“STUDY OF MARKET POTENTIAL OF

SAP ERP SOLUTIONS IN AHMEDABAD”With reference to Vanguard Technologies (India) Ltd. Ahmedabad

region

A Grand Project Report Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of award of MBA Degree

Submitted by

Mr.Chetan Savalgi Roll No-16

Ms.Urvi RavalRoll No-67

Project Guides

Prof. Prakash Chawla (Internal)Mr. Sandipan Kar (External)

Vice President., Vanguard Technologies (India) Ltd

S.K.PATEL INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND COMPUTER STUDIES

Gandhinagar, India2004-05

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThis research has been undertaken for Vanguard Technologies (India)

Ltd. for Ahmedabad region. In the existing competitive business

environment any organization would like to assess its position, its

future potential with respect to its industry and also with reference to

the type of services it provides with in the industry. The sponsor has

initiated this study in this direction.

The study sets out with an objective of assessing the market potential

of SAP ERP solutions. The sponsor company happens to be a SAP

Business Partner providing SAP services in Gujarat. The company

wanted to know the potential existing in Ahmedabad region thru this

study.

The source of data for the study, are the responses given by the

participant companies thru personal interviews.

The findings have been provided in tabulated format along with

graphical representation wherever necessary.

The findings of the study have been analyzed extensively thru various

Analytical models like the following,

Porter’s Five Forces Model

SWOT Analysis of the Sponsor Company

ERP Potential Pyramid

BCG Matrix

The study is concluded by grading the areas of market potential in

order of high to low, in the region along with providing the sponsor

company with list of prospective companies with their related details.

The companies are classified into the high, medium, low market

potential categories.

INDUSTRY PROFILE

VARIOUS IT AREAS

A huge potential of trained IT manpower exists in India itself, and also

around the globe. IDC estimates that India is positioned in the No. 2

slot worldwide in terms of the fastest growing IT market in the world,

with the Indian IT companies’ revenues to grow to $12 billion by

2005. By 2005, says IDC, India’s IT sector would employ 11.82 lacs

people.

ITcould be divided into the

IT industry, the IT-user industry, or the IT enabled services industry.

As part of an IT organization, you will build software solutions or

create infrastructure, or be a part of the maintenance team.

The IT-user industry is broad enough to cover the rest of the

industries as practically every industry is gearing itself towards IT-

enablement. It uses the software and infrastructure created by the IT

industry. Next to these two is the ITES sector; services that are

essential but can be outsourced. It uses IT for increased efficiency,

productivity, and to utilize resources optimally. Examples would be

customer support services like call centers, sales support, back office

support, huge opportunities in Business Process outsourcing etc.

The IT-enabled Services industry (ITES)

The IT enabled services industry comprises the essential but

outsourceable services like customer support, data processing etc. It

is emerging as a major business opportunity for the export oriented IT

software and services segment. The industry includes human-

intensive services that are delivered over telecom networks or the

Internet to a range of business segments and verticals. ITES grew to

nearly Rs. 7,100 crore (US 1.5 billion) in 2001-02 and currently

employs around 107,000 personnel. According to a Nascom-McKinsey

Study, the ITES segment will generate job opportunities for over 1.1

million Indians and a revenue potential of Rs. 81,000 crore.  

Figure - ITES

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) – With the current focus on

core business capabilities, many companies are outsourcing select

business functions to expert partners who can perform them more

efficiently and cost-effectively. BPO takes a set of activities and takes

on the responsibility of reengineering the entire way the operation is

done.

A step beyond IT outsourcing, business process outsourcing includes

such functions as claims processing, invoicing, payroll and customer

support. A BPO vendor manages people and processes. Outsourcing

may be required in different spheres like Finance, Health, Accounting,

Human Resources of companies, etc.

With skills in IT and knowledge of how businesses and processes

function in organizations, strategic advantage could be achieved. The

prospects are immense as BPO is the thing of the future, simply

because it accelerates a company’s ability to compete in the market

even in areas where it does not possess much expertise.

Call Centres - It is an ever-growing segment of the ITES sector, the

most happening. It has immense potential to generate the maximum

number of jobs in the ITES segment. Call centers look out for those

with good communication skills, are fluent in English, and have the

much-needed poise and confidence.

Back office operations, Data entry, Data conversion are also

different facets of the ITES segment. Verticals such as banks and

aviation require large-scale data processing and data based decision-

making capabilities. Raw data and or paper documents are sent to

remote locations (IT-enabled destination) where data entry and

necessary reconciliation is carried out.

Medical transcriptions involve the transcribing of medical records

from audio format or dictated by doctors or other healthcare

processionals into either a hard copy or electronic format. Doctors

overseas record their findings into a Dictaphone or any other such

device and the sound tracks are transferred through datacom links to

ITES companies specializing in this area.

Opportunities exist. IT will employ 11.82 lacs people by 2005. The IT

arena is yours for the taking. Decide your leanings, engineer your

skills and choose your pick.

The User Industry

Figure –Dimensions of the User-industry sector

IT has become an all-pervasive, ubiquitous feature in our daily

existence, leaving no place untouched, no stone unturned. Whatever

their size, all industries are looking to make IT an integral part.

Therefore, there exists immense demand here. As more industries are

bitten by the IT-bug, they will look to customize the available products

to suit their requirements, leading to an increase in demand for

trained professionals.

Another factor to notice is that the field of IT is becoming more

specialized, with greater emphasis on domain-specific skills.

Manufacturing – in the Internet era, manufacturing industries today

confront a highly dynamic and interactive business environment.

Traditional industries delivering manufactured goods need to respond

quickly to changing consumer needs, while streamlining their

processes. It is important to effectively manage the flow of

information across key operational interfaces. IT assists by

manufacturing dedicated software products, solutions and services for

manufacturing and process industries.

Retailing is another subset of the manufacturing industry. Improved

means of communication has truly made the world a global village.

Large retailers today opt for global sourcing and joint product

development.

Technology helps them with computerization of procurement,

assortment planning, distribution and merchandising. The complete

retail process is today automated, with the widespread use of

technologies like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Enterprise

Application Integration (EAI), software packages for specific

functions, and enabling technologies like Asynchronous Transfer

Mode (ATM) for data sharing and smart cards. IT professionals help

them leverage technology to maintain their stronghold.

Telecom –Telecom companies throughout the globe have adapted

computerization The telecom user is now able to avail of all kinds of

communication like voice, data and video, through a single instrument

or media. Wireless standards and technologies like WAP, GPRS ensure

continuous connectivity, be it online trading or news updates.

Design and implement customer-centric business processes for

improved customer service, cycle times and costs, and offer expertise

in defining customer-focused IT strategies.

