San Mateo, California-headquartered Celigo Inc. is known for its world-class, cloud-based iPaaS platform that seamlessly integrates various applications to automate business processes in the organisation. The company has an increasing market presence across the US, India, Philippines, and the Netherlands and has been helping thousands of customers solve integration challenges to accelerate digitalisation.

Further broadening its reach to specifically support Shopify business operations, Celigo has announced that its Shopify Integration app for SAP Business ByDesign is now made available in SAP Store. By being on SAP Store, Celigo’s eCommerce automation platform has the opportunity to reach customers looking for SAP-validated solutions that fit their business needs on a global scale. Aside from becoming part of a digital marketplace that delivers simplified and connected digital customer experience, the company can now take part in SAP’s commitment to sustainability as the German software pledged to plant a tree for each solution purchased through the SAP Store.

eCommerce Automation Platform Driving DX

Explaining how organisations can benefit from the application, Randal Davis, Director of Channel Sales at Celigo, said: 

“As online shopping overtakes a major part of retail sales, companies are being forced to improve their eCommerce operations to compete. Providing customers and the partners who serve them with the ability to automate eCommerce processes will expedite digital transformation across the entire business, giving those customers a competitive advantage as their companies grow.”

Davis highlighted that merchants must provide a frictionless customer experience that is also scalable now that more sales are rapidly moving online.

As a partner in the SAP PartnerEdge programme, Celigo is entitled to build software applications around SAP software and technology like the Shopify-SAP Business ByDesign Prebuilt Integration. Optimising Shopify operations, the application offers enterprises the following features and benefits:

• Drive operational efficiency and scalability by automating the order-to-cash process

• Achieve accurate inventory using either SAP Business ByDesign or another application with the platform’s capability to sync inventory across channels such as online, stores, and marketplaces

• Integrates best practices with the flexibility to customise

• Prebuilt workflows automate and sync sales orders, outbound deliveries, inventory and cancellations

• Has an intuitive design that simplifies the process of setting up integrations, without the need for coding

• Offers option to select Shopify or SAP Business ByDesign for sales tax handling

• Has interactive dashboards for sophisticated error handling, enabling users to manage errors in real-time

“Celigo is a proven leader in eCommerce automation, particularly around Shopify and ERP integrations. A significant portion of Black Friday/Cyber Monday orders placed on Shopify storefronts moved through Celigo; the fact that Celigo experienced zero downtime despite a 10x spike in data volume highlights our expertise and scalability to handle high-volume Shopify merchants,” Davis added.

The software company’s presence in the mid-market automation space as well as its global expansion strategy is anticipated to thrive after raising $48 million in a Series C funding round led by OMERS Growth Equity and NewSpring Capital in December 2021. Celigo Founder and CEO Jan Arendtsz earlier said: 

“For too long, the promise of the modern iPaaS has gone unrealised. Legacy providers connect cloud-based business applications, but the automation of business processes that use those applications has not improved. With the support of our investors, Celigo will enable breakaway growth, controlled cost management, and superior customer experiences for our customers by ensuring that every process — at every level of the organisation — can be automated in the most optimal way from a single platform.”

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The recent report from the United Nations titled “The Impact of COVID19 on the MSME Sector in Sri Lanka” highlighted the critical role of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in the socio-economic development of the country. Close to the global numbers, Sri Lanka’s GDP is mostly supported by MSMEs (52{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), which also represents 90{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of total enterprises and delivers 45{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of total employment. 

Acknowledging the need to support Sri Lankan MSMEs’ growth during these unprecedented times, information technology and services provider ZILLIONe has announced its latest partnership with German enterprise software giant SAP. Having a market footprint in seven countries, including Australia, Cambodia, and India serving over 400 customers across various industries worldwide, the Colombo-headquarteted company will now be leveraging SAP’s industry-leading solutions for midmarket enterprises.

