The Business Year

Search
Close this search box.
SA25_IT_SAP_ALAM_PIC

SAUDI ARABIA - Telecoms & IT

Muhammad Alam

Member of the Executive Board, SAP SE

Bio

Muhammad Alam is a member of the Executive Board of SAP SE. He leads the SAP Product Engineering Board area and has global responsibility for all business software applications. This includes all functional areas from product strategy, product management, design, and development to running software-as-a-service cloud operations. Alam is responsible for a portfolio that includes solutions for enterprise resource planning for both public and private cloud, supply chain management, spend management, business network, human capital management, and customer experience, as well as solutions for small and midsize enterprises. He is also responsible for the strategy and development of specialized solutions relevant to a multitude of industries. Before being appointed the head of SAP Product Engineering, he served as president and chief product officer of the Intelligent Spend Management program. He was responsible for product strategy, product management, development, design, and cloud operations for direct and indirect procurement applications, external workforce, travel and expense solutions, and SAP Business Network.

"We believe software localization enables our customers to get value from their core business applications across geographies."

TBY talks to Muhammad Alam, Member of the Executive Board of SAP SE, about

Considering the unique business landscape of Saudi Arabia, how does SAP tailor software applications, particularly in ERP and cloud services, to meet the specific needs of Saudi businesses?

We believe software localization enables our customers to get value from their core business applications across geographies. Localization involves adapting business processes to reflect the local laws and regulations of the country in which enterprises operate. By engaging with local authorities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, we proactively monitor regulatory changes in areas such as tax, statutory reporting, labor regulations, and business-to-government interactions, helping to ensure peace of mind while our customers expand globally and operate locally. For example, we have implemented the e-invoicing regulation in Saudi Arabia, enabling customers to manage the entire process from generating electronic documents in the specified format to electronically submitting them to local authorities while also providing complete audit trails. While developing the solution, we engaged with the Saudi tax authority (ZATCA), sharing best practices following local and global business expertise. We also enable our Human Capital Management (HCM) solutions to cater to the unique needs of Saudi businesses. This includes enabling social insurance and other statutory calculations applicable to various employee regimens in Saudi Arabia, including private sector employees, civil servants, expatriates, and Gulf Cooperation Council nationals (GCC). All capabilities are designed to streamline HR processes and ensure compliance with local regulations. Moreover, SAP’s best practices approach means we can facilitate rapid implementation by providing predefined content that enables businesses to adopt and integrate the solutions into their operations. The implementation of our cloud based HCM solution through SAP SuccessFactors is also helping customer Neom manage the hiring and onboarding process for tens of thousands of employees. This enabled NEOM to streamline recruitment, employee lifecycle management, and expense reimbursement, while providing a seamless and efficient experience for its workforce. In conjunction with SAP S/4HANA as the digital foundation, NEOM transformed its operations into an intelligent enterprise, integrating automation, real-time data analytics, and machine learning. This transformation supports NEOM’s ambitious vision to create hyperconnected, sustainable cities with cutting-edge technologies, driving efficiency and innovation across all aspects of its development. This case study provides further insight into Neom’s journey to becoming an intelligent enterprise. In recent months Saudi Arabia introduced stringent data protection regulations aimed at safeguarding individuals’ data privacy and ensuring the secure handling of sensitive information. Companies that fail to comply with the Personal Data Protection Law may incur various risks including severe penalties, potential suspension of business operations, and reputational damage among stakeholders and customers. At SAP, we understand the complexities involved in navigating regulatory requirements and offer solutions to help businesses meet such regulations. SEERA is an example of how we help our customers stay compliant.

Can you discuss any industry-specific solutions that SAP has developed for key sectors in Saudi Arabia, such as oil and gas, public sector, or finance, and how these solutions enhance operational efficiencies?

