SAP Malaysia and partners deliver easy-to-install and easy-to-use solution for growing businesses of as few as ten employees starting at only RM99,000
Kuala Lumpur — SAP Malaysia, together with its business partners, today launched SAP Business One, extending the company’s expertise to a new segment of the small and midsize business (SMB) market. SAP Business One offers growing SMBs a simple yet powerful integrated solution that is affordable, easy-to-install and easy-to-use. The scalable solution incorporates CRM functionality as an intrinsic and fundamental part of core business automation as well as integrated material requirements planning (MRP). To reinforce this commitment, SAP Business One will be available at a special introductory price of RM99,000 for a limited period. The special price for a 5-user system includes hardware, software, implementation and training services.
“SAP is committed to assisting aspiring Malaysia businesses in overcoming global marketplace challenges and realizing their potential to become market leaders in their respective segments,” said Khatijah Shah, Managing Director of SAP Malaysia. “We do this by equipping them with cost effective solutions that will allow their businesses to increase efficiency, and enable them to make quick decisions with real time visibility. More than 11,300 SMBs around the world have already voted with their wallets by becoming SAP customers,” she added.
To date, there are eleven SAP Business One customers in Malaysia, including Batu Kawan Berhad Heavea Products Sdn Bhd, which deals in rubber products; GHL Systems Bhd, an e-Payment software provider; K T Poo Sdn Bhd; LHS Systems Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd – a provider of telco billing system; Malay-Sino Chemical Industries Sdn Bhd; Nastah Industries Sdn Bhd – a rubber glove manufacturer; NTR Resources Sdn Bhd, an electronics component distributor; Taiko Bleaching Earth Sdn Bhd; Taiko Drum Industries and Taiko Marketing Sdn Bhd, which manages the chemical division of Batu Kawan. Croesus IT Solutions Sdn Bhd, Headstart Infinitium Sdn Bhd, Multiple Intelligence Network Sdn Bhd and Selatan Business Solutions Sdn Bhd are the SAP’s business and integration partners for these customers.
“SAP Business One is a simple yet powerful business solution that helps emerging enterprises streamline their operations and provides them with access to critical real-time information,” said Pranay Mital, Director of SMB Operations, SAP Asia Pacific. “SAP Business One enables companies to maximize efficiency and strategic advantage across their entire business for growth and profitability today and in the future. We aim to be the number one SMB player in Asia Pacific this year and the introduction of SAP Business One completes our strategy,” he added.
SAP Business One joins mySAP All-in-One to complete SAP’s two-tiered solutions offering for SMBs and further builds on the significant momentum SAP is already experiencing in the SMB space in Asia Pacific with an average of three new customers each working day of 2004, nearly doubling annual software revenue in the region’s business SMB sector.
SAP Business One gains momentum
“We studied many systems from various vendors before we found SAP Business One to be the closest fit, which did not cost us an arm and a leg,” said Albert Koay, General Manager (Group IT) for KLK Berhad and IT Consultant to the Taiko Group. Taiko Group’s core business is in the manufacturing of Activated Clays, Bituminous Products/Sports Facilities and Equipment, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) drums. “One key advantage of SAP Business One was that the system could be up in a very short implementation time frame. It has most of what we needed and customization is almost negligible. All these can be summed up in one phrase ‘Low cost of ownership and huge savings’.”
GHL Systems Bhd, a leading payment services enabler listed on Mesdaq market, selected SAP Business One to establish connectivity and increase operational efficiency with minimum investment. “Our top priority was to enhance our business processes, to improve on our customer service delivery with a solution that could help in our expansion into the Asia Pacific markets,” said Tay Beng Lock, Group Managing Director of GHL Systems Bhd. “Also, the user friendliness and drill down functionalities in SAP Business One is just perfect for the end-users with very little training required.”
K T Poo, a property consultant, medical equipment distributor and provider of business development within its group implemented SAP Business One to enhance efficiency and productivity across all its entities in which it has vested interests. “SAP Business One has helped us reduce costs, sharpen our competitiveness and deliver more value to customers,” said Director of KT Poo, Mr. Poo Choon Hoh. “We are now equipped to achieve our growth targets and expand our business further.”
Collaboration with Strong Business Partners
To provide customers with one face and a single point of contact, SAP Business One is sold exclusively through certified SAP business partners with a strong understanding of SMB needs. SAP’s business partners provide customers with dedicated support and expertise, as well as implementation and training services for SAP Business One. SAP’s partners in Malaysia are Croesus IT Solutions Sdn Bhd, Headstart Infinitium Sdn Bhd., Multiple Intelligence Network Sdn Bhd and Selatan Tech Sdn Bhd. Apart from these local partners, SAP has more than 1,300 partners worldwide. The partners go through rigorous training to ensure that they are able to provide customer service that meet SAP’s stringent requirements.
“At Selatan Business Solutions, we believe that it is important to select a business partner that is a global leader,” said Tan Kok Pin, Managing Director, Selatan Business Solutions. “We chose SAP for its industry leadership and technology expertise. More importantly, we share a common vision with SAP to help our customers improve operational efficiency and take advantage of growth opportunities. Together, we have achieved the right synergy to translate customers’ business strategies into results.”
Industry Leading Technology Partnerships
SAP has also teamed up with technology partners, Citrix Systems, HP and IBM, who can leverage their industry and technology expertise and long-standing business relationships in each Asia Pacific country. Citrix, HP and IBM will combine their local domain expertise and high touch services with SAP solutions, to provide a compelling offering to growing businesses. The financing arms of these partners will also help customers finance the SAP Business One implementation.
“What SMBs really need is an end-to-end business solution that can be easily deployed and managed,” says Yaj Malik, Area Vice President, Citrix Systems (ASEAN). “Through our collaboration with SAP, SMBs can now rapidly deploy Business One, gain instant Web-based remote access, simplify IT management and reduce IT infrastructure costs.”
“At HP, we help to enable SMB customers get more business results from their technology investments. HP’s Smart Office program takes our SMB offering and approach to a new level, leveraging HP resources and our global channel partner network to provide local access to specialized expertise, together with the quality, reliability and breadth of our SMB technology portfolio, and a simplified ownership experience. We believe this combination is altogether better for business customers,” said Raymond Yap, Director, Commercial & SMB, Customer Solutions Group, HP Malaysia.
“SAP plays a key role in IBM’s commitment to help customers integrate, automate and transform their businesses to become more responsive, focused, flexible and resilient,” said IBM Malaysia’s General Manager (Global Small Medium Businesses) Chiam Yat Seng. “IBM is pleased to partner with SAP, combining our leading solutions, technology and services, to equip local businesses, particularly local small and medium businesses, to compete more aggressively in the globalized market.”
SMB Growth in Malaysia and Asia Pacific
Highlighting the fact that SMBs in Malaysia are growing at unprecedented rates, IDC recently reported that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia are set to increase their IT expenditure this year. According to IDC’s recently published research highlighting its top key trends for the IT market in Malaysia, IDC expects the market to maintain IT spending momentum of 11% growth over 2004 in 2005.
“Malaysia’s ERM market is expected to reach approximately US$77 million in 2004, increasing at 5% year on year,” commented IDC analyst Chin Jun Fwu. “While competition intensifies in the SME marketplace, large ERM vendors need to develop an appropriate go-to-market strategy to market their SME line of products.” he added.