“We were enthusiastic to partner with No. 1 global ERP provider, SAP, to offer a fully Software as a Service (SaaS) ERP solution in Sri Lanka. This solution provides a higher Return on Investment (ROI) and savings. Businesses can now cut expenses incurred on legacy infrastructure, maintenance, and tech professionals. Moreover, businesses do not have to worry about new releases or technology shifts as it will be taken care of by the software vendor,” Luxshumyraj Sivarajah, Director – Enterprise Business Solutions at ZILLIONe, exclaimed during the launch.

SAP has been supporting the transformation of organisations in the country into intelligent enterprises as demonstrated in the software enterprise company’s partnership with Sri Lanka SAP User Group (SLSUG) in 2019.

SAP Business ByDesign to Advance Transformation of Sri Lanka Enterprises

A trusted digital transformation partner with over 40 years of implementation experience, ZILLIONe further strengthens its position as one of the leading enterprise technology solutions providers with the SAP Business ByDesign rollout. The strategic partnership with SAP is anchored on three core objectives to back the thriving SMEs in Sri Lanka– harness the power of digital technology for the post-pandemic era; adapt to the new ways of working, and design strategies for market expansion and growth.  

Explaining about adding SAP Business ByDesign in the company’s portfolio of enterprise business solutions, Chairman and CEO of ZILLIONe Tharmarajah Suresh said.

“In today’s corporate world, ERP solutions are moving away from legacy infrastructure and adapting to cloud solutions to achieve better scalability, accessibility, and functionality.”

“For instance, Forrester research says cloud-based ERP systems are at 20.7{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} enterprise application growth rate in the public cloud in 2018. So, we needed to have a fully cloud-based ERP solution in our portfolio,” he detailed.

Sivarajah added that ZILLIONe is passionate about the rollout of the cloud-based ERP from SAP in Sri Lanka, which complements the company’s four decades of extensive experience supporting businesses in their successful ERP transformation.

SAP Business ByDesign is a single, unified solution that delivers pre-built processes for core business functions including Finance, Customer Relationship Management, Human Resources, Project Management, Procurement, and Supply Chain. In addition, it offers industry-specific functionalities for professional services, manufacturing, and wholesale distribution. For businesses operating in multiple countries, especially in Europe, SAP Business ByDesign has localisation capabilities with specific features delivered for the respective pre-localised category.

This year, SAP Business ByDesign re-entered the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud Core Financial Management Suites for Midsize, Large and Global Enterprises as Niche Player– a remarkable feat for an ERP solution mainly focussed on midmarket. The customers rated the SAP solutions not only  as best in class for ease of use and value for money but also for its global reach as well as flexibility and extensibility.

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SMEs are one of the largest and the most important sectors of Pakistan’s economy, according to Dr. Syed Akhtar Hussain Shah, Member of Private Sector Development & Competitiveness, Planning Commission of Pakistan. By enhancing the standard of living of vulnerable segments of society, SMEs also play a critical role in influencing national growth policies, job creation, and social cohesion.

The contribution of the SME sector to the world’s leading and rising economies demonstrates its importance today. Although SAP serves large businesses with over 90{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of the Fortune 500 companies being its customers, around 80{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of its customer base are SMEs.

As for Pakistan, the global software technology giant offers different solution categories in the market. In a recent online roundtable session hosted by SAP, Saquib Ahmad, Country Managing Director at SAP Pakistan, shared:

“The challenges brought about by the pandemic have shown that digital is the way to go even for small and mid-sized businesses. With SMEs accounting for about 80{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of its customer base, SAP understands their need to optimise and simplify IT processes.”

Agile solutions from SAP, along with its ERP tools designed to respond to the individual demands of enterprises working in different industries, are dedicated to driving long-term digital transformation. 

From accounting and financials to reporting and analytics, SAP solutions — including SAP S/4HANA, RISE with SAP Cloud, SAP Business One, and SAP Business ByDesign — enable SMEs to navigate a sustainable digital transformation journey without straining their costs and resources.

“As a single, affordable solution to manage entire small enterprises, businesses can benefit from up-to-date information and can enable themselves to react promptly while growing profitably,” Ahmad stated.

