What is your take on Bangladesh’s progress towards its vision for digital transformation?
We have been working in Bangladesh for almost a decade, and are associated with several companies. The RMG industry is the key driving force of Bangladesh's economy. Apart from the garment industry, we are witnessing a great deal of digital transformation happening in the field of oil, gas, energy, consumer goods, manufacturing, and education, and we are receiving great response from all these sectors. The GDP, infrastructural development, foreign investment, per capita income, and export revenue are increasing, which will eventually be empowering the buying patterns. So, in order to cope up with the global changes in business models, there is no alternative to technology.
What is your operational modality in Bangladesh? Do you operate through partners or directly provide sales and services in Bangladesh, as you do not have an office here?
There are three factors to consider - sales engagement, implementation and post-implementation support. Firstly, we are having direct engagement with the customers at present. But our objective is to develop a self-sufficient ecosystem, by which our partners will be able to operate the business on behalf of us. Secondly, implementation partners are being brought from abroad as Bangladesh lacks skilled human resources in the field. And thirdly, we take care of the annual maintenance of the software as part of the post-implement support.
What are your thoughts on the local FSI, manufacturing and pharmaceutical industries? Have they been able to digitize their businesses? Which of the verticals are your top priority here?
Some small and mid-sized organizations are operating in a manner that is not suitable enough for proper digitalization. But we are observing a positive change of mindset. Companies are becoming more eager to use automation as they are realizing the growth potential. First, they need to develop an error-free system. Their next focus should be on customer experience, salesforce management, marketing, e-commerce, procurement, and HR Management.
How can SAP help local entities scale up their operations by cutting back costs and optimize operations?
We have been doing business for 45 years in so many different industries with great reputation. Our procedure of operation is widely accepted everywhere we work, and we can provide our services to all sectors. Moreover, SAP is introducing new technologies like client server technology, cloud, social media, big data, analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, and IoT to its customers. SAP is investing nearly $4 billion for research and development per year.
What was the objective behind the 2019 SMB Innovation Summit? How do you think intelligent enterprise can help the private sector in ensuring optimum output and service?
Basically, two types of audience attended this summit. One is the existing user, and the other is the potential user. Another category who also attended has no idea about SAP. One of our objectives is to educate, and enlighten that segment about SAP.
Do you have any campaign plan to increase awareness?
We are doing seminars and discussion regarding SAP on a regular basis. We have done such a big summit, and we will continue to do so in the days to come.
Who are your target customers here and what is your market share? Who are your competitors and how does SAP fair against them?
Our focus is not limited to a specific clientele. We have our footprints in the automotive, aeronautical, banking, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, retail, wholesale, oil, gas, energy, and telecom sectors. We have operations in 180 countries of the world. We have 4,67,000 customers. 77% of the world’s food is produced by our users. 77% of the transaction revenues are executed through SAP. Our main objective in Bangladesh will be creating referable customers. Our customers will be our spokesperson.
What are the solutions and services you are offering in Bangladesh currently? Do you have any localized solution for your customers in Bangladesh?
We don’t need to develop customization. One of the interesting reasons is, our customers in Bangladesh have foreign customers. Local companies are operating their business, aligning it with foreign companies. So, we don’t need to do any special customization.
Does SAP have any partnership with any government entity? What are your scopes for collaborating with the government?
We are interested in working with the Bangladesh government. But at present, we don’t have any specific plan. We have already worked with Bangladesh Bank, Electricity Generation Company, and NBR. We have provided ERP support to National Board of Revenue.
Bangladesh’s startup ecosystem is taking shape. Does SAP have plans to take local initiatives for training human resources and collaborating with eligible local startups for empowering them?
We have worked with 33 start-ups in India. We have a start-up lab in India. We incubate start-up companies, then we do the innovation together, and develop the solution together. We also provide funds, and support to market the ideas. We have done this India, and hope we will be successful here too in the future.