Monday, April 7, 2008

Russian ITO market: possible development scenarios

At present Russian IT companies are on top of the IT export boom curve. But what is behind this flourishing? Which factors stimulate and restrain export of Russian IT services?

According to Vladimir Karacharovskii, consultant of IT publication CNews, there are two possible scenarios of the development of ITO - extensive and intensive - which are closely connected with Russian IT companies’ priorities. The extensive scenario is based on price competition (with other offshore outsourcing providers like Indian and Chinese ones), the intensive scenario - on the quality of services, their uniqueness, diversity and individual approach to each customer.

According to a 2007 Gartner survey of 750 IT and outsourcing executives in North America, Asia/Pacific and Europe, 41 percent of organizations that were currently outsourcing IT said they use ITO to enhance business outcomes and performance but not to reduce costs as compared to only 28 percent in 2005. It means price competition shouldn’t be the top priority.

Therefore Russian IT companies have to use other differentiators positioning themselves as providers of qualitative solutions. The advantage also lies in the fact that innovation product markets are never saturated, just vice versa - they tend to expand with each appearing innovation. This strategy requires higher employees’ commitment but will be finally rewarded with higher profits.

Government support plays a critical role in facilitating Russian IT outsourcing exports growth. The degree of government support provided in the global market differs from country to country. In Russia it results in the creation of techno parks, specialized support investment trust ICT, Federal agency on export development in IT sphere. But as Vladimir Karacharovskii claims there may be some adverse effects of the government’s intent attention if their measures are introduced and controlled by too many authorities: IT export might get overtaxed which will raise its costs.

It’s not quite clear at present which of the scenarios will be the base of Russian IT sector in the near future, but the answer will surface within the next couple of years.

Source: CNews (in Russian)

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