Feb 28, 2008 - Team International shares an update on the key to success in IT outsourcing.

On February 18-20, 2008, the annual International Outsourcing Summit organized by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) was held in Orlando/FL.

The most significant discussions at the summit were caused by a joint report on the first annual study of outsourced services providers conducted by Wipro and Harvard and Duke Universities. The study found that:
· out of 900 investigated companies 50% have less than 500 employees;
· the main advantage of small companies consists in quicker recruitment;
· the main disadvantage is scalability;
· the companies refocus their strategies on the mixed outsourcing, i.e. combination of near shore and far shore outsourced services;
· the most successful players are CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration) certified companies;
· only 4% of companies do BOT (Build Operate Transfer);
· 40% of all companies outsource product development, 24% - QA and 14% - technical maintenance;
· the biggest problem of modern IT sector is poor quality of delivered services.

Besides this report, the summit also discussed the issue of prospective outsourcing destinations. Discussion around regions such as China and India, traditionally considered for outsourcing, focused on some of the negative trends being experienced there: attrition rates between 20% and 30%; language problems causing communication problems; wage escalation; frequent violations of intellectual property and copyright etc.

At the summit a major focus was placed on Eastern Europe. Among the key advantages of the East European countries discussed, the following factors were outlined: high level of English language proficiency, vast talent pool available, and low cost. Among the large companies refocusing their target on Eastern Europe are GM, with its offsite development center in Poland, and Marathon Oil with its dedicated center in Ukraine.

TEAM International possesses many of the features of a successful offshore outsourcing company:
· Team International employs less than 500 associates;
· Team International focuses on prospective outsourcing destination – Ukraine;
· Team International successfully integrates CMMI methodology.