Leading Saudi innovators Maadaniyah, NEOM, Olayan Group, have shared best practices in Saudi companies accelerating their digital transformation, the companies announced today during global technology company SAP’s Blue Ribbon event.

In line with the Saudi Vision 2030 and mega-trends such as the inter-connected world of Industry 4.0, Saudi organizations and industries have been advancing their digital transformation agendas.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, one-third (32 percent) of organizations worldwide have been investing in new technologies to analyze data and to enhance their business processes, according to a recent survey by Oxford Economics. Among the top three technologies seeing investment are AI (34 percent), IoT (33 percent), and analytics (32 percent).

Maadaniyah Grows the Kingdom’s Manufacturing Base

Maadaniyah (National Metal Manufacturing and Casting Company) includes the wire drawing plant Aslak, the metal casting plant Masabik, the axles and spare parts plant Arabian Axles, and technical engineering services TESC. As Industry 4.0 grows, Maadaniyah and channel partner Baaskaar (Al Bilad) have deployed the SAP S/4HANA real-time business suite for business insights and dashboards.

"As industrial production is a pillar of Saudi Arabia’s growth, Maadaniah needed to accelerate our digital transformation to enhance our forecasting, supply chain resilience, and enable work from home," said Aamir K. Pirzada, Chief Information Officer (CIO), Maadaniyah. "Thanks to our partnership with SAP, we have mobile-friendly apps for our salespersons, standardized our product costing, and enhanced our customer relations."

NEOM Digitally Transforms Employee Experiences

One of the Middle East’s largest and most innovative giga-projects, NEOM, is working to scale up its human experience platforms in line with its digital transformation roadmap. NEOM has deployed the SAP SuccessFactors human capital management platform, integrated with the SAP S/4HANA real-time business suite and the SAP Ariba digital procurement platform.

"As NEOM rapidly increases workforce, we needed to enhance our employee experiences and streamline human resources processes to address the huge influx of local, regional and global talent," said Arron Patel, Digital Strategy, Cloud Adoption and HR Technology Lead, NEOM. "Our digital transformation with SAP has enabled automated self-services and is the first step in providing an end user led ecosystem of company processes. In the upcoming phases we will pivot towards both expanding into Talent and Learning as well as deep analytics to be ahead of what is to come in 2021. 

Olayan Group Integrates Employee Data Across 40 Companies

Olayan Group, a Saudi Arabia-based multi-national enterprise is advancing its digital transformation. As the company scales up, Olayan Group has adopted the SAP SuccessFactors human capital management platform to seamlessly integrated employee data and processes from 40 companies and enable work-from-home and employee self-services.

"Olayan Group’s digital transformation on talent management aims to meet the needs of our young, tech-savvy employees, and to develop a digital culture based on productivity, agility, and speed," said

El Bachir Nejjari, Group Chief Information Officer, Olayan Saudi Holding Company. "Our digital transformation with SAP has enhanced the experiences of our remote employees, and enhanced the experiences of our customers, suppliers, and vendors."

SAP Promotes New Technologies and ‘Back to Best’ Solutions

On the back of Saudi Arabia’s government launching the National Strategy for Data and Artificial Intelligence, SAP is championing how innovative technologies can integrate into digital transformation roadmaps to deliver the biggest benefit. The company is also promoting its "Back to Best" resources and solutions, which can help organizations to move forward from COVID-19.

"Saudi Arabia continues to be a global leader in technology innovation – with Maadaniyah, NEOM, and Olayan Group showing how digital transformation can reinvent business practices," said Mohammed Alkhotani, Managing Director, SAP Saudi Arabia "Our Blue Ribbon event is enabling Saudi Arabia and Middle East organizations to learn how to digitally transform into Intelligent Enterprises that can emerge more profitable, resilient, and sustainable post-COVID-19."

Watch the SAP Middle East North – Blue Ribbon webinars at: https://www.sapblueribbon.com/.

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