Slovakia is a country with 5.4 million inhabitants. But it has major advantages in terms of IT and business process outsourcing. When deciding on which country to outsource your business to, you may be surprised to find that Slovakia comes up as an option. You may have never heard of this country since it was part of Czechoslovakia. But it has a number of benefits that make it an excellent choice for outsourcing your company’s needs.

From an outsourcing perspective, Slovakia promises and delivers. It is cheaper than any Western European country and has a large cohort of trained professionals, with more than 18,000 Slovaks currently working in shared delivery and a further 10,000 in dedicated IT. The Slovakian ICT workforce is now responsible for more than five per cent of the country’s entire GDP. Slovak tech graduates are in high demand. IBM, HP, Logica, Cisco and Microsoft recruit the best emerging from university.

Advantages

Slovakian IT outsourcing, BPO and call center facilities are in high demand. So too are back office functions such as billing, human resources and facility management (FM) functions. With close ties with neighbours Austria, the Slovak project management style is often describes as “Germanic” which is reflected in its commitment and delivery.  Unlike in other CEE countries, Slovakian outsourcing companies tend to be rigorous to contracts.

The cost of living in Slovakia is a fraction of what it is in America or Western Europe. It’s not uncommon for employees in Bratislava to make one-third or less than they would at home. The low costs of living and doing business means rates are much lower than those found in other outsourcing destinations, like China, India, Ukraine and Romania.

Disadvantages

No real disadvantages that could be found, Slovakia is a great choice for outsourcing.