SAP ERP Products Cater to Specific Needs of Pakistan’s SMEs

Furthermore, the virtual conference also joined by SkyElectric PVT Ltd IT Manager Waseem Khan, Kashmir Cooking Oil & Banaspati CIO Farhan Tufail, and By The Way (BTW) by Din Industries Director Irfan Muneer highlighted how their companies have embarked on their digital transformation journey through SAP’s business management software and ERP solutions.

Solar energy solution provider Sky Electric PVT Ltd. has implemented SAP’s solution to help it achieve its goal of making renewable energy more accessible by constructing a distributed and intelligent energy storage system that can be administered via the internet. SkyElectric’s Waseem Khan stated:

“The implementation of SAP allowed us to upgrade the automation of all these critical functions and move further ahead than ever before in a very short time.”

On the other hand, Kashmir Cooking Oil & Banaspati, a brand of United Industries Limited (UIL), is set to go live with SAP’s customised ERP tool in a bid to ensure food safety and comply with strict industry standards. Kashmir Cooking Oil & Banaspati’s Farhan Tufail said that the company places a strong emphasis on understanding and fulfilling consumer demands. He stressed:

“With SAP solution, our ability to keep up these standards have further increased as it streamlines the entire business process under one platform, making things easier than they ever can be.”

Meanwhile, fashion brand By The Way (BTW) by Din Industries has increased its order handling capacity while utilising the same number of resources by also deploying SAP’s ERP solution to streamline inventory and sales processes for its stores across Pakistan. BTW’s Irfan Muneer explained:

“While affordability is one of the main obstacles in the digitisation of SMEs, it is this very aspect and scalability of SAP that has enabled us to adopt this tool without straining our resources.”

In an interview with BR Research in November, SAP MD Saquib Ahmad further emphasised:

“We, at SAP, provide that flexibility. We are interoperable with other ERPs. And this is our competitive advantage in this market. We work with all kinds of software.”

The post SMEs in Pakistan Drive Profitable Growth with SAP ERP Products appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

As the UK-based company now begins to scale up and commercialise its business, it has looked into solution providers to change its restrictive manual systems professionally. By selecting SAP’s cloud-based ERP software, Frugalpac has been able to automate its processes and drive increased levels of efficiency across all of its departments.

Frugalpac’s recent migration to SAP Business ByDesign addresses its need to have an intelligent ERP system in place to assist with the company’s transition from being a research and development start-up to becoming a £50 million business in five years’ time.

Luke Bennett, Chief Financial Officer at Frugalpac, has expounded on the company’s extensive selection process that evaluated an initial list of more than 50 possible solutions. He said that Frugalpac wanted to adopt an ERP solution that would standardise its processes in areas including finance, project management, manufacturing, and international sales. He added:

“From an SAP perspective — for such a small business, we touch every aspect of an ERP system. From a ByDesign perspective, that gave us real comfort that it had all the functionality for what we needed. That system can evolve with us.”

According to Bennett, the shift away from manual processes will also enable the organisation to expand its data use beyond finance and provide the business total visibility on reporting and planning.

“By introducing SAP Business ByDesign, Frugalpac has created a platform to optimise business growth by ensuring that we have the ability to scale quickly whilst focusing on core activities,” Bennet further said in a statement.

Expert Implementation of SAP’s Cloud-Based ERP Solution

Moreover, Frugalpac also decided to select Sapphire Systems as its implementation partner. Sapphire Systems’ SAP capabilities, expert product knowledge, and prompt delivery of requests throughout the vendor selection lifecycle impressed Frugalpac with a professional approach.

“Sapphire all along were very diligent and very prompt, showing excellent professional behaviour, which gave us comfort during the tendering process. If they act like that in the tendering process, there’s a good chance they’ll follow that through to deployments,” Bennett said.

With its new paper wine bottle called Frugal Bottle now commercially available in China, penetrating major global industries means Frugalpac’s operations will get even more complex. The paper innovation has also gained the interests of audiences in Hong Kong and Japan. As a supplier to an international customer base, particularly to key wine growing regions, the company needed a way to integrate its technical, supply chain, and commercial functions all into a single, cloud-based platform.

