Excerpts:

CIOL: How strong is SAP's presence in the Indian SMB space?
Nagaraj Bhargava: With over a decade of successful operations in the country, SAP has evolved to be the 'Partner of Choice' for Indian SMEs. SAP's leadership in the Indian SME sector with 27 percent market share in revenue has been validated by IDC. Among enterprise software companies, we were the pioneers in identifying the potential and the growth aspiration among Indian SMEs.

SAP is the global market leader in collaborative, inter-enterprise business solutions. We have been working with SME customers in India for over 10 years now with enterprise solutions specifically tailored to meet their disparate requirements. These include SAP All-in-One, SAP Business One, SAP All-in-one Fast Start program, launched recently, and SAP Business ByDesign that has been announced in India.

With specific reference to India market leadership, SAP India witnessed a stellar performance in FY 2007 in the country with over 100 percent growth in license revenue over FY 2006, and over 100 percent growth in named customers over FY 2006.

Debdeep Sengupta: SAP India, the fastest growing region within SAP now stands as the undisputed leader in the ERP with a market share of 40 percent and 27 percent in SME market in India.

SAP witnessed a phenomenal growth in the SME revenues by 43 percent in the first quarter of 2008. Between 1996 to 2005, SAP grew its customer base in India to 1000 and in just one year 2006 - 2007 doubled that figure to 2000. With this, the customer base stands at 3200. SAP has been ranked No. 1 in Enterprise Applications by Frost & Sullivan and IDC.

CIOL: What have been SAP's initiatives to make IT affordable for SMBs?
NB: Indian SMEs are witnessing a sea change in technology adoption and are setting an example on how companies from the emerging economies are utilizing innovative technologies. The primary misconception about SMEs is that they are expensive but our experience has been quite contrary to that. We have seen that SMBs are very value conscious and demand the best out of their investments. They want access to global best practices relevant to their industry, ease of use, relevance to their own business environments. As more and more companies are realizing the benefits of running on SAP, the company has become a partner of choice for the Indian SMEs.

Our solution portfolio recognizes the differing requirements among the vast number of companies in the small and midsize segment and offers distinct solutions relevant to each segment. We have the incredibly successful SAP Business One solution, which is specifically meant for small enterprises.

It is a ready to use software that a customer can start using in six to eight weeks and enables the customers realize quick ROI at a low total cost of ownership. In addition, we have SAP All-in-One, a solution that comprises best practices for specific verticals and is targeted at mid size companies. SAP has recently launched its Fast-Start Program for SAP Business All-in-One. Designed to deliver rapid business results with a fixed price and scope, the program targets midsize companies in the manufacturing, services, and trade industries.

With over 30 customer wins across verticals and multiple go-lives in the first quarter of 2008 alone, the Fast-Start Program has seen a brilliant response in the Indian market. We have also recently announced SAP Business ByDesign in India; the most complete on-demand business software solution introduced to specifically address a new market of prospective, fast-growing midsize customers.

CIOL: What edge does SAP products/services offer to customers against its competitors?
NB: Being the market leaders in the enterprise application space, SAP brings to table over 35 years in industry expertise, best-of-breed solutions coupled with industry best practices. SAP business suite offers tangible business benefits to its customers making it the partner of choice over other enterprise applications. SAP has also built a very strong ecosystem of qualified SAP partners creating the utility of place for its customers across geographies.

SAP solutions portfolio for SMEs is affordable, easy to-deploy, and proven business solutions to better meet the needs of customers across diverse industries. These solutions are interoperable with SAP solution environments as well as Microsoft .NET and J2EE environments. The integrated and cost-effective solutions allow customers to maintain a low total cost of ownership and the scalability and the flexibility to support current and future business needs.

CIOL: Any new products/services in pipeline for SMBs?
DS: At SAP we are constantly innovating for enhanced customer experience. We provide a comprehensive portfolio of solutions for small businesses and midsize companies and are continuing to invest in the existing portfolio to bring value and innovation to our customers. The latest offerings from SAP for the small and mid market in India include - SAP Business ByDesign.

SAP Business ByDesign, the most complete and adaptable on-demand business software solution, has been announced at the SAP Summit in Mumbai recently. The solutions is targeted exclusively to mid-market companies ranging from 100 to 500 employees, including growing companies that typically have not invested in these types of integrated business solutions before.

Fundamentally different from competitive mid-market solutions, SAP Business ByDesign is designed to support faster time to value and dramatically minimize customers' overall IT costs by reducing the need for user training, hardware investments, service, support and IT staffing. Prices in India will start at a recommended price of $149 per user, per month (including software, infrastructure, services and support), with a minimum of 25users to be licensed per customer.

Fast-Start Program for SAP Business All-in-One Encounters Prompt Success in India
With over 30 customer wins across verticals and multiple go-lives in the first quarter of 2008 alone, the Fast-Start Program has seen an incredible response in the Indian market. Designed to deliver rapid business results with a fixed price and fixed scope, the program targets midsize companies in the manufacturing, services, and trade industries. It provides them with the pre-configured industry-specific processes needed to streamline and gain visibility into their core business operations.

Coupled with SAP MaxDB, the SAP database product, and free choice of operating system, the offering helps to lower the total cost of ownership (TCO) for the on-premise business solution. Innovative online configuration enables prospects to tailor the solution to their business requirements and receive a comprehensive cost estimate for the complete SAP Business All-in-One solution. Customers benefit both from the established SAP solution as well as the industry-and country-specific know-how of qualified local SAP Channel partners.

CIOL: What is your market projection for the year and beyond from the SMB business?
NB: In their attempt to gain a strong foothold competing at international levels, Indian SMEs are seeking ways to foster new business efficiencies and derive increased operational value from their IT investments. Also, there is immense potential in the country and the businesses are realizing and appreciating the need of technology to power their business. This has led to an increasing trend amongst the Indian SMEs to increase and deepen their investments in technology. All this is a clear indicator that this technology revolution is here to stay.

At SAP we offer solutions that are extremely intuitive and can be customized to meet the needs of our customers. The businesses are seeing real business impact coming from SAP resulting in value creation for them. As a part of our growth strategy in 2008, we aim to reach out deeper to the SMEs enabling their business transformation. SAP has already established itself as the partner of choice for India inc. and we aim to take it higher in the coming years making all businesses the best-run businesses.