Software Outsourcing for EU: Only Introducing Competitive Services

To help Vietnamese software subcontractors explore and seek partners in the EU market, the Ho Chi Minh City Investment and Trade Promotion Centre (ITPC) coordinated with the Centre for the Promotion of Imports of Developing Countries (CBI), the Netherlands to host a seminar on this issue. EU experts warned that EU customers usually select subcontractors based on criteria such as outsourcing cost, management capacity, long-term workability, high-level human resource approach, special experience, communication skills, foreign languages, intellectual property protection policy and data security.

 

According to assessments from two market research firms Gartner and For-Resterch, the non-EU software outsourcing market expanded by 50 per cent in 2006-2007 and will increase in the following years. By 2010, outsourcing revenue for the EU is estimated to reach EUR145 billion. This is a golden opportunity for Vietnamese IT companies to penetrate this market.

 

Mr Onno Roukens, a CBI IT expert, cited Atkearney’s figures in 2007 that “Under the global outsourcing market assessment index, Vietnam ranked 17^th out of 25 countries. This index is built on three criteria of infrastructure, outsourcing cost and human resource level. This is a good result for Vietnam now.” Also according to Mr Onno Roukens, another advantage of Vietnam is its low production cost.

 

Mr Alfons Van Duijven Bode, also a CBI expert, said the Vietnamese Government should introduce its successful ICT firms to the world. He said India has successfully advertised its software industry to the world and supplied free ICT publications to other countries.

 

Specifically, experts said Vietnam should not introduce all its services to customers, but only its most competitive ones to win contracts, explore market and determine key markets. In addition, software firms need to understand the demand and taste of customers of their contractors and pay attention to these fields.

 

For the EU market, Vietnamese companies should apply suitable marketing methods and focus on targeted markets. Besides, Vietnamese firms should also build high-quality websites, because EU customers usually check foreign companies through their websites. Thus, a quality website only needs to focus on the best services of its supplier, show its competitive advantages over other companies and post a list of foreign customers. In addition, Vietnamese companies should attend IT trade fairs in Europe (cebit) as well as look for information about possible rivals.