SAP MENA has announced the appointment of Ahmed Jaber Al-Faifi to the role of MD for Saudi Arabia.
Reporting directly to Sam Alkharrat, MD, SAP MENA, Al-Faifi will lead SAP’s ambitious growth strategy and field operations in one of the company’s most dynamic markets, it was reported.
An IT and telecommunications veteran with more than a decade’s experience across the Middle East, Al-Faifi joins SAP MENA from Zain KSA, where he held the position of COO, supervising networks, IT, sales, marketing, customer care, among other key operational functions.
Al-Faifi’s tenure at Zain KSA also entailed working as CTO, where his cost optimisation initiatives resulted in savings of more than 2.3 billion SAR over a five year period, representatives said. Prior to which, he worked across Ericsson’s Saudi Arabia operations.
“I am delighted to welcome Ahmed to our team. In a market as strategically important as Saudi Arabia, it is critical that we have the right person to lead and grow our business. Ahmed has the background and vision to move us to the next level, and will be instrumental in driving our customer-centric innovation agenda centering on cutting-edge, localised solutions related to mobility, analytics, applications, database and technology and the cloud, said Alkharrat.
Al-Faifi joins SAP MENA at an auspicious time. A comprehensive study by IDC, the premier global market intelligence and advisory firm for the information technology and telecommunications markets, recently placed SAP as the MENA region’s Enterprise Application Software (EAS) vendor front-runner, while Saudi Arabia ranks as the company’s largest market, with a strong showing in the manufacturing, utilities and oil and gas sectors contributing to a healthy 43.5% of all EAS business in the kingdom.
SAP MENA is also in the midst of rolling out a four-year additional spend plan to up-skill local talent and drive sustainable innovation and growth across the MENA region.
The plan includes recruiting more than 500 additional employees, opening several new offices and expanding the company’s partner ecosystem and the SAP University Alliances program. Additionally, significant increases will be made in the availability of comprehensive, innovative and localised service offerings. SAP MENA will also establish a dedicated training and development institute that aims to certify 2,000 new consultants in the market within the next four years.
“More than ever before, SAP’s team across MENA is built to scale, innovate and deliver value-added solutions that can help businesses and organisations run better,” said Al-Faifi. “Saudi Arabia is in the midst of dramatic changes and its progress will need to occur with precision, efficiency and sustainability. I am proud to be a part of a company that is already influencing this exciting new reality, and look forward to supporting our Saudi customers and partners as we aspire to the next wave of growth and innovation,” he concluded.
