4. www.basscom.org www.basscom.eu
Competitive advantages….. and Bulgarian experience 1/3
Bulgarian IT companies started
with significant advantage –
LOWEST COST !
But is it enough ?
NOT ANY MORE !
… the COST isn’t anymore the key
decision factor …
EITO/BITKOM survey 2009
Which are the new competitive
advantages ?
6. www.basscom.org www.basscom.eu
Continuous Talent Management
Technical Skills
Soft Skills
Teamwork & Collaboration
Continuous Process Improvement
Organizational (company) level
Society (public) level
International (branding) level
Competitive advantages….. and Bulgarian experience 3/3
7. www.basscom.org www.basscom.eu
BASSCOM – Bulgarian Association of Software Companies
Established 2001, 60+ software development companies and 100+ associates
Export oriented profile (>60%)
Capacity - >5 000 software engineers, 17 000 jobs in s/w sector
Talent Management – Education, R&D and Innovation
Process Improvement – ESI CEE
Marketing Software Business – International & regional branding; export
promotion of the BG software and IT
Partnering with local Government - policy reforms, strategies elaboration -> e-
Government strategy, etc.
Co-founder and active member of PIN-SME
Co-founder and active member of the SEE ICT Forum Board
BASSCOM IT Industry Barometer – annual survey
Main partners: Germany, France, UK, USA, Canada, Scandinavia, China, Japan …
Partners for regional cooperation: Macedonia, Serbia, Romania, Croatia, Armenia,
Georgia, Moldova…
Some BASSCOM history and activities
8. www.basscom.org www.basscom.eu
BASSCOM – Ongoing projects
FRACTALS (Future Internet Enabled Agricultural Applications), FP7
SWITCH YOU (Society and work inclusion technologies for children and
youths with ASD), NGO Programme in Bulgaria, EEA Financial Mechanism
Development of a competence model in the ICT industry under project
“Development and implementation of an information system for
evaluation the competences of the workforce in sectors and regions“,
Human Resources Development” Operational Programme 2007-2013
Updating of the training documentation and the learning process in
Varna Free University "Chernorizets Hrabar”, “Human Resources
Development” Operational Programme 2007-2013
Project highlights
9. www.basscom.org www.basscom.eu
• Software is one of the fastest growing sectors in BG - continuous growth from
0.57 % of GDP in 2005 to 1.74 % in 2014 (forecast)
• In absolute terms this is from €130 M in 2005 to €700 М revenue in 2014
(forecast)
• 60% of revenues are from export – mainly to the rest of EU and the US.
• Increasing share of products and high-value-added services.
• Highly qualified work force – 4-6 times the average for BG. The largest tech
sector in BG in terms of total wages paid – bigger than telecoms and call
centers.
• 300 companies with >10 employees
• 17,000 jobs (professional software engineers) with average salary 4 times the
country average (~1800 € / month)
BASSCOM 5th Edition IT Barometer (est. 2008 with GTZ/GIZ support)
15. www.basscom.org www.basscom.eu
Greek companies active in IT sector
Coca Cola HBC
Altec -> Balkan Services, Acsior
Singular -> Singilar Bulgaria
SoftOne -> Unisoftware
Enter Soft -> Enter Soft Bulgaria
Intralot, Mellon, Printec, Unisystems
Post Bank, Alpha Bank, Piraeus, UBB (Ethniki), CA (Emporiki), EY, Globul
(Telenor)
17. www.basscom.org www.basscom.eu
Type of services foreign investor can find in BG ?
Full scope of services – analysis, design, architecture, implementation, QA, maintenance &
support, classical & digital marketing, consulting, sales with focus on special quality and added
value based on specific domain knowledge.
How many foreign investors are already invested in BG software sector ?
More than 50 Western European and US-based companies found their partners and/or subsidiaries
including SAP-Labs, Software AG, Nemetschek AG, DocuWare AG, Bosch, VMWare, CSC, Prosyst,
Johnson Controls, HP, Infragistics, Seeburger GmbH and many others.
How many people are involved in BG IT Sector ?
Our estimate counts around 100 000 people from which around 40 000 are employed in 1st level
outscoring centers (BPO, ITO, Call Centers, Tech Support Centers, etc.) and around 17 000 as
professional software engineers.
How many students are graduating annually in IT and IT-related specialties ?
Around 2 000 in Bulgaria and another 1 000 in Western Europe (mainly Germany) and USA.
BASSCOM is working closely with Bulgarian Government to establish EU Blue Cards working
procedure and accommodate thousands of Western Balkans and ex-Soviet countries professionals.
Frequently Asked Questions / Answers (1/2) :
18. www.basscom.org www.basscom.eu
Fees/Salary ranges and trends ?
Bulgarian software companies aren’t applying single fees tables as every deal is based on deep
analysis on type of every project, duration, technology, business domain, team structure and
management, maintenance and support, etc. Normal range will be 2-3 times less than average
Western European rates. Salary ranges are at least 4-6 times above average for BG with 5-10%
annual increase.
Government fiscal framework – taxation, incentives ?
Lowest taxation in EU – flat 10% taxes for both personal income and corporate profit. Best ratio
price/quality for all communication lines – voice, data. Well developed office real estate market
with competitive prices.
Special Investment Promotion Act (well developed incentives for general sectors not for IT
especially).
General terms – time zone, travelling, legal framework, IPR protection ?
ToDo Time zone GMT +2:00 – 1 hour difference with Germany. 10+ flights per day from mayor
German Airports (Frankfurt, Munich, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Berlin) with max 2 hours duration.
Legal framework fully synchronized with EU directives (incl. IPR protection)
Frequently Asked Questions / Answers (2/2) :
