RUSSIA
Building of the era of the Cold War and underlying world class scientific base, Russia is developing a strong technology reputation with global companies such as IBM, Motorola, Intel, Dell and Boeing. Some of these companies have had established operations and staff placements in Russia for decades. These large customers and supporters of Russian technology uniqueness contribute to the growing business perception that Russia provides a truly powerful and differentiated offering.
The legacy of the country's planned economy still impacts the existing economic trends. Privatization, which took place during the 1990s, has been conducted in an environment of nascent legislation, which struggled to govern markets and new emerging types of business relationships. Ongoing disputes between the government and the new owners over the privatized businesses are the results of prior unsteady circumstances of the privatization process.
The Russian IT market grew 25 percent last year. The IT service sector increased 42 percent versus the previous year, with its share of the total IT market reaching 57.7 percent.
The Russian offshore software outsourcing industry is 10+ years old and three major centers have emerged: Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Novosibirsk. Moscow State University, St. Petersburg State University and Novosibirsk State University are, respectively the top sources of programmers for each center.
Offshore outsourcing in Russia amounts to $475 million in 2003. This includes revenue of the companies providing customized software development, web design, software maintenance, support and helpdesks, as well as exported system integration. The market, characterized by many suppliers, is quite dispersed and is still emerging compared to the Indian IT market.
Facts on Russian Technical Education and Science
According to the US / Russia Roundtable:
Half of Russian students major in science
and mathematics20% more than China50% more than India50% more
than the U.S.Russia has more than 1 million technically trained
personnel.Russia has more personnel working in R&D than any other
country.Russia's offshore software development industry is growing
at an estimated 50% per year.68,126 graduated in 2004 with Master's
degrees in Computer Science or with software engineering majors,
up 6.9% from 2003.76,435 graduates are specialists in various
engineering fields with advanced academic training in Computer Science
which allows them to enter the IT workforce.81,270 non-engineering
graduates and others supplement the above in Industrial Economics
& Management with these also receiving computer training.77.4%
Russian software companies employ PhDs.45.8% of these PhDs make
up 10% or more of the staff.86% of software professionals in the
U.S. hold a bachelor's or associate degree or no degree at all.
The number of students in the higher education system keeps
rising.
In 2002, there were 5.4 million students, twice
as was available in 199540% of these students are pursuing engineering
or technical degreesIn 2003 - 2004 the total new IT labor supply
from the Russian universities exceeded 225,000 people, up 11.2%
from the 2002 - 2003 academic year.
Currently, Russia ranks number three in the number of
scientists and engineers per capita worldwide:
250+ global companies are active in Russian based offshore software
development effortsResearch and Development Centers in Russia (short
list): Boeing, Motorola, Dell, Intel Siemens and Sun Microsystems.
There are 250,000 IT professionals in the country, with approximately
25,000 - 30,000 oriented to export services.Russian external service
providers - approximately 30% of their developers certified in programming
skills.
Russian Universities and other higher education technical
institutions successfully compensate for losses by training new
generations of professionals:
| Russia's New IT Labor |
2002-2003
|
2003-2004 |
| Number of IT engineering graduates |
42,138 |
45,994 |
| Number of math and physics graduates |
21,577 |
22,132 |
| Number of non-IT engineering graduates capable of entering
IT workforce |
69,072 |
76,435 |
| Number of graduates (other disciplines) capable of entering
IT workforce |
70,631 |
81,270 |
| Total fresh IT labor supply |
203,418 |
225,831 |
Russia's leadership technology areas
| Biotechnology |
Mathematics: applied and application |
| Chemistry |
Physics, general and applied |
| Ecology |
Power engineering |
| Instrumentation technologies |
Sensors and measurement systems |
| Laser physics and technologies |
Software, algorithms |
| Materials sciences: metals, alloys, ceramics, and plastics |
Space, aerospace and military |
| Manufacturing technologies |
|
UNESCO figures show that half of Russian students major in math and sciences, 20 percent more than in China, and at least twice as many as in India, Japan, or the U. S. 1.3 million Russians have degrees in fields like Computer Science or engineering yet only 70,000 currently work in IT-related jobs.
"Russian developers stand out for their ability to handle complex projects based on core engineering," said Stephen Lane, Research Director at Aberdeen Group.
"Russia is beginning to challenge India's dominance in providing offshore services such as application development, business processes outsourcing and even call centers," said Ian Marriott, Research Director for Gartner Group.
"Many Russian programmers are not mere programmers; they are mathematicians and scientists who turned to software to make a living’Äìthey excel at (solving) complex, large-scale technical problems. They don't simply want to follow directions; they want to be creative. The idea is that they can be very creative at solving tough problems, so their customers can put those solutions to practical use," Esther Dyson said.
The outsourcing industry is positioning itself on the higher complexity development and engineering market segment, leveraging its strategic scientific potential - the legacy of the Soviet Union.
Russian engineers and scientists are renowned for their unique problem-solving abilities, developed as they were working in isolation from the rest of the scientific world for decades, frequently lacking the advanced tools and equipment needed for the research and experiments. Working on highly complex projects such as the space programmed, satellite communications and nuclear energy they have developed multidisciplinary expertise unmatched anywhere in the world.
