Information technology consultants offer package of services to help clients get computer savvy
A lot of Ukrainian companies seem to think that the answer to their problems is to acquire a zippy new computer and some fancy, expensive software.
Universal Business Systems, an American privately owned information technology consulting company, knows better, and it aims to spread the word.
‘Most of our work is educational, said UBS sales manager Oleh Romanov. ‘If I were a sales manager in the West, my task would be to present the most advantageous conditions to the clients who seek our services. [In Ukraine] I first of all need to persuade companies that they need information technology, and then I explain why they need it.’
According to Romanov, labor is so cheap in Ukraine that it’s not even cost effective to automate some tasks. Still, he estimates that 85 percent to 90 percent of companies here need to invest in information technology, and sooner or later, they’ll realize it.
Founded in 1995, UBS has completed about 20 projects in Ukraine and Moldova.
For example, when working with Western NIS Enterprise Fund, a U.S. venture capital fund operating in Ukraine and Moldova, UBS had to deal with one of the fund’s portfolio companies, construction materials manufacturer company SBK.
SBK lacked a modern accounting system, and besides, the obsolete data collection and reporting methods duplicated the efforts of WNISEF and SBK to produce GAAP financials.
After interviewing both SBK and WNISEF employees and researching the existing computer applications, UBS consultants recommended a Sun Systems financial and business application. After developing an information solution, UBS trained personnel at SBK to use the new system.
‘UBS provided superior service in working with SBK staff to achieve the ambitious goals of reaching full dual accounting,’ said WNISEF Investment Officer Scott Thomas in a quote at UBS’s Web site. ‘Much of the important work was on-site ‘hand-holding’ to fully explain the details of the system. The security of having UBS available in case questions or problems occur helps even today,’ Thomas said.
Other UBS clients include sunflower oil manufacturer Sonola, Gostomel Glass Factory and Swedish household goods manufacturer Electrolux. UBS’s Web site (www.UBS-Solutions.com) contains references to some of the clients, a detailed description of the problem and the solution.
About 80 percent of UBS’s clients are Ukrainian-managed organizations with some Western capital. The rest are purely Western organizations.
UBS provides information technology, financial and business consulting for companies that want to improve their business position.
And unlike most of its competitors – who are usually linked with one business system supplier – UBS is partnered with several software distributors such as Scala, Oracle and several local manufacturers.
‘Our [aim] is to be an independent consulting company,’ said UBS director Emmy Gengler. ‘Even though we work with certain regular partners we still reserve the right to provide to our clients a complex customized solution based on what the client needs. A lot of the time that’s why clients come to us.’
UBS’s information technology services include selling a software package, backing it up with hardware and telecom solutions, implementing the new system and actually consulting on how to use the system. The consulting part includes process improvements, re-engineering, technical configuration of the system and training of users and managers.
The enterprise resource planning systems cover the whole gamut of financial and business solutions, logistics, purchasing, warehousing, production, sales and payroll implementations.
UBS provides financial consulting in such areas as implementing cost accounting, multi-standard accounting (local plus GAP or IAS), management accounting, plus accounting and financial departments restructuring.
But perhaps the most daunting task facing UBS is persuading potential clients that they need to make changes in their business.
One common basic failure: Many companies lack a clearly defined business strategy.
‘One of the most painful questions for us is the company’s strategy,’ said Romanov. ‘General directors usually fall silent and then say ‘To be the market leader.’ But a strategy as a plan of conquering the market – in percentages, years and production volumes – is absent.’
Other clients come to UBS firmly convinced that a particular piece of software will solve all of the problems their business faces.
But the most popular misconception is that information technology is a panacea for all business problems.
‘A widespread notion [among clients] which has been generated by commercials is that for some $2,000 or $5,000 you can buy a product that solves all your problems,’ said UBS project manager Yury Pavlov. ‘[They think] you just need to press one or two buttons.’
That’s a bubble UBS consultants are quick to burst when they first meet with potential clients. A computer system is not all that is needed to transform a business, they stress.
‘We have good partners and we are confident in the solutions we have chosen, but that really is only 20 percent of the success of any project,’ said Gengler.
‘[Success] more depends on our work and our experience, as well as 50 percent on the client company itself and its ability and willingness to modify and transform the business, as well as use the system to do that,’ she said.
A typical case is a Ukrainian company that wants to buy a Western accounting software package to pass a Western audit. UBS consultants first have to explain what ‘passing’ a Western audit is all about. They show the customer that the information system will certainly give the company the ability to process accounting data using multiple standards, for example, but that might take it only 30 percent of the way to its goal of passing an audit.
A new computer and software won’t help the financial director or chief accountant answer auditors’ questions, nor will it prepare documents explaining who in the accounting department is responsible for what. And it won’t provide backup personnel for each key position in the company, as well as a host of other things that auditors take into account when preparing their reports.
‘Often, clients tell us what result they want to get, but we see their method of achieving that result probably won’t work,’ Gengler said. ‘We know that we need to make some other procedural changes first and then put the technology on top.’
Another major difficulty is the implementation of new systems, and the inevitable glitches that occur. When new computer systems are installed, work routines will be disrupted or permanently and radically changed, and this may lead to complaints from employees, Gengler said.
Still, UBS believes the pros of new information technology solutions by far outweigh the cons, and its says its clients are already benefiting from its advice.
‘Each of our projects has had a certain economic effect,’ said Romanov. ‘It may not be direct growth in [the client company’s] gross profit, but there are clear indicators showing growth.’
