SAP on track with Galway jobs plan


18 Mar 2004

E-business software vendor SAP has told siliconrepublic.com that it is powering ahead with plans to create 380 jobs in Galway as construction of a 50,000 sq ft building nears completion. It is understood that 90 jobs are already in place in the service and support of SAP’s Business One product for SMEs.

The German software giant, which develops enterprise resource planning (ERP) last year unveiled plans to create 380 jobs in Galway to match the existing 380 jobs at its enterprise support centre in CityWest, Dublin. The move will make SAP one of the State’s foremost software employers with a headcount similar to that of Microsoft’s in Dublin.

The managing director of both the Galway and Dublin operations, Liam Ryan, told siliconrepublic.com that 90 jobs in the area of services support for SAP’s Business One product set for SMEs were already in place in Galway.

Ryan said: “We expect the 55,000 sq ft building to be completed in November and formally opened around April or May of next year. The 380-job build-up will happen in much the same way as did the Dublin operation.”

Ryan added that the operation in Dublin will primarily operate as support for large enterprise customers while the Galway operation will focus primarily on SMEs.

However, he warned that considerable price competitiveness for skilled workers in China and India were resulting in competitiveness issues for SAP operations like his that were competing for extra responsibilities and job creation.

In recently published financial figures, SAP reported software revenues for the full year of 2003 to be approximately €2.15bn, representing a decline of 6pc compared to the €2.29bn reported for 2002. On a constant currency basis, however, full year software revenues were up by approximately 1pc compared to 2002. Total revenues for the full year were slightly above €7.0bn, which is 5pc lower than total revenues of €7.4bn reported for 2002.

By John Kennedy