The Maturation of The Russian Offshore Software Industry by Stephen Hawk, WilliamMcHenryRussia:PLUSES:

Excellence of Russia’s IT Human resources, e.g. in-depth technical skills, R&D experience, ex-periencewith complex projectsExcellent education systemEuropean / Western CultureLocation (near to Europe and the U.S. east coast)Low Labor Costs

MINUSES:

Inexperience in offshore software development; poor understanding of business practices and pro-jectmanagement on the part of Russian software firmsPoor English skillsDifficulty of visiting Russia due to visa require-mentsBandwidth costs; deficient telephone and data communications infrastructureLack of certification organizations (and CMM certified IT firms)Offerings too narrow; too little forward-looking strategic planningPoor marketing capabilities; lack of a campaign; poor foreign representationPoor business environment (intellectual property protection, tax and labor laws, perceptions of cor-ruption and instability)Lack of industry associations as effective as NASSCOMLack of meaningful support by the Federal gov-ernment for the offshore industryLack of world track record; perceptions of soft-ware piracyHeeks/Nicholson (Software Export Success Model) and Carmel (Oval Method)ISO and CMM (Capability Maturity Model)Poor managementWho are Moldavian programmer?What quality of work?WagesInfrastructure