IT Executives Marvel At City’s Outsourcing Scope

The St. Petersburg Times, January 10, 2006 By Yekaterina Dranitsyna, Staff Writer
(http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=16513)

High-level executives from the US and European Fortune 500 and 1000 listed companies were left marvelling at Russia’s IT outsourcing industry after being brought together with the country’s leading software outsourcers at ExecutEVE – the First Exclusive IT Outsourcing Event that took place in St. Petersburg last month.

Aimed at international executives in Russia, the event was organized by RUSSOFT, the largest association of software companies in Russia and the CIS.

“It was truly a remarkable experience that taught me a lot. I will be making my recommendations at BMC to explore more closely outsourcing and business opportunities in Russia,” said Gene Golovinsky, research and development director of BMC Software, the United States’ leading provider of enterprise management solutions.

The conference combined an educational seminar program and pre-scheduled B2B meetings, where participants discussed opportunities for further cooperation. During the networking session over 65 one-to-one business meetings took place.

The seminar was opened by Steve Chase, President of Intel in Russia, who presented a case study on “establishing an R&D center in Russia.” Intel’s R&D center in Russia is its largest research center outside the US.

Among other contributors, Pascal Matzke, principal analyst of Forrester Research, made an analytical review of “Russia’s competitive market position compared to other offshore geographies,” while the legal aspects of software development in Russia were reviewed by Olga Mischenko, expert of DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary.

“I have learned a lot from the companies’ representatives, and was very impressed with their technical skill and business knowledge. I actually stayed an extra day and visited a few of the vendor offices and saw the staff in action. In two days I was able to meet with 10 vendors,” Tony Saroufim, CIO of BISYS Hedge Fund Services said at the conference.

“Three of these vendors have core expertise in the fields and the projects that we are currently implementing at BISYS. These companies could be a major source of resources for our company in the future. Doing business with these companies will be considered in our next year’s planning and budgeting process,” he said.

Global companies consider Russia as an alternative to other IT outsourcing destinations, RUSSOFT concluded in a press release.

“Russia has several widely known strengths when it comes to strategic IT sourcing and application development: elite university system, highly skilled workforce, capability to solve complex technical problems, cultural proximity to the West, etc,” the press release said.

According to IDC Services analytical agency data, in 2004 Russian IT market was estimated at $1.9 billion – a 26.3 percent increase on the 2003 figures. The agency forecasts annual market growth at 25.4 percent. By 2009 Russian IT market will grow up to $5.8 billion, IDC Services said in a report published in August 2005.