SAP inks Philippine SMB deals

PHILIPPINES--Enterprise software vendor SAP has bagged two new deals in the Philippines for BusinessOne, its low-cost offering for small and midsize businesses.

In a briefing Thursday, SAP said it sealed a deal with Philippines-based oil provider Metro Oil Subic, and MCX, a local assembler, distributor and manufacturer of motorcycles.

The deals are significant, said Patrick Tan, director for SAP's SMB operation in the country, as they underline the "value of the Philippine SMB market to SAP."

The two licensing deals are worth over 5 million pesos (US$105,500), and were implemented over a two-month period, according to the software vendor.

Sydney Tan, president of Metro Oil added that the company will implement BusinessOne for its 13 gasoline stations located across Metro Manila. The SAP software will replace Metro Oil's "traditional office applications" and automate more of the company's backend office processes, Tan said.

MCX deployed BusinessOne to track and monitor the company's import-export operations, said company representatives, who added that the SAP application also automated sales tracking functions for distributors across the Philippines.

New local distributor
SAP, meanwhile, has appointed U.S. software services and consulting company XCEL, as one of its distributors in the country.

New Jersey-based XCEL established a fully-owned Philippines subsidiary late-2007, and is looking to address the local burgeoning SMB market.

Ron Ferrer, director for operations for XCEL, said the company will provide systems integration services for SAP's SMB offerings. It currently employs some 300 consultants in its U.S., Mexico and Manila offices, in which 85 percent are Filipinos, Ferrer said.

Joel D. Pinaroc is a freelance IT writer based in the Philippines.