Email the Editor    Email a Friend    Print this Page 

NEW YORK -- A 16 year veteran of SAP (NYSE: SAP), in his current position as president of SAP North America, Robert Enslin has the challenge of steering the enterprise resource planning and business intelligence software vendor's North American wing through a trying economic period, and once that is changing the way in which companies buy, implement and use business software.

During the vendor's recent SAP World Tour stop in New York City, Enslin sat down with Computer Dealer News to discuss SAP's Canadian business, the changing nature of the BI software business, what that means for the channel model, and the competitive landscape.

The following is an edited transcript of that conversation.

Computer Dealer News: How is SAP's Canadian business weathering the current economic climate?

Robert Enslin: I think the market in Canada is doing pretty well. Our business in Canada is pretty strong. They're in line with last year, and that's positive in today's market. We've done very well in manufacturing, utilities, consumer packaged goods. It's the industries that are strong in Canada where SAP is very strong. Outside of the U.S., India, China and Germany, Canada is probably our biggest investment in research and development resources and people. We've made big investments in Canada, and they're good investments in good people.

CDN: How do you approach the SMB-dominant market in Canada?

R.E.: We're very successful in countries that operate with a large SMB practice. SAP is the dominant business applications provider in the SMB in Canada, New Zealand and Australia. We've had success not only in Canada but across multiple geographies in the world in the SMB market. What makes a difference is there's a completely different way of implementing software for an SMB versus a large enterprise. The most glaring difference is when you work with an SMB, you're working with the business owner and decision maker and they can make decision quickly. With large enterprises its consensus driven, but can SMB can implement very quickly For me, it isn't the size of the company but how they make decisions.

CDN: What are some of the challenges you're hearing from your channel partners as they go to market in this economy?

R.E.: Our technology partners are looking at adding the Business Objects portfolio and looking at how to put ERP and CRM on iPhones and BlackBerries and make it consumable. For the systems integrators (Sis) it's about small projects and quick projects. Customers want quick returns and they want success now. The biggest Sis have adjusted their plans and approaches to that desire. That's how we've all adjusted our businesses. Big transformation projects are just not that bountiful right now. I don't know if they'll come back, and that may not be a bad thing. Today it's all about consumables, go live quick, fast return. You need to be careful though to avoid the spaghetti approach with many disparate projects. As businesses implement short-term projects, we need to help to make sure everything maps-out right to a strategy over three-to-four years.

share: