SAP India to double headcount to 7,000 by 2010

Business software solutions provider SAP India has said it plans to double its headcount to 7,000 and increase its customer base to 15,000 by 2010.

SAP, which claims to have a 73% market share in the Asia Pacific-Japan segment, also intends to increase the market share to at least 83% by 2010, Alan Sedghi, president & CEO, SAP India Sub Continent, said.

"We grow by 1-2% every quarter against our peer group," Sedghi said, adding the company was paying special attention to small and medium entreprises.

SAP has software solutions for about 26 industry verticles including high-tech, retail, financial services, healthcare and public sector. It had also announced an investment of  $1 billion in India last year to be spent over a period of five years.

The company has around 1,348 customers at present that include Asian Paints, Hero Honda, DCM Sriram, Exide, Blue Scope Steel, Videocon, Mindtree and Cadilla, he said.

Sedghi said the company did not lose any customer to its competitors but won 20 companies from other firms in 2006.

"A company cannot acquire its customer's trust, it has to be won. We have an active global support in place addressing business need for customer support and total cost," he said.

The company has offices in Bangalore, New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Gurgaon and Chandigarh.