100% of UAE Leaders Agree Technology is Important to Company Growth

Leading UAE Businesses Reveal IT Ambitions at SAP Value Academy Program in Dubai

A staggering 100% of United Arab Emirates (UAE)business leaders have identified technology as critical to their company growth strategy, according to a survey conducted at a recent SAP Value Academy in Dubai.

The results form part of a dramatic trend in the UAE to embrace IT as key component in the country’s ambitious transformation agenda, with a recent Business Monitor International study indicating that the country’s IT spend is projected to grow at a 2011-2015 compound annual growth rate of 8%.

Further technological optimism stems from the UAE’s eye-catching mobile penetration rate of 200% -one of the highest in the world – as well as its ambition to achieve 100% broadband penetration in 2012 and a determination to adopt cutting-edge services such as virtualization and the cloud.

“As business leaders, we must adopt the latest technologies such as mobility and business analytics and successfully implement solutions that enable end-to-end visibility, sustainable business practice and swift decision-making,” saidS.Krishnasarma, Director – ITS, ETA ASCON STAR Group.

The SAP Value Academy provides a forum for business leaders to learn the strategic approaches that enable companies to become best-run businesses.  Companies consistently delivering on their commitments have used a value lifecycle to plan, build, attain, sustain, and improve their performance. The lifecycle requires discovering value potential, translating strategy to execution, realizing the value and finally optimizing performance and investments

Other key observations at the event included the fact that while 70% of attendees do not use any formal value management practices, an overwhelming 100% viewed them as essential to supporting business and IT strategy alignment.

There was also a consensus was that the key innovation technologies on the agenda were related to mobility, customer relationship management and business intelligence.

“The Value Management methodology is intended to keep companies focused on choosing the right projects, clearly defining ownership and accountability for business results, and delivering on these agreed upon commitments.” said Sameer Areff Managing Principal, Value Engineering, SAP MENA.

“By hosting the SAP Value Academy in the UAE we are demonstrating the importance we place on assisting companies in the country to embark on technology projects with a strong focus on their business objectives, emphasizing the importance on the overall business outcome and realizing the expected results”

“The awareness and willingness of top business leaders in this country to embrace cutting-edge IT is tremendously exciting. Game-changing innovations like in-memory computing, mobility and cloud provide real-time data that will transform government, businesses and improve people’s lives. This will help make citizens safer and grow the local knowledge-based economy. SAP is honored to be playing a key role in driving this change.”