Gulf countries now look to Egypt for IT and business process outsourcing, says LINK Development CEO

"Egypt is fast carving a position for itself among global IT outsourcing players, and Egyptian software development companies are increasingly attracting business from the Arabian Gulf region in particular" says Hanan Abdel Meguid, CEO of software development company LINK Development. LINK Development is Egypt's premier software development company and is a subsidiary of Internet Service and Solutions provider LINKdotNET and Telecommunications giant Orascom Telecom Holding Company "We expect it to become the number one choice for the Arabian Gulf countries within the next few years and a very viable outsourcing option for Europe."

According to a recent report by research company Yankee Group, Egypt is poised to become "the new India of the Middle East". It is on its way to become a serious contender in the IT and BPO (business process outsourcing) arena, exporting software development and call centre solutions to countries not only within its own backyard of the Middle East, but increasingly venturing into the neighbouring continent of Europe.
This growing interest from the GCC countries to outsource to Egypt, rather than India or Europe, has led to the region accounting for 29% of all of Egypt's projects by value, according to the Mediterranean Investment Project Observatory.

The Yankee Group report highlights the fact that "Egypt has a number of the required ingredients in place to become a major hub for IT outsourcing in the Middle East", a view seconded by Abdel Meguid who elaborates, "We share a common language, a common culture, and geographical and time-zone proximity. Egypt has a large and well-skilled talent pool, due to thousands of IT graduates every year, and offers a multilingual workforce that fits in well with the GCC and Europe. To become a nearshore outsourcing hub for the Middle East, Egypt and its IT service providers are not only geographically well positioned, but also have the right resources and infrastructure to make it happen."

This enviable position has not come by naturally, but with serious effort by the Egyptian government, the developer community and companies such as Link Development to grow the talent pool, create industry standards, encourage the development of necessary infrastructure and promote the country's outsourcing merits within the Middle East and Europe. The developer community has begun to reap the benefits of its investment, and this is expected to further increase as ITIDA, the Egyptian government's IT Industry Development Agency, has set an ambitious target for the country to reach $1.1 billion of the global outsourcing market by 2010, quadrupling from its 2005 revenue.

As a member of ITIDA, LINK Development plays an important role in growing an export-oriented IT sector in Egypt. Among the company's initiatives is the development of an online developer community - www.barmagy.com - to encourage information exchange and collaboration among Egyptian developers. The company also works to bridge the gap between business and academia, and is part of the advisory council for Universities' computer science departments, and is involved in setting academic IT curricula. It is also a member of the ISO committee, which sets the quality standards for the country's IT industry.

Abdel Meguid says that Egypt-based IT service providers have become a smart choice for the GCC, as a result of the active role of the Egyptian government in ensuring the adherence to regulations and standards, and the availability of advanced telecom infrastructure. To the GCC, Arabic language proficiency is a key differentiator for Egypt from other upcoming regions, whereas cost efficiency and time zone proximity make it a good alternative for nearshore outsourcing to Europe.

Link Development, and its parent company LINKdotNET, have been present in the Gulf for 10 years, with offices in the UAE, KSA and soon in Qatar. As a result of this experience, the GCC team has developed a deep understanding of the specific requirements and challenges of regional enterprises and governments. LINK development is behind several e-government implementations across the Gulf region and continues to be the pioneering developer in the Middle East of an integrated e-government gateway solution, already deployed for the Egyptian government.
A vigorous export programme has been running for many years resulting in a high level of business in the Gulf region. This approach is now being extended to Europe following the successful completion of projects in Italy and Greece. Plans are also in hand for a European office in 2008.