Industry
OM: Based on your analysis what are the criteria considered by companies when selecting near- or offshoring destinations? Is cost that only matters? ACG: Generally, when deciding whether to outsource or not, reducing costs and increasing flexibility are the main driving forces. But once it comes to selecting a particular destination, costs only rank third, with the most important factors being the availability of highly skilled IT specialists and personnel with the required language skills. Other important factors are the country’s legal system and political stability.
OM: If you were to define what kind of Germany located companies are going to increase outsourcing which would that be – large, medium or rather small and why? ACG: Our analysis shows a clear trend: the larger the companies, the more they engage in outsourcing. This result was validated in this year’s survey, when we asked companies whether they had plans to increase their outsourcing volume in the next 12 months. However, we can expect that maturing service providers and easy-to-use services such as SaaS and IaaS will also lower the threshold for small and medium companies.
OM: Summing up – is there any advice you could give to near- or offshoring service providers to be successful in co-operation with German companies?
ACG: Compared to other countries, German business culture is more strict and formalized and you need to be familiar with German business culture to close a deal. This also means, that German speaking staff in customer facing positions is a must. Moreover, Germans usually will not take the risk of signing a contract under foreign law, so you need to have a legal entity in Germany, backed up by a letter of responsibility from the parent company. Finally, the best proof of your capability is always a successful reference. So, if you can demonstrate one successful project with a German client, maybe in collaboration with another service provider that will be a big plus. OM: And your full report will be available on?
ACG: The full report will be available in German from October 26 on. It can be ordered for 499€ from the Computer Woche magazine (https://shop. computerwoche.de/portal/sourcing-pulse-check2014-pdf-download-direkt-im-shop-4211) or directly from Ardour Consulting Group by sending an email to kontakt@ardour.de. The English version will be available directly from Ardour Consulting Group from beginning of November on. OM: Thank you very much.
no 6/2014 (November / December)
77