vrijdag 18 april 2008

Call centers in Romania ?

Romania: A Good Choice For Multilingual Call Centers

When people think of reasons to choose offshore outsourcing, reduced price is usually at the top of the list. But for many companies, the biggest driver for choosing an offshore call center location is the increasingly global nature of business. Global businesses require consolidated call center operations -- they save money, deliver tremendous efficiency in transfer of knowledge in complex projects, ease ongoing change management processes, provide consistent service levels, and present better data analytics and integrated reporting. The key, of course, is that consolidated help desks must offer support in multiple languages. When we looked for a location to establish our first offshore location, we considered India, but chose Romania -- a nation that offers both the basic foundation required for any successful call center facility with the added advantage of a multilingual population.Romania offers a talented, well-educated workforce fluent in multiple languages; a superior telecommunications infrastructure; a stable government; standard-hours time-zone coverage for European-based customers; and a significantly lower cost of living. While the costs for delivering support via our new Romania center are competitive with offshore locations such as India and China, Romania offers many additional benefits to our global customers. As the country continues to grow, it is a good choice for call centers that interact with a global clientele.

Education And Language

Romania has a rich and high-quality education system featuring more than 180 universities, including state-owned and newer private universities. The Romanian population has access to state universities free of charge, which insures a highly educated workforce. The private universities emphasize technical skills, and have invested in computer and networking equipment and classes. Both settings offer free Internet access, which is a draw as few citizens have Internet access in their own homes.

In Romania, language instruction is a priority, with a minimum of two foreign languages taught starting in primary school. While the majority of students choose to learn English, French and German also are popular. The practice continues at the universities, where many courses are taught in English, French or German.

The country has multiple communities that speak other languages than Romanian as their primary language. Communities include Hungarian, German, and Moldavian speakers. While some citizens also speak Slavic-based languages such as Czech, Polish, and Russian, the base of Romanian language is Latin, a Romance language close in roots Western languages such as Italian and Spanish.

Even with an accent, Westerners tend to find it easier to understand a Romanian speaking English than an Indian speaking English. Still, we find that the population is extremely well versed in their languages of choice -- we have stringent quality exams for all help-desk agents before they can provide telephone support to global customers, and find a high percentage of our Romanian agents are able to quickly meet our standards. Their variety of languages, dialects, and influences offers a distinct advantage to call centers with global clientele.

Romania has a large, skilled labor force that is eager to expand its employment options. Romanians are interested in jobs that will offer them international exposure and offer them chances to practice their language skills. While call center jobs are viewed as entry-level opportunities, young people are eager to participate in the global workforce and the global economy. A survey recently conducted by the Romanian government found that half of the country's younger workers want to work abroad, and view experience with an international company as a valuable asset in achieving their goal. Many call centers fit that need, and offer both opportunities to practice and use language skills as well as opportunities to relocate to their employer's centers in other countries.

The Infrastructure

Some of the factors we considered when we looked for a location for our green field call center operation were transportation, communications, and utilities. Romania offered clear advantages for us in all of these areas. For example, we discovered that we would have to bus and house workers from outlying areas to a call center in India, but were pleasantly surprised to find that we could build a center in Romania that was close enough to enable workers to use public transportation. The airports, roads, and bridges also were superior, which enables us to easily show the center to prospective customers.

The communications and utility infrastructure also proved superior to India, with Internet access, telephone lines, and electrical systems all fairly modern. The Romanians are eager to attract more business concerns from the West, and recognize that high-speed Internet and other technologies are important. They continue to invest in these areas as part of their program of reaching out to Western businesses.

The Economy And Business Climate

The fall of the oppressive Ceausescu regime brought about many changes for Romania, most notably its interest in reaching out beyond its borders to become part of the global business economy. Today, the Romanian business climate is open to investment from foreign companies. The most successful ventures require a physical presence in the country -- local laws and regulations are constantly being revised, which requires investors to keep up with changes. However, commercial companies can become established in a variety of ways, including as wholly owned foreign enterprises or as joint ventures. Foreign companies can acquire Romanian concessions or leases, as well as purchase land and buildings.

Romania's fast-growing economy offers a variety of incentives to businesses. For example, companies that establish information-technology oriented businesses pay reduced rates for payroll taxes. The country established this incentive in order to keep its trained workforce close to home.

The cost of living is dramatically lower than in most Western countries, which enables companies to establish call centers at approximately the same cost as in India. The business climate is increasingly stable, and the country has joined the European Union in 2007.

As we approach the third anniversary of establishing operations in Romania, it's a good time to reflect on our decision. The benefits of Romania added up to a great solution for our company. We're working with a government that is stable and that welcomes our business investment. We can rely on the telecommunications and transportation infrastructure. We can support United States and European offshore needs from one, blended location. And best of all, we have access to a highly educated and motivated workforce that speaks multiple languages fluently. We believe Romania will open the doors on Eastern Europe for many companies, and are proud to have been one of the first Western help desk facilities to invest in the country, its people, and its future.

maandag 14 april 2008

ICT outsourcing in Romania

De president van de Camera Imobiliara Belgia Romania stelt Romania voor als de « Silicon Tiger »


Als eerste in de reeks willen we een reportage voorstellen van Nico Schoofs, Vacature, De Financieel Economische Tijd, die bij ons over de vloer kwam om zijn reis voor te bereiden. De reis werd een bijzonder succes....