Banking & Financial services - Internet, wireless technology, and

global straight-through processing have created a paradigm shift in

the banking industry from brick and mortar banks to banking virtually

across time zones. Most banks are IT-enabled, with their systems

being computerized.

Most companies have also switched onto computerized accounting

systems for their stock analysis, payroll preparation, and so on. With

Internet trading being a success throughout the globe, the financial

sector has been swept by the technology wave. The opportunities are

global and so are your challenges.

Healthcare – The availability of tools and services like Hospital

Management Systems that improve diagnosis and treatment,

telemedicine with techniques like real time image transfers, and

health information through networks have considerably improved the

quality of service. IT Solutions provide state-of-the-art, end-to-end

healthcare solutions in areas that include hospital/patient

management systems and decision support systems. Technology has

also increased the requirements for medical transcriptionists, who

listen to the recordings, transcribe them and send them back

electronically.

ERP Solutions – ERP or Enterprise Resource Solutions integrates all

departments and functions across a company onto a single computer

system that can serve all those different departments' particular

needs.

Companies use ERP because they need to integrate financial

information, customer order information, standardize and speed up

manufacturing processes, reduce inventory, and standardize HR

information. As part of this industry, you will be assigned a clear role

to perform in this whole chain of standardizing and integrating the

entire organization, and also the supply-chain management.

FUTURE OF IT INDUSTRY

IT Budgets to Increase 7% in 2005

Chief Information Officers (CIOs) in India expect IT budgets to

increase by 7 percent in 2005, a significantly higher rate of increase

than the 2005 global average of 2.5 percent.

According to the global CIO survey by Gartner Executive Programs

(EXP), a unit of Gartner Inc, three strong themes have emerged-

security and data protection, business continuity and business growth.

VP and Research director for Gartner EXP, Andrew Rowsell-

Jones says, "One of the top business priorities in India is supporting

competitive advantage. Yet the rest of the world ranks this priority

behind business process improvement, security and enterprise-wide

operating costs."

Table 1 - India Top 10 Business Priorities in 2005

India Top 10 CIO

Business Priorities

Overall

Ranking

Global Top 10

Business Priorities

Overall

Ranking

Security breaches and

disruptions

1 Business Process

Improvement

1

Supporting competitive

advantage

2 Security breaches and

disruptions

2

Data protection and 3

Enterprise-wide 3

privacy operating costs

Business Process

Improvement

4 Supporting competitive

advantage

4

Enterprise-wide

operating costs

5 Data protection and

privacy

5

Using intelligence in

products and services

6The need for revenue

growth 6

Faster innovation and

cycle times

7 Using intelligence in

products and services

7

Increased market

competition

8 Focus on internal

controls

8

Business units seeking

greater control of IS

9 Shortage of business

skills

9

Enterprise risk

management

10 Faster innovation and

cycle times

10

India CIOs are clearly focused towards building a solid foundation for

longer-term performance boost to their enterprise, whereas CIOs in

other parts of the world are more concerned with short term results.

This ties in with India's strategic management priority-improving

business continuity planning-also ranked more strongly in India than

in the rest of the world.  As IT becomes more of a foundation for

business performance, so that foundation has to be solid to be able to

support this responsibility.

As per the survey findings, Indian CIO efforts are concentrated on

protecting quality of earnings - that is long term reliability - rather

than just automating business for the sake of it. For Indian CIOs, if

processes are to be automated, it's important that, once they are

automated, they've got to be as reliable as possible.

Table 2 - India Top 10 CIO Strategic Management Priorities in

2005

India Top 10 CIO

Strategic Management

Priorities

Overall

Ranking

Global Top 10 CIO

Strategic

Management

Priorities

Overall

Ranking

Improving business

continuity and readiness1

Delivering projects

that enable business

growth

1

Delivering projects that

enable business growth2

Linking business and

IT strategies and plans2

Consolidating the IT

organization and

operations

3Demonstrating the

business value of IT3

Faster time-to-market for

new applications and IT

services

4

Applying metrics to IT

organization and

services

4

Linking business and IT

strategies and plans5

Tightening security

and privacy safeguards5

Tightening security and

privacy safeguards6

Improving business

continuity and

readiness

6

Implementing internal

controls in the IS

organization and

processes

7Improving the quality

of IT service delivery7

Applying metrics to IT 8 Consolidating the IT 8

organization and servicesorganization and

operations

Improving IT governance 9Developing leadership

in the senior IT team9

Demonstrating the

business value of IT10

Improving IT

governance10

Source: Gartner EXP (January 2005)

"They are not only investing in IT to gain competitive advantage for

their enterprises, they are also investing in business process

improvement initiatives, which will drive up enterprise efficiency. IT is

seen as delivering short-term and long-term gains.  This is a good

news story for IT in India," added Rowsell-Jones.

To consolidate these expected gains, Indian CIOs are also focusing on

systems security, data protection and privacy. All of which, if done

badly, can threaten enterprise business results.

According to Gartner there exists in India a solid underpinning on

enterprise wide operating costs to ensure business costs don't get out

of line. But the rest of the world ranks enterprise-wide operating costs

more strongly. However, in India the focus is clearly on the more

strategic competitive positioning and longer term growth, rather than

the tactical short-term revenue and strong constraints on investment.

Indian CIOs share some technology priorities-business intelligence,

security enhancement tools and workflow management-with their

international counterparts, but surprisingly they rank customer

relationship management much higher. But that's because CRM is

tied in with their push for competitive advantage and delivering

projects that enable business growth.

Table 3 - India Top 10 CIO Technology Priorities in 2005

India Top 10 CIO

Technology Priorities

Overall

Ranking

Global Top 10 CIO

Technology Priorities

Overall

Ranking

Business Intelligence

applications 1

Security enhancement

tools 1

Customer relationship

management (CRM) 2

Business Intelligence

applications 2

Security enhancement

tools 3

Mobile workforce

enablement 3

Workflow management 4 Workflow management 4

deployment and

integration

deployment and

integration

Business process

integration tools 5

Enterprise resource

planning (ERP)

upgrades

5

Storage management 6 Storage Management 6

Mobile workforce

enablement 7

Voice and data

integration over IP 7

Voice and data

integration over IP 8

Customer relationship

management (CRM) 8

Enterprise resource

planning (ERP)

upgrades

9Business process

integration tools 9

Server virtualization 10 Server virtualization 10

Source: Gartner EXP (January 2005)

Another issue "missing" from the list of Indian CIO top issues, but

which ranks strongly internationally, is the need to address a shortage

of business skills. It seems that the Indian education system, which

has turned IT into a major export earner for the sub-continent, is able

to produce the needed numbered of highly skilled highly educated

workers that CIOs need. While in the longer term, if expansion

continues, this may cease to be the case, it seems that the sun will

continue to shine throughout 2005.

