On your own with the SAP service provider in Romania

Insiders know Romania as an attractive IT location. Does this also apply to the SAP environment?

Gustav Bruckner: Absolutely. Otherwise, the big players such as Accenture, IBM, Deloitte, NTT, BearingPoint and others would not have established several branches in the country.

But Siemens, Continental and Schäffler, as well as smaller companies, also employ strong SAP teams in Romania.

They bring DACH companies directly into business with suitable SAP service providers on site. Why?

Bruckner: On the one hand, a number of experienced, reliable, and reasonably priced SAP service providers have established themselves in Romania. These currently include a total of around 20 owner-managed IT companies that cover all the important modules and services as well as the latest technologies in the SAP environment.

On the other hand, many CIOs want direct contact with their nearshore service provider because they benefit from it on several levels.

Your customers focus primarily on attractive prices, don't they?

Bruckner: Costs already play an important role. Nearshore prices are 30 to 50 percent lower than local prices. For well-managed SAP teams, such figures already take into account the somewhat higher coordination, communication and travel expenses.

But most IT managers benefit from the professional, dynamic and "hungry" SAP teams that bring a lot of experience and know-how from umpteen European projects. They still root for the customers, embrace their challenges, and do everything they can to make the project a success.

For what other reasons do IT managers from the DACH region seek direct contact with SAP service providers in Romania?

Bruckner: CIOs increasingly value IT partners who see themselves as part of their own IT team, fill their personnel gaps and flexibly relieve them so that their own team can tackle new topics such as Industry 4.0.

An intermediary local SAP service provider that resells the services of a third party usually puts the brakes on this direct commitment. So if CIOs can buy competitive SAP services directly - including the corresponding team spirit and innovative strength - why shouldn't they?

All Romanian IT providers speak English, many also German. They live in the same cultural area and fly here in about two hours.

What exactly does Otis Consulting do?

Bruckner: For 15 years, we have been bringing companies from the DACH region in need of IT support together with owner-managed IT service providers from Romania.

In the meantime, we have built up a nearshore network with many IT partners in a wide range of IT fields, which is constantly growing. One focus is on the SAP environment and corresponding technologies.

What is your specific approach in the SAP environment?

Bruckner: For the setup phase, we have developed a funnel model that includes all our potential Romanian SAP service providers.

At the beginning, there are the detailed requirements of the project plus all relevant options. In the end, between three and five SAP vendors remain that fit the respective project and company.

You have basically qualified for the project, which may well take several years, for example, in the case of Application Management Services (AMS), support or major developments.

What happens afterwards?

Bruckner: Based on concrete offers and individual discussions, our customer then draws up his shortlist. After further intermediate steps, we accompany the IT managers on site for a few days so that they can form a personal impression of the SAP service provider.

After deciding on a provider, the parties involved directly conclude the contracts with each other and arrange all further details.

And then you have nothing more to do with it?

Bruckner: In most cases, this means that we have completed the job after three months, but we keep in touch to provide support as needed.