The Great Outsourcing Event Came to Moscow.
The Russian Outsourcing and Software Summit 2006 - the leading forum for the software development industry in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union has just closed its program in Renaissance Hotel in Moscow.
Jun 09, 2006
The main goal of the summit was to get up-to-date information about the state and prospects for the export software market in Russia and the CIS, to outline basic tendencies and compare best practices in this industry with those in leading competitor countries. ROSS also aimed at sharing experience of software market players in Russia in the sphere of attracting investment, of cooperation between service providers and clients, of copyright protection and security issues of outsourcing to Russia. And ROSS certainly served to establish direct contacts between customers and service/product providers in the sphere of software development.
Among the keynote speakers of ROSS were:
A system of pre-scheduled business meeting appointments was developed specially for this event. Thanks to this system, participants had a remarkable opportunity to fix talks with their target companies. B2B meetings between potential customers and service/product providers took up about one third of Summit time.
A pleasant surprise was the presentational section, where regional SMEs displayed their capabilities for smaller outsourcing and DDC projects.
A special press conference gathered leading analysts in the IT sphere who were discussing prospects for Russia’s transformation into a world-leading provider of outsourcing services, and pointed out the maturity of leading Russian companies which are capable of attracting various international customers.
Svetlana Vronskaya, Reksoft communications director comments on analytical panel and press conference: "The presentations of analytical agencies during the summit indicate that Russia began to show up on the world’s IT-services market "radar screen". It was specified that the high competence of Russian IT-specialists, the top level and the low cost of the services they provide are the leading factors attracting new clients to Russia.
Nevertheless, - Svetlana adds, - according to the analysts, even having high rates of business growth and steadily extending client base Russian IT-outsourcers have to cope with the main challenge – increase of Russia’s credibility. Unfortunately it will be a back-breaking task for commercial companies and industry associations until the Government offers support and reasoned strategy. In my opinion the participation of the State authorities in the Summit, their interest and evident endeavor to support SW outsourcing industry in Russia shall be instrumental part of the future summits".
Another press conference in the program brought together VIP guests of the Summit. This conference brought together a fantastic and diversified international team of personalities, including representatives from leading IT companies, from Mass Media and from science and education. They have all been speaking about Russia – each from different point. That part of ROSS has traditionally attracted greatest interest from auditoria.
One of the speakers at the conference - Arkadiy Dobkin, EPAM CEO said: "We have participated in the Russian Software Outsourcing Summit for the fifth consecutive year and have been witnessing its growing maturity: it has become the major networking and matchmaking export-oriented IT Outsourcing event within the whole CIS region. We are proud to support this conference as a Gold Sponsor and would like to thank RUSSOFT for the effort put into fostering the maturity and success of CIS IT companies."
Another participant of this conference – Ulrich Dietz, BITKOM Board member and Chairman of the Board, GFT Technologies AG was satisfied with the Summit:"ROSS 2006 let German participants realize the present situation and development trends of Russian software development industry. The communication with representatives of Russian Ministry of IT & Communication, with BITKOM partner associations – APKIT and RUSSOFT and with numerous businessmen showed the kinship of our positions in extension of German-Russian cooperation which we would like to develop universally. We have collected dozens of ideas for our joint project "Russia – BITKOM partner 2007" Russia offers magnificent opportunities. The sooner German ICT businessmen turn their attention to this market and establish intercommunication with its major players, the greater is the chance to do successful business in this region. We are fully satisfied with the results of the summit and look forward most optimistically"
The last press conference was dedicated to the results of the 3rd annual Survey of the Russian software export market. The report had been prepared by RUSSOFT Association and www.russoft.org. Both - quantitative and qualitative analysis of current situation in the industry from different points of view (geographical allocation of providers and customers, implemented technologies and services, as well as companies’ CEOs’ estimation of the state of the industry and the extent of State support, etc.) have been undertaken within the study.
Alexis Sukharev, President and Founder of Auriga, Inc. commented on the event: "ROSS is an acknowledged industry event that allows Russian software outsourcing industry leaders, influencers, analysts and media representatives to gather and discuss the latest achievements, progress and industry trends. This year's ROSS raised very important questions on the current Russian IT outsourcing industry position and role in the global market. It is very important for the whole industry to be aware how we're being perceived by U.S. and European businesses, and what is even more important for us is to form the strategy of understanding how we should position ourselves on the global outsourcing market. This year's ROSS gave background for thoughtful considerations and I would say that it even gave impulse towards further industry development and growth"
Valentin Makarov, president of RUSSOFT Association, concluded: "With $1 Bln of export in 2005, Russia has got a pass to the Global software development market elite. The industrial pyramid is formed, matured and is paving path towards further development. With the fast growing internal Russian IT-market and with increasing international demand for outsourcing of high-end solutions – Russia is inevitably becoming a very attractive destination for science intensive software development and engineering outsourcing".
Felix Kislik, Trestle Group shared his impression: "ROSS has potential to be the best showcase for Russian SW outsourcing companies. Russian providers are well known for their engineering skills and price-value ratio in C&EE. ROSS offers an opportunity to meet with the management of top Russian firms and is still today the most effective way to market Russian know-how to the world".
