The gathering provided a platform to discuss the profound implications of artificial intelligence in optimizing operations and discovering new business opportunities in an increasingly digitalized world.

During the keynote session, Dr. Chenhong Huang, SAP Global Executive Vice President and President of Greater China, emphasized the transformative impact of artificial intelligence on business models and competitive dynamics. According to Dr. Huang, SAP Business AI is designed to be reliable and responsible, ensuring that enterprises can remain competitive and achieve substantial growth in a fast-evolving market. By integrating SAP’s advanced Business AI, cloud, and data management solutions, companies in Hong Kong and Macau are poised to achieve agile, globalized, and sustainable development.

SAP’s commitment to innovation was further highlighted with the announcement of the fully upgraded “Business AI Experience Center” at its Hong Kong office. This center aims to provide customers and partners with a comprehensive understanding of AI’s potential through a three-pronged approach: Inspiration, Empowerment, and Collaboration.

The Inspiration phase showcases the potential of AI in driving innovation, efficiency, and growth through real-world business demos and success stories. Meanwhile, in the Empowerment phase, businesses gain the knowledge and understanding of AI-driven solutions to make informed decisions and drive digital transformation. Lastly, the Collaboration phase fosters strong partnerships between SAP, its customers, and partners, providing a platform for interactive workshops, live demos, and knowledge-sharing sessions.

Bridging Industry Needs with Advanced AI Solutions

Mr. Esmond Tong, SAP Managing Director of Hong Kong and Macau, further highlighted the practical applications of Business AI across various industries, which were showcased at the upgraded experience center. The center also demonstrates real-time use cases of Business AI, helping Hong Kong and Macau enterprises understand the need for AI-embedded solutions to address their challenges and drive growth. Additionally, this collaborative platform not only strengthens the relationship between SAP and its customers but also enables SAP to better comprehend their needs and deliver tailored solutions.

With over five decades of expertise, SAP serves 26 industries, providing industry-specific solutions for businesses of all sizes. This extensive experience allows SAP to empower enterprises to accelerate their development through an integrated offering, supporting their business transformation endeavors.

Since its launch, SAP Business AI has garnered over 27,000 global customers, with more than 130 use cases covering core functions such as sales, finance, supply chain, and human resources. By incorporating Business AI into industry-specific solutions, SAP has significantly enhanced enterprise productivity, efficiency, and resilience.

Real-World Applications Showcased at SAP NOW Hong Kong

A prime example of SAP Business AI’s capabilities is its impact on Roche, a century-old pharmaceutical company. By leveraging SAP Business AI, Roche has reduced the time required for drug research and production forecasting from weeks to mere hours, achieving a 40% improvement in accuracy. This enhancement has substantially increased R&D investment returns and minimized decision-making risks.

Additionally, Delta Air Lines has benefited from SAP Business AI by improving employee satisfaction, creating personalized career plans, and achieving precise talent matching. These efforts have resulted in a 98% retention rate of high-performing employees, with 25% of frontline employees transitioning to managerial roles. This has strengthened Delta’s competitiveness and enabled it to meet its business objectives more effectively.

The advancements presented at SAP NOW Hong Kong 2024 underscore the pivotal role of Business AI in fostering enterprise growth and innovation. By providing a platform for industry leaders and experts to share insights and experiences, SAP continues to drive the digital transformation journey for businesses in Hong Kong and Macau. The integration of AI into business operations not only enhances efficiency and productivity but also paves the way for sustainable development in an increasingly competitive landscape.

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To continue building an ecosystem that will power intelligent enterprises and spur digital transformation, SAP recently held its biggest and most open and inclusive pan-ecological in-person event yet. The conference, which took place in Yuxi, Yunnan, China, brought together numerous existing and potential partners. This highlights SAP’s dedication to working with others in order to create innovative solutions that will help businesses keep up with the ever-changing digital landscape. (InsideSAP Asia often references articles from websites in other languages to bring you as much information as possible.)

During the SAP Partner Summit, SAP Greater China President and Global Executive Vice President (EVP) Dr. Huang Chenhong said that this year commemorates SAP’s 50th anniversary of its founding, and the company has been firmly established in China for the past three decades. He added that SAP has never wavered from its commitment to the company’s founding principle of “in China for China.”

Additionally, Dr. Huang believes that only with the continuous backing of every partner can the company assist tens of thousands of customers in their digital transformation, boost China’s economy, and grow the local software ecosystem. He further explained:

“Under the new development pattern, SAP is willing to work with thousands of partners to create a win-win situation and common Empowering customers to become ‘new Chinese enterprises’ in the cloud era.”

