Cloud is top enabler for experience economy driving Middle East business growth

Feature
May 17, 2020 12:07 am
Dr Hichem Maya, General Manager Consumer Industries, EMEA South, SAP.

Digital transformation is about organisations running in real-time across all lines of business to gain new levels of decision-making. As the Middle East embraces the Experience Economy, the biggest area for digital business success is in transforming employee, citizen, and customer experiences. Organisations need to become Intelligent Enterprises that listen, understand and deliver on customers’ intentions and interactions across all channels to grow their business.

SAP is seeing strong Middle East demand for SAP HANA in-memory platform, the SAP S4HANA real-time business suite, the SAP Leonardo digital innovation system, and the SAP C4HANA real-time customer experience suite.

Cloud is the major driver of Middle East business growth. In 2019, 88% of UAE IT decision-makers and 59% of Saudi Arabia IT decision-makers are planning to increase cloud spend, according to YouGov. SAP is supporting government-led Middle East digital transformation with UAE and Saudi Arabia cloud data centers.

SAP is seeing strong growth in Middle East companies investing in emerging technologies. For example, YouGov surveys show that Middle East IT decision-makers agree that cloud is important for integrating AI, machine learning, Internet of Things, and blockchain, including 83% in Saudi Arabia and 76% in the UAE.

Middle East business heads need to lead organisation-wide digital transformation in meeting business needs. One of the biggest business drivers is in migrating lines of business and core business applications to the cloud to optimise costs, productivity, agility, and scalability. For example, among IT decision-makers in the Middle East, YouGov surveys show that 83% in the UAE and 66% in Saudi Arabia say their organisations will run partially or fully on the cloud in 2019.

CIOs need to identify the emerging technologies and use cases that can best meet business needs, and can start small with pilot projects that can then scale up for wider digital business innovation and competitiveness. Based on the experience of Middle East and global customers, the early adopters of digital innovations gain market share.

Among MENA digital leaders, more than 70% are investing in Big Data and analytics, AI and machine learning, and cloud as the top three most heavily-invested technologies in 2019, according to the recent SAP and Oxford Economics Digital Transformation Executive Study. 

Majid Al Futtaim Retail digitally transformed Carrefour, with one digital platform integrating 100,000 products on its website, in-store kiosks, and tablets, and mobile app for 750,000 daily customers.

Expo 2020 Dubai, with Accenture, went live on SAP S4HANA for data-driven insights. SAP EMEA Quality Awards recognised Abdul Latif Jameel Motors and Herfy Food Services and wasl Asset Management Group. 

Customer success included Abdali Medical Center, Abu Dhabi Special Olympics, Al Dahra, Al Dawaa, Al Tasnim, ARA Petroleum, Asmak, Bahri, DEWA, Dubai Refreshments, Emirates NBD, Emirates Steel, ENOC, Indus Motor Company, McDonald’s UAE, Oasis Water, Raysut Cement, SAIB, Sarooj Construction.

Dr Hichem Maya, General Manager Consumer Industries, EMEA South, SAP.
Dr Hichem Maya, General Manager Consumer Industries, EMEA South, SAP.

Highlights

  • One of the biggest business drivers is in migrating lines of business and core business applications to the cloud.
  • Expo 2020 Dubai, with Accenture, went live on SAP S4HANA for data-driven insights.
  • SAP is supporting government-led Middle East digital transformation with UAE and Saudi Arabia cloud data centers.
  • YouGov surveys show that 83% in UAE, 66% in Saudi Arabia, say their organisations will run partially or fully on the cloud in 2019.
  • Organisations need to become Intelligent Enterprises that listen, understand and deliver on customer intentions and interactions.

 

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