Zack Williamson

Are you thinking about outsourcing to Romania? Please read this article about Romania Outsourcing first! In this report I hope to address common questions and concerns about setting up a company / branch office in Romania or outsourcing your business process to an already established Romanian firm. My career in international outsourcing and BPO consulting started in 2005 when I blindly jumped on a plane in Orlando, FL and flew out to Bangalore, India to help setup a small 50 seat call center for my lead generation company.  Since then I have helped launch and manage outsourcing facilities in Philippines and my more recent adventures with Romania Outsourcing.  The types of companies and business processes range from in and outbound call centers to IT facilities doing software development and search engine optimization.

Romania Outsourcing Consultant

I am an American that provides Romania outsourcing consulting with the experience of doing business in the US, India, the Philippines and of course Romania, I hope that my insight can help straighten out the learning curve and save you time and more importantly, money.

Even before I went to India, I had always had my eye on Romania outsourcing as a destination as well as other East European countries.  That being said, in 2007 Romania was inducted into the European Union (EU) and this gave me all the more reason to outsource there.  One of the biggest drawbacks in outsourcing to lesser developed countries is the lack of legal infrastructure to protect business and foreign investments.  Not only have a heard the stories of corruption, extortion and bureaucracy but I have been a victim myself.  If you want to open a firm in India and the Philippines be prepared to play the game and accept the risks. Don’t get me wrong here, I’m not saying that Romania is free from corruption, extortion and bureaucracy but in contrast it is far less obstructive and their legal system is much more equipped to protect your rights.  This alone was enough for me to give BPO in Romania a try.

The next factor I looked at for Romania outsourcing was probably the most obvious reason; The savings on labor cost, as this is the main driving force for all outsourcing ventures. In comparison to India where the average college graduate earns around $400 per month for an entry level position and around $350 per month in the Philippines, Romania was slightly higher at around $550 per month.  Knowing that, I was still willing to pay an extra 20% to do business in the EU.

Getting down to brass-tax the next variables for Romania Outsourcing are skill levels when dealing with IT work (information technology) and accents when dealing with call center outsourcing. When it comes to IT capabilities, I have absolutely no complaints! Not sure if it is just  rumor or not but they say that the 2nd most spoken language in Microsoft is Romanian and after living there and doing business there, I’m not a bit surprised. Romanians are very savvy with all forms of information technologies including but not limited to, programing, web development, server management and SEO search engine optimization. We can thank their school systems and colleges for helping Romania Outsourcing by stressing IT education as one of the most important sectors over the past ten years.

Romania Outsourcing Benefits

As for call center outsourcing in Romania, to put it frankly, they sound like vampires but that being said, I have had pleasant feedback from customers that would rather talk to a Romanian than an Indian.  The truth is that Americans, British and Australians would rather talk to someone with their own accent but we all know those days are long gone due to irreversible globalization.  See India was the first on the call center outsourcing scene and this gave them an undeserved bad reputation and a negative stigma.  Romanian call centers are still so far and few between that most Americans haven’t experienced talking to them and therefore, they have not had the chance to form any opinions about talking to a call center agent in Romania.  In other words, get it while its hot!

There’s so much more to mention like laws, taxes, corporate filings and culture differences so look out for my next post about Romania Outsourcing.  I could write a whole book about other variables, factors and experiences of outsourcing in Romania but if you want to learn more about it in the meantime you will have to contact me.  I provide free consultations and friendly advice to anyone wanting to listen. In conclusion, Romania outsourcing may or may not be right for your company so before you proceed any further seek the help of a professional Romania Outsourcing Consultant.