Awarding Commendable Partners at the SAP Partner Summit

Moreover, SAP also awarded nine “Best Partners 2021-2022” awards to honor specific partners who have excelled in joint innovation and cloud business transformation, as well as providing exemplary customer service and support. The awards are the tech giant’s way of acknowledging the outstanding performance that these partners have done and continue to do in order to help businesses grow and succeed through digital transformation.

A total of 13 SAP partners were given awards at the event, including Deshuo, Deloitte, Haitong Anheng, IBM, Jada, Jingtong Technology, Lanying Lide, Maihui Information, Sixiang Network, Youdeyun, Xinhuaxin, Xintai Yihe and Chinasoft Yunzhi. These partners were singled out for their commendable work in helping to deliver successful SAP projects for customers across a range of industries.

Describing the event as “fun and engaging”, Christina Zhang, Communications Leader at SAP Greater China, also shared in a post in LinkedIn:

“The biggest and most inclusive Partner Summit in SAP Greater China. 300 existing and prospective partners gathered in beautiful Yunnan. Celebrating co-innovations, and sharing best practices. Building a robust ecosystem to support customers’ cloud transformation.”

In order to better serve customers and meet their needs, SAP will be carrying out more extensive and close cooperation with its partners through a sound ecosystem strategy. This enhanced level of cooperation between SAP and its partners is intended to create a “win-win” situation for all involved.

Announcing Major Initiatives to Support Chinese Partners

SAP also introduced a number of significant measures to help its partners speed up innovation and development, broaden their market, and boost their profits. Ultimately, it hopes to facilitate a cooperative environment where all parties benefit from one another and expand the range of enterprise-level cloud services and solutions it offers to its client base. With these measures in place, SAP’s business partners will be able to keep up with the company’s own progression as it transforms into a cloud software provider.

To help its partners create innovative solutions that add value for clients, SAP offers its open SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP). In addition, SAP customers may select, try out, buy, and update their applications through SAP Store, a global platform for cutting-edge app development. Fifty-five applications created by 36 local partners, including four from SAP-incubated startups, are available for download from the SAP Store right now.

As of last year, China is home to the SAP.iO Startup Accelerator, a program designed to accelerate the growth of early-stage business-to-business (B2B) startups, facilitate the integration of technology with SAP, and supply customers with novel software solutions. Presently, 14 startups have been nurtured by the SAP.iO Foundry Shanghai.

Furthermore, SAP’s empowerment efforts extend to bolstering partners’ abilities in all phases of the business cycle, from pre-sales to post-sales support and everywhere in between. As a result of being given the tools they need, partners have successfully completed the transition to the cloud. According to the company, there has been a 60% annual growth in the number of cloud certified consultants, and more than 85% of all SAP cloud product deployments are now cloud projects executed by partners.

At the SAP Partner Summit, the company also revealed new incentives to significantly boost partners’ profitability. To improve business performance and acquire more cloud clients, SAP’s global ecological development will test out a new partner profit sharing model for cloud business.

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This year has so far seen a huge development in SAP’s cloud business as well as a revamping of the company’s organisational structure. Some of these major role changes were the appointment of Paul Marriott as President of SAP Asia-Pacific Japan in February and the promotion of Atul Tuli as Managing Director of SAP Indochina in March.

This July, SAP Greater China has announced its new President Dr. Huang Chenhong. Aside from this role, Huang has also been appointed as SAP Global Executive Vice President and will oversee the operations including budgeting, forecasting, strategic customer relations, talent and partner development, sales, marketing, and government affairs. Previously serving as the Chairman and President of Dell Technologies Greater China since 2014, Huang was a firm advocate of the “in China, for China” strategy. Throughout his nearly 7-year tenure at Dell, he has planned several key strategic projects such as industry automation, deployment of new market development strategies, product and solution localisation, and ecosystem development.

In addition, Huang formerly worked for Schneider Electric as the President of the Greater China Region of American Power Conversion Corporation (APC) and at Tellabs Communications with the same role. Furthermore, he spent 17 years with Nortel Networks, where he was in charge of US and Chinese business operations. Currently, Huang serves as the Vice President of the China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment. He is also a Member of the Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce in China.

Leading SAP Greater China’s Business 

Meanwhile, Scott Russell, Member of the SAP Executive Board and Head of Global Customer Success, believes SAP’s business will grow further under the leadership of Huang as the company has already established a “solid foundation” in Greater China. He stressed:

“At the same time, we can also create more opportunities for customers, partners, and employees.”

