In a bid to help MSMEs in India hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, SAP India has decided to open its cloud-based supply, spend and procurement management platform 'SAP Ariba' to Indian MSMEs for free till the end of the year. Opening up of Ariba platform will allow MSMEs to access postings by buyers, while suppliers can respond with their ability to deliver goods and services by helping them gain access to a marketplace.
With nearly 80 per cent of SAP's customers in India being from the MSME sector, Deb Deep Sengupta, President & MD, SAP India said that in the past three months the conversation with players in the sector brought out three key short-term issues. First, the MSME industry was facing credit and liquidity issues. Second, a more fundamental problem of vanishing demand and third, uncertainty of being able to resume normal work in the next four to six months.
"The impact of pandemic on economy and businesses has been felt majorly by MSMEs across the country. Being a potential contributor to India's GDP (29 per cent) and providing employment to over 111 million people, it is imperative to strengthen the sector for the revival of the country's economy," said Sengupta of SAP India.
The company has also launched 'Global Bharat', a program aimed at helping Indian MSMEs become globally competitive by equipping them with digital technologies. The three-pronged facilitation includes making Bharat Enterprise Resource Planning solutions available at affordable rates and providing access to over 200 courses on digital, financial, soft skills, productivity and technologies to skill the workforce digitally and help them adapt to the new working environment. The curated courses will be made available through mobile apps for people to access via their smart phone devices. Sengupta said nearly 65 per cent of GDP and 50 per cent of the GST system of processes in India happens through various platform and offerings by SAP.