The challenge is simple. Do I engage tradional software houses to perform my software development requirements, or do I “offshore” this work to price-attractive, lesser known Centrope SME’s?
Today, especially in this time of financial crisis and economic recession, outsourcing work to offshore companies is becoming more and more the norm. Customised teams can do the job without the added expense of hiring internal staff and management. While offshoring was once considered to be high risk and hard-to-control, it is fast becoming mainstream.
We are already familiar with the ever-increasing number of these types of companies in India, Malaysia and South East Asia, but what about Centrope?
Centrope also has an abundant availability of small, flexible teams operating under controlled supervision by experienced managers with cultural and technological experience. But how do outsiders view the region? Does Europe still perceive Centrope to be “cheap, quick and dirty”? Surely the brain-drain of highly skilled professionals going westward is proof of this region’s quality and competence.
Large software houses are cumbersome with in-flexible internal processes and fixed overheads that must make high margins to cover costs, hence the prices for their products/services are greatly inflated. One such software house based in Switzerland recently quoted almost 7,000 man hours over a period of six months to the tune of close to €500,000! for web-based development work. That’s Swiss quality pricing!
Centrope SME’s would be able to perform the same project for a fraction of the price (dependant on location and specifications, of course) Central Europe might possibly offer a shorter turnaround time. These savings are hard to ignore when the financial pinch is being felt everywhere.
The software development market is lush with companies looking to save on costs but seeking to maintain product quality and dependability. Centrope SME’s are in a prime position to aggressively compete for these ripe opportunities and show what it has to offer. So what’s stopping them?
Hi, An interesting article and I too see the boom in outsourcing to countries in Europe that can offer highly motivated teams at discounted rates. Something I also seem to come across more and more though is people who have had or are aware of development projects that have been off shored which have subsequently gone wrong. There seems to be a wave of anti-offshore sentiment which is building because of these failed projects.
Hi, A great article. I think that failed projects happens everywhere. Concerning outsourcing to CENTROPE, I see a difficulty: How does the procurer find directly the talented and cost-effective Central Europen software company?
A possible way if an IT firm working to a Central European subsidiary of a multinational, can find it’s way to the parent company.