We have more than 50 years of innovation across the 26 industries we support. Oil and Gas is one of our flagship industries, where many of the world’s Oil and Gas companies run on SAP software. We also provide a range of capabilities tailored to different industries in Saudi Arabia. For instance, we offer country-specific localization when it comes to payment process functionalities catering to the Public Sector. Leveraging its extensive industry experience, we have successfully served customers across both general and specialized sectors of Saudi Arabia, ensuring that its solutions are scalable and adaptable to industries’ needs such as real estate, oil and gas, retail, and more. We also work closely with our partner ecosystem to provide specific industry expertise in an economy like Saudi Arabia. Engaging with partners that showcase expertise in a market means customers can benefit from the best of two worlds: our global and local expertise in Saudi Arabia, as well as the industry specific expertise partners may contribute. Additionally, Sustainability is core to SAP’s corporate strategy and our purpose to help the world run better and improve people’s lives. Earlier this year, SAP and The Saudi Investment Recycling Company (SIRC) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore the creation of a digital transformation roadmap that will enable SIRC to enhance its environmental performance and reporting capabilities and leverage new technologies to enrich customer services in Saudi Arabia. We also help local companies like Saudi Industrial Development Company (SIDC), a joint stock company with investments across multiple industries including industrial fibers, furniture mattresses, ceramic sanitary wares products, storage and logistics to create a roadmap for comprehensive digital transformation, replacing complex and heavily customized siloed systems with a unified ERP solution. SIDC has signed an agreement with us to accelerate its transition to cloud computing and consolidate all of its operations under a single unified enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution. With the deployment of the ERP solution, SAP S/4HANA private cloud, SIDC will benefit from a streamlined and integrated system, improving visibility and control over all of its operations to ensure consistently high standards and continued implementation of best practices across the diverse industries in which it operates in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. From a Business Network perspective, our goal is to deploy SAP Business Network for Logistics solutions in a KSA data center by the fourth quarter of 2024. This initiative will enhance support for both current and new customers in KSA through digital transformation. Following this, the Business Network for Procurement and Supply Chain (including our Supply Chain Collaboration and Commerce Automation solutions) will be introduced in 2025. Riyadh Airports Company is a great example of how we help companies modernize their procurement infrastructure and enhance the supplier experience.

With Saudi Arabia investing heavily in becoming a hub for technology and innovation what role does SAP play in integrating emerging technologies like AI and blockchain into the business software applications used in the Kingdom?

At SAP, we are reinventing how business runs. Artificial intelligence (AI), and above all, generative AI, marks a paradigm shift that will fundamentally change work, business, and society. With SAP Business AI, we are committed to helping organizations through this transformative moment by creating business outcomes that were unimaginable before. SAP Business AI is deeply embedded in our business processes and analytics. Already, more than 27,000 businesses globally use and benefit from the AI capabilities that we offer. No other technology company can combine the power of AI with the processes and data that run the business world. We are helping change how people interact with business software and make work more efficient and delightful than ever before. We offer a wide range of AI-powered scenarios built into core business processes — connecting finance, supply chain, procurement, sales, marketing, human resources, and IT. These scenarios are built on SAP Business Technology Platform and are already embedded across the majority of our applications. Moreover, we are developing a new type of unified user experience with Joule – a generative AI copilot that is integrated with the cloud-enterprise portfolio. In addition, we directly offer targeted products for customers to create custom AI-based extensions based on SAP Business Technology Platform, serving roles from business users to developers to data scientists. For example, AI in SAP Ariba Sourcing extracts insights hidden in data from past events to compile best-fit supplier lists. This enables even new hires to expedite RFQs, RFIs, and RFPs. AI also saves category managers and strategic buyers time by suggesting key questions to include in bid documents. We recognize that the Saudi Arabia market is expanding at a rapid pace and as such workforce management is crucial for business success.

As Saudi businesses increasingly move to cloud solutions, what initiatives has SAP undertaken to support this transition? How do you ensure that your cloud operations meet the regulatory requirements specific to Saudi Arabia?

SAP, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is embarking on a two-year journey to migrate our cloud customers with tenants currently deployed in our SAP Converged Cloud Data Center in Riyadh – KSA to new Data Centers in KSA. The KSA Migration Project sets out our Data Center Strategy in the Kingdom. We have been on this journey for some time, including advancing preparations in the new data centers. In addition, we are working diligently across our solutions and infrastructure teams to map out the best approaches to facilitate transition for our customers. Saudi customers who fall within the scope of Cloud Cybersecurity Controls (CCC – 1: 2020) issued by the National Cybersecurity Authority in KSA will move to the new Google Cloud Platform (GCP) in Dammam – KSA. Please note that there may be deviations from the above schedule based on a variety of factors. The GCP Data Center in Dammam has been given a current CST Class (C) Certification.  This allows us to handle top-secret data for the private and public sectors. The remaining Saudi customers who do not fall within the scope of CCC-1:2020 will be part of the second phase of the KSA Migration Project in 2025.

