Business Review

The demand for outsourcing is rocketing during the recession, as businesses activate their emergency responses and rapidly adapt to the new reality, Nicholas Butt, BPO service delivery operations lead in Bucharest at Accenture, told Business Review.

Last week the National Authority for Administration and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) ruled that tariffs for access to the local loop would be reduced to a level that is among the most competitive in the European Union. The move puts Romania third after Poland and Estonia and below the European average. The authority maintained Romtelecom’s obligation to offer access to its own infrastructure, a decision that has riled the operator.

Otilia Haraga

The pool of applicants is ever enlarging as redundancies are made both in the private and public sector. For recruitment sites, this means higher traffic as individuals who were made redundant will be looking for a job while companies prospect the market. Most firms will resort to recruitment sites first, especially for entry-level positions.

Employees in the IT sector will escape having to pay a tax on their earnings after all, it was decided in a meeting between representatives of the software industry and prime minister Emil Boc. The news that the authorities were considering axing the tax exemption for IT programmers, as part of the austerity measures, shook the software industry. But the sector is not out of the woods yet. Pundits tell Business Review what the standstill on any IT investments in the public sector will entail and how they believe their businesses will fare in crisis mode.

Otilia Haraga

The anti-virus software market is currently worth about USD 16 million. The recession is biting into the profits of security solutions players owing to a slump in the sale of new PCs, say players. 2010 will be yet another difficult year for them, with only slight growth. Business Review surveys some of the worst malware threats that are pervasive and ready to hit the computers of unsuspecting users at any time, as identified by pundits in the field.

Otilia Haraga

Slowly but surely Romania has started to crack down on software piracy. The rate has fallen 1 percent in each of the last seven years, including 2009, according to the Global Software Piracy Study, released this month. But the figure is expected to stay at 65 percent this year. Meanwhile, the value of illegal software in use locally reached USD 183 million last year.

Otilia Haraga

Advertorial: Interview with James Norwood, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing for Epicor Software Corporation

Advertorial: Interview with Marian V. Popa, Managing Director Eastern Europe - Endava

Last week, Flamingo International representatives broke their silence about the firm’s insolvency proceedings and revealed their plans. Flanco International, the only remaining active entity of Flamingo Group, is on the look-out for an investor willing to inject capital. Currently in negotiations with five potential suitors, the firm expects the insolvency procedure to be finished by September.

Otilia Haraga

Following in the footsteps of the United States, where it was launched at the beginning of the month, the Apple iPad is proving a big hit in Romania as well. Several local online stores boast an offer with the device, and are capitalizing a great deal from its sale. Of course, local sales are not comparable with a market such as the USA, but some of these stores have already run out of stock and will bring more following orders placed by buyers.

Otilia Haraga