SAP praises local partners

By Alex Kayle for SAP
Johannesburg, 22 Mar 2009

SAP Africa has certified seven South African partners and their nine business management solutions as part of the global SAP All-in-One partner solutions programme.

The announcement was made at SAP's headquarters, this morning, in Woodmead. “This effectively marks the new age in enterprise resource planning (ERP) sales,” says Derek Kudsee, director for SMEs, SAP Africa, who commended the partners on the achievement and said that it represents a milestone for SAP and its South African partners.

Proudly South African

“It not only speaks volumes about the great work being done locally by our partners, but also presents local partners with the potential of expanding their reach into international markets with SAP's support.”

The first seven partners certified as part of the global SAP All-in-One partner solutions programme include Deloitte Consulting, Faranani Sapremo, GijimaAST, SCT Services, Swicon, T-Systems SA, and UCS Solutions. The partners' solutions are all based on the SAP enterprise component version 6.0. Essentially the accreditation means that the partners get SAP's stamp of approval and support to sell SAP Business All-in-One solutions.

Strict procedure

Kudsee points out that acquiring SAP partner certification is a rigorous process: “We need to pass assurance onto our customers that the partner in question is capable of following the SAP guidelines for developing a solution, able to demonstrate the ability to implement it rapidly, and provide several reference customers from the vertical industry in question as proof of their expertise.”

According to Kudsee, it is vital that its partners understand the industries they operate in, which ranges from retail, mining, government and financial sectors. He notes that a pre-packaged template approach is becoming a pervasive channel strategy by SAP's channel partners.

Kudsee says: “Building the channel is the company's number one priority in moving forward and winning the mid-market. These organisations in conjunction with SAP are transforming the way enterprise applications are brought to market in terms if its quality, cost and the time taken for businesses to see benefits from the solutions.”