Gartner also said that Indian CIOs increasingly expect their

responsibility towards non-IT business activities to go up.  'CIOs

responsibility for non-IT' is ranked #1 in Business issues for 2008 in

India compared to the global ranking of #10. The Indian CIO also

shares a much stronger working relationship with the CEO, as the

CEO reporting is much higher in India at 62% compared to 41% in

rest of world.

Another key finding of the CIO survey reveals that many Indian CIOs

think the big shift is the strategic use of information in services. This

presents a very different profile for the global average in this survey.

Among other management issues for 2008 Indian CIOs have rated

TQM/Six sigma at #2 while globally it has been rated at #23.

Merchandising

In an industry that is sensitive to dynamic market forces, cost

fluctuations and manufacturing responsiveness, there are many

benefits to be gained from investing in ERP. ERP applications have

shifted from assisting after-the-fact monitoring to real-time analysis,

control and forecasting; and from facilitating standardization,

economies to scale and cost reduction in production, to enabling fast,

flexible and accurate response and customization.

Merchandising is the planning required to have the right fashion

merchandise available in proper quantities and place at the right time

and price to meet consumer demand. It involves all the activities vary

from company to company, but usually include setting financial goals,

budgets, price and costing points, planning line size, fabric purchases,

sourcing, scheduling production, controlling product flow and

presentation of the line.

ERP/SCM application modules and separate IT applications modules

and separate IT applications help in a variety of areas.

EXAMPLE

Style Definition:

ERP applications first define all essential information related to each

style and then flexible links are used to attach defined sets of colors

and sizes. The sets of colors and sizes are unlimited and used for any

product requiring up to three variables. ERP modules can integrate

style/SKU definitions created from information received via pre-

production systems like product data management (PDM). ERP

modules can handle a unique product structure. It includes the bill of

material, the bill of labor and routing information. With a single

simplified product structure per style, any number of style, color, size,

dimension combinations can be easily set up and maintained. Once

the style product structure is created, the color or size combinations

are derived as attributes of the structure. The result is faster set up of

styles and a smoother seasonal change over.

Product Costing:

Cost products correctly is critical in the fashion industry. ERP

supports advanced costing methods, including standard costing,

actual costing and activity-based costing, as well as average, FIFO

and life inventory evaluation. Additionally, all costing methods and  

information can be fully integrated with finance. This provides your

company with essential financial information for monitoring and

controlling costs.

Inventory:

ERP can be used in multi-national, multi-company, and multi-site

manufacturing and distribution environments. The system simplifies

complicated logistics by allowing you to plan and manage companies

in different countries as a single unit. And, its advanced functionality

allows you to process product and financial information flows in

several different ways.

Entering and managing the basic data required to effectively run your

business is an important start for effective warehouse management.

The basic data includes warehouses, locations, items, containers, lot

and serial numbers, units of measure (including conversion), alias

numbers, replacement and substitute items, and more. Allocation

techniques let you connect each order line to specific inventory

accounting Ids needed to meet delivery requirements for quantities in

short supply. Allocation is also necessary to ensure that items with the

desired qualities, color, age, etc can be delivered to all of your

customers.

Inventory reporting supports all reporting of specific and general

types of stock transactions, such as various types of stock transfers,

re-classifications, ID changes and physical inventory results.

Additionally, functions are available for managing different stock and

purchase requisitions as well as supporting the selection of

appropriate locations for receipts. Inventory valuation involves both

warehouse management and cost accounting. ERP supports several

valuation methods including standard cost, average cost, FIFO and

batch-specific prices.

Distribution & Delivery:

Delivery and distribution in ERP lets you define logistics processes

flexibly and efficiently to deliver the right product from the right

warehouse to the right customer at the right time - everytime. To the

customer, the most important element of quality is on-time delivery. It

doesn't matter how well a product is made if arrives late. Applications

support automatic or manual load planning,transportation planning

for in-house vehicles or third party agents, EDI support for transport

booking, confirmation and dispatch, and proof of delivery processing.

Processing distribution or acquisition orders involves several closely

related activities, such as:

I Verification and release of planned orders.

II Order quotas per delivery when shortages occur.

III Transportation planning.

IV Picking list release and printout.

V Configuration of delivery packages and labelling.

VI Transport document printouts.

VII Delivery departure and in transport reporting.

VIII Receiving processing with quality inspection and put-away.

IX Processing and managing variances.

E-Commerce:

Internet enabled ERP offers Internet, Intranet and Extranet solutions

for business to business, business to consumer, employee self-service,

and more. For example, apparel, footwear and home fashions

manufacturers and distributors can use the Internet to allow their

customers to view recent catalogs, check the status of an order, and

place catalog orders directly over the Web. Internet enabled

capabilities are designed to help companies provide more responsive

customer service and forge closer relationships with their suppliers

and business partners.

Using EDI and electronic commerce, eliminates unnecessary

paperwork in fashion companies. The result, reduced lead times,

increased productivity, lowered costs and improved customer service.

Electronic communication streamlines and speeds up the supply side

of a business. ERP can provide full support for EDI and fax

communication with suppliers, including electronically transferred

order and receipt information in the supply chain.

A Pre-requisite For Survival:

The profound effects ERP is having on business as a whole are only

just beginning to filter through to the textile and clothing industries.

In future, the adoption of ERP systems that integrate internal systems

with those of suppliers and customers is likely to become a

prerequisite for survival in a fiercely competitive and ever-changing

global marketplace. E-commerce systems, linking trading

communities across the globe, are likely to become the norm.

In the coming decade, ERP will play a key role in re-shaping the

textile and clothing industries and their markets as we know them

today. It will help companies identify market segments on a global

basis through the greater ease and lower cost of reaching distant

customers, capturing information about their specific needs and

servicing their requirements.

What IT-enable service industry seeks in Budget 2004-05

In the forth coming Budget to be announced soon the IT-enable

service industry, expects the government to withdraw the circular on

taxation of  core services, to ensure proper differentiation between

core and non core activities of a company.

Commenting of the same, Raman Roy, CEO, WiproSpectramind, said,

"The government must take care of this nascent sector. It should not

be treated like a subisidaiy of the IT sector.

The industry seeks infrastructure support in terms of airport, roads

and uninterrupted power supply .

This report is for information purposes only and does not construe to

be any investment, legal or taxation advice. It is not intended as an

offer or solicitation for the purchase and sale of any financial

instrument. Any action taken by you on the basis of the information

contained herein is your responsibility alone and India Infoline Ltd

(hereinafter referred as IIL) and its subsidiaries or its employees or

directors, associates will not be liable in any manner for the

consequences of such action taken by you. We have exercised due

diligence in checking the correctness and authenticity of the

information contained herein, but do not represent that it is accurate

or complete. IIL or any of its subsidiaries or associates or employees

shall not be in any way responsible for any loss or damage that may

arise to any person from any inadvertent error in the information

contained in this publication. The recipients of this report should rely

on their own investigations. IIL and/or its subsidiaries and/or

directors, employees or associates may have interests or positions,

financial or otherwis

Company Profile

Introduction:

As a focused SAP consulting company, Vanguard Technologies has

been extremely successful in supporting clients in meeting the

challenges of their companies’ response to the changing nature of the

business & technical environment. Success companies have changed

the way they do business to leverage upon the potential more

prominent & effective way with efficient information system on SAP

platform.

