Psybergate explores European outsourcing market

South African software development company, Psybergate, is exhibiting at the CeBIT 2008 conference in Hannover, Germany. Known as the world's largest trade fair for digital solutions and the premier platform for global conferences, it runs from 4 to 9 March 2008 (www.cebit.com).

"Our intention is to break into the European IT outsourcing market, a highly competitive arena," says Dimitri Vratsanos, Psybergate's marketing and planning director. Psybergate is supported by CBI, a Netherlands-based organisation that promotes imports from developing countries. This European Union-funded centre identifies and pre-qualifies companies that are well positioned for export, such as Psybergate.

South African companies have to face competing interests from companies that have generally been in the market much longer. "SA offers good cost benefit in comparison to high level resources in Europe but countries, such as India and China, are highly competitive in their hourly charge out rates," explains Vratsanos. "European companies will want to know where our value lies."

SA is able to offer a great deal as an outsourcing destination and leverages off compatibilities between culture, legal systems, language and time. Vratsanos explains that SA is well positioned to offer IT outsourcing services to Europe despite this sector being in its embryonic stages locally.

A recent Gartner report, Analysis of South Africa as an Offshore Services Location, corroborates this: South Africa has bilateral investment agreements with many European countries; it offers a large and well-educated labour pool; it has a well-developed network of education and technical training institutes; it houses a fast growing Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry, especially call centres and off-shoring; it has the largest telecommunications network in Africa; it has favourable labour costs compared to Europe and it has Intellectual property legislation that is in line with the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement of the World Trade Organisation.

"In many ways it feels as if we are at the coalface of SA software development outsourcing in Europe," notes Vratsanos. "We hope that the lessons we learn can be passed onto other companies and that SA develops as a strong IT outsourcing destination."