JOHANNESBURG — SAP Africa will today host an event for SAP partners that serve as master value-added resellers (master VARs*) and small open ecosystem partners** at the Johannesburg Country Club in Woodmead. The event is the first of its kind on the continent and testimony to the importance of the SAP partner network in Africa.
It will creatively bring together partners of different sizes with a view to fostering exchange of best practices, exploring potential for new relationships and ultimately driving further business collaboration.
The event will take the form of “speed-dating” sessions during which all participating partners will have an opportunity to introduce their solutions and services to the master VARs EOH, Britehouse and UCS Solutions, who will showcase their experience and breadth. In return, the master VARs have the opportunity to explore possibilities to supplement their own offerings and skill-sets by exploring ways in which to potentially collaborate in the future with the attending open ecosystem partners. More than 35 partners are expected to attend this event.
“We are excited to have the opportunity to bring this dynamic group together today. Our objective is not only to facilitate interaction, but to create more business opportunities and revenue streams for SAP partners. Today’s business faces many challenges, not the least of which is the transition to the third platform and taking the reins in the whole African drive towards digital transformation,” commented Tracy Bolton, Director, Global Channels and General Business, SAP Africa. “Those challenges demand agile yet comprehensive software solutions that go beyond just providing technology. By drawing on a combined pool of the right skills, insights and leadership, this can become a manageable and profitable reality for both sets of partners.”
During the event, participants will also attend presentations by SAP Africa, covering trends in digital transformation, cloud and the advantages of the SAP HANA platform.
A key goal of SAP Africa is to grow the range of partners in the ecosystem, which forms an integral part of SAP’s African expansion strategy. SAP Africa also expects that increased business for partners will stimulate the participation of its ecosystem in the SAP Skills for Africa skill development and job creation initiative, aimed at developing ICT skills in Africa as part of SAP’s global commitment to promoting education and entrepreneurship.
“By acting as a conduit for relationships between solution providers, SAP Africa is building a network through which customers can find the appropriate, innovative technology solutions to support their business ambitions. We want to drive innovation, sales, certification and skills development in a direction that makes sense to our customers, to help their investments Run Simple.” concluded Bolton.
Following today’s master VAR event, SAP Africa will be hosting a Cloud Partner Recruitment Information day tomorrow, at the Johannesburg Country Club in Woodmead. The purpose of this event is to demonstrate the lucrative revenue opportunities to new partners through the provisioning of its Public Cloud Solution Portfolio (SaaS) and HANA Cloud platform for Application Innovation, to customers and businesses across Africa.
*Definition of Value Added Reseller and Master VAR:
A value-added reseller is a company that adds features or services to existing SAP solutions, with the purpose of re-selling a turnkey solution to the end customer. To become a master VAR in the SAP Extended Business Program, the Value Added Reseller has to meet specific criteria, including the following:
- Is an active SAP gold partner in the SAP PartnerEdge program
- Is developing and implementing an approved strategy and business plan to support SAP’s volume business model
- Has dedicated resources in place to manage partner members of the SAP Extended Business program and demonstrated the ability to fulfill all obligations on behalf of those members
- Has an existing pipeline of members of the SAP Extended Business program, as well as current and ongoing recruitment of new members based on strategy agreed upon with SAP.
** Definition of an Open Ecosystem Partner:
The SAP open ecosystem partner model is a new approach for technology companies that want either an exploratory or light collaborative relationship with SAP.
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