From June 15 to June 16, IBA Group participated as a country sponsor in the 10th annual Gartner Outsourcing & IT Services Summit  that was held in London, Great Britain. IBA Group exhibited as a part of the Eastern European Pavilion, hosted the Eastern European networking reception, and participated in the roundtable discussion on the strengths and weaknesses of the Eastern European region as an IT outsourcing destination.

Gartner Outsourcing & IT Services Summit 2009, Practical Outsourcing — Balancing Cost Optimization with Performance Management — explored the practical steps organizations must take today to secure the success of their outsourcing initiatives.

The program of the Gartner Outsourcing & IT Services Summit 2009 included more than 40 conference sessions, end–user case studies, and one–on–one meetings with Gartner analysts. Participants in the summit were able to develop their outsourcing expertise, hear the visionary keynotes and ensure that their ITO, BPO and Global Sourcing initiatives take the best direction in these tumultuous times.

At the Summit, Gartner presented its recent European Outsourcing and Services Survey¹ that revealed that the outsourcing activity in Europe is growing despite the economic downturn. The report said that “almost 60% of surveyed organizations have indicated that they will outsource more, versus 7% that indicated they will outsource less”.

In addition, Gartner provided an overview of country suitability for offshore or near–shore outsourcing. Based on 10 criteria, countries were divided into leading locations, countries to watch, and countries with potential. Czech Republic was among the 30 leading locations, while Belarus as well as Bulgaria, Latvia, Mauritius, Northern Ireland, and Turkey was included in the group of countries to watch.

At the Summit, IBA Group jointly with four other members of RUSSOFT, an association of IT companies from Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine, represented Eastern Europe.

Eastern Europe is currently considered to be one of the most promising alternatives to traditional IT outsourcing destinations. Russia, Ukraine and Belarus have become centers for IT outsourcing because of their geographical proximity to Western Europe, European culture, and skilled and low–cost labor force. Software outsourcing to Eastern Europe is increasingly relied upon by many companies to create high quality products in a cost–effective and timely manner. The aggregate turnover of the IT outsourcing service industry of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus in 2008 amounts to 3.4 billion US dollars, placing the region second behind India.

However, Western Europe is underutilizing the potential of their neighbors in the Eastern part of the continent and the RUSSOFT mission aimed to show the advantages of doing business in Eastern Europe compared with other outsourcing destinations.

¹Source: Gartner, Inc. “European Outsourcing and Services Survey” by Claudio Da Rold, Ian Paul Marriott, 27 February 2009