Near shoring


Out sourcing:Forget India,let's go to Bulgaria

It is not just distance and timezones that motivate the search for alternatives. India struck gold with US and British Clients in part because of itz workers' English skills and interpersonal ties.But those assets don't hold the same sway for French or German customers.

But Bulgaria,Romania and other locations on the outskirts of Europe are plying a new twist on the craze for sending technology development offshore.They are pushing what pundits call "near shoring",or shifting work to countries that cost less but are only a short hop away.

Finnish companies farm out IT work to Estonia,Germans use contractors in Poland,and Italians ship projects to Serbia.For a lot of European companies,"Indian seems an awfully long way away",says IT services analyst Ian Marriot of reseracher Gartner Inc.

French companies are drawn to Romania,whose latinate language and historic links make it an appealing alternative to Anglophone locales.German companies are likewise lured by the many German speakers in Hungary and Czech republic.

It was access to nearby talent that convinced SAP to set up its Bulgarian outpost,which has turned into a beacon of hope for a country struggling to lift itself out of communist era poverty.But itz not the only one.Scattered around the capital are hundreds of small companies doing projects for an impressive list of clients, including Boeing,BMW,General Motors and Siemens.