International IT invasion
The European market for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is estimated at around EUR 150-200 (zł.574-766) million, while in the Middle East, for example, the market is worth another $150 (zł.474) million. Now, some Polish IT companies are trying their hand on the international market.
"There are plenty of very good IT specialists and brand managers in Poland but there is still a mental edge Poles cannot step over," said Manoj Nair, CEO of Creative Innovation Group (CIG). "It's high time to take a step forward."
Today, the value of Polish projects conducted abroad only constitutes around three percent of the value of Poland's IT market, but Polish firms are eager to invest and take part in foreign tenders. CIG has already finished a large ERP implementation project in China, and plans several other projects, among others in Israel, France, the United Arab Emirates, India and Japan in the first half of 2006. The total value of these projects will surpass EUR 100,000 (zł.382,929) and other projects for the second half of the year are being prepared.
"We outraced the Swedes, the Swiss and the Australians because not only were we cheaper, but [we were] also the best qualified," said Artur Stypiński, CIG's Chinese project coordinator. "The crew's qualifications are the key to success nowadays."
The Polish market of ERP and CMR (Common-Mode Rejection) has been developing slowly in comparison to the rest of the IT market in Poland and this may be another reason why Polish companies are searching for markets elsewhere. However, analysts and companies say the situation here is dynamic and that the period of stagnation is past.
