ERP software market in the Gulf to hit $300m

The Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software market in the Gulf Co-operation Council countries will hit $300 million (Dh1.1 billion) by the end of 2009, as rising demand within the regional enterprise and SMB sectors fuels the market, according to Madar Research.

The report has projected that the market will witness a compound average growth rate of 14 per cent in the next five years.

ERP spending in the GCC countries is expected to experience a more moderate growth higher than the projected world average, which is between six per cent and nine per cent.

Raqmiyat, a leading UAE-based systems integrator, is set to leverage the booming demand in the region, as organisations are becoming more open to utilising technology-enabled systems.

New and advanced technologies are rapidly being developed by software companies to facilitate better integration of data sources and processes into a unified system. While the GCC countries are experiencing an abundance of cash flow as a result of high oil prices and high gross domestic product growth, more organisations and businesses are being encouraged to speed up their adoption of ERP technologies.

With government sectors emerging as the top IT spenders in the region, Raqmiyat has outlined a specific strategy to form strategic partnerships with key government branches by offering more result-driven, reliable and accessible ERP systems.

"In addition to government sectors, we are also focusing our efforts to gain more clients within the GCC state's most important verticals, including the telecomcommunications, banking and retail sectors, which are all providing strong demand for project implementation, managed services and outsourcing," said Navneet Tandon, vice-president of Raqmiyat.

"Recent trends towards larger deals, particularly from government modernisation initiatives, have encouraged us to continuously develop our robust solutions to address large-scale projects, while advancing our brand of highly scalable offerings for small and medium-sized businesses."

Among Raqmiyat's latest ERP software offering is the new version of Global Enterprise Management System (Gems).

Dubai-based Raqmiyat, the primary information technology firm of the Al Ghurair business group, offers world-class business and technology solutions through partnerships with international companies.