A Capital Start: The SAP Transformation Express Flags off in New Delhi

SAP’s Mobile Experience Centre begins its 7000km journey across the country showcasing MSME offerings aimed at cloud-based digital transformation that enhance competitiveness. Highlights from the star-studded New Delhi launch event.

SAP's Transformation Express, a mobile experience centre on wheels, kicked off its journey with a glittering launch event at New Delhi's Taj Hotel. The MSME segment is seeing explosive growth in digital transformation across industry verticals. To enable this environment, the one-of-a-kind ‘cloud on wheels’ initiative is aimed at connecting people and businesses by sparking off conversations around technology. In a rapidly evolving digital-first world, it is a touch-see-hear event. It brings digital alive in a purely physical sense that will help tomorrow's leading businesses to remain competitive and stay relevant in the rapidly changing business landscape. 

Speaking at the launch, Kulmeet Bawa, President and Managing Director, SAP Indian Subcontinent, talked about how critical MSMEs were in India's growth story. He said, “As the MSME sector grows and expands, moving to cloud is becoming imperative for organizations. The Transformation Express initiative reaffirms our commitment to empower Indian SMEs to reduce cost inefficiencies, improve agility, and transition into intelligent, sustainable enterprises.” 

Inspirational Speaker

There was no dearth of inspiration, as celebrity speaker Mr Srikanth Bolla took the stage: he is the first international blind student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is also the founder of Bollant Industries and is on the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders List of 2021. He spoke about the importance of digital transformation and how nothing can stand in the way of an inspired mind, setting the tone for the event. 

India's Digital Transformation Journey

Subramanian Ananthapadmanabhan, Senior Vice President Mid-Market, SAP, Asia Pacific Japan, took the floor to take the audience through India's remarkable journey in the digital age. From a time when the entire country operated on a 50MBPS line, to the present day where connectivity and technology are spear-heading social and economic revolutions in every corner of the country, we have come a long way. 

Customer Speak

Vice President and Head of Marketing, Rahul Singh then amplified the voice of the customer at the forum with a fireside chat with two of SAP's valued customers. Chander Khanduja, CIO, Luminous Schneider and Pramod Mundra, EVP & CIO, Havells India spoke about their transformation journeys and highlighted the importance of how initiatives like the Transformation Express could accelerate this wave that will result in higher competitive advantages to businesses.

Touring the Experience Centre

Post this, the floor was open for attendees to experience the bus, designed as a mobile traveling centre of technological excellence. The bus is equipped with state-of-art technologies like RISE with SAP, SAP’s Digital Core, Procurement, Customer and People Experience solutions providing businesses a front row view of how they can speed-up their cloud migration and digital transformation initiatives. Saloni Mohan, ERP Head, Cube Highways was impressed with the experience in the bus, and spoke about the need for digital transformation especially considering the significant push given to the same by the Government of India. Meanwhile, Lalit Madan, Senior GM and Head of IT at Lumax Industries said with a smile, “With SAP offering its services on cloud, they are taking away my pain.”

We followed up the grand launch with an event in the heart of New Delhi – The Park, Cannaught Place in partnership with NTT Data. Keynoted & moderated by Amit Kapoor, Senior Director, Sales – Midmarket, SAP Indian Subcontinent, the event was attended by over 80 business leaders from Delhi NCR. The fireside panel comprised of Raghv Nookala (AVP Presales, Technical Practice, NTT Data) and Sanjeev Ludhani (Head of IS&T, Cyber Security, Veolia India).

The Journey Ahead

In 46 days, the bus will travel over 7000KMs offering SMEs a first-hand glimpse at how a cloud-based digital core may help enterprises plan and adapt more swiftly. It is combined with interactive product demos, a virtual reality exhibition, and informative sessions. After kicking off on 12th April in New Delhi the bus is now travelling the length of the country. We will keep bringing you highlights from the cities and hope that you get a chance to catch the bus in yours!

Click here to Register for the Transformation Express. 

Transformation Talks: