Al-Futtaim Group, a family-owned business group operating across the regional automotive, financial services, real estate, retail, and health markets, has committed to a full digital transformation, powered by its long-term partner SAP, and supported by Microsoft Azure as an intelligent cloud platform, to maintain its competitive edge and realize multiple benefits for its customers, partners, and employees.

At a signing ceremony this month attended by the Vice Chairman and CEO of Al-Futtaim Group, Omar Al Futtaim, and SAP global CEO Christian Klein, Al-Futtaim Group officially adopted RISE with SAP, a customized solution to ensure a quick and seamless transition of mission-critical systems to the cloud. Once implemented, all of Al-Futtaim Group’s business systems will be fully integrated into the cloud, with upgrades enabling the company to leverage the benefits of new technologies and the efficiencies arising from automated and streamlined business processes.

Himanshu Shrivastava, Chief Technology Officer at Al-Futtaim Group, said at the signing ceremony, “This partnership is a testament to Al-Futtaim Group’s commitment to driving innovation and staying at the forefront of our industry. In line with our continued pursuit of excellence, the comprehensive SAP solution we are implementing incorporates sustainability metrics, industry best practices, extensibility, analytics, and business process intelligence. We will have full visibility over all areas of operations, supported by data-driven insights and the flexibility necessary to respond with agility to changes in customer needs and market fluctuations. Importantly, the solution will also enable enhanced customer, partner, and employee experiences, with greater engagement and consistency across touch points.”

Among the new SAP cloud solutions Al-Futtaim Group will implement is SAP S/4HANA, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution that enables automation of business processes, reduces total cost of ownership, provides 360-degree visibility over all operations, and is adaptable for multiple industries' needs to ensure accurate reporting and compliance. Benefits include end-to-end, integrated finance capabilities, as well as enhanced procurement, supply chain and inventory management; seamless and personalized customer journeys; and self-service capabilities.

Other existing SAP solutions, such as SAP SuccessFactors for human resource management, are being upgraded in the cloud to be used across all areas of Al-Futtaim Group’s business. In the case of SuccessFactors, this approach enables 360-degree views of Al-Futtaim Group’s extensive regional workforce, a more efficient compensation model, and the activation of gamification and well-being features to enhance employee engagement. The SAP and Microsoft Azure cloud infrastructure will also enable non-SAP solutions to be integrated within the SAP framework.

Zakaria Haltout, Managing Director for SAP UAE, commented, “With this partnership, Al-Futtaim Group is positioning itself as a transformational leader in adopting new technologies to deliver better value to its customers, employees and partners. Leveraging SAP’s expertise in regional automotive, financial services, real estate, retail, and health markets, and with Microsoft Azure’s comprehensive cloud infrastructure, we are confident this partnership will enable Al-Futtaim Group to achieve operational excellence and drive continued success for the company.“

Also commenting on the collaboration, Yvonne Chebib, Global Partner Solutions lead, Microsoft UAE said, “We are delighted to be working closely with Al-Futtaim Group and SAP to enable the success of this venture. By leveraging the expertise and cutting-edge technology offered by SAP and the trusted cloud infrastructure of Microsoft Azure, Al-Futtaim Group is ensuring it has a clear execution roadmap for the next level of business transformation and further driving value through the interoperability benefits”