Middle East business must adapt to global scene - SAP president

Dubai: Jose Duarte, president and CEO of SAP Field Operations EMEA, told regional business leaders in Dubai on Wednesday that Middle East businesses must learn to adapt to a continuously shifting global landscape.

Innovation, execution, compliance and people, said Duarte, should be the key value components in all executive strategies and decision making.

He was addressing regional business leaders at the SAP Forum in Dubai, the largest SAP business and technology event held in the region, on the first anniversary of the establishment of SAP Middle East and North Africa LLC.

Agility and ability

"Organisations in the region are moving at an incredible speed, and those which aspire to take their business to the next level require the agility and ability to react quickly and embrace change," said Duarte.

"From delivering superior customer value while retaining the best employees to enabling operational and financial excellence, Middle East organisations of all sizes must learn to align multiple fundamental value components with the new business priorities presented by the current environment," he added.

Duarte, who heads the Europe, Middle East and Africa region for the world's largest business software maker, was in the region to meet CEOs of the company's Gulf customers and held several meetings with business leaders from the region.

He also visited Qatar and Oman before making his keynote address in Dubai on Wednesday.

"Middle East organisations of all sizes can benefit from the adoption of best-practice tools and methodologies. SAP has enabled the ongoing global success stories of some of the region's biggest public and private sector names, from Egypt's postal authority to Saudi Arabia's largest oil producing company," said Sergio Maccotta, Managing Director, SAP MENA.

With 35 years of industry experience and expertise, SAP has demonstrated its role as an adviser to companies of all sizes to deliver customer-focused offerings, sharing global best-practices to quickly address critical business needs and enable growth.