The Global Bharat program aims to empower Indian MSMEs on their digital transformation journey by providing them access to innovative sourcing solutions, digital skilling for the workforce, and transforming business processes. The program is part of India’s Vision 2020, and was developed in association with NASSCOM Foundation, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Pratham InfoTech Foundation.

SAP India President & MD, Deb Deep Sengupta, describes the importance of this program in ensuring the country comes out of the crisis stronger than ever.

“The impact of pandemic on economy and businesses has been felt majorly by MSMEs across the country. Being a potential contributor to India’s GDP (29 per cent) and providing employment to over 111 million people, it is imperative to strengthen the sector for the revival of the country’s economy.”

SAP Ariba Network—Open to Everyone

Mid-March 2020, SAP announced that it was offering free access to SAP Ariba Discovery in response to COVID-19. The offer was originally meant to last only until the end of June. However, due to the overwhelming impact the initiative has on keeping supply chains intact as the crisis on COVID-19 persists, SAP decided to extend the free access to SAP Ariba Discovery to help connect buyers and suppliers on the SAP Ariba Network.

President of SAP Procurement Solutions, Chris Haydon, explains,

“COVID-19 disrupted global supply chains more significantly than most businesses have ever experienced. Companies realize now more than ever the power of procurement, digital networks, and the ability to find new sources of supply quickly. We are extending this offer to continue to accelerate connections between buyers and suppliers and to help ensure supply needs are fulfilled as quickly as possible during this challenging time.”

With the implementation of SAP India’s Global Bharat program, Indian MSMEs can enroll themselves as suppliers or buyers and access a global market in the SAP Ariba Network. For MSMEs, this free resource gives them the opportunity to build their sourcing networks to help their business thrive and grow.

SAP Ariba Discovery’s powerful matching algorithm matches buyers with qualified global suppliers. This not only helps MSMEs get the goods they need quickly at a lower cost, but it also improves visibility and control on spend, supplier qualifications, and product quality. Further, SAP Ariba Network adds significant value to MSMEs with a faster, more efficient sourcing discovery platform that allows businesses to maintain compliance in their sourcing process.

For MSMEs who do not have the resources to make procurement a mission-critical priority, being able to access these features with a proven solution can be the catalyst to get their companies to the next level of growth and business agility, especially in this volatile economic environment.

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SAP India has closed its offices in Bengaluru, Gurugram and Mumbai as a precautionary measure after two of its employees in Bengaluru tested positive for H1N1, also known as Swine Flu. According to the report, an internal memorandum was released encouraging employees to work from home from 20-28 February 2020.

The aforementioned SAP offices undertook extensive fumigation and sanitisation.

In an email statement, SAP India said:

“Two SAP India employees based in Bangalore (RMZ Ecoworld office) have tested positive for the H1N1 virus. Detailed contact tracing that the infected colleagues may have come into contact with is underway.”

The German ERP company has also advised its employees to seek medical advice if they, including their families, if they experience any symptoms of cold, cough with fever. This is part of the company’s effort to closely monitor the situation. It said:

“The health of our employees is our priority and it is critical that we provide the current information and guidance to help limit the spread of the H1N1 virus.”

SAP India Pvt. Ltd. is located at the RMZ Ecoworld, an IT Special Economic Zone in east Bengaluru. Other global and Indian companies like Accenture, Honeywell, Danske IT, Capgemini, KPIT Technologies, and Subex are also in the same business park.

RMZ has released an advisory to all tenants on measures to take regarding the unfortunate situation mentioning SAP’s actions. 

 “While an isolated incident has been reported, it has since been contained at a tenant space. Action has been taken as a precautionary measure,” RMZ said in a statement.

Jayaram S Govindaiah, Head of Group Real Estate and corporate services at Danske IT, shared their company’s move regarding this. He said:

“We requested our employees not to visit the food court, which is where the SAP tower is located. We quickly brought in sanitisers all over the floor for employees to use. We also had a stock of N95 masks and asked employees to make use of it. We started sanitising the handles and doors of all conference rooms and cafeteria. We asked our Danish visitors to work from their hotel and not to come to office.”

Further to RMZ’s efforts to ensure the safety of its tenants. Contact areas like lift surfaces, nobs, and taps in the common area, placing hand sanitisers, and sterilising the food court.

However, a top official of the Karnataka Health Department was quoted to say that there was an overreaction to H1N1. He said:

“We think the coronavirus fear is behind this H1N1 scare. It’s good to take precautions to avoid infection but there is no need to panic.”

In the Times of India (TOI) assessment of H1N1 data from 1 January- 20 February 2020, the state saw significantly lower cases of H1N1 versus the same period last year, wherein 175 cases were reported this year and 482 last year. Zero fatality reported this year.

“H1N1 is regularly seen and there is herd immunity to it. There is no need to quarantine, but the affected person can take rest at home till s/he recovers. Over 80{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of H1N1 cases are self-limiting. Complications are seen in 1{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of the cases only. We are not aware of the measures taken by tech companies. But there is no need to panic,” said Dr. Prakash Kumar, Joint Director.

The silver lining with the Swine Flu in India is that no spike in the number of H1N1 cases was recorded and there is no reason to panic as said by Dr. Kumar.

Meanwhile, the impact of COVID-19 in India is starting to be a cause of concern, especially with the disruption in the supply of raw materials from China. Industry leaders told Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman that this could have a serious impact on several Indian industries. China supplies 43{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of India’s imports of the top 20 goods including mobile handsets, computers, integrated circuits, and other inputs, fertilisers, APIs, and antibiotics.

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