The Awakening of a Giant

Something big is coming from the eastern side of Europe. Although the Soviet empire has already seen its dying days when it finally collapsed in 1991 following the attempted August Coup, today, the colossal giant and its former kin are on the verge of achieving yet another significant milestone in history. In today’s modern Web 2.0 world, outsourcing isn’t really something new. In fact, it is the trend today. Finally the top global companies and businesses have finally found a way to speed up the process of globalization, starting up in countries such as India where it became the number one favorite host for most outsourcing companies in the previous years. But now the attention has shifted to Russia, Ukraine and its other neighbouring countries. Something big is indeed coming. Buckle up, because the great old Union is waking up and ready to dominate once again, this time, in the world of outsourcing.

Ukraine’s Technical Edge

Analysts are predicting that by 2015, white-collar jobs in the U.S. will eventually be outsourced to other neighbouring countries, particularly those who are already involved in the business now. And don’t count Russia and Ukraine out, because they are currently the leading providers of web designers, software engineers and computer scientists to Fortune 500 companies – not to mention Boeing as a Major U.S. customer to these countries. Ukraine for example, has long been considered as the technical region of the late Soviet Union. At the International Web Development Contest in 2005, XITEX Software Company awarded the first place to a team of Ukrainian students from Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics. Germany on the other hand, prefers hiring Ukrainian programmers instead of those from other countries. Why? “It’s probably in their genes”, as one would jokingly say it.

Russia’s Scientific Acumen

Brother Russia isn’t behind eigher. According to the German investment bank Brunswick UBS Warburg, Russia is the world’s number one provider of engineers, and that includes those specializing in software development. It is no wonder then why giant companies such as Citibank, Intel, Dell, IBM, Siemens, Motorola and even the U.S. Department of Energy are buying in programming talents from the Russians. Brunswick UBS Warburg financial analyst Alexander Andreev said, “Russia possesses a unique intellectual capital that should translate into existing investment opportunities in the years to come.” In 2010, Microsoft faced the threat of the Russian-programmed ReactOS version 0.3.12, a popular open source operating system that has been reputed to be a Windows OS killer. C’mon, if the Russians are capable of creating a platform that could compete with billion-dollar companies such as the Redmond-based Microsoft, then leaving them out as an option will probably be the dumbest decision any company could make.

The Outsourcing Advantage

Fortune 500 companies who are now outsourcing their specific tasks and projects in Russia and Ukraine are seeing massive results. Both IBM and Sun Microsystems see Russia and Ukraine as their primary key markets when it comes to hiring talents, while Boeing Company on the other hand is head over heels in love with Russian programmers. But if anyone would wonder how this could be possible, the genius actually lies in the upbringing. The change of paradigm from a politically unstable government to a booming and more-focused educational culture has motivated every Russian and Ukrainian professional to excel in many areas. It seems that they have finally found a way to channel all their creative energies into one conduit, thus enabling them to be extremely skilled and passionate in achieving excellence in their goals. Truly the giant has awakened, and there’s no stopping them now. As CEO Dmitry Loschinin of Luxoft would put it, “Russian code expertise is married up with a quality that American companies find highly desirable-the ability to innovate and be creative in their approach to solving customer problems.”