„It is a very important moment for the development of the IT market in
Romania, a validation of the path we have chosen to take until now.
It’s not a small detail that an international corporation decides to
extend its activity to such a degree in Romania and I would like this
fact to become a rule in the future, to be able to say „it happens in
Romania”. On the other hand, it quantifies the interest for the
Romanian market, a place where does not apply the concept of „selling
and leaving”, but the one of „building”, of „developing”. The several
hundreds of experts which will work for Oracle in Romania will offer
assistance to one third of the clients of the company, and we consider
this an important test of reliability and competence.” declared
yesterday, 17th of February, the Minister of Communications and
Information Technology, Dan Nica, during the official opening of
Oracle Services and Technology Centers in Romania.
“Romania is a high priority investment area for Oracle, and we are
impressed by the high caliber of expertise and skills available here
today.” said Sergio Giacoletto, Executive Vice President Oracle
Corporation EMEA. Giacolleto stated that the decision of opening the
these centers in Romania was based on a research study, which involved
different European states, and our country had as strong points the
number of specialists, the location, the experience in the software
development and also the IT tradition.
The Oracle Services and Technology Centers in Romania will be the
corporation’s activity core at global level and will offer assistance
to the clients all over Europe, Middle East and Africa, as another two
in worldwide, located in USA and India. These centers will offer large
employment opportunities to several hundreds young Romanian
specialists to build careers at the highest professional standards
within a global corporation.
In recognition of Romania’s growing importance for Oracle in its
geo-economic development, Romania has been included as a business area
in the Oracle EU Enlargement Countries Organization, together with the
10 countries that will join the EU in 2004.
Oracle Romania stood up at regional level due to the high competence
of the technical support team, ranking the first place in a
classification regarding the costumer solving problems efficiency. In
this context, Oracle intends to continue with its main development
directions in the area, focusing on the know-how transfer, investments
in education and the use of Romanian specialist technology skills.
Three Oracle Services and Technology Centers are to be opened in the
first stage: Partner Resource Network (PRN), Global Support Services (GSS),
and Application Consultants' Team (ACT). Partner Resource Network
(PRN) – a department specialized in providing resource administration
and support to Oracle partners all over Europe. Global Support
Services (GSS) – is going to be represented by a software and
technical support department designed for the Oracle solutions users
world-wide. Application Consultants' Team (ACT) – will take part in
the expertise and implementation projects in telecommunications
companies in the EMEA area, offering support at clients’ locations and
assisting local teams in the ongoing of specific activities.
At the official launch of the Oracle Global Services and Technology
Centers in Romania were present Mircea Geoana – Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Sergio Giacoletto, Executive Vice President Oracle
Corporation for Europe, Middle East and Africa and Alfonso Di Ianni,
Senior Vice President European Union Enlargement Region, Oracle
Corporation.
Romania has become the ideal outsourcing alternative to India with
costs almost 50% less. How can India take on the emerging competition?
Shehla Raza Hasan
24 November 2003
Kolkata: For Indian IT oursourcing companies riding on the crest of
the low-cost, high-quality and productivity wave, the recently
published report by Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC) may prove to be a
cause for worry.
Some of the new and emerging destinations from which the Indian IT
outsourcers are anticipating competition are Ireland, Israel, Canada,
the Philippines, South Africa, Mexico, Ukraine, Russia, the Czech
Republic, Poland, China, Pakistan, Brazil and Argentina.
Is Indian IT getting expensive? Yes. And there is one more formidable
rival. If you go through the report 'Offshore Romania 2003' prepared
earlier this month by PAC. The report projects the East European
country Romania as the ideal outsourcing alternative to India with
costs almost 50 per cent less.
Not only is the cost of using and providing IT services in Romania
much cheaper than in India, the report adds, the country is also home
to an abundance of well-educated and highly-skilled workers who better
understand Western European culture rather than their Asian
counterparts. Thus, the answer for Indian companies is to site their
operations in those countries and use their worker skills.
The PAC report points out that the cost of employing a
recently-qualified graduate from an approved specialist university is
estimated at $6,500 a year, while experienced project managers could
be recruited for between $21,500 and $32,000.
