There are not many circumstances that can unite billions of people globally, but the global goal to eradicate the COVID-19 pandemic has done it.
While the effort is admirable at a global scale, each community needs a localized plan to serve its specific needs.
In an interview with the Daily News, Vice President and Head of Sales, South India and Sri Lanka, SAP India Subcontinent, Sajith Simon shares how his company is helping others adjust to a new normal. “COVID-19 has forced us to reassess countless assumptions and paradigms about how we define and conduct business and most importantly, how we live our lives. At SAP, we can put the right organizational structures in place to help businesses in Sri Lanka succeed during these challenging times.”
Q: With the impact of COVID-19 on business, how is SAP navigating through this uncertain period?
A: The health, safety and livelihood of the extended SAP family and the communities in which we serve is top of mind for us. We’ve restricted travel, re-imagined in-person events as digital experiences, and our colleagues are almost entirely working remotely.
We have also introduced interactive workshops on mindfulness at work, stress management, physical well-being, and new digital learning initiatives. Our customers are also a part of the SAP family, and we’re focused on standing by them as they navigate an incredibly challenging period.
Q: What are some of the benefits you are offering to your customers during this difficult time?
A: With not many organizations having a ‘Work From Home’ readiness in terms of Policy, Infrastructure, or Remote Business Continuity Processes, the need of the hour is about adopting an employee engagement platform or Customer Experience platform which enables real time activation and feedback
SAP has opened access to technologies to help various organizations to continue doing business in these times. We have made the following offerings (i.e. Remote Work Pulse by Qualtrics, SAP Ariba Discovery, COVID-19 Pre-Screen & Routing by Qualtrics, TripIt Pro, SAP Litmos and Ruum by SAP) available immediately, at no cost.
Q: How are you helping your customers to manage risk and ensurebusiness continuity?
A: In order to ensure business continuity and provide seamless business operations to our customers, we have developed a charter that aims to minimize the impact on the delivery of services. Business continuity today is a priority for companies across industries to sustain and grow in this challenging environment. We have implemented steps at every level to provide a seamless business operation. The need for a connected and robust system for any organization to function uninterrupted has been more compelling with the turn of events that we have seen with the pandemic.
In Sri Lanka, many of our SAP customers have gone live on projects successfully during the lockdown with a proactive participation from SAP support. Some fine examples of this is Midas Safety & John Keells Holding who have successfully implemented and gone live on SAP during this pandemic. SAP continues to maintain SLA + business continuity + 24x7 support and service to more than 100 customers in Sri Lanka who rely on SAP.
Similar number of incidents and tickets were raised by customers throughout the lockdown like done during the prior 12 months. This further shows the customers resilience in maintaining business continuity and SAP’s robust mechanism in successfully supporting them in maneuvering through this period.
Q: How is SAP contributing to the larger society to fight COVID-19?
A: Our enduring vision has always been to help the world run better and improve people’s lives. In the Indian subcontinent, we have partnered with various social enterprises such as HelpAge India, Rise Against Hunger, and UNDP to support and contribute to citizens of different strata affected by the pandemic.
At SAP, we have colleagues and customers in every corner of the world. Our thoughts are with all those affected and the many communities that continue to face extreme measures as we work to slow down and contain the spread of the virus.
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