Image Gallery: SAP’s New Arizona Office
SAP is expanding its business for SMB and channel customers.
The Germany-based software company moved into a new office in Tempe, Arizona, on July 25. The company brought physical operations to the Phoenix area due to the strong presence of startups. The vast majority (four in five) of SAP’s 355,000 customers are SMBs.
“We’ve been working in the SMB space for a very long time, with 80 percent of our customers being in the space, but it’s evolving,” said Christine Gavin-Johnson, vice president of commercial and channel sales for SAP North America. “Because new companies are showing up every day.”
There are approximately 200 employees in the facility Johnson tells Channel Partners that her company plans to add 150 seats to the Tempe office over the next three to five years. They will specialize mainly in sales, and some will be involved with the channel. SAP has approximately 16,000 worldwide partners.
We visited the office and snapped some pictures. Scroll through our gallery!
For other news on SAP, read about its recent channel-related hires.
Logo
SAP raised its logo a few days prior to when Channel Partners visited its new office on July 27. (Photo courtesy of SAP)
Christine Gavin-Johnson serves as vice president of commercial and channel sales for SAP North America. She has been working out of the Phoenix area for SAP since 2010, starting as an account executive. She will oversee the 150 new employees.
There are approximately 200 employees on staff, but Johnson says the goal is to hire 150 more to serve in sales and sales support. Those positions include account executives, pre-sales, business development and digital demand agents. It's unclear how many of those future employees will focus on the channel. (Photo courtesy of SAP)
Tempe
SAP placed its office just next to Tempe Town Lake, a man-made reservoir. It's a booming area for tech; on the opposite side of the lake are offices for Microsoft and Zenefits, a cloud-based software company. Johnson and SAP characterize Tempe as a hub for startups. Small and midsize businesses (SMBs) are SAP's fastest growing market segment.
The main work room, featuring the sales side of the business, was fairly quiet on a Thursday afternoon when we visited. SAP also hosts a Retail Labs unit in the building, where employees work on developing solutions.
SAP's office is on the fourth floor of a new business complex. Other companies will share the space, but none has moved in yet. SAP says a combination of factors drew it to the Phoenix region, including affordable rent, community leaders and proximity to other major brands.
Workers take a break in the kitchen, where they enjoy high-tech coffee and water dispensers.