In het dorp Jucu de Sus hobbelen paard en kar over onverharde wegen.. Tien kilometer verderop investeert gsm-producent Nokia in een fabriek van 60 miljoen euro, op termijn goed voor 3.500 banen. “Misschien vertrekt Nokia binnen tien jaar naar Azerbeidjan. We moeten zien dat we klaar zijn.”

tekst Nico Schoofs

“Willen jullie mijn varkens niet fotograferen? Wij oudjes winnen niet veel bij de komst van Nokia. De fabriek ligt te veraf. De infrastructuur verbetert wel. En mijn buur verhuurt zijn huis aan werknemers van Nokia. Ik kan dat niet, ik heb niet genoeg plek. Ik heb dertig jaar als loodgieter gewerkt, en hou daar nu een pensioen van 600 euro per maand aan over.”

“Dankzij de investering van Nokia kunnen we nu riolering aanleggen in het dorp, en de wegen asfalteren. Er zitten nog steeds tachtig gezinnen zonder gas en stromend water, daar willen we aan verhelpen. We bouwen een cultureel centrum. De school huist nu nog in een verouderd kasteel. We willen een nieuw gebouw. En we werken aan de verlichting van de hoofdweg.”

21 kilometer buiten Cluj-Napoca staat de tijd stil. In Jucu de Sus, een dorp van 4.500 zielen, hobbelen oude Roemenen op paard en kar over onverharde wegen. Een krasse dame leunt op haar bezem. Achter haar wappert een lappendeken aan was. Voornaamste bronnen van inkomsten in Jucu de Sus: de kweek van paprika’s, tomaten en aubergines. Zo’n tachtig gezinnen leven er nog zonder gas en stromend water.

Plaatjes die binnenkort alleen nog in musea te bewonderen zijn? Uitgerekend op een tiental kilometer van deze dorpskern bouwde de Finse gsm-gigant Nokia in geen tijd een nagelnieuwe productiefabriek. Nokia investeert 60 miljoen euro in de fabriek, goed voor zo’n 3.500 banen tegen eind 2009.

De fabriek zal hoofdzakelijk goedkope gsm’s assembleren voor drie snelgroeiende exportmarkten: Oost-Europa, het Midden-Oosten en Afrika. Het sterke aanbod aan ingenieursstudenten van de technische universiteiten in Cluj-Napoca, die maar een kwart kosten van hun West-Europese collega’s, trok Nokia evenzeer aan. Maar ook de nabijheid van Nokia’s Hongaarse vestiging bleek een troef. De Amerikaanse firma Bechtel bouwt intussen een Transsylvanian Motorway, een viervaksbaanproject ter waarde van 3 miljard dollar. Die snelweg zou de reistijd naar Hongarije halveren tegen 2013.

“De grondprijs per vierkante meter steeg al van 5 naar 100 euro.”

De provinciale overheid van Cluj biedt Nokia 94 hectaren aan voor de uitbouw van een ‘Nokia Village’ met toeleveranciers. Dit industriĆ«le park, Tetarom III gedoopt (‘Transylvania – Equipment and Advanced Technologies manufactered in Romania’, en het derde in zijn soort) vertegenwoordigt een totale investeringswaarde van 200 miljoen euro.

Drie toeleveranciers van Nokia kondigden al officieel aan zich te zullen vestigen in het Nokia Village. Het Chinese BYD Romania Electronics is goed voor 20 miljoen euro, en 2.000 banen. Hansa Print, de grootste Finse drukkerij, zal er de gsm-handleidingen verzorgen. Stora Enso levert de dozen. De laatste twee bedrijven brengen nog eens 20 miljoen euro en 500 banen.

De bekendste naam in Tetarom I (gestart in 2002, 32 hectaren) is Siemens.

Goed voor 2.500 banen. Tetarom II (12 hectare) heeft als grootste investeerder de Amerikaanse multinational Emerson, dat intussen al een tweede bedrijf neerpoot om elektrische generatoren te bouwen voor windturbines. Redec (het ‘Romania and Emerson Design and Engineering Centre’) stelt meer dan 100 ingenieurs tewerk.

De algemeen directeur van de drie Tetarom-parken, legt ons uit wie de parken bestuurt, en wat de vestigingscriteria zijn. “De provincie Cluj is hoofdaandeelhouder, met als kleinere aandeelhouders de lokale overheden en universiteiten. Vandaag beheren we 150 hectaren. Maar we dromen ervan de hele vallei, zo’n 700 hectare, te ontwikkelen. We hanteren strikte toegangsregels in onze drie parken: geen ondernemingen met lage toegevoegde waarde, zoals bouw- of textielbedrijven, we zetten in op hightech.

More info on www.cibr.be
or mail cibr@telenet.be