’s Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign by equipping the industry with the latest digital technologies and making significant investments to help establish their respective businesses.

Following the success of last year’s Leaders of Global Bharat series, which was focused on Indian SMEs affected by pandemic-related lockdowns, TV9 Network and SAP India have decided to team up again to introduce two groundbreaking initiatives that aim to engage SMEs in more meaningful endeavours and facilitate collaboration with new entrepreneurs, as well as recognise their contribution to the country’s growth. Dubbed as Mentors of Global Bharat and Dare2Dream Awards, these programs pave the way for more interaction between entrepreneurs and industry leaders and allow them to have a platform that can guide businesses to emerge from the pandemic.

Global Bharat: An SAP for SME Initiative Empowering Indian Businesses

Expressing his delight at the company’s partnership with SAP India to empower homegrown enterprises, Raktim Das, Chief Growth Officer of Television & Digital at TV9 Network, stressed that the SME sector is ultimately the growth locomotive of Indian business and economy as it delivers crucial depth to the manufacturing and service industries, create substantial employment, and foster entrepreneurship. He explained:

“Enabling and empowering them to build an Atmanirbhar Bharat is an imperative. While Mentors of Global Bharat will be a platform where aspiring entrepreneurs will meet business icons and get to learn from their success stories and business best practices, Dare2Dream Awards will look at recognising business leaders who had the resilience to not only tide over the pandemic induced crisis but also come out stronger by resetting their business models.”

Meanwhile, Paul Marriott, President at SAP APJ, also reflected on the latest programs introduced by SAP India and TV9 Network, noting that no manual or prescription can guide businesses to emerge from the unprecedented adverse impact of the pandemic and recover rapidly. He maintained:

“In the many interactions that we have had with our SME customers we realised that many entrepreneurs felt the need to interact with mentors who have successfully traversed the same path before. Peer-to-peer learning and recognition of digital-led innovation are both very important in these times and any platform that facilitates these is a step in the right direction.”

Moreover, SAP Indian Subcontinent President and Managing Director Kulmeet Bawa has earlier stated that the SME sector is one of the key pillars of SAP India’s strategy. He emphasised that it is an area where the leadership team can “actually make a dent and help the Indian economy.” Commenting on the German tech giant’s continuous support to the industry, he said that the company will take Global Bharat forward to further contribute to the number of SME transformations that have taken place since its launch last year.

“While the Mentors of Global Bharat program is designed to help SME entrepreneurs to learn and get inspired by industry leaders and peers who have successfully navigated the new normal, the Dare2Dream Awards series was established to recognise visionaries in the SME sector who have demonstrated innovation and digital mindset and create business impact in adverse times,” he highlighted.

The post SAP for SME Program Expands to Strengthen Atmanirbhar Bharat appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

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.

The post MSMEs in India Empowered by SAP, ASSOCHAM Through Global Bharat appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

As a major contributor to the socio-economic development of India, the MSME sector has gained significant importance in recent years. According to a report published by IBEF in February, MSMEs have the potential to serve as a key employment generator as new career opportunities for the young population are being created.

Tanya Srivastava, Senior Account Director at SAP India, said that MSMEs play a key role in the government’s vision of a “self-reliant India” as the industry contributes 29{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} to India’s GDP and is steadily increasing. She stressed that Global Bharat is SAP’s initiative to enable MSMEs to become globally competitive, considering that 80{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of the tech giant’s customers in India are from this sector.

Launched in association with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), NASSCOM Foundation, and Pratham InfoTech Foundation, SAP’s Global Bharat Movement 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.

In a statement, FTCCI President Ramakanth Inani said that this initiative will enable the members of the MSME sector in India to take their businesses globally. He maintained:

“Our purpose of collaborating with SAP and bringing in a Global Bharat program for our members is to find a solid footing during these unprecedented times.”

Empowering the MSME Sector in India with SAP Technologies

Over the years, FTCCI has gradually evolved into a peak-level organisation representing large, medium, and small-scale industries in India. It has also been established as an important forum for proactive interaction between the government and businesses from a global perspective. FTCCI has been conducting conferences, workshops, seminars, and online events recently to help keep its members up-to-date with the latest trends and developments amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

The organisation’s collaboration with SAP aims to help its members become globally competitive by creating world-class products and offering them at competitive rates to global customers.

Through the Global Bharat Movement, Indian MSMEs can take advantage of 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.

Moreover, FTCCI’s webinar on “Global Bharat Digital Transformation” in partnership with SAP and YASH Technologies last March 18 gave information on the benefits of the Global Bharat Program and provided an interesting discussion on the current MSME segment in India.