We have expertise and experience with years of meaningful

experience in various aspects of R/3 in Petrochemicals, Textiles,

Pharma, engineering etc. We are partner to SAP India private Limited

as well as strategic alliance partners to Implementation SAP partner

companies of repute like Digital Global, Infosys, ATOS Origin, EDS

etc.

We have Implemented under leadership of SAP India, projects like

BPCL, ONGC in the Petrochemical sector including helpdesk support

for sales and distribution and Basis support to Indo Rama Synthetics

Ltd., ICICI, ATOS, and E+L.

We had joined with SAP as their Implementation team for Tata

Telecom’s CRM-BW project,, Kirloskar Brothers Ltd, Cochin

Refineries, Coke, Marico Industries’ and Hindustan Lever Limited ‘s

supply chain project.

We have provided crucial after-go live support to Arvind Mills,

Ahmedabad, Shell UK, Shell France, Mars of Strasbourg France,

Phillips of Holland. We participated in Duphar Interfarm for

Intelligroup in Jakarta for Implementation project.

We are currently engaged by Infosys in prestigious Implementation in

USA, Canada and Singapore on various Implementations of

prestigious projects like Pearsons (Penguin publications), Eastman

Colour, Microsoft, and Dymer Chrysler, Singapore. We are also

engaged in maintenance projects of Apple and Intel, which is done

from India.

Locally we have been supporting M/s E+L limited, ATE group

company, GIPCL, Arvind Mills Limited in after go live support,

maintenance, training and report generation work which they are very

happy with.

We have installed latest mySAP.com at our facilities at Ahmedabad

and have the ability to conduct the implementation in the right

manner as per the ASAP methodology, a proven Implementation

methodology as prescribed by SAP AG.

Resources

In-house trained, and experienced pool of consulting resources,

were made available to the group, which led them to acquire

appreciable strengths in IT. Joined subsequently by consultants

from the industry with strong basic background and expertise in

relevant areas, the skills possessed by it’s consultants are of rare

distinction.

Accreditation

We are the certified resource partners to SAP India Limited and

have the requisite strengths to fulfil the requirements of

implementation and consulting in the functional and technical

areas of SAP R/3 implementation.

We are strategic alliance partners to reputed companies like

Infosys, Digital, IBM, ATOS Origin FOR SAP and e commerce

initiatives WORLDWIDE.

We have been closely working on projects above-mentioned

reputed companies.

Expertise

We have by now acquired expertise in IS OIL, Pharmaceuticals,

Engineering Industry, and Textiles for the projects we have done

and possess consultants who have considerable experience in the

other industries as well.

Infrastructure

Vanguard Technologies Operates from 10,000 square feet of

fully furnished office premises located in the heart of the city of

Ahmedabad

It has established Internet connectivity through a dedicated

leased line of 64 KBPS

It has the installed high performance, high-speed servers and a

LAN connection serving the entire office setup with 16 machines

supplied by DIGITAL

It has installed MS SQL as well as WINDOWS 98., JAVA and all

latest software.

Areas of business

The company is currently focussing on the following.

ERP Implementation and consulting.

We have our core strengths in this area of business and the

future holds promise for substantial growth in ERP, CRM, SCM

and market place. We have done projects with SAP India

Limited in fortune 500 companies such as BPCL, ONGC, IOCL,

TISCO, etc.

Overseas Assignments

We have successfully done assignments for NIIT Asia Pacific and

RTL Development, UK for their projects in Singapore,

Belgium and France.

Help Desk.

We have successfully managed the help desk for the duration of

the contract from EDS for their customers. We have also

managed the same very successfully for M/s. Indo Rama at Boti

Bori in Maharashtra including their Basis management.

We are geared to provide on-shore services for help desk in SD,

MM, PP, FI, CO, IS-oil, BASIS and ABAP development.

ABAP Development, Enhancements, SAP SRIPTS and

Report writing.

We have successfully managed the contracts from the following

companies in developing ABAP reports for the customers as per

the specifications provided to us. We have also in other cases

developed the specifications for the customers after discussions

with the users and developed ABAP reports very satisfactorily.

1. Grasim Industries + Clarkston Potomac

2. Schindler

3. Price Water House Coopers

4. Cadila +EDS

5. VANGUARD

6. Arvind Mills

7. Erhardt + Leimer

8. Mars France

9. Celestica, Canada etc.

Role Based Training

We provide trainings. These trainings help users to learn SAP

usage specific to ones role in the user organisation. We offer

training to users in, Sales and distribution, Materials

Management, Production planning, MRP, Warehouse

management, as well as Finance and controls.

Partner Academy Training for SAPiant colleges

We are regular trainers for the SAPient colleges for the SAP R/3

partner academy courses and the other levels of courses in

various modules in various levels including certification.

Application Software Development.

We are in a position to enter into this area of business using

various tools and packages including Java, C, C++, UNIX,

oracle, D2K etc in course of time.

Growth

In course of time we plan to establish our offices in various

parts of the world where the market where potential so

demands. Immediately we are concentrating on India, Europe,

USA and Asia Pacific region.

The company is working very closely with some of the leading

systems vendors from across the globe and establishing beneficial

strategic alliances and partnerships to accelerate its pace of

growth and performance.

Customers

Vanguard Technologies India Private limited has done

prestigious assignments under leadership of SAP including

BPCL, IOCL, TATA TELECOM, Cochin refineries, Kirloskar

Brothers, etc. and with EDS (A fortune 500 company), Amtrex

Hitachi, Arvind Brands, Clarkston Potomac, Indo Rama, ICICI

and many others.

Methodology

Vanguard’s approach is fully integrated with SAP’s Accelerated SAP

methodology. We utilize our rapid application deployment approach

for project implementation for the purpose of providing high quality to

systems design and implementation within a diminished timeframe.

The five phases of our methodology are as follows:

This sophisticated product methodology is based on SAP's own ASAP

methodology and industry best practices. We always follow a roadmap

to project success:

1. Project Preparation

Preparation of documentation; buy-in from decision makers and

high-level

2. Planning

We begin working closely with you from the get-go to make sure

that everyone is on the same page and that requirements will be

clearly understood.

