Getting SW Developed in Portugal – as Pleasant as Going there on Holidays?

Nearshore SW Development in Portugal | Nuno Ribeiro and Joerg Stimmer


The lack of IT experts (Fachkräftemangel) as heavily experienced in Germany is a challenge in

many European countries and hampering growth. At the same time other countries do have SW

developers, etc. in quality and valuable numbers who want to get engaged. Transferring them to

Germany and hiring them locally is found not to be a long term solution. We propose a dedicated

nearshore approach to be a solution of choice by eliminating any overhead and adapting the

best practices proven at corporations to the specific needs of smaller or medium sized

enterprises (SMEs). The upcoming nearshore destination - Portugal - is introduced and some of

the benefits of Portugal are explained. The expertise of the authors as well as the options to

support companies – especially smaller or medium sized ones – by a successful nearshore

approach in sw development is touched.


CONTENT

1 Example Germany: Shortage of IT talent and need for external experts .................................................. 1

2 Option 1: Transferring foreign experts to Germany .................................................................................. 3

3 Option 2: Building on nearshore IT experts is one established solution ................................................... 4

4 Portugal as an upcoming nearshore location ............................................................................................ 6

5 Interested? How we could help ............................................................................................................... 15

6 References ............................................................................................................................................... 16

7 The authors .............................................................................................................................................. 17


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PROTEKTIONISTICHE MÄRKTE

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STEIGENDE PERSONALKOSTEN

STEIGENDE ROHSTOFF- UND ENERGIEKOSTEN

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ERREICHEN DER WACHSTUMS- UND…

ERSCHLIEßEN NEUER…

KONJUNKTURELLE ENTWICKLUNG

STEIGENDER WETTBEWERBSDRUCK

FACHKRÄFTEMANGEL

Zukünftige Herausforderungen

1 Example Germany: Shortage of IT talent and need for external

experts

1.1 Lack of IT talent (IT Fachkräftemangel) - one of the top concerns

According to many resources and even confirmed by the German government, the lack of skilled workforce

(Fachkräftemangel) is one of the top concerns for executives in Germany (e.g. References [1] and [2]). In

2013 the research organisation TrendMonitor stated “Der IT-Fachkräftemangel zählt zu den ganz großen

Herausforderungen für Unternehmen.”

Figure 1 – Lack of IT experts as top priority in Germany (source: TRENDMONITOR-ANALYSE, February 2013)

This is especially true for software space (application development and maintenance, ADM) which is

continuously getting more importance even in domains with historically low focus on software. Such domains

like automotive or industrial engineering – strongpoints of the German economy – are thus getting under

increasing pressure. An impressive example is the “The Connected Car Value Chain” and its impact on car

manufacturers (e.g. discussed at the A.T. Kearney Digital Business Forum 2014 in Berlin, see References

[4]). Understanding that the upcoming trend towards digital business models and its impact on classical

businesses is just starting to emerge and that those models as well as any corresponding reaction from

established business will be based on software, the importance of having well educated, highly motivated

and open minded SW experts cannot be overestimated.



1.2 The rise of Digital Business Models will further increase the importance of SW

experts

The lack of SW experts in high quality and quantity on the market in general leads to a low scalability of the

companies workforce related to SW. Lack of young digital natives limits the full usage of new technologies.

As a result, fast time to market of new products is expected to be hampered severely. Furthermore

companies will face high costs already for common development tasks and in particular for rare skills.

1.3 The effects will be stronger for small and medium sized companies or brands

with low power of attraction for IT graduates

Understanding that graduates typically will favour large corporations or fancy IT brands, the effect on small

or medium sized companies (KMUs and Mittelstand) will even be stronger.

Young bright graduates with skills the market is asking for are expected to prefer compelling brands with a

heritage in IT and B2C such as Google instead of a relatively unknown brand of a small or medium sized

enterprise from a domain being recognised as less attractive such as industrial engineering.

1.4 Those effects will be further strengthened by the demographic factor

A simulation by the statistic tools provided by the German authorities (References [5]) illustrates the changes

in demography expected in Germany in ten year steps from 2010 up to 2040.

Figure 2 – Demographic factor of population in Germany (source: German government)

This aging of the German society and the thus further reduction of skilled workforce will lead to even less

experts, in particular concerning upcoming technologies where only the younger generation is expected to

be familiar and up to date. The aforementioned challenges for companies to develop products with a fast

time to market, low costs, among others, will be intensified.

1.5 Additional pressure due to global competition and new entrants

If not already in effect, in addition to the aforementioned challenges, German companies building solely on a

local workforce will be challenged by new competitors entering the market out of remote countries (e.g. new

entrants from China building on copycat products and on a cheaper workforce) or simply by existing local



competitors who already successfully build on the benefits of nearshore sourcing to countries such as

Portugal.

