Press Releases

Budapest, September 18, 2000

SAP takes part, alongside MATÁV, Andersen Consulting and Compaq.

MATÁV, SAP Hungary Kft., Compaq Computer Kft. and Andersen Consulting Kft. have announced the implementation of their joint e-commerce service on 18th September. The name of the e-commerce service is Marketline.hu., web site: www.marketline.hu, the founding members outlined the key features of the service on 18th September in Tihany at the most significant IT conference in the country, where 850 representatives of the domestic software market gained information about development trends, new services and ideas.

The consortium - established for the purpose of the implementation of the e-commerce business announced this June - has been re-organized. SAP, which has extensive international experience in the area of e-commerce, joined the consortium with an original solution and has already informed its customers about the new product. Through this action, the two major e-commerce initiatives have joined forces. OTP, Magyar Posta (Hungarian Post) and MOL also expressed their interest both in the e-commerce service and in an eventual involvement as prospective investors.

As of 1st September, e-commerce offers are accessible to the public at www.marketline.hu Within the framework of a campaign launched simultaneously with the implementation of the service, small and medium-size companies registered to the home page before 15 October can gain 2 months free access to the service and suppliers will also be able to upload their catalogues free of charge during this period.

E-commerce offers a catalogue service to small, medium and large companies, mediation in transactions, auctions, liaison with suppliers and several other services which enable the implementation of e-purchase systems for clients.

The four founding members provide the funds necessary for the implementation of the service and the profitable operation of the service company to be established by the four members, with MATÁV holding the majority stake. The founding members are counting upon the recouping of their investment as they expect their customers which include the leading companies in the country, through which they want to acquire not only a leading market position in Hungary, but also play an active role in the implementation of e-commerce in state procurement as well. In addition to these objectives, they expect to acquire hundreds of small and medium companies as customers in the first year. The scope of goods offered in the frame of e-commerce covers initially the articles necessary for everyday business, e.g. IT facilities, office stationery, detergents, travel services, marketing services, etc. E-commerce provides customized offers for various customer segments to make every category of the companies interested in using the service, through which companies can save up as much as 10-20 percent on purchases of this kind, due to the moderate prices on one hand, and also to simplified purchase procedures.

During the initial period of implementation, the companies launch campaigns to stimulate usage, the turnover of which may soon reach HUF 100 billion. Implementation of e-commerce has no technical requirement other than an Internet connection on the purchaser's and the vendor's side. The goal of e-commerce is to make services available independent of the technology, by using any ( or no) corporate management system. The system of e-commerce can be integrated into the existing IT solutions of the vendors and purchasers, to increasingly facilitate the automatic flow of information .

According to the plans, the software for the operation of e-commerce next year will be jointly developed by SAP and Commerce One companies, which enables the implementation of new services.