MeetUp on IT Outsourcing in the Heart of Silicon Valley
This month started under the West Coast sun for some of Digiteum team members. In particular, Digiteum co-founder, Michael Grebennikov, together with the member of Digiteum advisory board, Alex Golod, have held the MeetUp on IT Outsourcing to Central Eastern Europe in the heart of Silicon Valley. Here is a short wrap-up of the event.
March 8, Redwood City, GSV Labs, MeetUp on IT Outsourcing to CEE
We’ve chosen the heart of Silicon Valley to hold a meetup on this topic for a reason. We didn’t expect the whole local tech community to show up. It’s just that the place is quite a symbol, and convenient, of course.
First things first. We had 4 speakers joining our panel discussion:
- Alex Golod, the member of Digiteum advisory board, noted outsourcing expert (think of development teams for Navteq/Nokia, Frontrange, Addus, and Popcorn Palace) was leading the panel discussion and came up with the most important issues on the topic.
- Roman Kaplun – Director of Engineering Services at Expedia – was in charge of the buyer’s point of view on the outsourcing to CEE.
- Brian Venneman introduced outsourcing to CEE in such industries as music, social media and e-commerce.
- And finally, Digiteum co-founder, Michael Grebennikov shared the unique experience of building remote dedicated teams for such companies as Printique*, Oxford University Press, IKEA, Efinancialcareers, Ladbrokes from the providers’ side.
In a nutshell, the attendees – CEO, entrepreneurs, investors and tech professionals – have found the answers to the basic questions regarding the fears and insecurities that businesses confront choosing a remote partner.
- What to outsource and what not to outsource?
- How to prepare your business to working with a technical team augmentation strategy?
- How not to get lost among various partnership models and locations?
- Why to choose this particular partner, what legal procedures to go through?
- What platforms and technologies to rely on and how to manage projects?
- Where to search for realistic prices and deadlines?
- How to predict quality, results, outcomes and perspectives?
Soon after the speakers covered the basic points, they moved to panel discussion with Alex in the lead. For the record, it took an additional hour to go through all the issues.
Not only did the attendees dive deep into the development technologies in CEE. They also expressed interest in the locations where you can find reliable tech partners and benefits of building a nearshore software development center.
Basic Outcomes of the Event
-Was the meetup a success?
-Considering the set of opinions and different angles of discussion – investors, providers, advisors, buyers – we managed to excel. It was a successful event, definitely.
-Was it timely?
-I make this conclusion relying on the opinion of Megan Smith, former Google executive, who mentioned that “there’s going to be 1.4 million tech and I.T. jobs coming within the next decade [in the U.S.] and only 400,000 trained people to fill them.” In other words, the demand of IT talent in the U.S. only is going to grow exponentially, so the interest in outsourcing to the IT locations that provide high quality will grow directly. This was a relevant topic to take, indeed.
Read: Results of Oxford University Press visit to Minsk
If you have missed the event for some reason or haven’t had a chance to learn about software development outsourcing basics, GO TO THIS CHECK-LIST to find out if your business is ready to rely on IT outsourcing. Contact us directly and talk with Digiteum experts about your tech talent shortage and needs.
*Formerly AdoramaPix
