2. Alex Golod President and Founder
Fusion Software Solutions
• 20+ years in US Technology Industry. Variety of leadership roles for major US
Corporations.
• 16+ years in Global IT Outsourcing Industry: started on the buyer side, moved to
provider side, now on advisor side.
• IT Outsourcing Executive: former Managing Partner of Intetics Co and Waverley
Software with development centers in Ukraine, Belarus, Bulgaria, Italy, and Vietnam
• Investor and Advisor in several US based and global startups
• Advisory Board Member: Ukrainian, Belarussian, and US IT Service Providers
• Member/ Investor: Chicago ArchAngels, angel investment group
• Mentor and Advisor: 2112, VentureSHOT, Chicago, Starta Ventures, NYC
3. What will be covered:
The new trends emerging in massive US IT
Outsourcing Market .
New approaches for service providers to increase
the probability of success while working with US
clients.
The presentation is best targeted for business
owners/ partners and others in the company
dealing with US market.
4. Let’s get started!
Current economic climate;
Let’s take a look
at what is happening in US now:
(all in relation to outsourcing in Eastern Europe, and
Ukraine in particular)
Current geopolitical climate;
Where are the best US clients now:
demography of “ideal US clients”;
Does city/region of US matter for providers?
Where in US are the best regions for IT
outsourcing!?
5. Here comes Trump!
• US economy is picking up steam, going strong: low unemployment, business
friendly regulations, tax reform
• ”Buy American, hire American” and trade wars
• Outsourcing of any kind triggers “angry bird” tweets and pressure from
White House
• Mostly negative perception
of outsourcing in media,
both from right and left
6. Protectionism or Globalism:
and the Winner is??
• Forget about all this noise when making long term strategic business decisions
• Short term decisions should not be affected.
• Globalization is not a trend and not a fad: to argue with reality is delusional.
• Outsourcing and global delivery are not dead. Outsourcing pie is growing,
worldwide war for IT talent rages, go grab your piece of the pie!
7. Demography of the “ideal” US client
• Now, more than ever, don’t try to get into Fortune 500 Companies.
Focus on growing companies and financed startups where technology
enablement is crucial.
• Don’t waste your time on companies who don’t understand and value
technology.
• “Indian” old model of outsourcing is outdated and mostly irrelevant.
• Geographic locations and regions in US are not the same, have to
understand the differences.
8. West Coast vs East Coast
• US is a very large and diverse country with different business cultures,
business climates, and time zones.
• CA (West Coast) has very favorable view of Ukraine, and worth your
effort, but the time zone is disadvantage.
• NYC, New England, and Florida (East Coast) prefer near-shoring in
Latin/Central America due to proximity, and prevalence of Spanish
speakers.
• Everyone else: the case of Chicago, Austin, Denver, and other cities.
9. Don’t underestimate geopolitical concerns!
• Address geopolitical risks related to doing business in Ukraine directly!
• Note that US clients are generally more risk tolerant than European ones.
• How do you calm the nerves of potential clients when dealing with Ukraine?
Some prospects are still reluctant to travel/do business in Ukraine.
• Provide argumentation and examples.
• If arguments fall on deaf ears, move on to the next opportunity.
10. Examples:
Dealing with Geopolitical Risks
• Give your clients plenty of positive examples, invite them to your office.
• Contingency planning is essential, particularly for larger clients.
• Global delivery with development
centers in several countries/cities
puts most of the clients at ease.
• Other locations: Belarus, Poland,
Montenegro, South and Central
America.
11. Tips and Hints:
Focus on high potential clients!
• Understand the odds of closing a deal, and when to cut your losses.
• Developing long term relationships with the clients is a key.
• Follow the people, not just companies. LinkedIn is awesome tool for
following the people (hope Microsoft won’t kill it!)
• Note: “low hanging fruits”
are not necessarily the best.
12. Who is selling?
• Who should really sell in the organization?
Better question: who is most successful
in selling?
• Partners and founders should be directly involved in
business development and closing process.
• Founders have a real “tribal” knowledge about their
business, and passionate about it!
• The problem is to pass along this knowledge to
others.
13. Who is closing?
• Closing critical US deals remotely from EE is
NOT recommended!
• Spend money on travel, if necessary.
• Put your senior people in charge of closing the
deals.
• Pay attention, listen, respond quickly, don’t
cut corners.
• Don’t put too much time into unsolicited RFP.
14. “ ”
Patience and Persistence Win!
-Warren Buffett
Some things just take time: you can't produce a baby
in one month by getting nine women pregnant
15. Summary and Conclusions
• Understanding how to be more productive when dealing with
potential and current US clients.
• Learning how to deal with “new normal” outsourcing process.
• Understanding better the current competitive IT outsourcing
landscape in US.
• Remember 80-20 rule: 20% of the best clients is worth 80% of
your time, the opposite is also true.