Russell has a good understanding of the Chinese market and the situation of SAP in China, having previously worked as the President of SAP APJ. In an interview with the Chinese media last month, Russell said that SAP has 550 partners in the country that support local customers, adding that they will play a critical role in the implementation of RISE with SAP.

“They will provide customers with various tools and technologies so that customers can seize the business opportunities brought by RISE with SAP. I believe that RISE with SAP has more opportunities for eco-enterprise partners,” he stated.

In the recently concluded 2021 SAP Greater China Partner Summit held in Yunnan, Jens Amail, Acting Chief Technology Officer and Chief Operations Officer at SAP Greater China, has emphasised that partners are the “core and soul” of SAP’s intelligent enterprise vision. SAP executives, experts, consultants, and trusted partners gathered at the summit to explore how various industries can gain insights into the current trends, seize business opportunities, explore diverse ecological collaboration models, and develop a new digital future with partners and customers.

Accelerating Innovation in China

Greater China has always been a key global market for SAP. According to the company’s Executive Board, it will continue to pursue strategic investment and development plans in the region. Under the leadership of former President Mark Gibbs, Greater China has become independent and has grown into one of SAP’s fastest-growing regions. Gibbs will continue to assist Huang in a smooth transition for the SAP leadership as a consultant until the end of September 2021.

Commenting on his appointment, 28-year industry veteran Huang expressed his excitement about furthering the work of localisation and innovation in China. He said:

“There is no doubt that now is the peak of the development of SAP Greater China. I look forward to working closely with the SAP team to help customers and partners succeed in the rapid process of moving towards the cloud future.”

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In recent years, China’s Software Industry has evolved rapidly fostering a vigorous tech ecosystem among local players and foreign software enterprises.

According to Xie Shaofeng, Head of the Information and Software Services Division at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, local companies adopting foreign software services, such as cloud services and software, in their effort to fast-track digitalization is one of the key contributors in the rapid development of the software industry in China.

The indisputable presence of foreign software enterprises echoed to a combined revenue of $194.6 billion in China last year as estimated by The China Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team, a research institute affiliated to the ministry.

At a news conference in Beijing, Xie said:

“Regardless of how the international situation changes, China’s software industry will become more open to the global community.”

He stressed that as software technologies enter a new era, welcoming the foreign software enterprises will benefit the country in tapping into its growth opportunities. According to him, globally, industrial and manufacturing companies are attaching greater importance to building up their technological presence in software.

Xie emphasized the importance of international collaboration at this critical time highlighting that China’s favorable policies, including tax cuts, apply to foreign-funded software and semiconductor companies that comply with the nation’s laws and regulations.

As a testimony to the country’s openness to international collaboration, Xie mentioned that two of the five biggest contributors to the three most-applied open-source cloud projects are Chinese companies, which emphasizes China’s contribution in the global open-source software community.

According to Chen Zuoning, Vice-President of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, international cooperation is needed now more than ever to adapt to digital trends such as the commercialization of 5G, which will reshape how software is applied to different industries. Cloud computing is also expected to play a bigger role in boosting efficiency in corporate governance and factory production.

In an earlier interview, Bill McDermott, CEO of SAP, described the Chinese market as “Jewel in the Crown for SAP”. This aligns with the company’s effort in doubling down on its presence in China.

McDermott said,

“I will not be surprised if China becomes our largest market by 2025, with local companies scrambling to upgrade their corporate management methods and factories with digital technologies.”

In a CNBC interview earlier this year, McDermott said that for decades now, China has been considered SAP’s “second home”. He shared that SAP and China have collaborative investments despite the concerns over trade relations between the USA and China citing SAP’s strategic partnership with several firms such as the AliBaba Group, partnering with Jack Ma and Daniel Zhang and the Ali Cloud.

With the rapid growth for SAP Greater China, the German tech giant continues to invest in expanding its presence in the market for small and medium-sized enterprises, building up the local talent and infrastructure in China.

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Rimini Street, a global provider of enterprise software products and services and a third-party support provider of Oracle and SAP software products, will be expanding its operations in Southeast Asia and the Greater China region. Andrew Seow will be leading this venture as the company’s Regional Director.

With Rimini Street’s quest to disrupt and redefine the enterprise software space as a third-party support provider, their latest investment in Southeast Asia and the Greater China region is yet another breaking story to be told.

The company’s latest expansion in APAC is brought about by its increasing base in the region. Hyundai, GM, and Proton are some of their newly converted clients.

