2008-09-03

IT-outsourcing to Bosnia

Many companies go through laborious and costly processes of outsourcing their IT-services to countries like India and China. I have talked to a few people working with far-east and have heard them complain about quality, cultural differences and severely hampered communication.

On the other hand they still work in those countries due to the cost reduction it results in. Many are also happy with quality and have managed to overcome cultural differences but all of that took time and loads of money.

Is there a place for Bosnia to become an IT-outsourcing services provider?
Wages in Bosnia are higher then those in China or India but way below IT-wages in Western Europe or the US. On the other hand cultural differences are minor, time zones are the same (at least with the Western Europe) and communication is friction-free. 

So why don't we see IT-projects being outsourced to Bosnia on a larger scale? When do cultural differences and good communication bypass lower wages or how low should the wages be so that cultural and communications aspects become important? 

There are good examples of IT-outsourcing to former Yugoslavia. Swedish company Seavus is number one IT-company in Macedonia that has witnessed fully-organic growth. How can that happen in Bosnia?