JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — June 1st, 2023 — SAP today announced the winners of its latest SAP Africa Partner Awards, which recognises excellence within the SAP partner ecosystem across Africa.
The SAP Africa Partner Awards recognise the insight, expertise and value that partner organisations deliver to companies using SAP technologies to run core business processes. The winning partner organisations include Dimension Data, Accenture South Africa, and Zimele Technologies.
Tracy Bolton, Chief Operating Officer at SAP Africa, notes the important role partner organisations play in supporting digital transformation initiatives across the continent. “African organisations are adopting cloud technologies at an unprecedented scale as they strive to boost efficiency, unlock innovation and transform their business models. As a partner-led organisation, SAP works closely with a broad range of innovators, experts and market leaders to ensure African enterprises have the support and insight they need to realise their intelligent enterprise ambitions.”
The winning companies at this year’s SAP Africa Partner Awards include:
Dimension Data, winner of the Top Cloud Performance category, which considers cloud bookings, year-on-year growth, and renewals;
Zimele Technologies, winner of the Top Capacity Growth category, which considers skills development, training and the percentage increase in certified consultants;
Accenture South Africa, winner of the Go-Lives category, which recognises the number of customer go-lives; and
Dimension Data for excellence in SAP RISE, which considers RISE bookings.
Growing interest in cloud adoption in Africa
Andrew Strachan, Head of Sales: Business Applications at Dimension Data, cites growing interest from customers wishing to migrate their on-premise ERP business processes to cloud environments. “We help our clients move to the cloud and embrace the latest SAP technologies. Lately we’ve seen growing numbers of clients adopt the SAP RISE program to move their on-premise SAP applications into both public and private cloud environments. We work closely with SAP and our customers to ensure that their cloud migration is a success.”
According to Bertrin Pekeur, SAP Lead at Accenture South Africa, SAP forms an integral part of Accenture’s strategy of digitalisation. “We believe every business is a digital business, and the quickest way to digitalise is through the cloud. RISE with SAP and SOAR with Accenture provide clients with the ideal platform for cloud adoption.”
Skills essential to cloud success
One of the most important factors for successful cloud adoption is the availability of sufficiently skilled consultants and technology experts. In research conducted by SAP Africa, four in five African organisations said they were affected by a lack of tech skills, leading to increased pressure on existing teams, a lack of competitiveness, and stifled innovation capabilities.
Accepting the award for Top Capacity Growth, Nomvuyo Mnyaka, Delivery Head Executive at Zimele Technologies, notes the importance of skills in the successful implementation of ERP solutions, integrations and support services. “Our people are our most valuable asset, and we invest heavily in their development and growth. With SAP’s strategic focus on creating business value over It value, the availability of skilled consultants and technology specialists is essential to our long-term success.”
Partner ecosystem thriving
Bolton cites the thriving partner ecosystem as a cornerstone of SAP’s success with supporting Africa’s digital transformation efforts. “The winners at this year’s SAP Africa Partner Awards are a showcase of the expert guidance, technological capabilities and business insight our partners provide to organisations across the continent. We look forward to deepening our relationship with our partners and continuing with the great work done to date in driving cloud adoption and tech-enabled innovation throughout the continent.”
Pekeur adds: “Considering the broad interdependencies within the cloud ecosystem, one of the most important factors for successful cloud adoption is how well the various partners can work together. Our experience with the strategic and operational management of various ecosystem partners help us deliver successful cloud deployments for our customers.”
ENDS
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About SAP
SAP’s strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent, sustainable enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: SAP customers generate 87% of total global commerce. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers’ businesses into intelligent enterprises. SAP helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want – without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 25 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, SAP helps the world run better and improve people’s lives. For more information, visit www.sap.com.