Seow said:

“Rather than follow the vendor-dictated roadmaps that consume too much budget and put pressure on resources with expensive annual maintenance fees and a steady beat of required upgrades and updates, organizations can now turn to a trusted partner in Rimini Street to help them take the necessary steps towards leveraging their significant IT investments to achieve business results.”

How is competition looking in the region?

In the fast-moving Asian markets, Rimini Street is anticipated to compete in the ERP space with SAP, Oracle, Microsoft and other ERP software bigwigs that have earlier established their presence in APAC.

Ravin said that SAP and Rimini Street have a “co-existence agreement” where fierce competition is in the field.

SAP has reported revenue growth of 6.5{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} year-on-year, driven by S/4HANA customer adoption and strong cloud growth in the Asia Pacific and Japan business in Q1 of 2019.

SAP CEO Bill McDermott announced that SAP’s value would double by 2023 with China as the fastest growing market.

APJ boasted a healthy 55{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} rise in revenue, while Europe and the Americas at 42{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} and 45{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}, respectively. The growth in SAP cloud is growing strong globally with much promise in China and Japan.

On the other hand, Rimini Street remains unabashed despite the eight-year legal showdown with Oracle over copyright infringement.

Much like SAP, driven by digital transformation projects and smart city developments across APAC including SEA, Oracle is also steadily growing.

Cherian Varghese, Regional Managing Director and Vice-President of Oracle in ASEAN said new areas such as blockchain, IoT and autonomous bases have contributed to the organization’s continuous success. Oracle has also seen tremendous growth in SaaS portfolio, ERP suite and NetSuite business.

Rimini Street’s Value Proposition in the Region

Seth Ravin, Founder and CEO of Rimini Street, emphasized that the company’s
core mission is to enable licensees of Oracle, SAP, IBM, Microsoft, and other enterprise software vendors to save up to 90{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} on total support costs.

Cost savings is attributed to bypassing vendor-driven roadmaps and extending current IT investment. He stressed that aside from being costly, the arduous migration and recurring updates might have no inherent value to the client in terms of competitive advantage.

Ravin emphasized,

“It’s really not just about reducing costs. It’s about shifting investment – taking back the money and investing it back into your business. We focus on bringing that 90{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} spend down to 60{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}. That’s a game changer and that’s why you have so many Fortune 500’s who’ve made the switch to Rimini Street today and why they keep growing.”

Andrew Powell, APAC Managing Director of Rimini Street said,

“Our expansion into Southeast Asia and further expansion into Greater China will help bolster Rimini Street’s already strong presence across Asia-Pacific. Furthermore, the investment reflects what we see as a strong and growing appetite throughout the regions for a much more value-driven, flexible alternative to paying expensive Oracle and SAP support costs for enterprise software systems.”

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Following SAP CEO Bill McDermott’s announcement to double down in China, Concur is building integrated spend management solutions specific to the Chinese market. Chinese companies can face difficulties managing travel and expenses when dealing with overseas providers. The new development centre will integrate with SAP Concur global development capabilities, streamlining the local user experience.

SAP Concur’s Vice President of Mobile Product Management and Strategy, Deepak Seth, said:

“China is a growth market and a leader in mobile innovation with tremendous opportunities for SAP Concur. The investment in the China Development Center is aligned with our focus and commitment to continuously drive innovation and deliver completely connected spend management solutions tailored to local market requirements. We look forward to expanding our product and service offerings to better serve Chinese companies operating both locally and abroad, and help their businesses run at their best.”

Working with local and global partners while integrating with Concur’s global development means that Chinese companies can engage globally in previously problematic ways. For example, the leading Chinese online travel agency, Ctrip Corporate has seen major success, even more so since integrating with Tencent’s Chinese social media platform, WeChat. By further integrating with Ctrip, Concur is streamlining the end-to-end travel experience by simplifying pre-trip approval, expense management and bookings.

Jeff Lam, SAP Concur General Manager, Greater China, said:

“More and more companies in China are looking for ways to gain better visibility on their corporate spend and bring data from different sources into one view.  SAP Concur is committed to helping companies implement intelligent spend management by integrating intelligent technologies, such as machine learning and advanced analytics, coupled with a broad ecosystem and network, to give customers access to a clear, unified view of their business spending with actionable insights.  Following the establishment of the China Development Center, we are better positioned to collaborate with our partners to deliver best-in-class intelligent spend management solutions to support companies in China operated locally and globally.”

For more insight into the development centre and SAP Concur in China, read the press release here.

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