Lejara first SAP BEE Resource Service Provider to become services partner

Lejara Enterprise Solutions has become the first of business software leader SAP South Africa's BEE Resource Service Provider partners to graduate to full National Service Partner status.

Lejara is a provider of consulting, outsourcing, technology and learning services to the mining, financial services, energy, public sector, and manufacturing sectors.

SAP National Service Partner status entitles Lejara to take the lead on SAP implementation projects, taking the risk and responsibility for ensuring the success of a project, beyond supplying resources in a consortium led by other SAP business partners.

Speaking after a signing ceremony held at SAP's Sandton offices, Claas Kuehnemann, Managing Director of SAP South Africa, said confirming Lejara as a Service Partner was an achievement on many different levels, both for Lejara and for SAP. "For one thing, it proves to other start-up BEE IT companies in South Africa that becoming world-class can be done very quickly if you have the necessary focus, commitment, and desire to innovate," he said.

Lejara joined SAP as a Resource Service Partner in 2004, having been formed just six months earlier, and won an SAP BEE Partner Innovation Award for its achievements that same year, working on several large and complex customer projects.

"Since then, they've won an innovation award every year and have grown steadily from a staff complement of 10 to 109 into an organisation with proven track record in the implementation of sophisticated new technologies, such as business intelligence and supplier relationship management solutions," says Kuehnemann.

One of the biggest reasons for Lejara's success has been the company's exclusive focus on one or two areas of expertise, enabling it to become one of the largest suppliers in Africa of SAP business intelligence and supplier relationship management (SRM) skills.

Kuehnemann says Lejara has also been prepared to invest in the acquisition and training of consultants to a very high order of competence.

"From our point of view, having Lejara evolve into an SAP-accredited National Services Partner proves the value of the SAP South Africa BEE incubation programme, which allows BEE organisations entering the SAP market to gain experience by providing resources to more experienced service partners."

Lejara CEO Kurt Lindoor reinforced the value of the SAP BEE resource partner programme. "Having the support, guidance, and endorsement of a world player like SAP has certainly helped us both attract and keep clients - and has therefore contributed to our ability to grow.

"Then again, it's been a mutually beneficial relationship, because we've been able to bring new business to SAP in Africa, contributing to their revenue. We've also been able to extend their range of offerings by, for instance, using a new methodology called the Science of Informational Management. This methodology enhances our business intelligence skills as well as ensuring our solutions are embedded and entrenched in the clients' organisations through specialised e-learning and change management offerings," says Lindoor.

Lejara has its head office in Pretoria.