The post SAP, FTCCI Boost MSME Sector in India with Global Bharat Initiative appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

Over the past decade, India’s technology and IT infrastructure have been expanding at a steady rate, contributing to the nation’s status of being the 2019’s fifth-largest economy in the world. In parallel with the country’s tremendous digital development, SAP India is the fastest growing subsidiary of SAP SE, the world’s leading provider of business software solutions. 

SAP India has launched several initiatives in partnership with the Indian government in support of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, which is the vision of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi of making India a self-reliant nation through reforms in the economy, infrastructure, and system. 

In June 2020, Global Bharat was launched in association with NASSCOM Foundation, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and Pratham InfoTech Foundation to enable Indian MSMEs to become globally competitive by equipping them with digital technologies. A month after the announcement of Global Bharat, SAP has enabled open access to SAP India’s Code Unnati, a Golden Peacock Award-winning digital literacy initiative. In November, SAP also signed up with the Directorate General of Training (DGT) to lead tech-training programmes for the youth across the country.

Fast-forward to 2021, SAP’s commitment to India proves to be relentless as the German tech giant has pledged an investment of Rs 500 crore to localise and offer customers a multi-cloud choice, once again advancing the vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.

SAP and India in 2021 and Onwards

The software global enterprise commits to accelerating the country’s digitalisation by leveraging agile and scalable cloud technology. 

Scott Russell, President, SAP Asia Pacific Japan, stated:

“SAP’s commitment to support India’s growth vision remains a top priority, and we are determined to achieve this with deeper collaboration with our customers, ecosystem, and the government.”

According to the statement released, SAP India, being one of the largest and most diverse business-to-business cloud portfolio providers, is aggressively working toward addressing local customer demands.

”SAP further fortified its commitment to enterprises with the benefits of integrated cloud technologies to deliver the greatest flexibility and be data compliant under the upcoming Personal Data Protection Bill,” it said.

Speaking about SAP’s latest investment in India, Kulmeet Bawa, SAP Indian Subcontinent President and Managing Director, said:

”Today, customers are seeking scalability, faster deployment, data compliancy, and cost-effective solutions to enable innovation and achieve prompt business outcomes.” 

The SAP MD also shared his excitement on the latest SAP initiative in his LinkedIn post. He said:

“Digital has been a top priority for every enterprise this past year. There has never been a more crucial time for businesses to be more agile and adaptable.”

“With scalable cloud technology being the need of the hour, we are proud to announce the availability of our cloud solutions on data centres in India. The investment is in line with our commitment and compliance to the country’s growth vision and will help drive more vertical, industry-specific processes in the cloud. Upwards and onwards for SAP India as we work towards an #aatmanirbharbharat!” he exclaimed.

The post SAP and India Advancing Aatmanirbhar Bharat appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

The collaboration with the German enterprise resource planning solutions provider offers CII members access to the SAP Global Bharat program, which was launched in June 2020 by SAP India.

Remarking on why the organization chose to partner with SAP, Shreekant Somany, Chairman of the CII National MSME Council said:

“The pandemic has affected the way businesses used to function, pushing organizations to adopt and rely on technology to stay relevant in the market. Our purpose of collaborating with SAP and bringing in Global Bharat program for our members is to help them to the best of our ability in finding a solid footing during these unprecedented times. We truly believe that this initiative will help our Indian MSMEs to transform themselves digitally and empower them to take their business to the global level.”

SAP India’s President and Head of General Business, Subramanian Ananthapadmanabhan, expressed his excitement on this new collaboration:

“When we launched the Global Bharat program back in June 2020, we set an objective to help Indian MSMEs become globally competitive by enabling them with digital tools and solutions. We are excited that CII shares our vision to help Indian MSMEs seize this opportunity and emerge from this crisis stronger and more resilient than ever.” 

Bringing the Benefits of SAP to Indian MSMEs

As an industry-led and industry-managed organization, the CII has been working on shaping India’s development journey for over a century by assisting industries in identifying and executing corporate citizenship programs.

This year, the non-government organization is working harder to proactively transform the country’s industry engagement and pave the way for the nation’s accelerated development. With the global COVID-19 pandemic causing significant economic disruptions, the CII aims to protect Indian citizens’ jobs and livelihoods and has come up with the theme of “Building India for a New World: Lives, Livelihood, Growth” for 2020-2021.

