SAP Middle East and North Africa

The region's top enterprise champions were honoured at a gala ceremony at Dubai's Jumeirah Beach Hotel, in the third edition of the celebrated Arab Technology Awards.

The global economic ship is starting to right itself and navigate into less turbulent waters, though not without organisations placing more importance on customers. Nathan Statz investigates how CRM is faring in the current climate.

Next month, judging begins for the 2009 edition of the Arab Technology Awards – and for me, that will be the real litmus test of whether the region’s IT ventures have emerged from the global financial crisis.

Conformia received a minority investment from SAP two years ago and has now agreed to sell its intellectual property assets to Oracle.

After acquiring Western Bakeries in 2007, Almarai had to convert its ERP system from Oracle to SAP in just 104 days – and using only one team to support both companies. Imthishan Giado reports.

The SAP-RIM partnership has born fruit in the form of general availability of SAP’s CRM application on Blackberrys.

The recently-opened E-City in UAE’s Wafi Mall has become the first retailer in the region to use SAP’s Retail platform

States regional enterprises will have to find new business models and make better use of existing assets

Al-Bilad Arabia Company first in region to certify on the Run SAP methodology for implementations

Kuwait conglomerate upgrades SAP ERP to create better efficiency across business divisions

Pragma Group International chooses ‘All in One’ ERP solution to streamline operations and manage growth

SAP EMEA president tells regional businesses they need to embrace change

SAP Middle East & North Africa VP of Sales steps down after less than twelve months

Figures confirm global financial crisis has presently not affected regional market

Satyam to deploy SAP ERP for Oman trading conglomerate

SAP MENA looking for expert partners to expand Middle East footprint

Bavarian Auto Group has selected enterprise software specialist SAP to provide it with Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERP) in a bid, it claims, to improve operational efficiency.

SAP took the first meeting of its regional user group as an opportunity to set out its stall for its regional strategy following the buyout of SAP Arabia last year. ACN was at the event to gauge the reaction.

The results are in - after much deliberation over many nominations of the highest calibre, itp.net presents it list of the ten most exceptional IT companies in the Middle East

SAP Middle East and North Africa User Group to host first annual conference after SAP AG acquisition of SAP Arabia

Warning signs are beginning to appear that indicate there could be troubled times ahead for the IT industry.

SAP gradual roll out of new ERP on demand solution will mean no regional offering until 2009

Key moments shape the fate of every market and none more so than when SAP AG's customer solutions operations chief Ernie Gunst strolled into a Dubai press conference last week to deliver the news that many in the channel have anticipated for a long time, but few wondered would ever happen.

ERP major buys out SAP Arabia to establish direct operations for the Middle East.

How the latest point of sale technology can keep both customers and employees satisfied.

SAP Arabia has begun an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation for Jordan-based real estate company Saraya Holdings.

The retail and logistics industries continue to boom throughout the Middle East as the region’s economies continue to soar. The same could be said of its technologies, as Duncan MacRae finds out.

Software giant Oracle has snapped up Agile Software, a provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) products.

Business conglomerate Al Batha Group has implemented Sun's N1 Advanced Architecture solution to consolidate and cut costs on its SAP systems.

SAP and Microsoft have extended the roadmap for their Duet partnership, the two firms announced at the former's Sapphire user conference in Atlanta, US, last week.

IT agility remains a collective figment of the imagination at some vendors' marketing departments rather than something which can actually be realised.

European software vendor SAP met analysts' forecasts for sales of new licences but missed expectations for earnings in its 2007 fiscal first quarter, it said last week.

Shai Agassi, one of SAP's most senior executives - and tipped in many quarters as the next CEO - has resigned to work in the alternative energy sector.

The Middle East is now world leader in the development and implementation of IT systems for use in the oil and gas sector. ACN looks at some of the most ambitious projects in the world built on and around innovative technology.

MENA regional SAP users want to establish a regional version of Sapphire - a SAP knowledge exchange - because going to the US or European event is too expensive.

The UAE's Al Batha Group is deploying mobile customer relationship management (CRM) software from SAP to boost productivity and efficiency in its sales force.

The software giant's lawsuit against SAP is surprising.

Service-orientated architecture (SOA) and business process management (BPM) provider, WebMethods, has stepped up its campaign to educate CIOs in the Middle East on the benefits of service-oriented architecture.

Software firm WebMethods has introduced its business activity monitoring (BAM) solution, Optimise for SAP.

HP and SAP have expanded their partnership on SOA software and services, the companies said last week.

SAP is focusing more heavily on the middle market, the firm said last week, promising to invest as much as US$518million on product development this year.

SMB companies are a fundamental part of the Middle East landscape and for the software channel that represents a prime target base. Even renowned enterprise software providers such as CA, Oracle and SAP are assembling dedicated channels to seduce SMB customers that need a wealth of office solutions to efficiently run their operations. Channel Middle East examines this highly competitive battleground and asks what it takes to crack the Middle East SMB software market.

The IT system backing a bank can make all the difference when the time comes for business expansion, whether it comes through acquisitions or from organic growth

SAP Arabia CEO Essam Enany has headed the firm since its incorporation in 1994. He talks to Andrew White about the past, present and future of the Middle East’s IT market.

Saudi Arabian business conglomerate Abunayyan Group has implemented an ERP solution from software giant SAP to replace its ageing BPCS system.

‘A woman’s place is in the kitchen not in the corporate data centre’ — not our view but one that still prevails in some pockets of the Middle East IT industry. It is difficult to comprehend that throughout the world, even in these modern times, this outdated perspective can still rear its ugly head.

Targeting the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) market sector is a vital part of our strategy, claims Eric Duffaut, executive vice president of SAP EMEA

ETA & Star Group and Sahara Petrochemicals to deploy SAP across operations

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Software giant’s ERP to support shared services

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SAP’s focus on industry specific solutions is paying dividends with a number of companies, including luxury goods chain Paris Gallery, implementing its software

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Manufacturing and oil & gas help drive up spend, says IDC

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