Romania tries German efficiency in e-management

Where does e-business stand in Romania compared with the Western countries? Liviu Cotora, SAP Romania general manager, says we’re in the exact same position as the Ford cars in Europe at the beginning of the last century.

When the first automobile was brought in Paris, 10,000 rich men were quick to understand the advantages of a Ford against a horse.

There was problem, though: Paris had only one gas station, so wherever one might have gone, one had to go back downtown to refuel. As soon as the oilmen who built gas pumps by the side of the roads came along, the roads were paved, car sales skyrocketed and prices collapsed.

This business jump is based on the continual development of the pilot electronic management projects run over the past few years, mainly in health, transportation and electricity fields.

“The health project, funded by the World Bank with $17million, was won by our company at an international tender four years back,” Cotora says.

This project’s aim is to bring the Romanian healthcare system at the same cost and efficiency level as the furthest advanced such systems in the European states, Germany or Austria, for instance.

It is well known that the Romanian health insurance system is suffering from a severe lack of money and SAP’s resource management model is a solution for little money to be spent with utmost efficiency.

“This is a one of a kind project in Romania. We’re planning to expand it to 34 hospitals this year,” Liviu Cotora specified.

As regards the large state-run companies, SAP Romania last year introduced the first performance financial and accounting management in the Romanian energy sector at the Galati branch of Electrica Company.

The project was later expanded to Braila and Focsani and is to spread to the entire electricity structure in Romania this year.

SAP will also make its mark on the city transportation system management in Bucharest, too. “This year, we’ll expand the RATB project we started in all the depots (about 30) in 2000, so that over the next twelve months the company will run a financial, production and repair management system like the furthest advanced transportation companies worldwide,” general manager Cotora says.