3. Business Blueprint

Will work directly with your business users to ensure its

success. Identification of existing business processes in your

current business (the "As-Is" model), as well as how new

requirements and processes will be implemented under SAP

(the "To-Be" model). This is a crucial phase, and it is here that

Vanguard

4. Realization

The actual configuration and ABAP development required for

your SAP system. If the Preparation and Blueprint phases have

been completed properly, this should be only a small fraction of

the total project time.

5. Final Preparation

Testing and Go-Live preparation. This phase ensures the

viability and reliability of your implementation. We believe that

extensive testing involving our staff and your business users can

prevent nearly 100% of problems during the Go-Live phase.

6. Go-Live and Support

This phase encompasses Go-Live preparation, cutover and initial

support. Not only will we warranty our work and guarantee that

your system is working successfully, we'll also provide extensive

project documentation. We don't consider a project to be

complete until we have provided detailed knowledge transfer to

your staff.

Experience is the biggest reference! Vanguard Technologies is

now approaching a customer with more than 500 man years of

Experience, with diversified services on SAP; Ranging from

Implementation services to Helpdesk support to the new dimension

services like BW, APO & CRM implementation having strong

reference in each of the propose area.

What Vanguard has to offer:

The right consulting support guaranteed to be available

On Call Functional/Technical consultant availability

Faster response times to problems

Fewer redundant tasks for your staff

On-Demand expert guidance

Minimized internal staffing commitment

In Nutshell

Total Sap Solutions Providing Company

Strategic IT Consulting Services:

Comprehensive IT Assessment Services

Development and Implementation of IT Strategies

Evaluation of New Technology options

Evaluation, Benchmarking and Optimization of Application

Systems and IT Services

SAP Assessment Services:

Maintenance Assessment Services

Off Sourcing Assessment Services

Upgrade Assessment Services

Business Warehouse Assessment Services

SAP Implementation Services:

SAP R/3 Implementation

New Dimensional Products Implementation

mySAP Business Information Warehouse

mySAP Customer Relationship Management

mySAP Supply Chain Management

SAP Development Services:

Functionality Development Services

Report Development Services

SAP Testing Services:

Onsite Application Testing Services

Offshore Application Testing Services

SAP Maintenance Services:

24/7 Help Desk Services

SAP Outsourcing Services:

Offsite Services

Offshore Services

Service features:

Remote development:

System Monitoring

CTS / TMS Administration

Performance Monitoring and Tuning

Hot Packages and OSS notes

Database Administration

Job Scheduling and Maintenance

Printer and Spool Administration

System Landscape Management

Solution Pack Hour

Functional Support

Security Management

24X7 Help Desk Services

Backup and Disaster Recovery Plan

Upgrade to SAP release 4.x

ITS, Webstudio, firewalls configuration

Web Enablement

Archiving Solutions

Offshore development:

Our service allows you to focus on what you do best and helps you

gain access to world class resources for SAP-related work (ABAP,

conversions, interfaces, custom reports) or traditional application

development. We are much more cost effective than in-house

development.

Upgrade Services:

Convert your custom reports from one SAP release to the new release;

upgrade ABAP queries and report writers; upgrade your “Z” programs

and function modules.

Enhancement Services:

Application development to respond to changing business conditions

and new products or marketplaces.

E-Business Services: Web development, testing, implementation,

and integration with your back office or ERP system.

Help desk:

Help Desk Services provide a suite of services that you may

chose from. These services range from Remote Technical

Management to BASIS support to 24x7 Help Desk support for

the user community. These are cost-effective packages that

enable you to focus on relevant internal activities.

Resolution of application problems so that you can get back to

your business and add value to the company; a team of people

understanding your company and its service demands.

Technical SAP support in the form of Hot Packages, OSS Notes

etc.; Change Management and Configuration Control.

Workload and performance management with specific tuning

recommendations based on your environment, SAP

configuration, and business demands.

Advanced Services for Archiving, Database Management,

Backup, Disaster Recovery Planning, and Upgrades.

Application and Development Support:

Our service allows you to focus on what you do best and helps you

gain access to world class resources for SAP-related work (ABAP,

conversions, interfaces, custom reports) or traditional application

development. We are much more cost effective than in-house

development.

BW and Portal Development and implementation Services :

BW Scoping to implementation, Portal development, testing, and

integration with existing systems.

E-Business Services:

Web development, testing, implementation, and integration with your

back office or ERP system.

SAP upgrades:

Vanguard Technologies, a leading SAP Consulting Partner with a

proven ability to develop and provide its customers with strategic,

cost-effective solutions for SAP R/3 systems, is offering a complete

SAP R/3 upgrade service to our customers. Vanguard has the

experience; technical expertise and the team necessary to

successfully guide your SAP team through a seamless upgrade.

There are a variety of factors that can affect the timing, resource

requirements and costs of an Upgrade:

Numbers of facilities, business units, and users

Numbers of custom reports

Modifications made to the SAP software during the initial

implementation

New functionality to be added during the upgrade, e.g. Business

Warehouse,

Advanced Planning and Optimization, mySAP.com, etc.

Changes in business processes

Our experience in SAP R/3 Implementations and Upgrades is

unmatched in the industry. Our consultants are recognized experts in

the industry, will provide you with knowledgeable answers and

insight, and support you through the process of upgrading your SAP

R/3 systems to the latest release, 4.6X, or mySAP Learn how we

execute a Combined Effort to Leverage your Internal Resources and

Vanguard’s Team to deliver a successful Upgrade.

Supply chain management:

Supply chain Management (SCM) enables collaborative network

optimization across the extended supply chain, helping companies to

work closely with their partners, enhance responsiveness to customer

demands and remain competitive.

SCM solution provides a company and its supply chain partners with

visibility of critical information about inventory levels, orders, product

design, forecasts, production plans and other key performance

indicators to increase service and reduce inventory carrying costs.

SAP’s Supply Chain Management solution synchronizes all parts and

participants in your extended enterprise. This enables better demand

forecasting, vendor management and available-to-promise inventory

distribution.

Advanced Planner and Optimizer (SAP APO)

Supply Chain Cockpit

Demand Planning

Supply Network Planning & Deployment

Production Planning & Detailed Scheduling

Global Available-to-Promise

CRM:

Internet Sales (e-Catalog, Shopping cart processing, Pricing,

Product configuration, Availability and Order management)

Catalog and Content management

Campaign Management for One-to-One marketing (Trade

promotions and product recommendations – Pushing content to

customers)

Tele-Marketing/Tele-Sales and Customer Interaction Center

(Call Center Integration, contact management)

Mobile Sales

Demand Planning with APO based on demand aggregated from

Marketing

Campaign

Analytics using BW (Customer statistics, intelligence gathering,

targeted promotions, sell/cross sell)

ATP using APO

Payment processing (Billing, credit card)

Marketplace integration

Why Vanguard?

