Is outsourcing good for a start-up or a business?
There has been a lot of discussion lately on whether or not startups or businesses should outsource their software development. There are strong arguments for both sides which may result in a general confusion for startup founders. It’s true that there are many IT companies out there with untrustworthy and unprofessional staff that don’t care about anything other than receiving their pay checks, but that’s not the whole story. While some of the many concerns against outsourcing are based on reality, the truth is that, there are many great locations with reliable companies where you can outsource your software development.
You started your business with passion. You have an idea that must be made public and you need to do it now. However, coding is not the only task of an IT business. You have to actually run and market your business as well. If you insist on doing your development yourself, or with an in-house development team, you run the risk of not having the time to do the things you must to launch or keep your business growing. Not to mention that you also have a rather large overhead.
Outsourcing software development frees you to take care of what’s important: your business and its customers. You need to look into outsourcing if you want to spend time on business and product development. Also expanding your team with a capable outsourcing company provides you instant access to a lot of experience so you will know exactly what to do for best results. But these are just some of the reasons why you should outsource your startup’s software development.
Why outsource software development to Romania?
Now the big question: Why outsource software development to Romania? Romania’s reputation as an attractive outsourcing destination is well documented. In fact the 2016 A.T. Kearney Global Services Location Index ranked Romania on 13th place with the biggest growth in Europe (5 points). A 2016 Eurostat study, ranked Romania as the fastest growing market in the European Union (>4%). Romania’s abundance of professional, multilingual, highly-skilled labor as well as its cultural proximity to Western Europe made the country a preferred outsourcing hub for European and North American companies. Investors have labeled Romania as an “outsourcing valley” for ITO, BPO, software development, research programs, knowledge process outsourcing operations and shared services.
Our top 10 reasons that will make you outsource software development to Romania:
1. Geographical and cultural proximity to Western Europe
This facilitates close relationships with clients compared to other outsourcing locations in Asia. From Western Europe to Romania, the flights take 1-2 hours and they are cheap. The time difference of 6 hours between Romania and the US means that you can check progress after a day’s work as soon as you get to the office and have enough time to make decisions or changes.
2. Knowledgeable and experienced IT workforce
When it comes to ITO, Romania has become a flourishing technology hub. According to ANIS, the Association of the Software and Services Industry in Romania, the country currently has around 50 offshore centers owned by large international IT vendors. Romania is 1st in Europe and 6th in the world, in terms of the number of certified IT specialists. There’s a pool of about 100,000 people in various IT-oriented profiles. The successful presence of global high tech companies such as Microsoft, IBM, P&G, HP, Oracle, Wipro, S&T, Accenture, WNS, Intel, as well as Luxoft, Ubisoft and Amazon confirm Romania’s ITO experience and potential.
3. The best price-quality ratio
Although it’s not the lowest cost destination, Romania’s multilingual labor force combined with its technical and soft skills proficiency makes it very cost competitive. Investors have labeled Romania as an “outsourcing valley” for BPO, ITO, software development, research programs, knowledge process outsourcing operations, and shared services.
4. Large multilingual talent pool
The country’s sizable and multilingual labor force and student body are among the main lures for international companies. The diverse linguistic profile makes it especially attractive for BPO operations that require interaction with customers, while the large pool of IT professionals ensures best-in-class ITO engagements.
5. Academic readiness to support talent pool continuity
A study also reports Romania as having the largest pool of human capital in Southeastern Europe, with a total labor force of more than 9 million in 2011. In 2012, the Romanian IT sector employed over 60,000 professionals, the majority (more than 80%) being technical specialists, such as software engineers, analysts, developers, and project managers.
6. Political and economic stability
Last year, the government reduced the value added tax (VAT) rate from 24 percent to 20 percent, lowered the income withholding tax rate, removed a controversial “special construction” tax, simplified deductibles and exempted certain dividends from corporate income tax.
7. EU member state, reducing legal and financial concerns
From 2007, Romania has been an EU member state, meaning that many aspects (legal and financial) have improved. Corruption was reduced and continuous economic growth steps are taken by the government.
8. IT infrastructure and tech capabilities
Romania is well-developed and offers state-of-the-art telecom, ISP, and cellular networks in all major cities and towns. Clients benefit from the latest and best in software technology, including customized solutions for various applications such as e-commerce, business process re-engineering, system migration, legacy system maintenance, system integration, and many more. Not to mention that we have the fastest internet in Europe.
9. NDA and other security
You don’t have to worry about the security of your project information because the legislation guarantees intellectual property rights. Also we have some of the best security technicians in the world.
10. Bucharest is a great city break choice
As long as you’re here, why not enjoy the city and the great places it has to offer? The nightlife is one of the best in Europe, the food is cheap, hotels are great and the taxi fares are tiny compared to what you’re used to. There are many places in Bucharest you should visit: museums, the Parliament Palace and many more.
