CRM Solutions Imperative for UAE Businesses Gearing to Accelerate Out of the Downturn, Says Sage
IDC forecasts MENA IT spending to mirror growth in regional GDP
September 28, 2010 - Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions can play a pivotal role as UAE businesses gear up to accelerate out of the downturn, says Sage Software, the leading global supplier of CRM, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Human Resource Management (HRM) solutions to medium and large organisations. In line with this, the company hosted a high-level roundtable today (September 28, 2010) at the Amwaj Rotana Hotel in Dubai, to discuss IT budget shifts and spending priorities as new 'normalities' for CIOs in the region. A highly anticipated address forecasting the IT spending in MENA - which is expected to increase by 14 per cent in 2010 versus 2009 - will mirror the growth in the region's GDP - which was projected by EIU to record an 4.4 per cent increase in the similar period, was also delivered by Ranjit Rajan, Research Director - Software, IDC Middle East, Turkey & Africa.
Attended by regional business owners, the roundtable focused on the capacity of advanced technologies to boost productivity and help retain customers holistically; and on emerging mega-trends such as cloud, mobility, social media and how they are now envisioned as the new norm. The recession's impact on large and midsize companies, recovery expectations for the coming year in the Middle East, specifically in the UAE, and the importance of CRM as the region undergoes recovery from the recession were also some of the topics discussed. Among the senior industry experts who led the discussions were Nariman Karimi, CIO, Al Ghanim Industries; Abdulla Ali Al-Madani, CEO, RTA - Corporate Technical Support Services; Krishnamurthy, CEO, Al Rostamani International Exchange; and Obren Lekic, VP Eastern Hemisphere, Borets International.
"Promising business software trends in the post-downturn period, such as enterprise information integration, business analytics and intelligence, emergence of social CRM, and how transformations in customer interaction technologies, are reshaping the role of CRM in the UAE and the wider GCC," said Rajan. "We are proud to be participating in this excellent initiative by Sage Software, and we are hoping to share with CIOs and top IT decision-makers in the GCC our insights on the IT market and trends on such critical enterprise software applications as ERP and CRM"
"By adopting CRM, business owners can help increase customer acquisition rates, improve sales conversion rates and reduce customer attrition rates, while keeping track of the stage or performance of marketing campaigns as well as SLAs - all of which are critical to ensuring customer loyalty. CRM provides visibility into the performance of the business, sales opportunities, forecasts, trends, customer insights, and customer service levels, which enables them to get a handle on all aspects of the business and respond to issues quickly before they escalate. The idea for this high-level roundtable was conceived in line with our aims to showcase how CRM solution can help businesses run smoothly and take an advantageous position following the economic slowdown," said Lorcan Malone, General Manager, Sage Software - UK.
In addition to discussions about the impact of the recession on businesses across the board, Reggie Fernandez, Founder of 'Accelerate Out of the Downturn' Forum, also delivered a discourse on how local companies can prepare for the upturn through accurate business planning, focused sales management, targeted marketing effectiveness and exceptional customer service. The event also shone the spotlight on the importance of empowering employees and strengthening customer relationships, and on how CRM solutions complement every organisation's need to manage customer information in a single, easy-to-use solution that can be integrated into their existing financial systems.
"With many organisations increasing their focus on adopting creative, technology-driven business solutions, it is apparent that the region is recognising the fact that now is the time to prepare for business growth. Having to work smarter and harder for every bit of revenue, the challenge for businesses now is to adapt to the new reality and get ready to take advantage of growth when the upturn comes. Therefore, we are looking forward to helping CIOs who want to drive their companies' competitiveness and gain significant business edge over other players in their market through this roundtable event," concluded Vikram Suri, Managing Director, Sage Software Middle East.
At present, Sage Software holds in excess of 30 per cent of the total UAE market share, after witnessing a rapid transformation over the last couple of years from offering desktop accounting packages to full-blown ERP and CRM solutions. A global market leader in the field of business management software and services with a 13,000 strong workforce, Sage Software offers highly customisable ERP, CRM and HRM solutions that easily adopt a company's local requirements and solve business challenges. Its family of award-winning ERP software include the latest 'Sage ERP X3', which is drawing huge attention from regional mid-sized and micro-multinational companies seeking to reduce IT infrastructure costs and adopt a single solution that can serve all of their regional operations. Sage Software is working with implementation partners such as Ambit Software, Master Key solutions, Systronics, and Triad Software Services to implement its state of the art ERP, CRM and HRM solutions in the Middle East.
About Sage Group:
Founded in 1981 in North East England, Sage Group PLC is a global company with 6.1 million customers, 13,500 employees and more than 25 years of experience working with small and medium sized businesses. It has built its success on understanding and meeting the needs of customers in their local markets, which has driven its growth as a world-leading provider of business management software and services. While its heritage is in the small business market, it also has the experience and expertise to meet the needs of specific industries and larger organisations. Its products and services are developed and supported locally, thereby ensuring their relevance to the customers and that they are supported by local experts.
For more information, please contact:
CommuniGate Middle East
PO Box 66861, Dubai,
UAE
Tel: +971 4 3988134
Fax: +971 4 3988137
Email: info@communigateme.com
Website: www.communigateme.com
