India labs to play key role in SAP global strategy
Monday, 03 September 2007, 19:30 IST
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Bangalore: SAP AG, the world's leading provider of business software products and solutions, is betting on its India operations to play a critical role in more than doubling its global customer base and driving its growth "As our largest R&D facility and support centre outside Germany, the Indian subsidiary has become a critical link in our global strategy and will continue to play a definitive role in driving the growth," SAP chairman and CEO Henning Kagermann said here Thursday after inaugurating the new facility that will house about 2,000 software engineers. The euro 6.6-billion German firm has set a target of a 100,000 customer base worldwide by 2010 as against 41,200 presently. Its enterprise application software products are deployed by diverse organisations, including corporations, government agencies and educational institutions. It derives revenues by selling or licensing its software products and services. "As a source of products and innovations, SAP Labs India will be strategic in expanding our market share worldwide. In the sub-continent, our client base has doubled to about 2,000 in the last 12 months. Over the next 5-10 years, the customer base will be as large as in Britain and France," Kagermann told IANS on the sidelines of the event. Acknowledging the contribution made by its Indian techies, Kagermann said the breadth and quality of work being done in the labs here had reinforced the company's commitment to deepen its engagement with the local engineering talent through multiple initiatives. Under the SAP scholar programme, the subsidiary has tied up with the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore (IIIT-B) and the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) at Pilani in Rajasthan to encourage the engineering talent pool and strengthen its product development work. Students who are selected through a technical entrance test and an interview on soft skills and behavioural analysis can enrol in a post-graduate programme at either of the institutes, while working at SAP Labs in Bangalore on a part-time basis. On completion, they will have the option to join the company. As announced in New Delhi earlier this week, the parent company plans to invest $1 billion in its India operations by 2011. Reflecting the importance of India as a vibrant market and a development-cum-support centre, the company's 60-member executive board has flown into the silicon hub for the first time to meet customers and chalk out growth plans. Powered by its flagship NetWeaver platform to drive innovation and enable business change, SAP helps enterprises across the board to improve customer relationships and create efficiencies across the supply chains and business operations.
Source: IANS
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