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When you think of SAP (NYSE: SAP) you probably think of big business ERP software, but Mark Aboud says the vendor's success in the large enterprise space has overshadowed its leadership in the SME segment, a perception he's hoping to change.

Aboud recently joined SAP Canada in the newly created position of executive vice-president, SME and public services. A 12-year veteran of rival Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL), where one of his positions was running Canadian sales, Aboud's new position is part of a new global SME organization for SAP with each country investing resources in a major SME push.

“We are the market leader, by far, in the SME; it's just been overshadowed by our success with large companies,” said Aboud. He notes SAP and Business Objects collectively have more than 1,170 customers in Canada, more than 60 per cent of which are SMEs.

“My role is really to change the perception, to build-out the strategy, to build-out the capability, and the main component is to direct resources to our partners to help us do that,” he says.

SAP's main SME offering, Business One, is exclusive through the channel in Canada. The vendor also offers All in One for the mid market. Both applications have been tailored for the SME. As well, later this year SAP is set to launch Business ByDesign, its hosted software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering for the mid market.

“I believe this will give us really broad coverage for the needs that are out there,” says Aboud. “We need to get the word out to the SME space on what we can offer, one customer at a time.”

SAP Canada currently has “a couple of dozen” partners, most of which are focused on the SME. Aboud says he's looking to recruit more partners to SAP's PartnerEdge partner program with experience in industries, specific geographies, and different market segments.

“We're aggressively looking for partners, but we want to be selective,” said Aboud. “We want to make sure who we bring on are going to add value to the SAP software footprint, and add value to our customers.”

He says SAP Canada is also investing in its telesales group to help it move to the next level in the SME, providing more coverage and working to grow partner business.

“We think we're doing a lot … to build out not only the number of partners, but the capability of each partner to be successful,” said Aboud.

SAP's SME partner pitch has found a receptive audience in Priell Ltd. The newly-formed Western Canadian implementation partner has decided to exclusively focus on Business One sales, consulting, implementation and service support.

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