'Strategic Review 2003' says India has so far been more competitive
cost-wise than its closest rivals - Ireland, Canada and South Africa.
The average IT employee cost per year in India is $5,880 compared to
Ireland ($28,000), Israel ($25,000), Canada ($28,174) and South Africa
($18,000). However, IT employee costs in Romania are substantially
less at $2,360.
While Romania seems attractive in terms of lower costs, some issues
need sorting out. IT spending in Romania is the lowest in the region.
E-commerce is proscribed by lack of legislation.
But, the industry's enthusiasm is buoyed by the government support.
The government's IT Vision for Romania is encapsulated in the
following: Romania should aspire to become the 'Internet hub' for the
Black Sea region. The Romanian IT industry will be leading regional
supplier of Internet-based services, specialised software, and
contract manufacturing by 2010 by leveraging national competitive
advantages...
"An effective public-private partnership in IT sector will assure a
competitive and consistent rules-based business environment, inflows
of FDI [foreign direct investment] and promotion of Romania as a
centre of IT excellence." Goals: "Romania should increase its IT
industry exports from the existing level of $630 million in 2000 to $1
billion by 2004, $4 billion by 2007 and a target of $10 billion by
2010."
These are ambitious plans against which India is bracing itself for
future competition. Curiously, the Indian IT industry do not seem
overtly worried by the emergence of these new outsourcing
destinations. All recent research and analyst reports as well as
Nasscom's in-house research, based on customer interactions, indicate
that India will remain the most preferred outsourcing destination
status in the coming years.
India's strong value proposition in terms of quality and productivity
advantages to the tune of 25 to 30 per cent coupled with cost (60-75
per cent) and customer satisfaction (85 per cent) are key factors for
making India an attractive outsourcing destination.
For example, the US banking, finance and insurance services sector has
received productivity gains of 15 to 20 percent, and customer
satisfaction of almost 85 per cent due to offshoring to India
resulting in saving of the order of $6 to 8 billion in the last four
years.
In terms of global competitiveness,
the following table indicates India's competitive advantage
Nicolae Sfetcu started some years ago with
its own business on Internet, first as a
freelancer specialized in web design, translation
and Internet marketing and, beginning
with last year, he set up his own
company, Multimedia SRL. The internet
maverick and this year’s award winner of
the prestigious ‘Business Initiative Directions,
WQC International Star Award, Gold
Category Paris 2003’ tells his story in how
he started his internet imperium and his
internet casino www.danubecasino.com:
“The beginning of the history of the Danube
Casino can be located long time ago, and it
is quite interesting, I think. When I was a
student, about twenty years ago, I started to
like two games: poker, and bridge. They
were very pleasant days those days. During
those years I became one of the best specialists
in poker and bridge; I have never
considered that poker, as well as bridge, are
games, because in games you need luck, but
for bridge or poker the luck plays a secondary
role. I can write many books about the
rituals of the nights spent playing these
games, with many spectators behind us and
that ended every time with a party organized
by the winner. It was then when I
started not to sleep the nights, and I kept
this habit till our days, even if, for different
reasons.”
“In those years I became one of the first
presidents of a bridge club in Romania, but
after I graduated from college I finished
playing games, too.”
“I specialized in Internet business services.
So, helped by my previous experience
in Internet marketing, and being advantaged
by the fact that I know very well the
psychology of the gamblers, I had some
successful marketing campaign for online
casinos and affiliates that want to promote
their own sponsored links through
their websites or advertisements in my
own network. I have to tell you that I
developed, in time, one of the most complex
Romanian integrated network of
Internet resources for advertising and
dissemination of information, named
Teleactivities Network, that includes
thousands of websites, web forums,
directories and links, mailing lists and
newsletters, e-zines, webrings, a.s.o. After
such a marketing campaign, it was one of
my customer that gave me the idea to
imply more directly in the online gambling
worlds. I already had my own gambling
portal, www.online-casinos.ro. So I
thought of starting my own online casino
Danube Casino. Why this name? Because
all my life I enjoyed the neighborhood of
Danube and its beautiful landscapes. You
can consider this name as an act of fealty
for this river (I dedicated it a whole
section in my website for the county
where I live, Mehedinti”.
