Opportunities amidst hard times

Economic recessions definitely create tremendous challenges for companies. There are exceptions, however. Companies in Quang Trung Software City (QTSC) have found the tough time a chance to demonstrate their flexible adaptation that fits clients’ need and offer low-cost outsourcing solutions.

Frank Schellenberg, CEO of Germanybased GHP Far East, says that economic turmoil may prompt companies to start thinking how to lower the cost, and one of the options they would consider is outsourcing. “We learnt that those economic fluctuations are not a disaster, it is another opportunity for outsourcing companies to improve business, re-build processes and so achieve new balance,” Schellenberg said. The current economic recession has made GHP Far East focus more on effectiveness of production process.

“In our case, it is a combination of European standards and Vietnamese prices. We even set up a slogan for our company, following our competencies: German Quality – Made in Vietnam,” he said. According to Schellenberg, improving speed, increasing automatization, emphasizing on software development and motivating people to improve operation are what the company has done to make customers tolerate increases in service fees.

Opportunities in difficulties

The Europe is GHP Far East’s main market. A member of the Swiss Post Solutions Group since 2008, the company has constantly expanded its market topography. At the moment, GHP Far East’s major end-customers come from Germany, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Russia and Japan.

Programers are working at a software company in Quang Trung Software City

Another European market’s partner, Luxoft, has also worked very hard and has spent a lot of extra efforts during the economic turbulence. According to La Manh Cuong, CEO of Luxoft, the Russian-based company has carried out several initiatives and measures, from exercising a new engagement model with client to widening the range of offerings and reaching to a higher level of customer’s satisfaction, aiming to help customers to “get more for less.” “Those measures have helped Luxoft maintain, and even expand, business relationship with major clients, which in turn has allowed us to sustain during the tough time,” Cuong said.

Aside from Europe, the U.S. is also a large market for Vietnamese software companies, especially in the current tough time, when IT giants require more benefi ts with less spending and they seek fi rms in Asia, including Vietnam. Do Thanh Nhon, BTM Vietnam’s operation director, said that his company has neat and streamlined management systems, and agile and effective methodologies so it can provide clients with a wide range of options to fi t their business need. “We have invested our resources to complete the work at any cost and those clients have become our invaluable references,” Nhon said. “Because of those established relationships and commitments, clients see the benefi t of investing in BTM, and some of them set long-term plans with us, even in the recession time.”

People are the key

Nhon added that to assure commitments to clients, BTM has set a strategy for investing and developing the talent pool. A reasonable compensation model is built around management by work and objectives. Moreover, BTM has invested in internship programs to approach human resources early.

Meanwhile, at GHP Far East, business process outsourcing (BPO) is a new and potential industry for the Vietnamese workforce. Among its staff, there are several ones who have not obtained a high level of education, said Frank Schellenberg, But after joining GHP Far East, employees would be given specific training courses on computer and language skills besides advanced training or communication classes.

To Luxoft’s La Manh Cuong, the company’s business strategies for years are to get deep into a few specific industries and to diversify services. Yet all have relied on one critical factor: people. “We must have the people who have real outstanding capability and will never break commitment with the clients under whatever situation,” Cuong said. “Attracting talents are always interesting yet challenging tasks of any organization, while keeping talents is even a more demanding task and no single measure would be suffi cient.”

GHP Far East, Luxoft and BTM as well as other members in QTSC have realistic plans for 2013 and the years to come. Some want to focus on BPO contracts from the two giants, the U.S. and the EU. Others seek new strategic markets. They share the same thought, however: People are the key in all plans.

By Tieu Nha – The Saigon Times Weekly