Enterprise IT to help SMEs’ growth

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the Middle East region, particularly across the UAE, continue to remain strong and vibrant amidst the impact left behind by the recent economic crisis. A recent report from the UAE Ministry of Economy (MoE) shows Small and  Medium Enterprises contributed 60 per cent of the country’s national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2011; reflecting a 100 per cent increase from 2010. Looking to capitalise on these developments, Sage, a supplier of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Solutions to medium and large organisations, is aiming to further leverage its wide range of software solutions and services across the Middle East SME segment. SMEs have now been recognised as the lifeblood of economies. In fact, a recent Gartner report forecasts that the global SME market will increase its enterprise IT spending to over $1 trillion by 2016. The report also revealed that the global SME market, which represents approximately a quarter of all enterprise IT spending, will reach $874 billion in 2012 and reach $1 trillion in 2016. The predictions are complemented by a Forrester report pointing out that the increased spending represents big opportunities for software providers that offer the latest IT solutions, citing the SME ERP market, which is being expected to grow to $31.3 billion by 2014 at a CAGR of 6.1 per cent. Sage officials have stated that Small Medium Enterprises are critical to the company’s long terms prospects, which includes doubling its addressable market and revenues in the next three years. “The SME segment is poised to key in more growth, which raises the demand for more software that can help increase productivity and efficiencies,” said Vikram Suri, Managing Director - Middle East & India, Sage Software. “We understand the unique needs of this segment and aim to address their needs with software and services that can help them become more agile and effective on a round the clock basis.” He also said: “Our goal is to provide these Small and Medium Enterprises with world class solutions that will allow them more visibility and better decision making—keeping them at par with larger competing companies.” Sage said that it has given SMEs in the Middle East region, particularly across the United Arab Emirates, the visibility to run operations better. Through Sage’s diverse portfolio of solutions, which includes Sage ERP X3, Sage CRM and Sage Accpac CRM, SME’s are now able to know the status of orders, reduced overstocking and achieve better cash flow control. Sage packages also include Business Intelligence, as well as solutions across Finance, Service Management, CRM, HR & Payroll, Retail and eCommerce, Manufacturing, Construction Industry, and Planning and Forecasting. “The advances in business-oriented solutions for Mobility, Analytics and Cloud are driving the competitiveness of SMEs. Today, these small enterprises need an all-in-one business solution. Aiming to address this, Sage offers a solution that is flexible to meet the current and future needs while being affordable, quick and easy to implement, configure and maintain. Our goal is to keep your business growing and be one step ahead of the competition,” concluded Suri. Enterprise information systems provide a technology platform that enables organisations to integrate and co-ordinate their business processes. An enterprise information system provides a single system that is central to the organisation and that ensures information can be shared across all functional levels and management hierarchies. Small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly a priority for policymakers in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, who see Small Medium Enterprises as key to solving the challenge of improving competitiveness, raising incomes, and generating employment. Data from the World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys suggest that access to finance for SMEs is more constrained in Mena than in other emerging regions, with only one in 5 SMEs having a loan or line of credit. To fill this knowledge gap, the Bank recently carried out a survey in co-operation with the Union of Arab Banks of SME lending in the region. And they received a very high response rate — collected data from 139 banks, which account for about half of Mena banks and almost two thirds of the banking system loans in 16 countries. From gulftoday