Bahrain’s software market is projected to grow to $38 million in 2011 and will experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of eight per cent until 2015, said a report.

The country is rapidly emerging as an important financial hub for the Middle East, which in turn has created opportunities for banks to invest in new support services and regulatory compliances, added the recent Business Monitor International (BMI) report.

Enterprise applications should account for around 30 per cent of software spending, as the market for ERP applications is far from saturated. With the evolution of Bahrain’s IT market, a stronger focus on software spending is now being seen, the report said.

The BMI report also shows that private firms are now investing in key ERP software, even during times of fiscal leniency.

To help sustain this growth, Sage Software, the leading global supplier of enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM) and human resource management (HRM) solutions, will be implementing new initiatives like global support service, global partner program and global certification for consultants and business partners, the company said in a statement.

“We have significant opportunity to grow through upgrading existing customers as they themselves grow. Sage ERP X3 is a very good example of this, where it has expanded our addressable market and brought another type of customer into the Sage business, those being mid-market customers that operate on a multinational basis,” said Guy Berruyer, chief executive officer, Sage.

“Our strategy is not to re-write our existing mid-market applications for the web. Instead we are making available hosted or cloud-based versions of many of our existing on-premise solutions that allow customers to take advantage of some of the benefits of SaaS solutions, such as subscription pricing and no hardware management,” he added.

In line with this, Sage has announced plans to reinforce its strategy for Sage ERP X3, its leading ERP solution for the Bahrain mid-market segment. According to Sage global performance reports, the influx of new customers, partners and the enhancement of the Sage ERP program has helped Sage ERP X3 reach double digit revenue growth.

The company’s strategic move is aimed at providing a high quality and consistent customer experience, which include a premium global support service, a standardized methodology for Sage ERP X3 multi-country deployments and a global certification for consultants and business partners worldwide.

Christophe Letellier, general manager, Sage ERP X3 Worldwide, highlighted the importance of Sage’s partner ecosystem to the growth of Sage ERP X3’s market with the announcement of a comprehensive new partner program.

The new initiative is part of Sage’s response to the demand created by its customer community. The partner recruitment and certification initiatives aim to foster innovation and strengthen Sage ERP X3’s mid-market presence through close collaboration and innovation on industry-based offerings.

According to Emmanuel Obadia, senior vice president, Sage ERP X3, the company is also introducing a new industry solutions program, which is aimed at the process and discrete manufacturing, services and distribution sectors with the immediate availability of the first industry solutions for services module, project and job costing.

“The announcement of Sage’s move to strengthen its growth vision for Sage ERP X3 could not have come at a more perfect time. Bahrain has already started to show signs of recovering from the recent financial downturn and is evident in the huge number of economic activity experienced across various verticals,” said Reggie Fernandes, director - Gulf Operations, Sage Software Middle East.

“This renewed vibrancy in the market is accompanied with a demand for IT solutions that deliver the best results for businesses.”

“SME’s in Bahrain are now investing in ERP and CRM solutions that can be easily integrated with their existing IT infrastructure and can also help address their dynamic needs. Our strength lies within a strong customer advocacy program that assures our customers of acceleration and growth,” he concluded. – TradeArabia News Service