Have some questions? You might find the answer here.

What is IT outsourcing and how does it work?
Outsourcing refers to the practice of one company contracting another company to do certain types of work in place of using its own internal resources. Outsourcing typically involves the transfer of the management or day-to-day execution of an entire business function to an external service provider. In our case, this would be IT engineering services. We sign an official contract agreement between our companies, describing all the characteristics of the process and then start working. Please contact us to receive a draft of our contract.

Why should we outsource our software development projects?
We can name at least these possible pros of the outsourcing process:
• Cost reduction
• Mitigation of risks by relying on an expert
• Renewed focus on core business
• Improved customer satisfaction through improved processes not previously a part of the enterprise’s culture or experience
• Avoidance of capital investment
• Project enhancement
• Skills access
• Technology infusion

We have our own on-site developers and do not plan to outsource our IT projects.
In addition to many advantages that software development outsourcing can provide your company, we can name some special circumstances that favor an outsourcing solution for your case:
• Runaway IT projects
• High inventory costs
• The enterprise is not keeping pace with changes in technology when compared to its competitors
• The need to increase earnings, growth, ROI, and/or shareholder value
• No documented, measurable, and/or repeatable IT strategy
• Loss of senior IT management
• High personnel turnover
• IT budget is not predictable or affordable
• IT organization does not provide best industry practices, processes and/or services to internal/external customers
• Chief executives are “held hostage” by a non-responsive IT department
• Missed delivery dates
• IT strategy not consistent with business strategy

We have never outsourced our IT projects before. We don’t think it’s safe. Do you?
Yes, we think it’s just as safe as contracting any local company for the same services.

Why should we outsource our projects to Belarus?
First of all, we would like to mention a few facts about Belarus:
• According to the UN Human Development Report 2007/2008, Belarus is a country with a high human development index.
• The Republic of Belarus has one of the strongest IT educational systems in Eastern Europe. We have highly-skilled development resources available (ranked 17th out of over 150 countries by tertiary enrollment ratio. Source: UN Human Development Report 2007).
• According to World Bank 2005 Development Indicators, the Belarusian level of technological development is high. The share of total high technology and medium-technology commodities in Belarusian exports is 46.5 % when compared to Australia (16.2 %), Israel (45 %), Hong Kong (33.6 %) and Greece (17.6 %), placing Belarus ahead of seven European countries, including Norway, Poland, Belgium and a number of other Eastern European countries.
• Finally, solutions provided by our developers are well-known for their high quality and supportability. Belarus has its weaknesses, but any weakness can be and is overcome.

We do outsource some projects. We work with a company based in Russia (Belarus, Hungary, Poland). We are completely satisfied with their work and do not plan to change service providers.
First of all, you may want to consider diversifying your service providers to reduce such operational risks as project deadline displacement delay in the case of expansion or unexpected demand, an unexpected rise in service provider rates, etc. Please contact us and let us introduce you to our advantages, discuss your needs and present you with our possible solutions.

We do outsource some projects. We work with a company based in India (Pakistan, China). We are completely satisfied with their low prices. Can you make a better proposal?
We can find at least four reasons for you to start cooperation with our company. First of all, a similar mentality and a quick understanding of requirements. Second, the diversification of your service providers’ portfolio to reduce operational risk. Third, the minimal time difference allows you to control the project on-line during your working hours. Fourth, you can save on time and financial resources spent for face-to-face meetings in our or your office due to geographical closeness.

How big is your company? How many people work there?
Our company consists of several dedicated development, quality assurance and analytical teams and a project management office in Belarus. The number of people working for the company at a given moment varies, depending on the amount of projects the company processes simultaneously. The average number of people involved in a project depends on the project and the customer’s needs. We have a large group of highly skilled IT engineers, so we are able raise the number of people involved in a project in the shortest possible time.

