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Business Intelligence Drives Operational Excellence

Saúl Sánchez - BIC Consulting
Partner

STORY INLINE POST

Wed, 01/25/2012 - 11:34

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Q: How would you describe the main consulting needs of Mexican businesses today, and how has BIC Consulting shaped its business strategy to take advantage of the current market situation?

A: There are several market needs besides the ones related to the technical core of each industry, such as management, processes and strategy. BIC aims to help companies gain technological competence as a means to achieve business results. Although in Mexico, technological competencies have grown in recent years, the years to come will be very important.

Q: How has BIC Consulting worked to build its business around those needs?

A: BIC has implemented its intellectual capital strategy in two directions. One has been to celebrate joint ventures with prestigious organizations such as the CIPM (Colegio de Ingenieros Petroleros de México – Mexican College of Petroleum Engineers), SAP, and HP. The other has been to put into operation what we have called the ‘talent factory’ that addresses current market needs. We have agreements with several important universities in Mexico to take young people at the final stages of their degree and invite them to be part of this talent factory. We then select the best among them, plan a career path and then invite them to come and work with us, mainly focus on engineering and business areas.

Q: One of your biggest areas of focus is the implementation of SAP systems into Mexican business. What are the advantages for Mexican businesses in adopting SAP ERP systems?

A: We are one of the eight Educational Partners for SAP in Mexico, providing training on their behalf. To implement the system, there are also delivery partners. SAP is the world’s largest business software company with more than 35 years of experience. It is present in over 120 countries and currently has over 40,000 customers.

SAP has more than 25 specialized industry solutions, for sectors such as oil and gas, aerospace and defence, the public sector, pharmaceuticals, automotive and high tech, among many others. SAP allows the implementation of best business practices for its industry knowledge with advanced technological architecture. SAP evolves over time by taking appropriate measures to adapt to economic and business needs to ensure long-term competitiveness.

 Once standardized, the suite of programmes and philosophy from SAP brings businesses to top levels of organization. This occurs because the technological infrastructure gives the opportunity to integrate information from several sources within the company. Everything is integrated and that helps companies to be more competitive in the market.

Q: How is the demand for this technology developing in Mexico?

A: There is a growing demand. At the very beginning, it was only the big companies looking for SAP solutions. Of course, they are not cheap, but should be considered from a cost-benefit perspective. SAP has also developed a mid-range suite of products, so that smaller companies can also have access. Mid-range companies and larger companies are looking at these technologies.

80% of our portfolio is related to SAP. On top of this, we also have the SAP consultancy and a software factory based on Advanced Business Application Programming (ABAP) & JAVA, which is the SAP programming language. We started this software factory because some clients want to have some tailored parts of the system, which is possible.

We also develop products that are not SAP-based. We have in our portfolio mobility products, which combined with business intelligence allow our clients to see their production or logistics on the move, wherever they need to take decisions. This is also being developed in our software factory.

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