Middle east conglomerate Al-Futtaim Group collaborates with SAP to enable complete digital transformation
In order to maintain its competitive edge and realise numerous benefits for its clients, partners, and employees, Al-Futtaim Group, a leading family-owned company operating across the regional automotive, financial services, real estate, retail, and health markets, has committed to a full digital transformation, powered by its long-term partner SAP and supported by Microsoft Azure as an intelligent cloud platform.
Omar Al Futtaim, the vice chairman and chief executive officer of the Al-Futtaim Group, and Christian Klein, the global CEO of SAP, were present at a signing ceremony this month where Al-Futtaim Group formally adopted RISE with SAP, a tailored solution to ensure a speedy and seamless migration of mission-critical systems to the cloud. All of Al-Futtaim Group's business systems will be fully integrated in the cloud once it has been put into place, and improvements will allow the company to take advantage of new technology and the advantages brought about by automated and optimised business operations.
Himanshu Shrivastava, Chief Technology Officer at Al-Futtaim Group, said at the signing ceremony, “This partnership is a testament to Al-Futtaim Group’s commitment to driving innovation and staying at the forefront of our industry. In line with our continued pursuit of excellence, the comprehensive SAP solution we are implementing incorporates sustainability metrics, industry best practices, extensibility, analytics and business process intelligence. We will have full visibility over all areas of operations, supported by data-driven insights and the flexibility necessary to respond with agility to changes in customer needs and market fluctuations. Importantly, the solution will also enable enhanced customer, partner and employee experiences, with greater engagement and consistency across touch points.”
Al-Futtaim Group will implement several new SAP cloud solutions, including SAP S/4HANA, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution that enables business process automation, lowers total cost of ownership, offers 360-degree visibility over all operations, and is adaptable for a variety of industry needs to ensure accurate reporting and compliance. Benefits include seamless and individualised client journeys, self-service capabilities, end-to-end, integrated finance capabilities, as well as improved procurement, supply chain, and inventory management.
To be used across all aspects of the Al-Futtaim Group's business, other existing SAP products, such as SAP SuccessFactors for human resource management, are being enhanced in the cloud. With SuccessFactors, this strategy offers 360-degree views of the huge regional workforce of the Al-Futtaim Group, a more effective compensation model, and the activation of gamification and well-being features to increase employee engagement. The integration of non-SAP solutions into the SAP framework will also be possible thanks to the SAP and Microsoft Azure cloud infrastructure.
Zakaria Haltout, Managing Director for SAP UAE, commented, “With this partnership, Al-Futtaim Group is positioning itself as a transformational leader in adopting new technologies to deliver better value to its customers, employees and partners. Leveraging SAP’s expertise in regional automotive, financial services, real estate, retail and health markets, and with Microsoft Azure’s comprehensive cloud infrastructure, we are confident this partnership will enable Al-Futtaim Group to achieve operational excellence and drive continued success for the company.“
Also commenting on the collaboration, Yvonne Chebib, Global Partner Solutions lead, Microsoft UAE said, “We are delighted to be working closely with Al-Futtaim Group and SAP to enable the success of this venture. By leveraging the expertise and cutting-edge technology offered by SAP and the trusted cloud infrastructure of Microsoft Azure, Al-Futtaim Group is ensuring it has the clear execution roadmap for the next level of business transformation and further driving value through the interoperability benefits"