Posts Tagged ‘IT-outsourcing’

Nearshoring vs. offshore IT outsourcing

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

Belarus gets the 5th place in the list of the best exporters of IT services

At first sight it seems that nearshore and offshore IT outsourcing are the same models of software development. Nevertheless some principles of nearshore partnerships can play a key part in successful cooperation with foreign specialists.

So, fists of all a customer gets the work done by people in neighboring countries. It means that geographic nearness allows easier and less expensive traveling and communications. Moreover there are some commonalities between the cultures, so business partners can avoid misunderstandings that can appear between people who are separated not only by thousands of kilometers but also by completely different cultural patterns.

The second corner stone is statistics. Experts can tell you about cultural differences and other intangible things as much as they want, but some figures will explain you everything much better. This year Outsourcing Association in the counties of Central and Eastern Europe announced Belarus the fifth country in the list of the best exporters of IT services in CEE. Here is the Top-10 of CEEOA:

1. Ukraine – $ 530 millions,
2. Romania – $ 410 millions,
3. Hungary – $ 375 millions,
4. Poland – $ 350 millions,
5. Belarus – $ 310 millions,
6. Czech Republic – $ 300 millions,
7. Bulgaria – $ 250 millions,
8. Serbia – $ 157 millions,
9. Estonia – $ 105 millions,
10. Slovakia – $ 90 millions.

So, now European countries have two significant reasons to choose Belarus (outsourcing to Belarus) as the main nearshore partner to provide IT services.

Making your best IT-projects with offshore dedicated team in Belarus

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

The company starting any IT-project with outsourcing faces a list of questions connected with profit, possible losses, risks and opportunities. But nevertheless a lot of companies all over the world prefer to work with offshore dedicated teams. Why? Such cooperation allows them to take priority of different benefits. They can:

- reduce costs;

- concentrate on core business;

- improve the quality of service;

- increase share value;

- use the experience of third-party companies / teams;

- increase profits;

- etc.

Belarusian IT companies are ready to share their secrets of remote collaboration with other European and American companies. Barys Mamonenka, CEO and founder of the EleganceIT company, told us about the main fears of his foreign partners and the main advantages of his software development team that made them change their mind.

The 1st fear: Belarus is on the other continent / so far from my country. May this geographical distance become an obstacle for the future work?

The answer proved in practice: Not at all, modern communications allows being constantly in touch. It makes no difference, where the company is situated: in the building across the street or on the other continent / country.

The 2nd fear: I will have to monitor the process in order to ensure that the work will be done with high quality and in time, isn’t that so?

The answer proved in practice: You should not be frightened by possible loss of control over the development process working with offshore dedicated team. Good project management, continuous exchange of information and gradual work according to the plan – that is the solution of the problem.

The 3rd fear: I’m worried about the fact that I have to share my trade secrets with outsourcing company. It’s hard to imagine what difficulties can arise in case of leakage of confidential information!

The answer proved in practice: Of course, all the companies think about this risk. That’s why it is so important to choose the right IT partner, to work with reliable companies only, cooperating with professionals whose reputation raises no doubt.

The 4th fear: How to overcome language barrier and how much time will I spend on explaining developers my demands?

The answer proved in practice: Companies working with dedicated teams in Belarus were pleasantly surprised that they hadn’t to face these problems. Specialists in EleganceIT speak English fluently, and they can help their partners with the preparation of documentation for the project.

The 5th fear: Building successful communication is not enough to speak the same language. We must also be in our offices at the same time. How is it possible living in different time zones?

The answer proved in practice: EleganceIT clients are grateful to the dedicated team for their good communication skills and readiness to change the work schedule.

So thinking about the pros and cons of cooperation with offshore dedicated teams, take into account the considerable quantity of successful IT-project that was done with the help of Belarusian companies. It shows high effectiveness of this choice. The gained experience became the key factor of flourishing offshore IT business in this county.