22.06.2009

We Have to Win our Deals

By: Johannes Gillar

Diego Lozano, SAP’s country manager, explains why Argentines are relaxed in the face of today’s crisis – and how to be successful in business despite the economic downturn.

Diego Lozano, Country Manager SAP (Photo: SAP)

SAP.info: What opportunities does SAP have in Argentina?

Lozano: SAP has clear leadership in the application software market in every segment in Argentina. IDC estimates that SAP’s market share is more than 43% of the total addressable market. We are very present in both the midmarket and large enterprise markets. And because there are a lot of foreign companies here, Argentina actually has more global companies than Argentine ones – and more than any other Latin American country. Oil companies, airlines, telephone companies, they’re all foreign enterprises.

SAP.info: What challenges is SAP facing?

Lozano: The current economic crisis simply means a lot of uncertainty for everybody. However, we Argentines have been living with uncertainty for so long that it feels quite normal. In 2002 we experienced a severe downturn, which led to a huge devaluation. As a result, nearly all long-term investments that were made in the 1990s ground to a halt. At that time, it was very difficult to make long-term project proposals. Actually, I think that we are now confronted with a similar situation worldwide: While companies will continue to do business, every deal will have to be justified. Value propositions will have to be much clearer, and return should be short-term.

In Argentina, SAP has a lot of projects, but we also now have to compete more. We have to win our deals step by step. If we want to sell business intelligence (BI), we have to be good in business intelligence – companies won’t purchase a BI solution from SAP just because they’re SAP customers.

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