A Large pool of experienced and skilled resources in India and

abroad

Rich experience in working in complex and large

implementations, which gives our consultants a wide exposure

and knowledge of the Best Practices.

Certified resource partnership with SAP India

A growing knowledge repository built from past experiences

helps us provide cost effective solutions to our large customer

base.

With our reputed clientele and rich variety of projects, we

attract the best talent with quality experiences including from

the reputed consulting companies.

Continuous up gradation of consultant’s skills to the latest

technology helps us provide satisfactory services

Close Healthy relationship with SAP helps in immediate

knowledge transfer to our consultants who have access to the

latest technologies and tools

Vanguard’s proven track record in nurturing and managing

relationships with a large number of client and Partner

accounts.

Partial list of clients:

IS–OIL Implementations

• Bharat Petroleum-implementation and Roll out at 179 sites. (India)

• ONGC (India)

• Kochin Refinery (India)

• Shell (UK & France)

Pharmaceuticals Implementations

• Cadila Pharmaceuticals

• Combiphar (Indonesia)

Textiles

• Arvind Mills (India)

• Indo Rama Synthetics .

• Nahar Spinning (India).

• S.Kumar (India).

• Reliance Textiles .

Process Industry

• Meghmani Organics Limited

• Vazir Sultan Tobacco

Automobile

• Bajaj Auto

Discrete Manufacturing

• Tata Steel (Tisco)

• Erhardt + Liemer

• Panasonic (Singapore)

• Mars Chocolate (France)

Utilities Sector

• Gujarat Power Corporation

• Arvind Mills Power Plant

• South African Water Board

Telecom

• Tata Telecom

Mission of Vanguard Technologies is to be a preferred professional

services provider offering cost effective tangible solutions for the

benefit of our client’s competitive advantage & improvement. Our

100% successful projects implementation record of the past will

continue as we work with you towards meeting the Challenges you

face!

Other Contributions by Vanguard Technologies in SAP

Implementations

Bajaj Tempo Ltd under leadership of with PWC

S. Kumar Dewas under leadership of Siemens Information

Systems

Schindler India Pvt. Ltd, Mumbai under leadership of SISL

Tata Telecom –with SAP India

Nahar Spining under leadership of SISL

Marico Industries under leadership of SAP India

Overseas assignments contracted…

SHELL, UK under leadership of PWC

Panasonic, Singapore in under leadership of Optimum

Maars, France under leadership of Unilog

Intelligroup , Indonesia under leadership of intelligroup

Singapore Defense through NIIT

“ Growth is a continuous process at Vanguard “ as a result we

have taken initiatives to leverage upon business potential of US,

Europe and South East Asian market by deploying our consultants

onsite on direct-client basis.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Objectives

To study Market Potential for SAP ERP Implementation

o Fresh SAP Implementation

o Up gradation Requirements

To Study existing SAP ERP Environment in the organization

To Study the Vanguard Technologies presence in the local

market in terms of its awareness.

Scope

The scope of the research is confined to study and assess the market

potential and SAP ERP solutions in the SME segment.

The research does not include the in-depth technical functionality and

details of the SAP ERP package. The study was carried out for

Ahmedabad region.

Benefits of the study

The study is helpful in identifying and assessing the Market

potential for SAP ERP solution in Ahmedabad region. This would

contribute in formulation of company’s future marketing

strategy.

Helpful in assessing the potential of SAP ERP Market in terms of

o Existing Market dynamics

o New SAP Installations

o Support Services and Maintenance

To have information regarding market presence of the company

in the local market in terms of awareness.

Sampling Design

Universe:

The companies that make use of application & business solutions, for

their business processes and internal functions.

Sample Frame:

The sample frame would consisting of the following sampling

criterias

Ahmedabad as Geographical area

Sampling Method:

Judgement sampling method was adopted in selecting the participant

companies.

Sampling size:

The sample size for the project is 37 organizations/companies in

Ahmedabad.

Tools of Data collection Data collection Tool

The main tool of data collection is Personal interview. This tool

was considered to be an appropriate tool of data collection as the

research included corporate companies.

This would usually require talking to IT/CS/System heads,

Site/System Administrators, IT/CS/System executives, IT Manager and

also persons who hold high hierarchical positions in the organization.

It was felt the personal interviews would be more effective and

would be better received by the participant companies compared to

other common tools of data collection.

Telephonic conversation was also used as tool of assistance. It

was used in assisting the research in terms of taking appointments

with respective organization’s officials.

Preparation of Tools

The personal interview was guided by list of questions prepared for

the study.

The list of questions was prepared after having discussion with Vice-

President Vanguard Technologies Ltd., Ahmedabad.

This question set was used as guideline while conducting the personal

interview.

The Questions have been attached as annexure

FINDINGS

PERCENTAGE WISE REPRESENTATION:

1. AWARENESS OF VANGUARD TECHNOLOGIES

TABLE 1

Particulars Aware % Unawar

e

%

No. of

Companies

15 41 22 5

9

GRAPH 1

The above table provides information regarding the number of

companies who are aware of the Vanguard Technologies. This gives

an insight into Vanguard presence in the market.

2. IMPORTANCE OF BPO

TABLE 2

Particul

ars

SCALE

HIGH

IMPORTAN

CE

IMPORTA

NT

MODERATE

IMPORTAN

CE

LOW

IMPORTAN

CE

NO

IMPORTAN

CE

5 4 3 2 1

No. of

Compan

ies

6 10 12 5 4

GRAPH 2

BPO is an important concept in today’s environment to achieve

strategic growth and competitive advantage. The rating of the

participant companies would give an insight of how important is BPO

for the participant organization.

3. IMPORTANCE OF BPO OF IT INITIATIVES

Particul

ars

SCALE

IMPORTA

NT

MODERATE

IMPORTAN

CE

LOW

IMPORTAN

CE

3 2 1

No. of

Compan

ies

17 10 9

BPO of IT initiatives is an area which has become popular in the

recent past with most of the Non-IT companies going this way. The

rating of the participant companies would give an insight of how

important is “BPO of IT initiatives” is.

4. APPLICATION SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS OTHER THAN

SAP-ERP

Particula

rs

YES NO TOTAL

No. of

Compani

es

23 14 37

This data gives information regarding the number of companies who

are using application software solutions.

5. SAP-ERP SOLUTION Vs OTHER ERP SOLUTIONS Vs

APPLN SOLN

Particula

rs

SAP-ERP OTHER

ERP

NON ERP/ APP S/W

No. of

Compani

es

14 4 19

The SAP implemented companies are the potential for up-gradations

while other ERP implemented companies are potential for switching

over Fresh SAP implementations, depending on the depth of current

ERP implementation.

NON ERP companies are a category which have potential for Fresh

SAP implementations.

