“We have registered our ERP-system called Ma-3”

20.11.2017

The questions of the chief editor of IT News Gennady Belash are answered by Alexey Kopotilov, general director of the National Platform company, part of the NCC holding.

Frankly, it seemed to me that I was no longer at risk of undertaking the development of a new ERP system. Who made such a bold decision?

Since 2014, the National Computer Corporation has been searching for promising publications. The expert group has launched a large-scale analytical base. We propose to create our own production ERP solution. They decided to find a technology partner in the BRICS countries. The current situation is largely due to the fact that domestic enterprises were limited in the use of Western software and hardware. We realized that we were going in the right direction. We opted for TOTVS. It is the largest developer of ERP systems in Brazil and Latin America. Under the agreement, TOTVS transferred technology to create a Russian system to the National Computer Corporation. We developed on the basis of 30 years of experience in the development and implementation of ERP.

What was the most difficult at the initial stage?

TOTVS to create a Russian product. In 2014, we formed a working group, which constantly commands in the Brazilian city of São Paulo, engaged in calculations and assessments of all the risks of a future project. The transaction took place only in May 2016.

On what terms was the deal signed?

We have created a joint venture with a minimum share of equity owned by TOTVS. Our team was busy finalizing the core and system functionality.

Will your Brazilian partner receive a percentage of sales?

Of course, they will receive certain percentages with the share of sales they own. TOTVS not talking. We registered our ERP system under our own name “Ma-3”.

Why did your system get such a name?

Here the story is quite interesting. When we start working with the system, she should call her a nested doll. They refused him. We took up our heads. The name “Matryoshka” is a utopia. As a result, everyone managed to keep the name: “Ma-3”, that is, “Ma-treshka”. We can say that we have digitized a nesting doll.

How many employees reprogrammed the Brazilian ERP system?

It is not entirely correct to talk only about full-time employees. Hundreds of specialists from the NCC holding, which includes our company, participated in the work on the new system. They are attracted for short periods, which was much more effective and much cheaper.

Are you truncating or expanding the functionality of the Brazilian version of the ERP system?

In their system, industry solutions are very widely developed: agriculture, medicine, education, and a number of others. We plan to concentrate on mechanical engineering and everything related to the defense industry, state power, fast pace and large enterprises of federal scale. We expand and refine this functionality. However, we have every opportunity to make it necessary in other market segments.

Did I understand correctly that the goal of your ERP system is to take a place between SAP and 1C products in terms of price, quality, capabilities and performance?

ERP system – performance. If the system allows a large number of users to work with big data, then this is a good solution for a large corporate market. Our “Ma-3” in the specified parameter is nevertheless closer to SAP. We should not have the task of catching up or overtaking competitors, because we have different target audiences. At the DIF 2017 partner conference organized by OCS, our company will debut, for the first time present its ERP-system of open publication. We plan to work through partners. The first implementation of Ma-3, however, will take place under our expert supervision.

This summer, Sergey Nuraliev, head of the department of economic program development at 1C, announced successful testing for 5,000 users, how would you comment on this?

It is important to consider under what conditions load testing is performed. In the absence of common standards, each vendor takes as a norm its own indicator, for example, the APDEX index. If the tester is satisfied with the response of the system lasting, say, more than a minute, then testing can be considered successful even with 10 thousand simultaneous users. Therefore, in the absence of detailed information, it is difficult to comment on the data presented by our colleagues. Testing “Ma-3” is carried out under conditions as close as possible to reality. For example, when testing, our 4 thousand users turned to the flow of documents (which significantly complicates the process of data processing by the application server) and at the same time, the system’s high response speed was preserved. The indicator voiced by us of 4 thousand users is a reality that we will be ready to present to the market in a few months with the release of the first release of the system.

How long should your training partners so that they can carry out complex corporate projects?

Such training will take about two months. It is clear that during the break-in process of our ERP system for about a year or two, certain difficulties can be expected in the implementation of projects, this is natural for such complex systems.

What strategy did your company have for one and a half years from the moment you signed the contract with a Brazilian company?

Of course, we had an investment strategy, as long as it remains the same – pre-sale activity begins only now. Prior to that, we were engaged exclusively in the development of the system, investing a very large amount of funds in it. In the future, we have plans to create a development center in Innopolis, since the authorities of the Republic of Tatarstan have created a very friendly business atmosphere in their region.

Do you focus more on customers who already have an ERP system, or those who do not already have one?

Our potential customers – large manufacturing enterprises, are now experiencing difficulties. They either have implemented Western ERP solutions, which they are required to replace, or already have Russian systems, but most often they are self-written or low-performance, there is also the introduction of separate functional modules without building an integrated system.

But after all, a huge role is played by the team of implementers, which should know perfectly well the industry in which it implements your ERP system?

You are right, an ERP system is just a toolbox that you need to be able to use. We have a very powerful team, employees have vast experience in implementation in the field of engineering.

Will this team carry out the first projects?

Not excluded. But everything will depend on the customer. Economically, I repeat, it is more expedient to work through partners, however, the first projects will go under the control of this particular team.

Are any of the partners already undergoing two-month training?

We have already prepared courses for training our Ma-3 ERP-system and by the end of the year several partners must pass them.

What will be the features of the work of your marketing department?

He is entrusted mainly with analytics, tracking the trends of the market segment of interest to us. And, of course, PR and other activities for preparing successful sales of our product.

What share of the Latin American ERP market does the product of your partner, the Brazilian company TOTVS, take?

Over 50% of the Brazilian ERP market and 30% of Latin America.

Published on the It-world website: https://www.it-world.ru/it-news/thoughts/135343.html