People from the Russian office of SAP create their own CRM and ERP systems

As Kommersant found out, Lab SP, founded by people from the Russian division of the German SAP, plans to introduce its own CRM and ERP systems to the Russian market. The company estimates the cost of developing the latter at 250 million rubles, and the minimum viable product (MVP) is planned to be released before the end of the year. Market participants view the project with skepticism, calling both the budget and deadlines unrealistically low. However, experts say, everything may turn out differently if the company uses not only the experience, but also the developments of SAP.

Lab SP, founded by top managers of the Russian division of the German SAP and engaged in technical support for SAP software in Russia, plans to develop its own software, Lab SP told Kommersant. Thus, the company plans to bring an integration platform to the market, as well as develop CRM (customer relationship management, a customer relationship management system) and ERP (enterprise resource planning, a resource management and planning system) within a year. The cost of developing its own ERP at Lab SP is estimated at 250 million rubles; the company hopes to present a minimum viable product (MVP) of the system by the end of the year.

“ERP will be developed taking into account the productivity and functionality requirements of large corporations that have an acute issue of import substitution,” explained Lab SP general director Pavel Deverilin to Kommersant. A Kommersant source close to the company says that Lab SP hopes to “gradually transfer Russian companies using SAP to the future ERP.”

In December, Cnews, with reference to the ANO National Competence Center for Holding Management Information Systems, estimated the volume of the ERP systems market in Russia at 90 billion rubles. by the end of 2023 with the prospect of growth to 100 billion rubles. in 2024. According to TAdviser, in 2022, 67% of the market was accounted for by software from 1C, 9% by SAP solutions and 7.4% by Microsoft. TAdviser estimated the CRM market volume at 28.2 billion rubles. (growth by 20% year on year). The three largest suppliers included Lanit, Digital Economy League and 1C Rarus (owned by 1C). Lanit and 1C declined to comment.

The deadlines and budget named by Lab SP “look realistic, subject to strict project management,” says Auriga project manager Oleg Dyrdin: “With careful planning and a waterfall development model for one year and 250 million rubles. you can create the core of the platform and a couple of modules that implement standard business processes.” The expert clarified that the cost and time frame for developing a full-featured solution “comparable to SAP in 2024” will be “multiple times greater.”

The head of analytics at SimbirSoft, Konstantin Shakurov, believes that 250 million rubles. “suspiciously little” for developing a system from scratch. “But if the company uses the experience and expertise of SAP, the project can become promising,” the expert admits. “And if not only the experience, but also the developments themselves, statements about amounts and deadlines may turn out to be real.”

The Galaktika Corporation (which develops and supplies its ERP, EAM, and MES systems) does not believe in the success of potential competitors, including due to tight deadlines and low budgets. “ERP is a complex software package, the creation and industrial implementation of which will take decades and a huge amount of resources not only from developers, but, to a greater extent, from customers,” emphasizes the head of the company’s board of directors, Anton Malkov. “In the creation and development of Galaktika ERP, for example, the vendor alone has invested at least $250 million and 25 years of cooperation with customers from all sectors of the economy.”

Nikita Korolev