Offshore Companies Seek U.S. Presence, Partner Expertise

Cristina Niculescu, export manager for Est West Informatique Roumanie, a Microsoft Business Solutions partner in Bucharest, Romania, is looking to team with a U.S. solution provider because it will enable her company to provide a better face to the customer.

With about 40 employees and 100 customers, Est West provides software for HR departments and corporate intranets. "We're looking for someone like us," she said.

Likewise, Juan Navarro, a cofounder of Hexacta, a 120-person Microsoft Gold partner from Buenos Aires, Argentina, was scouting for VARs. "We would love to [partner], but we don't know exactly how," he said.

ZSL, which has its U.S. base in Edison, N.J., used OutsourceWorld to formalize its partnership program. Shiv Kumar, vice president of business development, said the company's Get IT Together program is targeted at VARs with expertise in telecommunications, retail, transportation and logistics.

In the past, when ZSL proposed relationships like this, Kumar said it took some convincing to bring partners on board. Today, however, more smaller VARs are interested in adding offshore development capabilities, he said.

Indeed, attendees of the CRN Systems Integrator Roundtable last week--including Accenture, SBI.Enteris and Intrasphere Technologies--all said they are exploring how to add offshore or near-shore capabilities.

"I've been approached by so many, mostly Indian firms, to partner or to acquire the company," said Woo Song, chairman of Intrasphere, New York. "They are recognizing that they need a U.S. presence. Conversely, companies like mine--or any others in this space, for that matter--cannot survive without a lower-cost component."