In its twelve-year history BCC has not yet recorded such a year: large investments, increase in the team and income. The income grew up to PLN 37.5 m and taken together with its subsidiary 7milowy – to PLN 43.4 m. In comparison with 2005 it means 40% growth, and with 7milowy – even 46%.
Client is a real measure
’We are an ambitious, independent consulting company which aims at being a SAP market leader in terms of service quality, at the same time increasing its market share. We are happy with the 40% income growth in 2006. We see it as a bonus from our clients and a signal that we had chosen investments that had been both excellent and useful from their point of view. However, it is not the growth that was the most important last year’, says Bartłomiej Buszczak, General Director.
Unlike most competitors, BCC is not a unit of an international corporation. That is why a growth in income or market share defined by the headquarters is not an absolute aim imposed from above and a point of reference to all the other actions. As an independent company we may shape our strategy on our own, to favor the clients. Thanks to that in 2006 we could focus on investing in company’s development which will bring profits both to us and our clients.
Piotr Płóciennik, Clients Services Director at BCC, points out: ‘I think that clients value a wide potential of the partner with which they want to implement, develop and maintain their system. It is a total of company’s experience and employees’ skills, the size of the team, organization and procedures, finally technical base; developing all those areas helps better serve the clients.’
Higher skills
The market of SAP services in Poland has much matured in the last 5-7 years. The awareness and expectations of the entrepreneurs have increased as well as the number of SAP specialists. The number of companies that can properly configure the system is higher than before.
Currently the real value of a consulting company can be evaluated in particularly demanding projects: comprehensive SAP implementations in complicated organizations, international SAP projects, undertakings related to organizational changes and finally in innovative projects, pioneering in their scope.
Some interesting Poland-based projects carried out by BCC in 2006 include comprehensive SAP implementation in Hortex (the first migration from Oracle to mySAP ERP in Poland), SAP implementation for the forge Celsa Huta Ostrowiec – with advanced functionalities of production planning, the first implementation of SAP e-recruiting in Poland, projects based on SAP NetWeaver and SAP Business Intelligence, as well as innovative projects for Żabka.
Among international projects it is worth mentioning the implementation at Antalis in 4 Central European countries. Further such projects include works for two units of an FMCG concern in the Balkans and Eastern Asia. Polish specialists, also BCC employees, did take part in SAP projects abroad, however, before then a Polish implementation company very rarely had managed a large SAP project in another country.
‘Execution of demanding projects is the best way to develop the team’s skills. One can say that steel is hardened in fire. If a client is planning SAP implementation in several countries of the region, the first implementation of a particular functionality in Poland or expects an expert approach, focused mainly not on the technical, but business results of the implementation – I am convinced that BCC is currently the best partner in Poland,” says Piotr Płóciennik.
Bigger team
In 2006 the number of BCC consultants grew from 83 to 120, i.e. by 45%. This means an increase in the company’s potential which now enables to execute the largest SAP projects.
’Some of our new employees have wide experience in SAP and in business. However, most newcomers are young people, often graduates, who gain knowledge and learn best practices very quickly when working under the supervision of experienced mentors. Their progress is proved by the fact that many of them obtain SAP certificates in their fields already after a few months’ work at BCC. The majority of BCC’s team are certified consultants, who confirmed their skills by passing a difficult exam according to high SAP AG standards and other recognized business standards. Moreover, the consultants confirm their business knowledge with other recognized certificates, passing difficult exams in supply chain, obtaining APICS certificates or in project management confirmed with PMI. Apart from hundreds of days of working on external projects the certificates constitute an additional and independent recognition of our employees’ knowledge. In some companies obtaining such certificates is an exception and in BCC it is a standard’, says Maciej Mazuruk, BCC Consulting Director.
In consulting the rotation of employees is high; a good employer ensures opportunities for development and promotion in a developing organization as well as participation in ambitious projects. In 2006 37 consultants started working for BCC and 1 person quit. Such a working environment was appreciated in a competition ‘Investor in Human Resources’, organized by the Institute of Management and TNS OBOP. BCC won its emblem for the fourth time running. The company is the only one in consulting area that every year is awarded the emblem. ‘I believe clients appreciate not only the consulting partner’s skills, but the stability of its personnel. We try to create a friendly working environment, as only in this way we can create long-term relationships with clients’, notices Maciej Mazuruk.
Outsourcing – security and reliability
The number of consultants of BCC’s outsourcing service department has increased by half. The priority here also was quick transfer of knowledge and the proof – SAP certificates obtained. The consultants work in 6 teams specializing in SAP support in particular application (application service) and technical areas (systems administration).
Waldemar Sokołowski, Outsourcing Services Director, comments: ‘I consider BCC is currently the most dynamically developing provider in Polish SAP outsourcing market. We have considerably increased the team and the number of clients serviced. We have implemented a strict Information Security Management System. We have opened a new data center.’
The company’s headquarters were moved to Nickel Technology Poznań Park in Złotniki near Poznań. With the help of EU funds we have created there a center for data processing and now BCC provides hosting services there. Information Security Management System has been certified according to ISO 27001 standards (one of first such certificates in Poland).
’Investment in people, technology and organization aim at one thing: enhancing the security of business operations carried out by the clients supported by our outsourcing center’, points out Waldemar Sokołowski.
The year 2006 resulted in further 14 contracts for SAP application service (e.g. with companies such as Kompania Piwowarska, Knauf, Pfeifer & Langen, Valeo, Herlitz), 7 contracts for SAP administration support or outsourcing (including Wolters Kluwer, Cehave Pasze, Herlitz), and 3 contracts for SAP hosting (including Scaninter in Poland, Finland and Germany).
Towards the future
Last year was again a period of significant income increase. Piotr Rogala, BCC’s finance director, says: ‘Our clients who expect stable long-term operations from their consulting partner can feel secure. This was also the aim of the recent changes in BCC’s ownership structure: top executives have become the company’s shareholders. The company is managed by steady hands and we consistently implement our strategy.’
Bartłomiej Buszczak speaks about the plans: ‘We intend to keep investing into the growth of personnel. We expect to start many more ambitious projects and to conclude many permanent contracts for service and outsourcing. We are going to venture abroad more often, but nonetheless the most important area of our operations is still Poland. In 2007 we are going to strengthen BCC’s position as a SAP service market leader in Poland.’
