Outsourcing, Offshoring, Nearshoring
All of these things make Eastern Europe a confusing and intriguing and often appealing target for outsourcing. Or as Inc. magazine puts it, "your ticket to new markets, new ideas, and a world of adventure." The opportunity is large, and relatively untapped. Only about one percent of the world's outsourcing, across all business sectors, is in Eastern Europe, according to McKinsey & Co. But when you get to the essential details, what emerges is really many targets, with different economies and business and political climates. And they're all moving targets.
The Czech Republic, with high-quality math and engineering education, a motivated and talented labor pool with professional standards, favorable labor costs, and cultural and geographic and linguistic advantages, is currently the leading Eastern European outsourcing target. But for Western European countries, the subtleties of nearshoring come into play. Favored nearshoring partners for Finland, for example, are Russia and the Baltics, followed by the Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary.
There are still cultural, political, and linguistic issues to deal with, so companies wanting to outsource to Eastern Europe are well advised to work with one of the many companies experienced in the various countries of the region. But the barriers are lower than in other parts of the world; beyond the stated advantages of Eastern Europe for offshoring firms, there is this humble fact: You can drink the water.
But outsourcing is only one way in which the Eastern European programming talent pool is being tapped.
