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This article was published in the February, 2004 issue
of the Technolology First Magazine.
Dayton, OH, USA
February 11, 2004 -
By Mikhail Roytman, President,
Roytman Information Services, Inc.
 It
was a perfect summer morning as
I was dialing the telephone number of one of our best customers.
Many of you in the software development industry may already
be familiar with what happened next. A company, who has been
working with us for many years on both special Information
Technology projects and consulting assignments, was
about to inform me that we have to expand our services to
remain a supplier. Their suggestion to all vendors
interested in resuming business
relationships was to add offshore solutions to their portfolio.
By some divine intervention, we got the same
message from two other long-standing clients in the next few
days. “We would love to continue working with you, but
the overseas capabilities must be added.” And just like
that, the discussions and negotiations we have had in the
last 3+ years about potentially offering low-cost offshore
solutions to our clientele turned from a long-term potential
to an absolute necessity.
Learning From Others’ Experience
We took an immediate action by launching a study to learn
not only how to do it, but how to do it right. Our motto for
this initiative was: “You Asked … We Listened.”
While we might not be the pioneers in the offshore movement,
there is a definite advantage of following someone’s
trail. Many companies have attempted to lure its customers
into the cheap global market, yet most ended up with cheap
results. To avoid the errors of the forerunners we have conducted
a comprehensive survey interviewing both our client companies
and consulting associates to learn from their experience.
A number of important issues became apparent almost immediately.
Those who failed in this endeavor emphasized two
major reasons:
(1) Lack of communications skills on the part of the offshore
staff
(2) Inability to translate business requirements into specifications
on the part of US representatives
At the same time, those who have been successful also highlighted
two areas:
(1) Importance of placing a responsible, trustworthy management
team overseas
(2) Assignment of a bi-lingual and culturally diverse Project
Manager(s) / Business Analyst(s), who can analyze an assignment
with a local client and bridge it over to the Offshore Project
Manager
With A Finger On The Map
The next step was to select the location(s) and decide on
whether to establish a new branch or to partner with an existing
company. Based on success stories we have studied, it became
obvious that finding a management team to run our offshore
services is the key goal. Since we have considered this initiative
for a number of years, we have already established many potential
business relationships. A number of our employees (including
myself) were born in the Soviet Union, thus the Russian speaking
countries became our first option. Not only for the obvious
linguistic advantages, but for what might be even more important,
cross-cultural understanding. All of us have heard (and witnessed)
stories about failing services in other countries because
of linguistic and cultural barriers. Russia, Ukraine, Israel,
Romania, Moldova, and Latvia were among the contacts we have
prepared and researched. After numerous discussions, salary
analysis, and technological surveys, Moldova was selected
as our primary choice. I am sure most of the readers have
heard very little if anything at all about this tiny Eastern
European nation. Moldova is the second smallest of the former
Soviet Republics with population of almost 5 million people.
So why Moldova?
· First of all, we have found a perfect company to
partner with. PGP Program S.R.L. is very similar to our organization
in its infrastructure and offerings. We have known their management
team for many years from other initiatives as a truly successful
enterprise. As someone who was born and raised in Moldova,
I surely qualify to bond both the technology and ethnical
customs from this side of the ocean.
· While all of these countries offer inexpensive services,
Moldova truly stands out. In the era, when outsourced services
in India are being further outsourced to China, Moldova still
presents true financial benefits.
· Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, represents still
untapped talent potential for our clients to utilize with
many IT professionals striving for success. As an additional
benefit, this situation also assures low employee turnover.
· Soviet Union has traditionally offered a strong educational
system. Currently, special attention is given to Information
Technology, which became a top priority for local universities
and institutions of higher learning.
· Shared European culture facilitates smooth cross-ethnical
transition.
· Time zone differences presents opportunity for the
round the clock development cycle. While your Engineering
Manager goes home at 5pm with an unresolved issue, it will
be solved when he walks into his office the next morning.
Let’s Get To Work
Up to now, we have concentrated exclusively on software development
efforts. It is apparent that in the near future our solutions
will incorporate helpdesk, LAN/WAN support, disaster recovery,
system/database administration, data operations, etc. While
the core of our business remains in local IT recruiting and
consulting, Roytman Information Services, Inc. is now proud
to offer its clients a new valuable offshore solution. We
know that many of you are in the same position that we were.
We hope that our experiences can help you make a better strategic
decision for your business.
Mikhail Roytman is a President of Roytman Information
Services, Inc., a Dayton, Ohio-based provider of career placement
and consulting solutions in Information Technology, Management
and Engineering. Established in 1995, the company has been
growing consistently in a highly competitive industry. For
additional information please visit http://www.roytmanIS.com
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