SAP India, the leading provider of business software solutions, announced its industry-specific channel partners for small and midsize businesses (SMB) and Oak Brook Technologies will offer solutions for pharmaceuticals.

SAP's offering for the SMB market, mySAP, an all-in-one solution, will be distributed through its channel partner. With expertise in the pharmaceutical industry, the partner can implement and provide support, which includes software, hardware and a one-stop solution for the customer.

"With the right combination of industry expertise and partners, SAP offers SMB, the right size solution at the right price in the right amount of time. By carefully selecting channel partners who share our commitment to SMBs and offer vertical industry expertise, SAP can deliver long-term customer relationships," said Alan Sedghi, president and managing director, SAP Indian Sub-Continent.

MySAP is a prepackaged, industry -specific solution with built-in content, tools and methodologies for a cost effective, turnkey deployment. The solution has been designed keeping the specific needs of the SMB segment in mind - smaller user base and pricing. SAP has also decided to offer financial assistance to the customers in conjunction with its partners. In addition, it will offer industry specific best practices localized to India.

Companies in the SMB segment have been choosing SAP to run business-critical processes for several years now. SAP has won over 20 customers in last six months alone. The company intends to be the number one solution provider for SMBs in Asia Pacific by 2005. In Asia Pacific, SAP has over 6,680 installations of which 3,460 (more than 50 per cent are SMBs). In India, SAP is already in a leadership position with over 160 SMB customers across industry verticals. The clientele in pharmaceuticals and chemical industry includes Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Matrix Laboratories Balsara Hygiene Products Ltd and Sudarshan Chemicals Industries Ltd.

"SAP is making investments in enabling its partners to address the SMB market through technology training, solution development, certification and qualification. The company will continue to invest in educating SMB organizations in India. We have already organized more than 75 SMB focused road shows across the country in last 5 years," said Nagaraj Bhargava, director - marketing and alliances, SAP Indian Sub-Continent.