SAP North America has named a new executive team to lead its small and midsize business (SMB) channel partner programs. Eric Friedrichsen will head the software company’s small and midsize business channel segment, while Marc Monday will lead SAP North America’s channel ecosystem. Also, Sungard Availability Services veteran Cristina Greysman joins as VP for partner recruitment.
Both Friedrichsen and Monday joined SAP from Concur Technologies, the SAP-owned maker of business travel and expense management software. Perhaps not by coincidence, Concur has enjoyed its own momentum in the SMB channel over the past year. Friedrichsen ran the SMB business at Concur prior to joining SAP, while Monday led Concur’s global business development for the SMB segment, responsible for driving SMB sales.
Greysman, meanwhile, is a 20-year industry veteran who will help SAP seek out prime partners in the SMB segment, and she will work with Friedrichsen and Monday to build recurring revenue streams. She previously helped to drive Sungard Availability Services' partner experience.
SAP SMB Cloud Partner Push Leverages Concur Experience
SAP has tapped Concur veterans multiple times to drive partner strategies worldwide. In fact, Concur veteran Barry Padgett became president of SAP SMB solutions in mid-2016.
In a statement, SAP said the appointments underscore its commitment to the SMB market, which represents more than 80 percent of SAP North America’s 143,000 customers. With an eye toward growing the overall SMB base, the company named Barry Padgett to serve as president of SMB solutions in mid-2016. Padgett, too, is a Concur veteran.
SAP is best known for its enterprise application software, but in recent years the company has increasingly focused on the SMB market, largely through channel sales. Friedrichsen and Monday will be charged with helping the company triple its channel business by 2020.
“SMB is a market where a great deal of SAP’s most exciting cloud innovation is taking place,” Friedrichsen said in a statement. “I’m proud to help the company navigate this tremendous growth area and oversee the strategic investments that will open new opportunities for our customers and partners.”
SAP SMB Partner, Cloud Strategy Explained
According to SAP, the company’s cloud-first strategy and continued growth rely heavily on the partner channel, which currently includes more than 3,000 organizations. SAP VP Meaghan Sullivan described much of that SMB partner push in this ChannelE2E podcast with CompTIA back in May 2016.
“Partners are our competitive advantage,” Friedrichsen said this week. “SMB customers know and trust their local partners, and we value their ability to help drive digital and cloud transformation.”
Founded in 1972, Germany-based SAP has about 345,000 customers worldwide. SAP North America oversees the company’s business operations in the U.S. and Canada.