What kind of development process do you use?
Experienced IT professionals know there is no single development process. There are many methodologies (MSF, RUP, SCRUM, TTD, etc.), standards (ISO, ANSI), regulations and best practices. And the main task for our project management office is to determine the processes that will suit customer requirements in the best possible way, balancing three factors: project scope, time and cost. For at-a-glance information of our general process vision, see our “How We Do It” section. Please contact us if you require further information.

What cooperation model do you recommend?
We suggest a wide choice of cooperation models for our customers, starting from regular fixed cost service contracts, to setting up customer off-shore development centers. You can check out our “How We Do It” section to get the initial information about our main cooperation models: fixed-cost, time-material and dedicated team. Please contact us if you need further information.

What involvement models can you accept?
We can accept a wide choice of involvement models depending on the requirements provided by the customer, including off-shore, near-shore, on-site and its combinations. You can get some major information on this topic in our “How We Do It” section. Please contact us if you require further information.

How do you track software development projects during development?
We always have a development plan, which is validated by our project managers and customers. All the development team members report their activities regarding this plan to show the progress of the project. The plan is actualized based on the project meetings processed depending on the project or customer needs.

How do you work with changing customer requirements?
Everything depends on the development process and the cooperation model chosen for the project (see our “How We Work” section). For example, if we work using the fixed-cost model, we have a special procedure stated in our contract with the customer. It is called the “change request procedure”. The customer prepares a special form (which can be viewed in the appendix to the contract agreement) containing the information about new requirements and submits it to our contact point (a person or a tracking system). We analyze the “change request report”, estimate the required time and material efforts and, after the customer approves of it, we change the development plan.

How do you process quality assurance activities?
We process different practices to improve the quality of our solutions. Here we can mention dedicated quality assurance teams, bug tracking systems, the “test first” building process, the creation of a test scenario according to the requirement specification prior the development, dedicated quality assurance servers and many more. The entire quality assurance process is managed by qualified and experienced managers.

You are working from scratch and we would like to save some money and customize some sort of ready-made solution, such as an open source CMS, for our internet trade platform. We assume your services will be more expensive.
That’s not the exact description of our development specialization. We start from a customer’s requirements for the solution. Based on those, we find the best possible way to balance three factors: the project scope, time and cost. If customization of an open source solution like CMS or a blog engine or an e-commerce solution fits all the requirements, we propose it to the customer. Nevertheless, in many cases, the development of a solution from scratch balances the project scope, time and cost in the best possible way. Please contact us to supply our project management office with your requirements for the project and we will discuss possible solutions with you.

What are the average rates for your services?
Our rates depend on the project duration, resources used, cooperation and involvement models chosen for the project and some other business aspects. In general, our rates can be described as competitive. Please supply us with the initial project requirements to get your free estimates.

How quickly can you arrange a project development team for us?
First of all, we will require a human resources involvement plan for your project, describing the skill-set, amount and involvement terms for the resources needed. As an option, this plan can be developed for you by our project management office. We will provide you with the necessary resources based on this plan. Most of the projects require one or two experienced engineers during the first phase. If you require more engineers, we have a large group of highly skilled IT engineers based on our experience in software development project lifecycle essential for you to start your project in one week’s time. In case of an emergency, we can raise the number of people involved in project.

We will need two senior developers for a six-month project in our office in Berlin and two more in our office in New York. We will need a dedicated team of one senior developer during the first phase, two more developers, one quality assurance engineer and a project manager. We will also require a prior interview with the candidates. Can you arrange this?
We do accept all of these human resources involvement models. First of all, we will need a skill set for the required human resources. We will supply you with CVs from our files or find suitable candidates for you choose from. Then we can arrange an on-line interview between you and the selected candidates. The time needed for the procedure depends on the desired resource skill-set and resource availability at the time.

Can we visit your office?
Yes. You are welcome to visit our development center any time in Minsk, discuss any questions with our executive and development teams and enjoy our hospitality. Please schedule an appointment with your project manager or a representative.

Still have some questions? Please contact us.