Romania can become outsourcing market leader in Europe, in terms of value, in two-three years, if it keeps a constant growth rate of 12%, having a high potential for development despite the current economic context, according to estimates of service company Bit IT Solutions.

Bit Solutions estimates are based on studies conducted by the research and analysis companies International Data Corporation (IDC) and ATKearney.

The Romanian outsourcing market is currently estimated at 480 million dollars, being the third in Europe and the second in Eastern Europe, after Bulgaria, whose income from outsourcing activities exceeds 500 million dollars, reads a company release.

At world level, Romania ranks 19th among the top outsourcing destinations.

“Romania has all necessary elements of growth needed to catch up and even get ahead of Estonia, thus becoming the largest specialised outsourcing market in the region. Our specialists are at least as well prepared as those from the more developed countries, but have the advantage to easily learn and communicate in a foreign language, which facilitates their relationship with the international companies that choose to outsource their IT services in Romania”, said the General Manager of Bit Solutions, Florin Scarlat.

Another factor influencing positively the evolution of the outsourcing and IT services market is competitive prices, which register lower levels, as against those of the neighbouring countries.

“The prices of these services have fallen dramatically lately due to the emergence of ever more several players in the market. While other countries in the region become less attractive because of increased local costs, Romania offers two important benefits to foreign companies, namely very high quality services and lower costs”, Scarlat added.

According to Bit Solutions representatives, the current economic context is not an impediment to the development of this market segment, growth being even favoured by the drop of investment in IT equipment and the need to decrease costs, present in more and more companies, a need that can be met by outsourcing IT services and by a specialised audit.

Last year, IT services market saw an increase of almost 17% over the annual average foreseen by the IDC, and the demand for such services will remain on a upward trend and this year.