Muhammad Alam, Executive Board Member and Head of Products and Engineering at SAP SE, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the global software giant was among the first international companies to relocate its regional headquarters to Riyadh two years ago, a move that has since fueled “a doubling of business growth and significantly boosted client confidence in the Kingdom.”
Alam explained that Saudi Arabia’s status as one of the region’s largest economies made it a natural choice for SAP’s regional base. The decision aligns with government directives encouraging multinational firms to establish regional hubs in Riyadh as part of Saudi Vision 2030.
The statement coincided with SAP’s announcement of plans to deploy the full suite of its SAP Business Network solutions for the Saudi public sector, hosted entirely on Google Cloud. This development makes the Kingdom the first country in the world to host SAP’s complete network solution package within a sovereign cloud environment.
According to Alam, Saudi Arabia was chosen to host the SAP Business Network for the public sector due to the country’s high demand for advanced digital solutions.
“This initiative supports local industries by ensuring the technology operates in line with national regulations and data standards,” he said.
He emphasized that Vision 2030’s focus on developing local content and empowering small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) was central to the decision. The presence of SAP’s business network in the Kingdom, he explained, will enable SMEs to participate in both domestic and international e-commerce, connecting them directly to a global trading platform.
“SMEs are a cornerstone of Vision 2030,” Alam said, adding: “Their integration into a worldwide network will expand their reach and strengthen the national economy.”
He stressed that as Saudi Arabia accelerates its shift toward a diversified, non-oil economy, the local hosting of SAP’s solutions will attract international suppliers, enhance trade efficiency, and help achieve the Kingdom’s economic targets.
Alam noted that Saudi Arabia is now setting a “global benchmark for sovereign digital transformation.” Hosting SAP’s complete public-sector suite locally, he said, represents a major technological milestone, which would empower government institutions with advanced tools to drive digital leadership and operational excellence.
“Our goal is to help clients strengthen procurement and operations while ensuring full compliance with national standards,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.
The deployment marks an early success in SAP’s broader global strategy to unify data within regulated markets. A parallel private-sector version of the network, offering the same local data hosting and Arabic language support, is scheduled for launch in the first quarter of 2026.
Among early adopters, Saudi Awwal Bank has already migrated 40 percent of its procurement operations to the SAP Business Network, achieving significant gains in efficiency and transparency.
