German business software firm SAP’s products may soon be available in Hindi if the company’s management okays a proposal to translate its back-end and front-end systems.
A Hindi version of ERP (enterprise resource planning) or CRM (customer relationship management) softwares will help the firm penetrate the public sector in a better way, an executive from SAP Labs India said.
According to Dataquest, SAP India had revenues of Rs 3,924 crore in financial year 2010, 82% of it coming from the domestic market. Manufacturing is the firm’s biggest vertical. The firm is now looking at emerging verticals and the government sector for growth.
A translation of its business products would cost ?more than a million euros?. Hindi is one of the costliest languages to translate to because of the expertise available, vice-president of globalisation services at SAP Labs India, Navaneet Mishra said.
?We know the cost, the possible partners who can support and the time frames we are looking at. The final decision to go ahead will be taken in March-end,? he said.
On the front-end, everything seen on the screen like charts and graphs and all data entered into the system can be in Hindi. Back-end work involves, among other things, what is called terminology translation ? all legal words have to be converted into Hindi.
?The idea is to catch the north and central markets. We are looking at deeper penetration into the government sector. It will position us to be a game changer. Localisation, too, adds a lot when you respond to request for proposals (RFPs),? Mishra said.
SAP is available in 37 languages across the world. In India, English has been used until now.
Although it has its focus set on the public sector, the firm has a few PSU customers ? among the known names are Maharashtra State Power Generation, Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board, HLL Lifecare, Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers, Bharat Earth Movers, NTPC, Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, DARCL, and Steel Authority of India.