The CII’s collaboration with SAP is part of the organization’s strategies in bringing back growth to the country’s economy and mitigating the disruptions caused by COVID-19. By enabling Indian MSMEs to reap the benefits of SAP through the Global Bharat program, the CII hopes to empower MSME owners to accelerate their companies’ digital transformation and increase their readiness and relevance in an ever-evolving environment.

Through the SAP Global Bharat program, Indian MSMEs can leverage SAP technologies and partner networks. The program offers access to the following SAP initiatives:

• Open access to SAP Ariba Discovery where buyers and suppliers can connect through the SAP Ariba Network, the largest digital B2B marketplace.
• SAP India’s Code Unnati, a Golden Peacock Award-winning digital skilling initiative that provides access to over 240 courses on Digital Financial, Soft Skills, Productivity Technologies and more.
• SAP’s Business One Starter Pack on the cloud, SAP’s world-class ERP that allows businesses to enhance efficiencies and provide more reliable products and services to customers.

About the CII

The CII works to create and sustain an environment conducive to the development of India, partnering industry, Government and civil society, through advisory and consultative processes.

The CII had 68 offices, including 10 Centers of Excellence, in India, and 8 overseas offices in Australia, Egypt, Germany, Indonesia, Singapore, UAE, UK, and USA, as well as institutional partnerships with 394 counterpart organizations in 133 countries. The CII serves as a reference point for Indian industry and the international business community.

The post CII opens doors for Indian MSMEs to reap the benefits of SAP appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

As the world emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the uncertainties and turmoil, positive changes have also occurred. These include the rapid increase in digital technology adoption and the emergence of opportunities for employees to upskill and reskill. Business processes are improving in unprecedented ways as leaders strategize and step up in response to business disruptions.

In an effort to help organizations meet the new challenges brought on by these changes, SAP announced a new and improved SAP Training and Training Adoption portfolio of online courses and training. The enhanced platform will equip SAP customers, partners and their users with the right knowledge and skills to successfully implement and use SAP products and services, and ultimately achieve their digital transformation goals.

Last month, SAP India also unveiled its Global Bharat program, designed to enable Indian MSMEs become globally competitive by equipping them with digital technologies. The program includes providing open access to SAP India’s Code Unnati, a coveted Golden Peacock Award-winning digital skilling initiative.

These digital learning solutions aim to help employees adapt to new working environments and enable businesses to stay ahead of the competition by creating a culture of continuous learning that keeps pace with technological advances.

Digital Learning Solutions for a More Agile Workforce

SAP Training and Adoption

SAP’s portfolio of online courses and training is designed to facilitate software adoption and use of SAP technology. It covers a full range of SAP products, solutions, and technologies that intends to accelerate productivity and performance with customized training direct from SAP product experts—all while providing employees with the flexibility to learn at their own pace.

Eva Zauke, SAP SE Chief Knowledge Officer, said,

“Since each of today’s and tomorrows’ trainees learns differently, and because learning topics and technologies will continue to grow and evolve, SAP Training and Adoption is focused on helping customers and partners not only learn about latest innovations but also apply new skills – adopt them into the way they work – so that they are best prepared for their future success.”

The learner-centered and customized courses enable greater personal success for employees through skills development and promote future business innovations. Expert-led training is delivered through live and interactive classroom instruction in virtual, on-site or hybrid environments, and include intuitive learning simulations. The platform also offers the opportunity for certification—a widely recognized accreditation of excellence for SAP professionals.

Some SAP customers and partners who found success using the SAP Training and Adoption portfolio include:

• Dimension Data, a company specializing in information technology services based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The company was able to efficiently create and deploy training materials for over 28,000 employees in 46 countries.
• Global Pinnacle Award Winning SAP Platinum Partner, itelligence, introduced SAP Enable Now to allow consultants to complete training courses at their own pace without having to travel to a training center.
• ROFF, a leading SAP Partner based in Portugal implemented SAP Learning Hub to minimize training costs while ensuring that consultants are up to date on changing requirements and empowered to maximize their SAP software skills.

SAP India’s Code Unnati

In India, MSMEs will have access to Code Unnati’s 240 courses on Digital Financial, Soft Skills, Productivity Technologies that will digitally skill the workforce and adapt to the new working environments. The curated courses are available through a mobile application for people to access via their android smartphone devices.

Code Unnati was launched in June 2017. Aimed at fostering digital inclusion in India, this collaborative effort between SAP, Corporate CSRs and Non-profit organizations has already trained over 1 million youth with the help of 1500 physical training centers across the country.

The post Digital Learning Solutions from SAP to Accelerate Digital Transformation appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.