27 September - 3 October 2001

Cost-effective enterprise IT systems for SMEs

by David Kelleher

Companies are not only faced with growing competition but they are also being forced to radically upgrade their information technology systems to succeed and do business effectively.
Small and medium sized enterprises do not have either the expertise or the finances to invest in large Enterprise IT systems developed by companies like world-leader SAP.
SAP enterprise systems provide managers with detailed real-time accounting, warehousing, production, distribution and any other information required to run a business.
The expense to install such systems, unfortunately, is beyond what many SMEs consider a viable investment. On the other hand, SMEs know that unless all their systems are streamlined and they have the ability to move into e-commerce at any time, they have little hope of succeeding. The solution, however, would be to develop SAP enterprise systems that are tailor-made for smaller companies which trade globally but are not global players.
“Not all companies are able to invest thousands of liri in top SAP enterprise systems. SAP requires considerable expertise as well and it can take up to nine months before the system is fully operational,” Oliver Schulz, sales manager for Bernhof Consulting (Malta), a member of the Bernhof Group told The Malta Business Weekly.
Netherlands-based Bernhof opened an office in Malta last month and specialises in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software produced by market leader SAP.
“The company implemented the first SAP system in the Netherlands in the mid-1980s before becoming a global player with offices in the US, Asia (Taiwan, Thailand and the Philippines), a head office in Switzerland, and now a regional sales office in Malta,” Mr Schulz told The Malta Business Weekly.
Mr Schulz said that although Bernhof has had a steady increase in large and multinational clients, the group is now turning its focus on smaller enterprises who need the systems but do not necessarily have the ability or finances to do so.
“The focus now has become the small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) making up the majority of the world’s economies.”
Although Bernhof Consulting (Malta) will be offering its services to local companies, the local office will be focusing on sales within the eastern Mediterranean, Middle East and North African region.
“Our main aim is to provide solutions at a fixed price, fixed-rate packages for companies. Traditionally SAP systems have been implemented by huge multinational corporations, but Bernhof has also developed in Europe specific templates which would be easily adapted for mid-sized companies,” Mr Schulz explained.
“The templates provide a truly fast, complete and pre-configured and pre-documented SAP solution at fraction of the cost of a fully operational SAP system. The launch of BCS.21st, a selection of templates covering 60-80 per cent of all common processes, reduces both implementation times as well as costs,” he said.
Bernhof has not stopped there. Last year, the group opened a major data centre in Thailand. Providing SAP through outsourcing, the group is also offering Application Service Provider capabilities to those companies that cannot afford a full SAP system or those who do not want to install a full IT infrastructure at their offices.
“ASP offers clients use SAP systems at a reduced cost. Clients can either choose to purchase and house all the hardware and software in servers on their own premises or use our group’s ASP services. The latter will be connected to the Thai Data centre or to a European one of our close partner Triaton, the IT service provider of ThyssenKrupp and Hoechst,” Mr Schulz said.
The group’s strategy now is to enter the eastern Mediterranean and north African market. The setting up of an office in Malta as a regional office comes at a time when the group is consolidating its existing client base yet also targeting new and lucrative markets.
“Malta will serve as a regional sales office. It will be a sort of head office in the region through which all sales and inquiries are handled. We are not here to compete with Maltese companies which are already developing software products. We want a close relationship with the local IT industry and will actively consider joint sales and marketing activities in north Africa as well as the Near and Middle East,” Mr Schulz said.

For more details on SAP for SMEs contact Oliver Schulz on tel. 21339631, fax 21339636 or via email: oliver.schulz@bernhof.com

Success story

Bernhof Special Products (Thailand) Co., Ltd., a member of the internal Bernhof Group, are successfully hosting Solutia Thailand’s SAP R/3 system on an ASP (Application Service Providing) basis.
By using the ASP services provided by Bernhof, Solutia Thailand is able to focus on their core business and is always guaranteed of an up to date SAP R/3 system that is secure and always accessible.
Since 1998 Solutia Thailand has been using outsourcing for their IT services. Solutia’s SAP R/3 server has been placed in Bernhof’s data centre. From there Bernhof is providing complete services and support for Solutia Thailand’s SAP R/3 system and also for Solutia’s Local Area Network (LAN), their Wide Area Network (WAN) as well as their hardware including PCs.
Solutia is using outsourcing for all of their offices worldwide which is done partly by Triaton, the IT subsidiary of global players ThyssenKrupp and Hoechst, and one of Bernhof’s long established partners. Bernhof has a close relationship with Triaton as to establish first class communication links with all their worldwide offices.