SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) has announced a new research study, in partnership with Oxford Economics, designed to discover how businesses are incorporating a holistic management approach into everyday business strategy and operations.

The survey was conducted with 3,000 global business executives across 10 industries* during the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Key findings include:

• 32 percent of organizations are investing in new technologies to analyze data.
• Top three technologies seeing investment are artificial intelligence (34 percent), Internet of Things (33 percent), and analytics (27 percent).
• 34 percent are retraining employees to work with data.
• 25 percent are extending data governance policies across the business ecosystem.

Technology investments are contributing to organizational success, including improving citizen and customer experiences (48 percent), employee experiences (47 percent), and employee productivity (46 percent).

“Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, UAE organizations are aligned with the global survey results that show many organizations are investing in new technologies across everyday operations to enhance employee and customer experiences,” said Sergio Maccotta, Senior Vice President, SAP Middle East South. “Across the UAE, organizations that digitally transform into Intelligent Enterprises can become more resilient, and both sustainably profitable and profitably sustainable.”

Similarly, in the UAE, a recent YouGov survey shows that 76 percent of IT decision-makers in the UAE agree that public cloud is important for integrating future technology.
In the Middle East and North Africa, SAP is seeing rapid digital transformation among seven key industry verticals: banking, government, healthcare, oil and gas, professional services, retail, and utilities. Middle East organizations are facing numerous challenges — including instituting remote work, changing workforce needs, supply chain disruption, reskilling and retraining employees, and getting closer to their customers.

“Across the Middle East, industry verticals are readily adopting the latest real-time innovations – from better understanding employee readiness for remote work, to video-based courses, and posting sourcing needs from suppliers across the world on digital platforms,” added Sergio Maccotta. “Middle East organizations that digitally transform now will emerge more agile, customer-centric, and competitive post-pandemic.”

Read the study “Beyond the Crisis: How Interconnected Businesses Exhibit Leadership and Resiliency.”

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