2 Option 1: Transferring foreign experts to Germany

2.1 Simplest solution and already in place by majority of companies

The simplest solution that comes into one’s mind is to encourage foreign IT experts to transfer to Germany

and hire them as local employees (immigration of IT experts). This model is supported by a majority of

German companies and seems to be fuelled by the current differences of the economies within the

European countries, especially the challenges faced in Southern Europe.

2.2 Foreign experts typically remain for less than 5 years - no long term solution

However, this does not seem to be a valid long term solution. According the investigations by Bitkom

Research GmbH on behalf of LinkedIn in September 2013 (References [6]), the majority of foreign experts

only remains between one and four years in the German company. The study reveals that in most cases,

young professionals or graduates are recruited. The hiring company gets young and motivated talents at a

reasonable or even low cost. This is according their interests and the need to invest in training the graduates

is usually well spend. However, leaving after less than four years looks like a challenge to build up a stable

and well-rehearsed workforce and questions the return in value of the initial training being time consuming

and costly.

Figure 3 shows the results of the question “How long do foreign employees remain in average in your

company?” (the results are based on companies with more than 50 employees which do employ foreign

experts. The sum of companies considered were 188, due to rounding errors the sums need not be exactly

100%).

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Sechs Monate…

Weniger als…

Alle Unternehmen (n=188)

Figure 3 - Average retention time of immigrants in German companies (source: Bitkom Research on behalf of LinkedIn)



2.3 The immigrants want to move home – after having gained professional

experience

As the results of Bitkom Research GmbH on behalf of LinkedIn for 2014 shows, “Häufigster Grund für die

kurze Verweildauer ist der Wunsch, nach dem Sammeln von Berufserfahrung wieder in das Herkunftsland

zurück zu gehen” (References [6]). As much as anyone can understand this strong aspiration of those young

immigrants to move back home, this is significantly affecting the economic value of their local employment in

Germany and their extensive training.

3 Option 2: Building on nearshore IT experts is one established

solution

3.1 Own nearshore centre or building on a trusted partner – the choice is yours

Another option – which is the proposed one by the authors – is to build upon fitting IT experts in remote

countries but to ensure a long term perspective for both – the company as well as the expert –is given. This

is to be achieved by setting up a dedicated own nearshore centre (captive centre) or by closely working with

a trusted partner (non captive centre).

There are more than enough examples of successfully operating nearshore centres delivering high value,

quality and low costs. This holds true for large corporations as well as small and medium sized enterprises

(SMEs). We believe that in particular smaller companies can benefit hugely by building on locations such as

Portugal due to the European Union (EU) regulations in place with regards to commercial and legal aspects,

ease of travel or certain cultural proximities.

3.2 What you need : 1. Good people, 2. Proper preparation and expertise “how to”,

3. Ongoing tight governance

Successfully building on the benefits of an offshore or nearshore sourcing in SW-development in large scale

was initially a domain of corporations who were able to invest in a profound preparation. This was typically

done with external sourcing advisors, who did plan and implement a long term know-how transfer and helped

setting up a dedicated vendor management or sourcing governance team. If done right, cost savings of up to

40% were achieved by keeping or even improving the quality. As mentioned, this was typically implemented

in larger scale projects and required a significant upfront investment.

By building on the lessons learnt from larger scale programs and stripping off all tasks which are not

absolutely necessary in case of downsized projects at small or medium sized companies, we have

successfully demonstrated similar benefits in costs (over 30% and in some cases even over 50%) can be

realised (References [7]).

Besides any cost savings, first and foremost, any project shall be delivered in quality and in time. We believe

there are some important aspects to be considered for such a success:



Build on best practices and lessons learnt by others: It is vital to leverage all lessons learnt and

best practices obtained by numerous corporations during past years.

Remove any overhead, especially in case of SMEs: Especially SMEs shall strip off all

unnecessary dead weight (overhead which is not required in case of smaller companies).

Avoid major upfront investments: We propose to ensure a set-up which does not require any

major initial investment plus a focus on results at an early stage. This can be achieved by starting

with only one team member at the nearshore location and a slow ramping up of further team

members. In line with an agile development process such as SCRUM this dedicated person will be

included in daily calls and a close alignment with the customers core team.

Chose the right team and partners: Carefully selecting the right team members, partners and

ensuring all aspects are considered properly (skills, motivation, company cultures, options for travel,

among others) is a requirement well understood.

Implement a proper governance and automate wherever possible: Working in a distributed team

environment requires an even higher level of transparency about the exchange of knowledge and

interim results between team members, project status, or any impediments. Besides building on

proper processes such as agile (SRCUM), using a fitting set of tools to manage technical aspects as

well as the communication within the team ensures efficiency and – if proper planned and

implemented – a high level of automated governance.

3.3 Nearshoring – the right partner and location is important

Nearshoring is a success nowadays, particularly in Europe. Still, besides the important operational aspects

as already mentioned, selecting the right partner and the right location for nearshore operations is important.

