SAP Targets 1 Lakh Customers By 2010

SAP AG has announced significant successes in the fast-growing Indian market that are helping the company better execute its vision for 2010. The announcement was made during the first-ever visit by the entire SAP Executive Board to India.

SAP announced that it has doubled its customer base in India from 1,000 to 2,000 since August 2006. SAP also claimed to be the first enterprise software vendor in India to cross the 1,000 customer mark.

“The unprecedented growth that we are seeing from India is one of the best examples of how our 2010 strategy translates into action,” said Henning Kagermann, CEO and chairman of the executive board, SAP. “Markets like India are at an inflection point when it comes to the adoption of technology by businesses of all shapes and sizes. For instance, it took us nine years in India to reach the 1,000 customer mark, and only one to double it.”

Globally, SAP has set itself a goal of reaching 100,000 customers by 2010. In order to achieve this goal, the company plans to significantly expand the addressable market for enterprise software solutions by aggressively targeting small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) and emerging markets. Markets such as India and China will play a central role in helping the company achieve its vision.

Validating the continuing importance of India to SAP, the company reaffirmed the investment of $1 billion in the country by 2010. A major portion of SAP’s investment in India is targeted at expanding the company’s global development and services and support hub in India, SAP Labs.

“SAP Labs India is today the largest research and development hub and support presence for us outside Germany,” added Kagermann. “While the Bangalore centre will continue to play a central global leadership role, we now foresee the Gurgaon centre focusing on global service and support scaling up significantly in the next few years to enable us to meet our aggressive goals for India.”