How does SAP ensure that the customer experience is optimized for Saudi users? Are there particular strategies in place for localizing content and support services?

Our localization of software solutions is geared to enabling customers to meet the regulations of a particular country or region. This includes adjusting the product to comply with local laws and regulations. Localization can be achieved via standard SAP-delivered local versions, business configuration, or extensibility. By offering extensibility, we create the flexibility to provide for our customers growing business needs. In many cases, that flexibility is facilitated by partners. We allow business users to work with more than 30 languages, including Arabic. Other aspects like the Islamic/Hijri calendar based on Saudi Arabia’s Umm al-Qura calendar, are also available in our ERP solution SAP S/4HANA and other SAP products. We provide localization for Saudi Arabia for our flagship ERP product, SAP S/4HANA. In Saudi Arabia, our localization capabilities include compliance tasks like e-invoice creation and electronic submission to authorities, as well as VAT declarations with SAP Document and Reporting Compliance. Business users benefit from compliance with local regulations while standardizing processes on a global scale. This enhances accuracy, boosts efficiency through integrated automation, and offers insights into the most current compliance status.

Looking forward, what are SAP’s major goals within Saudi Arabia through and how do these plans support the broader digital transformation initiatives in the Kingdom?

Looking forward, our major goals within Saudi Arabia are closely aligned with the Kingdom’s broader digital transformation initiatives under Saudi Vision 2030. Our central focus is to foster innovation, develop local talents, and collaborate extensively to ensure that Saudi Arabia remains at the forefront of digital advances. A key element of our strategy is the establishment of the SAP Experience Center in Khobar, which has already been inaugurated. As part of our global network of experience centers, the Khobar facility features the Innovation Hub, the first of its kind in the region. This hub will serve as a vital platform for cultivating a vibrant ecosystem of innovation and co-creation within Saudi Arabia. It will bring together experts from SAP globally and locally, businesses, startups, and partners to create solutions tailored specifically for the Saudi market. This collaborative environment is designed to accelerate new technology adoption, foster local talents, and build a robust partner ecosystem. Furthermore, we are reinforcing our engagement in Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation through our support for the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology’s Center of Digital Entrepreneurship (CODE) startup program. This initiative, part of the SAP Innovation Hub, aims to drive cross-company learning and collaboration, spurring innovation in the region. In addition to our infrastructural investments, we are also deeply involved with developing Saudi technology talents. Our SAP Academy of Engineering program, launched in 2023 in partnership with MCIT, has seen exceptional success and has been extended until at least 2025. In 2023, we proudly graduated 127 IT talents, 30% of whom were women, from our flagship academy in San Ramon, California. This program targets the most promising Saudi national technology talents, enriching their IT, application development, and AI skills while honing their leadership capabilities. In 2024, we plan to enroll 150 additional national IT talents, starting with the first cohort in March. Participants in the Academy undergo four weeks of study in Saudi Arabia before heading to the US for extensive training at SAP’s facilities. This program complements our other skills-development strategies in the Kingdom, including the SAP University Alliances, the SAP Dual Study Program, and the SAP Young Professionals Program. Through these initiatives, we aim to be a cornerstone in Saudi Arabia’s journey towards a diversified, knowledge-based economy, fully supporting the digital transformation goals embedded in Saudi Vision 2030. You can find more information on our most recent investments in Saudi Arabia here.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

You may also be interested in...

SA26_TR_KAMSGLOBAL_PIC

SAUDI ARABIA - Transport

Moaaz Khanani

Interview

Managing Partner, KAMS Global

SA26_TO_UNTO_PIC

SAUDI ARABIA - Tourism

Samer Al-Kharashi

Interview

Director, UN Tourism Regional Office for the Middle East

SA26_TR_METCO_PIC copy

SAUDI ARABIA - Transport

Osama Shasha

Interview

CEO, Middle East Tasks Company (METCO)

View All interviews
Shopping cart0
There are no products in the cart!
Continue shopping
0

Countries

Countries

Become a sponsor