SAP India introduces enterprise solutions as apps

There are only two gadgets that SAP India’s employees like to fiddle with — the iPad and the BlackBerry phone. An enterprise application software firm, SAP noticed an increasing use of tablet PCs and mobile applications by Indian corporates and decided to come up with enterprise solutions as applications for these devices.

Today, a leading consumer durables company uses Sybase Mobility solutions that provides instant access to information on stock availability, credit limits, get fast and timely approvals and provides a higher level of customer service. “The top management now has quicker access to field data that helped them take better decisions,” points Chris McClain, senior vice president-mobility & Sybase solutions, SAP. On a client visit to India, McClain said he only carries his BlackBerry and iPad while travelling because it enables him to run a “paperless office.”

SAP, has been developing solutions for Research in Motion’s PlayBook, Apple’s iPad and for the Android platform. “Businesses are taking to tablet PCs and smartphone solutions because mobile business intelligence is the number one use case right now for them,” added McClain.

Started in 1996, SAP India is one of the fastest-growing arm of SAP worldwide, with over 5,000 employees and 5,000 customers. “We have more than 3,500 SME customers in the country and there’s no doubt they would be the earliest adopters of tablet PCs within their workforce,” McClain said. The biggest adopters of enterprise mobility are sectors such as healthcare, automotive, manufacturing, consumer products, telecom, financial and real estate. “Indian customers are looking to grow their businesses and move closer to their customers through mobility and real-time computing. By focusing on innovations, we are seeing an accelerated sales pipeline here,” says McClain.

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, a client of SAP, has extended business applications to mobile devices for hundreds of its sales representatives. The company is confident that this would increase productivity by 8 per cent in the next one year. Anindya Chowdhury, senior director-sales process excellence, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories elaborates, “We wanted a way of giving our reps and their managers everything they needed via their mobiles and a single portal."

Dr Reddy’s piloted mobile client application with 54 sales professionals, now being used by close to 1,800 employees.