The first Romanian online casino was
launched on June 25th, 2003. Danube
Casino has as partner Windows Casino, one
of the top 10 online casinos in the world,
legally licensed and fully insured, certified
by Safe Bet and approved by Electronic
Gaming Commission. Windows Casino is
the winner of numerous international
prizes, including Online Gaming Awards
2002, for: Best Video Poker, Best Blackjack,
Fairest Casino, Best Promotions, Best
Online Casino.
Danube Casino offers over 125 different
games (roulette, blackjack, poker, slots,
video poker, baccarat, craps, etc.), according
to the European and American standards.
The gamblers have the possibility, besides
the regular prizes, to obtain extra prizes,
too, consisting in a trip to Monte Carlo, a
brand new Ferrari, or other promotional
materials.
In order to be able to play online, first, a
deposit in the casino count has to be made.
All transactions are in USD. Payments can
be made either by credit cards, or through
specialized services for the online processing
of the money (NETeller, Firepay,
Stormpay, Western Union, etc.).
The gamblers that reach the Danube Casino
site have the possibility to be informed on
the best game ways and strategies, but also
learn the rules of the games by appealing to
the casino games guides. Multimedia SRL
and Windows Casino assure the technical
support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
There are specific Romanian laws for
gambling, however none makes special
references to online gambling.
Romania, one of the poorest countries in Europe, entered the Internet gambling space June 25 with the launch of Danube Casino, the nation's first online casino.
The site is the creation of Nicolae Sfetcu, the maverick owner of Multimedia SRL and this year's winner of the prestigious Business Initiative Directions, WQC International Star Award (Gold Category Paris 2003), who was predestined to become the owner of an Internet casino.
Sfetcu developed an affinity for poker and bridge around 20 years ago as a student and became a master at both games. I have never considered that poker, as well as bridge, are games, because in games you need luck," he explained. "For bridge or poker, the luck plays a secondary role."
He became one of the first presidents of a bridge club in Romania. After graduating from college, he specialized in Internet business services.
"Helped by my previous experience in Internet marketing, and being advantaged by the fact that I know very well the psychology of the gamblers, I had some successful marketing campaign for online casinos and affiliates which wanted to promote their own sponsored links through their Web sites or advertisements in my own network," Sfetu said.
That network is the Teleactivities Network, which Sfetu says is one of the most complex Romanian integrated network of Internet resources for advertising and dissemination of information. It includes thousands of Web sites, forums, directories, mailing lists, newsletters, e-zines, Web rings and so on.
Within that network was the gambling portal Online-casino.ro, Sfetu's first venture in the gambling space. A customer suggested that he try operating an online casino, and he went on from there to launch Danube Casino.
Sfetu says he's operating legally in Romania because, as he puts it, "There are specific Romanian laws for gambling, however, none makes special references to online gambling. So, I could start without any problem."
Danube Casino is operated through a partnership with Windows Casino, a licensed, insured site that's certified by Safe Bet and approved by the Electronic Gaming Commission.
The new Romanian site offers over 125 different games based on European and American standards. Gamblers can win money as well as special prizes, such as a trip to Monte Carlo or a brand new Ferrari.
The site also features guides explaining game rules and offering strategy tips as well as 24/7 tech support through Multimedia SRL and Windows Casino
All transactions are in U.S. dollar. Payments can be made either by credit cards or through specialized services for the online processing of the money (NETeller, Firepay, Stormpay, Western Union, etc.).
About the Author
Rob van der Gaast has a background in sports journalism, sports marketing, the buying and selling of TV sports rights, and developing creative TV program ideas. After contriving a complete new sports betting concept that is, according him, "an absolute 'Topscorer' in the sports betting look-a-like industry, which is at the end of its life cycle," he went back to his journalistic roots. Now he is a well known gambling research analyst, who contributes to LotteryInsider, Interactive Gaming News, Internet Gambling Report and the (European) Lottery Files.