For fast-growing, mid-market businesses like Frugalpac, SAP Business ByDesign empowers them to scale and compete without the complexity and cost. Since the solution’s implementation in September, Frugalpac now has a comprehensive oversight of all operations that is accessible across the company’s head office and two manufacturing locations.

In order to make use of advanced cybersecurity, data, and compliance capabilities, Bennett further emphasised the importance of seeking a commercial cloud solutions provider. He stressed:

“To leverage a world class supplier that has all that infrastructure in place was particularly important to us.”

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SAP Philippines celebrated its 25th anniversary, providing solutions and services not only to conglomerates but as well as to small and medium-sized businesses in the country across many industry verticals such as real estate, banking, energy, and IT.

Edler Panlilio, Managing Director of SAP Philippines since 2017 said:

“As we celebrate our 25th year in the Philippines, we are all proud that many companies and institutions run better with SAP. We remain committed to our purpose of helping Filipino companies of all sizes to become intelligent enterprises and improve the lives of Filipinos through technology.”

For over two decades now, local and multinational companies leverage SAP’s end-to-end business solutions in streamlining their complex daily operations while increasing productivity and staying competitive in their respective markets. SAP continues to strengthen its presence in the Philippines since its operation in 1995, growing its number of employees from 10 to 2,000 now across four offices around the country.

SAP Philippines has received the 2020 Top Employer from Top Employers Institute for empowering best people practices and having exceptional employee working conditions. SAP Philippines has received this distinction for three consecutive years.

Delivering SAP’s Mission

Despite COVID-19’s global disruption, SAP in the Philippines continues to deliver SAP’s mission to help the world run better and improve people’s lives. The technology advocates technology innovation both for businesses and for the youth of the country.

SAP for SMEs

For the SME-dominated Philippines, MD Panlilio has been encouraging businesses to leverage SAP Business One and SAP Business ByDesign as they navigate the road to becoming an intelligent enterprise even in this unpredictable environment. The nation’s economic recovery post-pandemic lies in the ability of the SME ecosystem to thrive by leveraging technology since the sector is responsible for 2.5 million-job creations in the country. 

“These quarantine guidelines demonstrated how technology continues to play an important role in supporting business continuity. Organisations now rely more on digital tools and platforms to move labor-oriented practices into more automated and technology-oriented processes,” Panlilio said earlier in June.

SAP and the Filipino Youth

Recognising the youth’s creativity and innovativeness in addressing today’s pressing concerns, SAP has created programs such as SAP University Alliances. It is a global program that enables faculty and teachers at educational institutions and partners around the world to educate next-generation talents with SAP skills for the intelligent enterprise and the experience economy, engage with SAP events, build industry partnerships, launch graduates in the SAP ecosystem, and inspire young thinkers.

In the Philippines, there 15 universities enrolled in the program including De La Salle University-Dasmarñas, which has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation and SAP University Alliances earlier this year.

In partnership with the ASEAN Foundation, SAP supports ASEAN Data Science Explorers, another program designed to explore the youth’s potential in creating a positive social impact in Southeast Asia through technology. The recently concluded ASEAN DSE 2020 National Finals awarded two college students from Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology to compete at the regional level to be held in November.

“SAP’s enduring purpose is to help the world run better and improve people’s lives. Over the last 25 years, our Filipino colleagues have grown our business and operational footprint significantly in the Philippines. As we look into the next 25 years, innovation and ecosystem is going to help accelerate our efforts to achieve a Digital Philippines and drive our next wave of growth,” said Verena Siow, President & Managing Director of SAP South East Asia.

The post Celebrating 25 years of SAP in the Philippines appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

In January this year, SMEs dominate the Philippines’s business landscape comprising of 106,175 small enterprises, 4,895 medium enterprises, and a massive 887,272 units of micro business establishments. The country recorded only 4,769 large enterprises. With SMEs being responsible for 2.5 million-job creations in the country, the nation’s economic recovery post-pandemic lies in the ability of the SME ecosystem to thrive by leveraging technology. 

