Recruiting in China

SAP Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) finished the year strongly with fourth quarter software revenue sales growth of 44 percent in constant currencies, compared with the previous corresponding period, to Euros 18 billion.

According to the German software behemoth, APJ remained its fastest growing region with software revenue rising 32% year-on-year in constant currencies to Euros 482 billion.

Total revenues for SAP APJ grew 20% year-on-year in constant currencies to Euros 1.275 billion.

“2007 was a terrific year for SAP Asia Pacific Japan, with revenue growth in India, Greater China, Japan and South East Asia providing key impetus for the region,” said Geraldine McBride, President and CEO, SAP Asia Pacific Japan.

“We are continuing to invest in this region, hiring more than 3300 new people in 2007 to help take our exciting array of products and services to market.”

“Our customers in this region remain motivated to grow their businesses and need to derive real value from the systems they implement,” added McBride.

“In 2007, we expanded operations into new markets in the region and are on track to grow consistently over the next two years,” McBride continued.

For the full year of 2007, SAP APJ’s software and software related service revenue grew 24% in constant currencies to Euros 959 billion, while Q4 software and software related service revenues grew 32% in constant currencies to Euros 304 billion.

SAP said it continues to invest in maintaining its leadership position in the fast growing Asian region, adding 3384 full time employees in 2007, bringing the regional total to more than 9500 full-time equivalent employees.

In the fourth quarter, SAP also established its first sales operations in Cambodia working with an SAP Business All-in-One partner in Phnom Penh. This follows SAP APJ’s expansion into Vietnam in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh earlier in 2007.

SAP India, the fastest growing country for SAP globally, continued to expand operations in 2007 with the acquisition of YASU Technologies and the SAP Executive Board’s continued commitment to invest USD1 billion in the country by 2010.

“SAP Asia Pacific Japan also remains the leader in SAP’s fastest growing customer segment: SME,” said McBride.

“SME delivered a strong performance each quarter in 2007 and grew at more than ten new names per working day. SME customers now make up nearly 70% of SAP’s customer base in the region.”

Success for SME in Asia Pacific and Japan will continue to be driven by a strong partner ecosystem and an innovative solution portfolio.

In 2008 SAP will continue to roll-out its latest innovation for the lower midmarket, SAP Business ByDesign, a software-as-a-service solution specifically designed for SMEs. Successfully launched in 2007 in China and recently in Singapore, SAP believes its Business ByDesign portfolio will add to the SME momentum in Australia and India in 2008.