Hicham Iraqi Houssaini

What does Morocco bring to SAP’s global portfolio?

Morocco is an important SAP strategic hub for managing French-speaking Africa, which is made up of 19 countries. We have SMEs that are extremely important clients on a global level. Our local facilities and talent are helping to accelerate business across the Francophone Africa region. We established a Customer Center of Experience in Morocco with a state-of-the-art innovation space that enables companies to reimagine their business by collaborating with SAP. I am proud that our local Moroccan talent not only serves Francophone Africa but across the EMEA region.

What is your mission for SAP Morocco?

SAP is fueled by the pioneering spirit that inspired its founders to continually transform the IT industry. With 49 years plus of industry experience and more than 400,000 customers globally, SAP brings to Morocco the latest technology innovations to the market. We are committed to help every customer become a best-run business, and a leader in their industry. The best-run businesses are intelligent enterprises applying advanced technologies and best practices within agile, integrated business processes to become more resilient, successful, and sustainable.

What is the potential of this accelerated digital transformation in Morocco? What impact could it have on your sector in Morocco?

Morocco, in French-speaking Africa, has tremendous market potential. We are starting to see companies that are keen to develop and embark on their digital transformation. Our objective is to ensure technology innovations are not only for large enterprises but for small and mid-size companies in Morocco. As a country, we are on the right track. Admittedly, while COVID-19 has sped up certain projects, it has also hindered for some companies their investment. Companies often must operate blindly, which is why our offering of cloud “pay as you go” is the right approach and response. It means companies invest only in what they need and can see their investment grow in line with the growth of their business. What I said for Morocco also applies to several other countries, for example, Tunisia and Algeria, where there are also big projects going on. There are certain industries that stand out. For example, the pharmaceutical industry is leading in the Maghreb and mining industry in sub-Saharan Africa has a solid dynamic and growing strongly. We then have some interesting projects going on in the Ivory Coast, Senegal, Cameroon, and smaller projects that are taking place in Burkina Faso. Responding to these changes means originations are reinforcing and accelerating their digital transition to the cloud.

SAP has launched its own electronic signature platform: SAP Signature Management by DocuSign. What is the aim of this innovation?

SAP Signature Management by DocuSign enables people inside and outside their organization to securely access, sign, and send important documents electronically—anywhere, anytime, and on any device. SAP is working with government regulators, we are currently piloting this initially in Morocco and Tunisia, and we have obtained the signature certification so that companies can use DocuSign on documents of certain importance. This brings enormous time-saving advantages. For example, by switching from manual to digital mode, we see an increase up to 80% of contracts when the signing takes in less than 24 hours.

What are your objectives for this year?

2020 has been a rather unique year. In 2021, we are optimistic about our investments. We continue to maintain our commitments to the market as well as to our teams. We work within a dynamic that is encouraging, and we are stronger than ever globally as a cloud innovation leader. Many projects have been launched to support our employees through this transformation we are experiencing, and our customers are benefitting from a more agile company focused on supporting our customers’ growth. We see tremendous market opportunities, and the SAP team is here to help.