SAP to establish European Support Centre in Galway

SAP to establish European Support Centre in Galway

galway.net , 1 Apr 2003

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mary Harney announced today that SAP, Europe's largest software company and the world's leading provider of business software solutions, is expanding its operation in Ireland. SAP is establishing a Global Technical Support and Customer Interaction Centre in Galway, with the support of IDA Ireland, which will create 350 new jobs over four years. SAP's existing Irish operation in Citywest Business Park, Dublin, already employs 310 support staff and is the company's largest Global Support Centre.

Making the announcement the Tánaiste said: "The decision by SAP to locate in Galway is very welcome news. This announcement consolidates recent successes of IDA Ireland with, on average, one new project per week being announced over the first quarter of 2003. In that time, fourteen new IDA-supported investments, totalling in excess of €220 million and creating over 3,000 new jobs, have been announced."

SAP's new investment in Galway will provide employment opportunities requiring fluency in a European language and, depending on the position, a strong IT background, a good understanding of business processes and strong communication skills. Recruitment is underway with 40 positions already filled. The company is to locate temporarily in premises, which it is leasing at IDA's Mervue Business Park, to enable start-up to commence immediately.

The Tánaiste, speaking in Galway where she was joined by Mr. Liam Ryan, Managing Director of SAP Service and Support Centre (Ireland) Limited said, "The new Centre will carry out important customer relations functions for existing SAP global operations and will have sole responsibility to provide technical support for the new SAP small and medium business product "SAP Business One". This will increase the strategic importance of the company's Irish operations within SAP globally."

SAP is the world's leading provider of business software solutions. Through "mySAP™ Business Suite", a specialised business software programme, people in businesses around the globe are improving relationships with customers and partners, streamlining operations, and achieving significant efficiencies throughout their supply chains.

"Building on the success of its existing Irish operation, the SAP Irish management team has been working with IDA in positioning Ireland within SAP as a location for new business. The centralisation of activities and this investment in Galway are the result of these efforts. SAP's Irish management team and existing workforce are to be congratulated as their achievements at the Dublin operation were major factors in influencing the decision in favour of Ireland," said the Tánaiste.

According to Liam Ryan, Managing Director of SAP Service and Support Centre (Ireland) Limited, "At SAP we are very pleased with the commencement of our operation in Galway. It is important that SAP attracts the highest calibre of support staff available and Galway proved to be a skill leader with a pool of internationally experienced candidates. SAP continues to invest in training for its employees to ensure that its customers receive the very best of experienced support care on the most up to date technologies as SAP globally grows and expands. This is critical in order to keep our employees up-to-speed in a technology that is continuously evolving"

SAP is headquartered in Walldorf, Germany. It had revenues of €7.4 billion for 2002. Founded in 1972, it employs 28,797 people in subsidiaries in over 50 countries. Many of Ireland's leading organisations including Allied Irish Banks, Bank of Ireland, CIE, Eircom, Elan, Glanbia, Guinness, Irish Distillers and Ryanair run SAP solutions. Currently, 80% of Fortune 500 companies run SAP. More than 19,300 companies in over 120 countries run more than 60,100 installations of SAP® software. With subsidiaries in over 50 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol "SAP."

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