6. REQUIREMENT FOR SAP-ERP UP-GRADATION.

Particula

rs

YES NO TOTAL

No. of

Compani

es

2 12 14

These are 14 companies who have already implemented SAP-ERP

solution and now are looking forward for up grading there present

ERP set up. This could be in terms of activating new modules and

higher version.

6. EVALUATION FOR SAP-ERP.

Particula

rs

YES NO TOTAL

No. of

Compani

es

8 15 23

These are 8 companies who have evaluated SAP-ERP solution with

respect to their organization.

The evaluation would be consisting of Technical functionality , Cost-

benefit, Support

and maintenance Services etc., These data exclude SAP ERP

implemented companies

7. REQUIREMENT FOR FRESH SAP-ERP

IMPLEMENTATION.

Particula

rs

YES NO TOTAL

No. of

Compani

es

7 16 23

This table gives the information regarding the number of companies

who want to go for fresh SAP ERP implementation.

The “YES” category companies are planning to be SAP compliant in

the near future.

The time duration would as follows,

with in next 3 months, with in next six months, with in a year

The “NO” category companies are presently not planning to be SAP

compliant in the above time duration.

8. REASONS FOR NON SELECTION OF SAP-ERP SOLUTION:

Particulars/REASONS NO. OF

COMPANI

ES

COST 10

LIMITED FLEXIBILITY -

COMPLEXITY 2

LACK OF SUPPORT &

MAINTAINENCE

-

NO/PARTIAL INDUSTRY

SPECIFIC SOLUTIONS

7

NO

REQUIREMENT/SATISF

IED WITH CURRENT

SET UP

8

These are some of the critical reasons which the participant

companies cited , for not going for SAP ERP.

9. FUTURE INVESTMENT PLANS FOR IT INITIATIVES:

METHOD OF INVESTMENT

Particula

rs

ACROSS

THE YR

START

OF THE

YR

TOTAL

No. of

Compani

es

27 10 37

AREA OF INVESTMENT

Particula

rs

I&A A&S/W TOTAL

No. of

Compani

es

25 12 37

10. READINESS FOR RECEIVING SAP INFORMATION:

Particula

rs

YES NO TOTAL

No. of

Compani

es

15 22 37

This table gives information regarding the companies which seek

information regarding SAP ERP and those who do not.

ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION

SWOT ANALYSIS

PORTER’S FIVE FORCES

ERP POTENTIAL PYRAMID

BCG MATRIX

S W O T ANALYSIS

•SAP Business partner•Technical Expertise•Programming skills

•Awareness •Lack of Direct industryexperience

•SME’s•Up-gradation & Post implementation services•Increased awareness of BPO and ERP

•Existing SAP ERP Vendors•Local Application Vendors •Lack of acceptance•In-house development

Strengths

Weakness

opportunities

Threats

STRENGTHSSTRENGTHS

Technical Expertise

The Company has been part of various successful SAP ERP

implementations in some of the leading organization both nationally

and internationally.

It has Technical Labs at Bangalore which caters to the development of

technical expertise.

Programming Skills

It has with it experienced SAP ABAP programmers who have

experience of working for leading software companies like IBM, TCS,

Infosys.

SAP Business Partner

It is official business partner of SAP in Ahmedabad. This gives a

competitive leverage of getting projects from SAP directly. Companies

who are approaching SAP India are some times directed to this

organization. The rate of technological transfer from SAP India is

faster compared to other organizations who provide such services and

are not SAP business partner.

WEAKNESSWEAKNESS

Awareness

The participant companies are not aware of vanguard technologies in

terms of its services. They are not aware of its status of SAP BP.

Direct industry experience for fresh end to end SAP ERP

implementation.

The company has just forayed into fresh end to end SAP ERP

implementation services and thus presently does not have required

industry experience. Though the company is equipped with strong

resources like technical know how and skilled work force but it lacks

in direct end to end implementation.

OPPORTUNITIESOPPORTUNITIES

Small and Medium enterprises

There is huge potential for SME as these SME’s are now more

exposed to technology and wide spread awareness of impact of

technology on their area of work.

The SME’s are now on a fast track of globalization and thus in need of

total integrated business and management solutions and thus they

open a door of opportunity.

Up-gradation & Post implementation services

There is more scope for the organization to consolidate their position

in field of Up-gradation & Post implementation services. As they have

a rich industry experience in this area and existing Ahmedabad

market has more potential for such services.

Increase awareness of BPO and ERP

Today there is increase in awareness regarding the different

possibilities of BPO as an concept. The ERP market is going at the

rate of 9.5% in the Indian market.

Many Multi national companies are setting their branches in

the domestic market. .The Local players as well the national players

need the technological efficiency and the effectiveness to deal with

such MNCs. This has led the domestic companies to seek more

information regarding the latest technological developments and as a

result ERP market is benefiting and as SAP ERP is one of the major

players of the ERP market ,there is a huge opportunity for the

organizations who happen to provide such services.

THREATSTHREATS

Existing SAP ERP Vendors

The existing set of SAP ERP vendors from the domestic market like

Mumbai pose a very big threat for the Ahmedabad players. As the

Mumbai players have comparatively more experience and been there

for a longer time. Mumbai happens to be technological hub in terms of

the ERP/SAP ERP and also the western region.

Local Application Vendors providing industry specific

customized solutions

The local application vendors which mainly consist of local software

companies provide industry specific customized solutions to the

companies. These application software happen to be comparatively

very cheap compared to solution from any global company eg., SAP

Lack of acceptance of local SAP ERP vendors

The basic perception existing in the market which was found during

the study was that local SAP ERP vendors do not have the required

experience and expertise. As a result some of the participant

companies do not consider or invest time in evaluating the local

vendor’s profile and services. Thus lack of acceptance of local vendors

/companies poses as barrier for the future growth and development of

the sponsor company.

In-house development

One of the other major threats due to the increased IT awareness with

in the organizations has lead to a concept of having a In-House S/W

development for catering to the requirements of the organizations.

As a result many organizations go for full fledged in house

development. Some organizations get only the S/W

implementation/installation done from the outside party and then

make use of the in-house team for further up-gradation and

modification. The support and maintenance are also handled by the in-

house team of the organization as it proves to be more cost effective.

Porter’s Five Forces Model

Bargaining power of Suppliers

SAP AG

SAP AG happens to be the main organization which provides the

sponsor firm with the status of SAP Business partner. It provides the

sponsor company with recent information of the developments taking

place in the area of SAP ERP.

For eg. The SAP ERP New dimension products which caters to

the latest industry needs like Data warehousing, Supply chain

management, Customer relationship management and Knowledge

management etc.,

Thus SAP AG wields a power in terms of providing information,

prospects and technological/ technical help.

Work Force/software professionals

Unlike other traditional industries, Software industry is

knowledge driven industry.

