BENGALURU: For German enterprise software company SAP, India is not only the fastest-growing market globally but also the largest market in Asia. In an interview, SAP’s president and managing director for the Indian subcontinent, Kulmeet Bawa, discusses the factors driving the company’s explosive growth, the company’s progress as a cloud provider, the opportunities and difficulties Indian businesses face when implementing cloud, digital, and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, as well as the necessity of using technology to create long-lasting businesses. Edited passages: SAP Online Training
What clicked for SAP globally and in India this year?
We discussed converting SAP into a truly cloud firm two years ago. Doing so was difficult for a 50-year-old business from a technological, mentality, and cultural standpoint. However, 2022 marked a turning point for SAP, and the cloud now represents our main source of income. For many quarters, India held the title of SAP’s country with the fastest growth rate. In terms of rising contribution to the APJ business and the growth rate, which has been the highest in India, we have concluded seven quarters as the No. 1 business region for APAC (Asia-Pacific), and this will be the eighth quarter at the top. For a nation the size of India, we make up a sizable portion of SAP’s Rise business sector (Cloud ERP), contributing 13–15% globally. In the last two years, the number of our cloud customers has doubled.
For SAP, which sectors are contributing to more growth?
Now that digital transformation is a given, every company is a tech company. How can we adapt more quickly, in a modular approach, or completely go to the cloud? Should we involve other businesses or just SAP alone? Engineering, building, life sciences, CPG, retail, and IT – ITeS are all expanding more rapidly (IT-enabled services). Additionally, India has a balanced mix of major and mid-market businesses. Typically, mid-market, MSMEs, and SMBs make up 80% of our clientele. Both of them showed growth. Last but not least, SAP Training in Noida essentially had no native digital footprint, but over the past 18 months, it has developed significantly. 40 of India’s more than 100 unicorns are currently using SAP solutions.