Patricia J. Moser-Stern, President, i3 advantage Inc. said: "Prior to attending ROSS, I knew very little about the offshoring capable companies in Russia and other Eastern European countries. The occasion that the Russian Outsourcing and Software Summit provided to meet and speak with many different Russian companies was a great opportunity. As the IT companies represented at ROSS learn how to create more compelling value propositions for the Western marketplace, they will certainly beco
Among the keynote speakers of ROSS were:
- Stan Gibson - Executive Editor, eWeek
- Ulrich Dietz - BITKOM Board member
- Bertrand Meyer – guru of software engineering, Polytechnic School of Zurich
- Linda Merritt - HR manager, AT&T
- Pascal Matzke - Principal Analyst, Forrester Research
- Sergey Ivanov – deputy director of informational community building department, Russian Ministry of IT & Communications
A system of pre-scheduled business meeting appointments was developed specially for this event. Thanks to this system, participants had a remarkable opportunity to fix talks with their target companies. B2B meetings between potential customers and service/product providers took up about one third of Summit time.
A pleasant surprise was the presentational section, where regional SMEs displayed their capabilities for smaller outsourcing and DDC projects.
A special press conference gathered leading analysts in the IT sphere who were discussing prospects for Russia’s transformation into a world-leading provider of outsourcing services, and pointed out the maturity of leading Russian companies which are capable of attracting various international customers.
Svetlana Vronskaya, Reksoft communications director comments on analytical panel and press conference: "The presentations of analytical agencies during the summit indicate that Russia began to show up on the world’s IT-services market "radar screen". It was specified that the high competence of Russian IT-specialists, the top level and the low cost of the services they provide are the leading factors attracting new clients to Russia.
Nevertheless, - Svetlana adds, - according to the analysts, even having high rates of business growth and steadily extending client base Russian IT-outsourcers have to cope with the main challenge – increase of Russia’s credibility. Unfortunately it will be a back-breaking task for commercial companies and industry associations until the Government offers support and reasoned strategy. In my opinion the participation of the State authorities in the Summit, their interest and evident endeavor to support SW outsourcing industry in Russia shall be instrumental part of the future summits".
Another press conference in the program brought together VIP guests of the Summit. This conference brought together a fantastic and diversified international team of personalities, including representatives from leading IT companies, from Mass Media and from science and education. They have all been speaking about Russia – each from different point. That part of ROSS has traditionally attracted greatest interest from auditoria.
One of the speakers at the conference - Arkadiy Dobkin, EPAM CEO said: "We have participated in the Russian Software Outsourcing Summit for the fifth consecutive year and have been witnessing its growing maturity: it has become the major networking and matchmaking export-oriented IT Outsourcing event within the whole CIS region. We are proud to support this conference as a Gold Sponsor and would like to thank RUSSOFT for the effort put into fostering the maturity and success of CIS IT companies."
Another participant of this conference – Ulrich Dietz, BITKOM Board member and Chairman of the Board, GFT Technologies AG was satisfied with the Summit:"ROSS 2006 let German participants realize the present situation and development trends of Russian software development industry. The communication with representatives of Russian Ministry of IT & Communication, with BITKOM partner associations – APKIT and RUSSOFT and with numerous businessmen showed the kinship of our positions in extension of German-Russian cooperation which we would like to develop universally. We have collected dozens of ideas for our joint project "Russia – BITKOM partner 2007" Russia offers magnificent opportunities. The sooner German ICT businessmen turn their attention to this market and establish intercommunication with its major players, the greater is the chance to do successful business in this region. We are fully satisfied with the results of the summit and look forward most optimistically"
The last press conference was dedicated to the results of the 3rd annual Survey of the Russian software export market. The report had been prepared by RUSSOFT Association and www.russoft.org. Both - quantitative and qualitative analysis of current situation in the industry from different points of view (geographical allocation of providers and customers, implemented technologies and services, as well as companies’ CEOs’ estimation of the state of the industry and the extent of State support, etc.) have been undertaken within the study.
Alexis Sukharev, President and Founder of Auriga, Inc. commented on the event: "ROSS is an acknowledged industry event that allows Russian software outsourcing industry leaders, influencers, analysts and media representatives to gather and discuss the latest achievements, progress and industry trends. This year's ROSS raised very important questions on the current Russian IT outsourcing industry position and role in the global market. It is very important for the whole industry to be aware how we're being perceived by U.S. and European businesses, and what is even more important for us is to form the strategy of understanding how we should position ourselves on the global outsourcing market. This year's ROSS gave background for thoughtful considerations and I would say that it even gave impulse towards further industry development and growth"
Valentin Makarov, president of RUSSOFT Association, concluded: "With $1 Bln of export in 2005, Russia has got a pass to the Global software development market elite. The industrial pyramid is formed, matured and is paving path towards further development. With the fast growing internal Russian IT-market and with increasing international demand for outsourcing of high-end solutions – Russia is inevitably becoming a very attractive destination for science intensive software development and engineering outsourcing".
Felix Kislik, Trestle Group shared his impression: "ROSS has potential to be the best showcase for Russian SW outsourcing companies. Russian providers are well known for their engineering skills and price-value ratio in C&EE. ROSS offers an opportunity to meet with the management of top Russian firms and is still today the most effective way to market Russian know-how to the world".
Patricia J. Moser-Stern, President, i3 advantage Inc. said: "Prior to attending ROSS, I knew very little about the offshoring capable companies in Russia and other Eastern European countries. The occasion that the Russian Outsourcing and Software Summit provided to meet and speak with many different Russian companies was a great opportunity. As the IT companies represented at ROSS learn how to create more compelling value propositions for the Western marketplace, they will certainly beco