ERP software market set to touch Dh991m in Gulf

Dubai: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software market is expected to gain a substantially bigger market share in the Gulf countries in next five years and the value of this market is expected to touch close to $270 million (Dh990.9 million) this year, a research report said.

The Madar Research study forecast a compound average growth rate of 14 per cent in the next five years, which will see the region's ERP market touching $300 million (Dh1.10 billion) mark by 2010.

ERP spending is expected to experience more moderate growth - though higher than the projected world average of between six and nine per cent.

Raqmiyat, a leading UAE-based systems integrator and a primary IT company of the Al Ghurair business group, is set to leverage the booming demand in the region, as organisations are becoming more open to utilising technology-enabled systems.

"With government sectors emerging as the top IT spenders in the region and with government restructuring and new public sector initiatives such as transportation and rail road projects expected to play a positive role on the growth, Raqmiyat has outlined a specific strategy to form strategic partnerships with key government branches by offering more result-driven, reliable and accessible ERP systems," Navneet Tandon, vice-president of Raqmiyat, said. Quoting the report, he said the largest spender will be Saudi Arabia, which is responsible for almost 60 per cent of the market, followed by the UAE and Kuwait.

The study also points to a significant increase in spending on ERP training by Gulf companies, which in the long-run would ease dependence on external support and consultancy.

Tandon said: "Driven by the challenges of rising costs, management and operational efficiency, regional SMB's today are well aware of the importance of technology to streamline their business and improve their overall productivities. As more manufacturing and trading firms seek efficiencies by transitioning from manual environments to full automated environments with back-office systems, it is our goal to provide them with solutions that effectively meet their requirements."

An ERP system is a business support system that maintains in a single database the data needed for a variety of business functions such as manufacturing, supply chain management, financials, projects, human resources and customer relationship management.