To elaborate on this statement, lets take the ERP Industry into

consideration. Here in our case, the sponsor company would be able

to bag in more projects if it could suffice the requirement of having a

strong project management team and skilled & experienced S/W

professionals.

Thus before the project is given to any company , the

prospective client would evaluate the technical capabilities of the

vendors or system integrator companies. Thus companies and vendors

like for eg the sponsor company are in need of experienced and skilled

work force which gives the skilled professionals a very strong

bargaining power.

The remuneration of the professionals is one of the key factor.

The professionals are able to wield the power of negotiation in this

regard.

Bargaining power of Customers

Degree of Customization

The customers in the ERP(/SAP ERP) market, leverage power by

demanding customization at the start of the project and the

companies like the sponsor company has to well equipped to offer

such customizations in order to bag the project.

Post implementation Support Services

The customers also leverage power in terms of wanting more time

duration in terms of post implementation Support Services.

One of the prominent eg could be wanting a longer period of training

for its employees who would the S/W.

Maintenance Support

The customers also leverage power in terms of wanting more time

duration in terms of free maintenance or at a lesser cost structure.

Industry Competition

Firm Vs Industry Set

Since the company is not catering any specific industry as SAP ERP is

targeting its clients across industries. Thus the firm has to compete

with two set of competitors one who happens to be in the same

industry as the sponsor company, providing similar services. The

second set of competitors are those who are providing industry

specific solutions across their respective industries.

New Entrants

Established S/W Companies coming out with competitive

business solutions

Established companies like TCS, Infosys, I-Flex are coming out

Integrated Business solutions. Now these companies have a very good

market reputation and thus are one of the major competitive force in

the ERP market. These companies have the capabilities of directly

competing with global companies like SAP. Since our sponsor

company happens to provide SAP services, these in-directly make a

major impact.

On the other hand in terms of providing SAP services, existing Global

players like IBM , TCS are now focusing on providing SAP

Implementation Services.

Substitute Products

Functional Application S/W

Application S/W which cater to the functional departments of the

organization act a low end substitute. Eg. For finance most of the

organization use TALLY Application. Now once the company buy such

functional software for their major functions it becomes difficult to go

for huge investment in terms of ERP or SAP ERP.

Industry Specific Solutions

Some s/w companies develop industry specific solutions like for eg.,

Construction industry, Advertising industry, Bulk Drugs industry etc.,

Now such companies do not compete directly with SAP-ERP provider

but since SAP-ERP provides ERP across industries it has to compete

with such competitors.

In-house developed products

Some organizations develop inhouse - industry specific solutions like

for eg., Advertising industry eg, Mudra , Pharma industry eg. Zydus

Cadila, Chemical industries, Construction industry eg., L&T etc.,

Now such companies do not compete directly with SAP-ERP provider

but since SAP-ERP provides ERP across industries it has to compete

with such competitors. Now some of the companies are also selling

such products to related industry companies. Eg. Mudra selling its

product to similar advertising agencies.

ERP Potential Pyramid

USE ERP

USE OF MANAGEMENT/ BUSINESS IT SOLUTIONS

LEVEL 3

USE OF APPLICATION S/ W CRITICAL FUNCTIONS

NORMAL FUNCTIONS

LEVEL 2

USE OF COMPUTERS AND AUTOMATION PRODUCTS (EG. PRINTERS) ONLY

LEVEL 1

PAPER WORK ,NO USE OF COMPUTERS OR AUTOMATION PRODUCTS

LEVEL 0

This evolutionary pyramid is an ladder of evolution of an

organization to reach a point in which it would act as a potential

prospect for SAP ERP and thus also for the sponsor company.

From the study it was found out that 13 % of the participant

companies were found in level 1 of the pyramid structure.

From the study it was found out that 13 % of the participant

companies were found in level 2 of the pyramid structure.

From the study it was found out that 25% of the participant

companies were found in level 3 of the pyramid structure.

From the study it was found out that 49% of the participant

companies were found in level 4 of the pyramid structure.

The companies which fall in the higher level of the ladder are more

near to being part of the market potential for the ERP and thus for

SAP ERP.

BCG MATRIX

Dogs

39%

Cash cows

11%

? 19%31%

HIGH LOW

HIGH

LOW

GROWTH

MARKET SHARE

Cash Cows

Companies who are already the clients of the vanguard technologies .

Clients who have taken services from the company are part of this

category. These are the companies presently contributing to the

sponsor company’s earnings.

Star

Companies that have huge infrastructure major player of the

particular industry who have presently on SAP, or on the old S/W

solution and planning to go for ERP in the near future.

Bagging these companies would provide the company with not only

market share in the ERP market, but also high growth potential for

the sponsor organization in terms of technical experience & expertise.

Question mark

Developing companies which are presently on some other local ERP

or vendor applications for certain critical functions like for eg.

Finance-tally.

Such companies pose a question in terms of their future . These

companies have high growth rate in their own industry and thus

would provide high growth potential to vanguard technologies , if they

acquire them as clients. But these developing companies may not

presently lead to increase in the market share .

Dog

Companies who are presently on the lower level of the ERP

evolutionary ladder and also their size is minimal in terms of the

market share in the ERP market, fall under Dog category.

These companies have less potential in terms of their growth and also

have minimal contribution to the market share of the SAP ERP

market.

Conclusion

Based on the above findings and analysis thru various tools like

swot analysis of the company, Porter’s five forces , ERP

Potential pyramid and BCG matrix it can be concluded that

Ahmedabad region is on the track of embracing IT in a big way

but as far as market potential of SAP ERP , the potential is high

on SAP ERP support & maintenance area, followed by category

consisting of developing companies For fresh SAP ERP

implementations and finally consisting of category of

companies who have up-gradation requirements.

RECOMMENDATIONS

To increase awareness of the company: Distribution of the company brochures is the best tool for the

technological products/ services to increase the awareness of the organization. So company can choose this tool to solve the problem of lack of awareness.

Advertisements thru IT magazines, IT journals eg., PC QUEST

Participation in IT seminars, Conduct ERP Workshops for corporate.

AMA happens to be an ideal place for organizing seminars and participating as it would not only increase their company’s awareness among the local organizations and also corporates.

To get direct experience in implementation

o By entry to new industries.o By entry into different geographical region.

Increases awareness of SAP Implementation Process.

Limitations

The study was undertaken in the city of Ahmedabad region only, thus

the scope study of this study is limited geographically to Ahmedabad

region.

The results are totally derived from the respondent’s answers and

thus may be result of the personal bias.

The result could also be affected by our ability to draw conclusions.

There was also time constraint, which limited the sample size of the

research to 37 companies. Few of the figures were rounded for the

easiness of the sponsor. Thus this research is an indicative study and

not conclusive.