Q 1: Is Euro-Soft a Russian company?

A: No its' purpose is to provide a conduit through which the correct Russian outsourcing partner can be plugged in and to facilitate the smooth running of the communications of the contracts thereafter. As well as to provide a U.K. legal entity for contracting purposes. Our business rationale is to provide mutual benefits that help solve the global IT skills shortage:

An international 'shop window' for highly rated (officially certified) Russian IT specialists from the enormous pool of talent at our disposal. Providing exceptionally at comparatively low cost to Western companies and organisations. This means that our in-house IT specialists and contractors receive an income far higher than the Russian average - often leading to permanent placements with Western companies at full Western salaries. At the same time those companies benefit from the full skills set and lower cost base that makes them far more productive and cost-efficient.

Q 2: Can Euro-Soft supply people and solutions for any country?

A: Yes, within reason. Our primary market is of course the UK, Western Europe and the US, because:

The largest number of IT projects originate there. The IT skills shortage is greater there. English is the language of commercial currency in most cases. The majority of our IT specialists aspire to work there, or for companies from those regions. We have offices there to facilitate the smooth skills utilisation process.

But we can supply people and solutions to Eastern Europe, the Pacific Rim and further afield, to places such as Australia, New Zealand, South and North Africa and South America. The main dictate is the availability of a reliable local communications infrastructure and financial solidit

Q 3: Why do companies source IT skills overseas?

A: The global IT skills shortage is increasing. This means that in the West companies are experiencing a growing number of problems due to a lack of skilled resource, such as:

Development projects are overrunning on cost, time, or both. Cannot find the required calibre of IT staff, such as Java or C++ programmers. Unable to expand their business as IT resources are limited or budgets cut. Have an immediate project to fulfil. Work overflow.

In short, a lack of IT skills is holding these company back. The remedy, now actively encouraged by Western governments is to seek solutions overseas - either by recruitment, outsourcing or by exporting project development. Russia with its acknowledged high standards of general, further and higher education and low labour costs offers an unbeatable set of benefits in comparison with any other country or region - see Q4. That's why Euro-Soft can help you to solve your IT problems immediately and at prices well below your local rates.

Q 4: Why source IT skills from Russia and not India or one of the other developing countries?

A: Russia has a pedigree that few can match. It's a major techno-industrial power that was until recently the engine of the world's second great superpower. With academic standards that often beat those of Western nations, let alone in the developing world. However, it has a comparatively low cost economy; one with a huge pool of graduates with very high technical and IT merits, most with full official certification. So labour costs are low when compared to the West, but the technical abilities of its people are at least on a par. A people that have the commitment and will to better their circumstances. This determination provides a very powerful individual drive to succeed. In fact Russia is becoming a world leader in some areas of theoretical and applied IT and is still the second biggest player in many areas of technology, principally space travel and military aviation.

Put simply, Russia will give you a far bigger bang for your bucks, but without an ounce of trade-off in quality.

Q 5: What official IT certifications and educational standards are generally achieved in Russia?

A: The same commercial IT certifications that are awarded in the West to acknowledge the achievement of set standards are also awarded in Russia, including those by Microsoft, Cisco, Novell, Oracle, Sun and IBM. Euro-Soft's pool of Russian IT specialists includes a great many Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers; Microsoft Certified Professional Solution Developers; Microsoft Certified Solution Developers; Cisco Certified Network Associates and many that are Brainbench Certified in a wide range of computer languages. All our IT specialists are educated to first-degree level and many have Master's degrees, often in Computer Science. The majority of our candidates have good English speaking and writing skills - see Q6. Their overall quality is at least equal to that of Western programmers, with two major advantages - their skills are available right now and at lower cost.

Q 6: What standard of English is spoken?

A: The general standard of English is exceptionally high among IT, technology and science graduates. This is because it's the second language for the majority of Russian graduates, is widely taught in schools and the subject of considerable private study, plus information technology is a world-wide language in its own right.

Q 7: What IT skills, knowledge and experience is available?

A: Most Russian IT specialists are officially certified and the range of abilities and skills offered covers almost all areas:

C, C++, VC++, Visual Basic, Access, PowerBuilder, SQL, SQL Server, Oracle, Sybase, Informix, Cobol, Sun Solaris, J2Me, XML, HTML, DHTML, Java, JavaScript, Perl, ASP, Windows - all forms and CICS. They cover most types of projects, including: Web site development/maintenance, the full scope of business systems development/migration/maintenance, commercial software development/migration/maintenance and outsourcing.

Q 8: What sort of cost savings can we expect?

A: This depends on the nature, scale and scope of your development project and the option you select.

For certified IT personnel via the Technology Factory:

As a general rule of thumb the typical saving is between 75% and 66% of the total all-in cost of employment of an equivalent UK based employee. The savings for the US and Western Europe can be even greater. We would expect to always be at least 50% more cost effective in all cases. For placement overseas on contract or direct recruitment onto your payroll: When working in the West the fees or salary usually more closely reflects local pay rates, because of cost of living, HR policies and other local employment factors, although often at the low end of the Western scale. However the cost of recruitment is less and the choice of personnel is far greater, because we have an enormous pool of readily available officially certified IT specialists. For Euro-Soft fast-track project development: The savings we offer are twofold: As a minimum we usually expect to be able to quote a project price that is at least 50% less than any US, UK or Western European provider. We work fast and clever and don't endanger deadlines, so the added on-cost of mission disruption and delay is often minimised close to zero.

Q 9: Surely it's more difficult to select and interview Russian candidates as distance and communications are problems?

A: Modern communications shorten the distance and minimise the problem. Once you brief Euro-Soft we fast track your solution:

Our managers in Russia conduct screening interviews and confirm that the person/s selected are suitable for your needs - we continue this process until we find the right match for you, all for the fee agreed. We supply a written assessment of the chosen candidate and their references, or of those on a shortlist if more than one person is required - this assessment removes a lot of the grind, as we check out the time-consuming background details. Leaving you free to focus on the candidate's abilities and personality, as required to fit the proposed job and your company. You then interview them by phone (using teleconferencing or videophone/webcam facilities), ICQ or in person - it is usually possible to employ a mix of methods which enable you to make a firm decision within days of receiving the shortlist from us. If you decide to visit Russia to conduct the final interviews we can advise/arrange visas, travel, accommodation and set-up the interviews with the minimum of fuss and in fast time - usually within 7/14 days. You can set them an on-line test - we can advise on the best format for this and ensure controlled and secure conditions for its completion.

Q 10: Isn't the relocation of Russian personnel in the West a big problem?

A: It's not usually a problem, beyond the initial nervous handshake with a new culture. This is because the people involved are highly motivated to work in the UK, the US or Western Europe. So, once you are fully satisfied that the candidate/s are right for you and your organisation, we take care of all the administration needed to have them in your offices by the required time and date:

Arrange the visa/work permit formalities - these are fast-tracked, so no delay is incurred. We have extensive experience in dealing with the relevant officialdom and guarantee obtaining a work permit within one month - typically in the UK we can secure the necessary documentation within two weeks. Make travel arrangements - for contractors and subject to type of fee, we pay air fares, help find suitable accommodation, in liaison with you and contribute towards their living expenses for the initial settling-in period. For full-time placements, we work closely with you to ensure all these arrangements are met. We consider it important that any new employee or contractor in a foreign country should know what to expect and what is expected of him or her from the beginning. So, we brief the person/s on the culture/customs and otherwise of the company and country they are going to - we look to our clients to help with this. We also recommend that each company have a familiarisation programme in place to help acclimatise the recruits with their new colleagues and company.