Czech move as nearshore outsourcing grows

Indian outsourcing firm Infosys is to double the size of its "nearshore" site in the Czech Republic

Infosys last week became the latest Indian IT outsourcing specialist to bolster its presence in Europe, announcing plans to double the size of its Czech “nearshore” development centre to over 350 seats.

The company said the site, which currently provides a range of business process outsourcing (BPO) services for European customers, would be expanded to provide additional IT services, such as support for infrastructure management and package implementation projects.

BG Srinivas, head of Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Infosys, said there is growing demand from UK customers for nearshore facilities in Europe. This is partly because such facilities operate in a nearer time zone than Indian centres and tend to be staffed by workers who better understand clients’ industry-specific issues, he added.

Nearshore centres also allow companies to ensure sensitive data remains within the EU. And Eastern Europe’s multilingual workforce appeals to pan-European firms looking to move work from France and Germany as well as the UK, said Srinivas.

However, Srinivas insisted that nearshore development centres would complement rather than replace Indian sites. As a result, the increased use of nearshore sites, which tend to be more costly to run than Indian centres, should not lead to price inflation for UK customers.

“We’ve been able to maintain pricing levels as... you’re moving work that is done onshore to nearshore locations,” Srinivas said.