Manda Banda is Lynchpin Media ’ s Deputy Managing Editor and Editor of Intelligent CIO Middle East and Intelligent CIO Africa .

lie and which vendor offerings will give them

the competitive edge they need to succeed in

this sought-after market ?

The enterprise resource planning ( ERP )

software market in MEA has continued to

gain momentum with IT vendors increasing

their focus in this segment .

For channel partners looking to serve

this market segment , finding the right ERP

software vendors and building a solutionsbased

approach is critical if your business to

succeed in the most sought after market in

the region .

The benefits ERP software brings to

small and large organisations is undeniable ,

but challenges still remain as to whether

an organisation should adopt a cloud-

based ERP application on maintain the onpremise

system .

While cloud-based ERP applications are

getting more widely adopted in the MEA

market , some companies are still hanging on

to on-premise systems that remain core to

their business .

With the ERP software market in the

MEA evolving rapidly , industry analysts

believe the growth the market is witnessing

is driven by global vendors who are

increasingly embedding technologies such as

Artificial Intelligence ( AI ), Machine Learning

and analytics to make their ERP software

more ‘ intelligent ’.

Businesses across the MEA region are

undergoing Digital Transformation initiatives

and are continuously upgrading their

traditional solutions by embracing much

advanced and scalable technologies such as

cloud and mobility .

As cloud-based ERP solutions have

started getting the market traction , there

are a lot of movements in the overall ERP

ecosystem . To support the growing demand

for SaaS-based ERP solutions , global

vendors have started focusing on regional

data centre build-outs . The whole cloud

It ’ s undeniable that the ERP software market across MEA is rapidly advancing as organisations with the help of channel partners are being helped to digitally transform into intelligent enterprises .

movement has given birth to the ‘ born-inthe-cloud ’ companies and solution providers , systems integrators and VARs that bring their expertise in the cloud domain which traditional resellers are lacking currently will succeed in this market segment .

Clearly , it ’ s undeniable that the ERP software market across MEA is rapidly advancing as organisations with the help of channel partners are being helped to digitally transform into intelligent enterprises . Having a real-time ERP digital core is vital for Middle East organisations to gain market share , grow revenue and be profitable .

A recent study by Oxford Economics revealed that while 84 % of organisations value Digital Transformation , only 3 % have completed their Digital Transformation in MEA . About 75 % of the digital-leaders and about 60 % of all organisations in the MENA are currently investing in cloud , according to the Oxford Economics survey .

So why are organisations migrating and investing in cloud technologies ? What advantages does cloud ERP offer resellers over traditional on-premise solutions ? With a cloud-based ERP , organisations can optimise assets , supply chain and customer experiences .

With the emergence of a new breed of enterprise-focused solution providers helping their end-user customers to maximise their investments in the ERP sector , it ’ s critical that channel partners develop some domain expertise and industry specific specialisations .

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