Karl Kendrick Chua, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) chief, said that the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for the Philippines to address its “digital divide” and transition to becoming a digitally-powered economy. Aside from enabling the healthcare sector to face the COVID-19’s pressing challenges head-on, technology has also been at the forefront of many enterprises’ strategies for survival in these unprecedented times.

Embracing the New Normal

SAP Philippines recognises the country’s need for a 180-degree pivot to embrace and adapt to the new normal. According to SAP Philippines Managing Director Edler Panlilio, the global health crisis has changed the business landscape as employees, customers, and organisations adjust to remote working, transacting via online or virtual channels, and even managing business operations remotely.

“These quarantine guidelines demonstrated how technology continues to play an important role in supporting business continuity. Organisations now rely more on digital tools and platforms to move labor-oriented practices into more automated and technology-oriented processes,” Panlilio explained.

Panlilio stressed that even when the Philippine government decides to lift the quarantine guidelines, technological advancements will continue to grow significantly. For SMEs, he emphasised that now is the most opportune time to shift their gears towards technology as an important asset, instead of an option. This shift in perception will enable them to not only thrive in the new normal but also continue to be resilient despite possible disruptions from the coronavirus health crisis.

SAP Solutions for SMEs

The SAP Philippines MD highlighted SAP Business One and SAP Business ByDesign as two of the SAP solutions that SMEs can take advantage of as they navigate the road to becoming an intelligent enterprise even in this unpredictable environment. Today, more and more businesses strive to become “intelligent enterprises” to achieve greater productivity, more efficient operations, and better cost-saving processes.

“Intelligent enterprises can collect insights better from customers, employees, products, and brands at every touchpoint as they use powerful technology to sense opportunities, risks, and trends and, turn this intelligence into action across every part of the business,” said Panlilio.

Designed for small and midsize businesses, SAP Business One (SAP B1) offers an affordable way to several key business areas. It is a single, integrated solution that captures all critical business information for immediate access and company-wide use. The SAP ERP solution boasts of its modularity and flexibility having more than 500 add-on solutions, custom-made to industries, or special functions.

On the other hand, SAP Business ByDesign is a single cloud ERP solution for fast-growing, mid-market businesses to scale and compete without the complexity and cost. The solution enables businesses to connect every function across their organisation to time-tested best practices and in-depth analytics.

SAP B1 Adoption

In the country, many SMEs that have used SAP solutions emerged to be fast-growing enterprises. 

Sta. Elena Properties is one of the SMEs that leveraged SAP B1 to seamlessly integrate their financial accounting system and deliver reports more effectively. The solution allowed the company to have access to real-time data enabling them to make sound and informed decisions.

“Optimising our financial and accounting system through technology has helped us improve our business processes and nurture the company’s growth,” said Katrina Tantoco-Lobregat, VP for Sales Marketing and Business Development at Sta. Elena Properties.

MM Steel Service Center Corporation has also leveraged SAP B1 to help steel production and delivery run 24/7. Now having full visibility into their stock items and production orders, the company can forecast demand as well as guarantee customer satisfaction.

“We have been successful in implementing SAP Business One across our supply chain. We are now always confident to fill customers’ orders. Because at any time of the day, we know exactly how much stock we have on hand, what orders are incoming and how much stock is in transit,” shared the steel manufacturer’s Accounting Supervisor Marcel Gako.

“This means zero delays across the entire supply chain. Uninterrupted supply means uninterrupted growth,” further stressed Raymond Seminiano, Supervisor at MM Steel.

MD Panlilio explained that SAP, as a purpose-driven company, is focused on helping its customers and organisations successfully manage their businesses amid new adversaries just like this pandemic. He said:

“SAP’s mission has always been to help every type of organisation in whatever size or shape, to run better. Especially in the Philippines where SMEs are essential to our thriving economy, we remain focused on providing access to technology that will support their growth and resiliency.”

While the Philippine government strives to provide incentives and aids to SMEs, SMEs, for their own sake, must stay on top of their game to innovate, find and adopt applicable solutions and technology to help them prosper during and after the pandemic.

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