Achievo, InnoVest Group team up to establish IT outsourcing in Middle East

Achievo offers its clients local account management and project delivery capabilities through its regional offices in Japan, North America, Europe and Greater China that are integrated with and supported by its offshore delivery centers in China and its headquarters in the United States.

As the Middle East countries strive to develop knowledge-based economies beyond oil, businesses are experiencing a rapidly growing demand for IT infrastructure and enterprise architecture services. Demand for ITO and business process outsourcing (BPO) is growing. This is especially the case in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) with its rapid economic growth. Achievo and InnoVest believe a skills shortage and reluctance by businesses to invest outright in IT are driving the demand.

Nestor G. Cruz, president of Achievo's North America Business Group, said:

"With more than 160 banks in and around the region, the Middle East is becoming a financial services destination and we believe there is substantial opportunity for Achievo."

"Achievo has a well-established track record around technologies that support the automation of financial processes. We have implemented technologies to support corporate credit card systems, payment settlements, and purchase cards vs. payment cards, among other IT needs. Additionally, many financial institutions are currently faced with the need to migrate from legacy systems to new platforms, something Achievo excels at and has acquired specific qualifications and certifications from companies such as HP," Cruz added.

David Dastvar, managing partner of The InnoVest Group, said:

"Achievo presents an attractive alternative to other ITO providers in this region."

"As the Middle East strives to move its economies beyond oil, there is a clear need for ITO that is geared to mid sized projects. Most of the ITO resources in this region are large IT companies from the US and India. We haven't seen anyone geared towards the mid-tiered players. Achievo has the capacity and scale of the large IT companies but with more experience and responsiveness toward small to medium sized projects. Achievo's ability to bring US program management skills with Japan, Germany, Canada, and China development and delivery centers to the projects gives them a unique menu of technical capabilities, price competitiveness and project delivery expertise," Dastvar added.

"Additionally, few players in this region are focusing on disaster recovery. Achievo has differentiated itself by obtaining the appropriate back end security certifications that will allow Middle East financial institutions to establish their own local development centers in China where they can create IT solutions that will help sustain the region's emerging financial economy. We believe these capabilities combined with InnoVest market access and MENA business intelligence is the recipe for success," said Dastvar.