What should be the secret of an IT company growing for the past 18 years? What does it mean to be a manager in this industry and, foremost, what qualities do you need?

Interview granted to Iuliana Stoica, editor for the daily "Financiarul", by Irina Socol, President and General Manager of SIVECO Romania.

Is IT industry a man's world?

Irina Socol: At the risk of repeating myself, I do not believe that in business the discussion takes place under these terms. For instance, in the board of SIVECO Romania there are 4 women and 3 men.

We have department managers and line of business managers both women and men. This situation is found in all the IT companies that I know. In this industry as in any other one, in order to succeed as manager you have first to like very much what you do, to have a good sense of opportunities, a realistic evaluation of risks, the capacity to be an example for the team, the capacity to inculcate to those around you the desire to perform, a audacious vision, trust in success, total involvement.

These qualities rely on the inner structure of every person, but also on the models and values he has been educated with.

Do you consider yourself a successful businesswoman?

Irina Socol: I believe that, along with my team, I have succeeded in building a company that developed for the past 18 years very large, complex, heavy IT projects-successful ones. For us, the success measures in several projects influencing daily life of people, which contribute to the development of the IT-based society we all want. When you do what you know best and you like it most, success is inherent.

The over 90 internal and international awards we have received during the 18 years of activity, for our eLearning solution, for SIVECO Applications (Business Management System), eAgriculture, eHealth, for investment, for involvment in corporate responsibility activities, for the team and for performance are as many moments when I can say we had maximum satisfaction and success.

Which was the most difficult decision you had to take as general manager and president of SIVECO?

Irina Socol: I like to believe that I did not take it yet.

Which was the greatest satisfaction you have had in this position?

Irina Socol: Our greatest satisfaction is given by the projects that our team succeeded in implementing in the entire world in the field of eLearning, eCustoms, eHealth. A great satisfaction was receiving the prize of the World Summit Award, an exceptional world prize as recognition of the creativity and quality of the educational content developed for the IT based Education System.

Did you have in your career a certain model of businessman? Who is it?

Irina Socol: My models are my parents who have taught me that before being a good manager you must be a leader with vision, who by his/her intelligence makes people to feel strong, inspiring them trust and optimism, positive thinking.

From the managers who made history, I appreciate Jack Welch, who grew through innovation and courage the value of General Electric from 13 billion USD to 400 billion USD in those 20 years, while he was CEO.

Where do you see SIVECO in 10 years?

Irina Socol: Five years ago we intended to evolve from the status of the most important Romanian software house to the one of software integrators leader.

Now we want to become a regional leader and, on medium term, a leader at European level. Step by step we head towards this direction and even if 2009 was a very difficult year, we have succeeded in doing extraordinary things, as we have launched projects for well-known organizations of the European Union - The EU Publications Office that manages the portal of research & development CORDIS, and for EASA, The European Aviation Safety Agency.

These projects confirm our entry into the selected and restricted group of companies supplying solutions for the most demanding and prestigious customers that an organization can wish to have. Of course, the selection criteria are based on the quality of products and services that satisfy such complex requirements.

When are you going to resume the plans for extension on the external market?

Irina Socol: We have many international successes, along with our local and multinational partners. We develop ambitious projects very well appreciated in countries form Central and SE Europe, from the Gulf area, North Africa, from CIS. We participate successfully in regional tenders. The ratio of income coming from international projects has increased much and will continue to increase even more, as our pace of development is more ambitious than the current growth possibilities of the national economy.

How do appreciate the evolution of the software and the IT services market?

Irina Socol: After a period of continuous, quite spectacular growth, the IT sector went through a less favorable period, especially for very dynamic sectors, like retail IT or hardware businesses. It was an involution, compared with previous years, because of the economic crisis and of political "bottlenecks". In order to mention also the full part of the glass, one should mention the fact that at the same time, opportunities have emerged related to accessing European and structural funds.

Which do you believe to be the worst decisions taken by your colleagues in the industry in this crisis year?

Irina Socol: Generally, it is arguable to evaluate the impact of some decisions, in a very short time from the moment when they were taken. Usually, the effect can be seen after a while. Not at least, we have to understand that we do not act independently one from the others, but in an industry, which is a wheel from an entire economy. Surely, both in growth times and in times of crisis, each decision has to be taken with maximal responsibility; pragmatic and taking into account all the possible implications. In our industry, but not only, people are vital as IT is a field where much is invested in specialists. The team expertise and attitude are vital for the success of the projects we undertake.

Do you believe in a recovery of the market this year?

Irina Socol: Yes, I do. The IT&C sector represents a strategic solution for the economic recovery and development. Surely, the degree of competitiveness will increase even more, which a positive thing for everybody, including the beneficiaries of IT products.

The IT market growth up to the year 2008 was based on what?

Irina Socol: The IT market grew at the same time with the public sector investments and with the development of the medium and large private companies. The IT Industry in Romania has originated from talented and ambitious specialists, formed in famous mathematics and IT schools, in a powerful competitive spirit, in the respect of values and performance. The Romanian IT companies have developed in an atmosphere of healthy pressure, imposed by high standards and forceful competition to which has contributed the entry on the market of multinationals, of the global leaders in the field.

Our competences in fields of expertise such as eBusiness, eLearning, eAgriculture, eHealth, eCustoms - very well rated fields having the most important growth potential worldwide are supported by reference projects, successfully finalized for many various beneficiaries, among which hundreds of organizations in Romania or abroad.

In the past 3 years, the income produced by our company in international projects registered a constant growth, currently holding an important stake of our turnover.

Will the market in the IT industry ever resume its growth of 20%?

Irina Socol: If the USA has announced a recovery of the IT sector by 2011, probably in Romania this will not happen sooner than 2 -3 years.

In order to meet the performance requirements resulting from EU membership, it is necessary to resume in full strength these attempts. In addition, we have to develop and complete large scale IT projects financed from EU and structural funds.

Does the success key for getting the IT industry out of the crisis laid in the pocket of private or the public sector?

Irina Socol: In both of them. The public projects are very important for any market and one the reason for decreasing the local IT market is delaying the start of governmental projects. We are confident that the situation will be balanced as introducing IT represents a real support for the overall economic recovery, and the public sector has the strength, but also the need to absorb technology more than the private one. Let us not forget that entrepreneurial spirit is mostly found in the private sector.

We have many beneficiaries among the private organizations and we know how these people think. They are aware that, in order to be competitive, they have to use the best tools. And IT helps them to act in an effective and efficient manner.