SAP will hire 400 people by 2014

• Investments in the new SAP Center for consulting services, estimated at 30-40 million Euros, in the next 3-4 years

SAP Romania yesterday opened a center which will provide IT added value consulting services to the customers of the German group SAP of Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and intends to hire about 400 consultants by 2014. Called Nearshore Delivery Center, the new entity resulted from the conversion of the former center of SAP Global Delivery Group, part of the SAP Consulting division in Bucharest, and will include two more offices in Romania, in Timişoara and Cluj-Napoca.

The center will provide services in particular for the mature markets of Western and Central Europe, to support the projects of Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Luxemburg and Holland.

The investments in the new SAP center will amount to 30-40 million Euros in the next 3-4 years, the president of SAP for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA,) Franck Cohen, said. He went on to say: "We are unable to fully estimate the value of the investment because we are talking about 400 people and a lot of effort involved in their training. We are currently at an incipient stage and we are building this plan. What matters is that we will have 400 people well trained in projects, programs and infrastructure, and the salaries will be "healthy", so we can attract the best. I think that for now we can speak about an amount of 30-40 million Euros for the next 3-4 years".

The president of SAP EMEA, Franck Cohen, also said: "The nearshore centers have a significant contribution to the provision of services with low total costs, while at the same time improving quality, speed and scalability. With this approach, we will be able to provide customers of SAP with professional services through a mixed system, either remotely or directly at their headquarters, having the benefit of the domestic culture, language and a near time zone, in addition to the traditional, local or offshore delivery of service".

In the coming years, SAP intends to hire over 100 consultants each year in Romania, both through their regular recruiting system, as well as through the SAP Academy system, performed in cooperation with the main university centers in Romania, namely the Polytechnical University and the Academy of Economic Studies of Bucharest, the Babeş-Bolyai and Technical Universities of Cluj-Napoca, as well as the Western University of Timişoara.

The nearshore center in Romania and the future unit in Portugal will be the first of their kind developed by SAP in Europe. They will service customers from various regions of Europe, the press release says.

SAP is one of the world's main players in the field of business software applications, with over 105,000 customers. SAP Romania was set up in 2002, and its operations were focused on sales and marketing, as well as on developing the localized versions of the SAP solutions.

In 2010, SAP Romania saw a turnover of 17.6 million Euros, up 17.1% compared to 2009. At the same time, the post-tax profit reached 2.991 million Euros, up 54% compared to 2009, when the net earnings reached 1.943 million Euros. At the end of 2010, the Romanian subsidiary had 94 employees, 17 more than it did in 2009.

SAP is a provider of software solutions for business. Applications and services provided by SAP help over 105,000 customers profitably manage their operations and resources, to continuously adapt and grow in a sustainable manner.