Sage Middle East, the leading provider of business management solutions, has seen phenomenal growth in Saudi Arabia’s SR22.6 billion IT services and software sales sector. Growth in sales of Sage products over the past two years is unprecedented, indicating and reflecting changing requirements for IT products in Saudi Arabia.
Due to the Saudi government’s economic diversification plans and existing strong macroeconomic factors there is growth in multiple industries. The IT industry, a beneficiary of these policies and industry growth, is also recording robust growth. Speaking on the advantages of operating in Saudi’s conducive environment for business growth. Keith Fenner, Chief Sales Officer, Sage X3 International, Executive Director and Head of Sage Middle East, said “regardless of the company size or scope, Sage’s reputation, brand and brand awareness has grown remarkably. At present over 300 companies in Saudi Arabia use Sage products.”
Sage’s success in Saudi Arabia is a reflection of shifting business attitudes on ERP and other software solutions. In the past, it was commonplace for companies to buy massive and overloaded solutions of which only about 40% of the entire system was utilized. This trend has given way to a preference for agile products that cost less but provide better value-for-money and 100% system utilization. Agile software products are cloud-based, implemented on the client’s premises, and offer real mobility with access from anywhere in the world; all of these functionalities increase performance and productivity.
To complement sales of Sage products in Saudi Arabia, and to support brand awareness, Sage has held multiple events inviting senior level management and government personnel. The recently concluded events in Riyadh and Al-Khobar on disruptive technologies mainly focusing on Industry 4.0 initiatives, drew recorded participation of senior level representatives from various reputed companies. Each of the events held in Saudi Arabia has seen increasing participation which Sage plans to reciprocate by holding more engaging events in the future.
The Arabization and localization of Sage products is an indicator of the company’s commitment and sensitivity to client requirements in Saudi. The localization of Sage products has resulted in clients implementing and integrating Sage 50, Sage 300, Sage X3 and in some cases Sage CRM, and Sage HRM systems into their workspace. “With the launch of HRM, Sage is one of the first software vendors to have full Business management solutions, full CRM and full HRM solutions that is fully Arabized and localized in the KSA market,” Fenner further said.
Sage products reach the Saudi market through a distributor partnership between Interkey and KBW Investments in Saudi Arabia, and cut across all industries including manufacturing and distribution, services and financial services. However, Sage taking into consideration its experience in the manufacturing and distribution sectors, has earmarked these key industries for aggressive future expansion. — SG
