"Ambergris is expanding at a really rapid rate – we began operations in 2002 with only five employees and today we are a strong 1,800-people organization, and growing. We needed an enterprise solution scaleable to grow with our business that would help us realize higher internal efficiencies. Fortunately, SAP introduced a bundled solution specifically designed to address the unique business needs of small and midsize companies, such as ours," said Dave Crawford, Ambergris vice president for IT.
Called M3Lite, the suite bundles SAP’s software solution, hardware from IBM and HP, and implementation and support services from Magnus Philippines – a regional SAP implementation partner. Ambergris has acquired SAP’s applications to integrate human resource management, procurement, sales, and financial accounting systems and expects to go live by May this year.
Following implementation, Ambergris principally expects to be able to better track employee performance and movement as well as to gain tighter control of its financial operations. "In this industry, in general, and in our company, in particular, human resources are especially important. Every employee has the power to improve customer satisfaction, develop innovative solutions, and drive profitability. SAP’s suite will provide us the tools for effective organizational management, personnel master data management, time management and payroll processing which, in turn, will help us to better manage, and optimize, our workforce.
"On the other hand, having a financial suite in place that automates transactions will increase efficiency and transparency, enable us to identify profitable projects versus cost centers and allow us to make informed financial decisions based on accurate, real-time information," Crawford said.
Ambergris provides offshore customer care solutions to US-based clients in the utilities, IT, travel and hospitality, telecommunications, and financial services industries. Its flagship call center is located in Ortigas Center in Pasig City while a second facility, designed to accommodate 1,000 call center seats, will at Filinvest, Alabang in the second quarter of the year.
"SAP is committed to meet the needs of small and midsize businesses in the Philippines, which is why we continuously refine our solutions, integrating evolving global best practices," said Krish Datta, SAP managing director for the Philippines. "We hope to stay side-by-side with Ambergris as they, in turn, continue to expand and grow their operations and evolve as an increasingly competitive company."
