SAP Africa raises stakes in SME sector with Business One on HANA

As a follow-up to the successful SAP Africa SME Forum hosted in Johannesburg last week, SAP Africa today unveiled an update to its business management software suite offering aimed directly at Africa’s burgeoning small to medium enterprise (SME) sector – and it says the new solution will bring big-business functionality to local SMEs at small company prices. 

The updated solution, SAP Business One on HANA, combines the existing broad range of functionality into a single, affordable package that runs all key business processes, ranging from financials to sales, service, warehousing, operations and human resources. The solution powered by SAP’s flagship HANA in-memory computing platform, now allows users to rapidly interrogate massive volumes of data in real time, thereby improving the quality of on the job decision making and predictive analysis.

“When you run a small business, it’s personal,” says Desmond Nair, Head of Ecosystem and Channels at SAP Africa. “Small and Medium enterprises are under pressure to carefully think through the implications of every business-relevant decision – and their chosen business software has to provide them with information they can trust and help them execute on those decisions quickly and cost-effectively.”

Nair says the launch, along with several industry events that are a focus for the local subsidiary this year, further illustrates SAP’s focus on the SME sector. “Historically, SAP has been viewed as a provider of enterprise level solutions.  “With products like Business One on HANA, we are reinforcing our position as being relevant for African SMEs.”

An immediate benefit we have witnessed with our customers and partners is simplified reporting landscapes, thereby accelerating decision making, and in turn reducing time to market and profit, says Nair. 

Our customers are enjoying faster planning cycles, efficient sales and production processes, and effective financial built-in business functionality. It is rewarding to experience the power of our technology and the impact it is having on the competitiveness and agility of our SME customers. In Africa, many of our customers are expanding locally and globally. As this trend continues, our SAP Business One technology, powered by HANA is positioned to assist them in enabling this growth”, Nair concludes.