One impressive example for sue is the current trouble when dealing with partners in the former nearshoring

star Ukraine.



Portugal is recognised by Gartner (for the last 3 years) as one of the 13 World’s (7

EMEA’s) developed countries with more potential to ‘perform’ as an ICT platform,

regarding the perspective of providing transnational services and the perspective of a

good location to invest and establish Shared Services/Competence Centres.

4 Portugal as an upcoming nearshore location

The nearshore approach within the European Union appears to have been tailor-made for a country such as

Portugal. This applies for various areas of business and mainly in the provision of services of integrated

computer solutions. Portugal is an increasingly attractive country for nearshore outsourcing in Europe.

4.1 Modern Portugal

Some facts about modern Portugal:

It dedicates investments in education and increases focus on R&I and commercial applications

Excellent geo-strategic position, and privileged economic and business relations with the seven

official Portuguese-speaking countries, which makes Portugal the ideal location for businesses that

aim to invest in, or export to those markets

Exports continue to show a strong growth and bureaucracy is decreasing

Contraction of domestic economy has spurred competition and competitiveness

Providing one of the Europe’s safest cities and a cosmopolitan city with Lisbon

Access to the 4th spoken language in the world

Sustainable, creative and entrepreneurial country

Quality of infrastructures and utilities

Leadership in terms of eGovernment

One of Europe’s Atlantic Gateways

At present, Portugal is in a crucial phase in his journey as a competitive nation, economically viable, with life

quality perspectives, and with many companies already developing nearshoring projects. Defining the

differentiating factors of national supply and to eliminate the main barriers concerning outsourcing services in

local markets is crucial to improve Portuguese competitiveness, accelerate the attraction of foreign

investment and promote growth of national companies.

4.2 Portugal vs Eastern Europe as a key nearshore destination

Nearshoring is one of the preferred ITO sourcing approaches among European companies and this

tendency is predicted to be the leading one for the next years. In contrast to offshoring, nearshoring is the

transfer IT processes to companies in a nearby country, typically with the same, or close time zone.



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The CEE region is now capturing great amount of attention as an attractive outsourcing destination with

more than 5,000 companies and 100,000 specialists operating in the industry of IT outsourcing and software

development services in the 16 CEE countries, according to Central and Eastern European Outsourcing

Association (CEEOA).

For the fifth consecutive year, Portugal is part of the plot of the seven developed countries in Europe, Middle

East and Africa that are leaders in providing technology-based services. The conclusion is a study published

by the US consulting firm Gartner (References [8]).

Portugal is referenced by international observers as a "viable/solid alternative" in the sector. More than in

previous years, the country is said to be clearly developed and prepared to provide services, not only by

exporting solutions from Portuguese companies, but also through foreign investment in Portugal. Portuguese

companies are seen as innovative, offering above average professionals with enormous growth potential in

international markets. According to Gartner, Portuguese companies know how to make the availability,

quality and maturity of existing resources and infrastructure that the country has, the general business

environment and political stability, and operate in accordance with the cross-evolved regulatory framework in

the EU.

Some key facts of Portugal in comparison to Poland, Czech Republic and Ukraine as representatives of

Eastern Europe demonstrate Portugal’s capabilities.

4.2.1 Wages

Technology remains a powerful job engine with no signs of slowing and Portugal has always been a pioneer

of technology. The country’s background as a global trading nation has ensured that its entrepreneurs and

merchants have always looked beyond its shores. With a relatively small home market, Portuguese IT firms

have explored foreign markets, starting with the Portuguese speaking world and exploring other areas where

its expertise and experience is suitable.

Figure 4 – Minimum wages, 2014 (source: Wikipedia – List of minimum wages by country)



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.NET SW Developer/Programmer Project Manager (IT) SW Developer SW Engineer

The increase of average earnings in the IT sector is the result of the continuing high tech boom and of the

perceived need to stop IT specialists from leaving to work in other countries. As pointed out, we can see the

changes between different jobs in the IT sector (see figure 5).

Figure 5 – Average wages in IT Sector (source: PayScale)

The numbers expressed in Figure 5 give a certain hint concerning wages to be expected when sourcing from

one of the countries mentioned. Still it is important to mention that especially when dealing with remote

teams, fitting staff with the right mindset, attitude towards work and the necessary in depth expertise in the

technical skills is a must. Quality comes with a price and the proper trade off between low wages and high

skills is key.

4.2.2 Education

Education and research, along with innovation, are at the heart of knowledge economies and drive long-term

growth. Investments in higher education (HE), R&D and new information and communication technologies

(ICT) complement each other, empower human capital and provide the infrastructure needed to address the

many challenges that societies face.

Figure 6 - Spending on higher education, 2000 and 2010 (source: OECD)



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Of which General University Funds Herd, 2011

From 2000 to 2010, the R&D intensity of the OECD area increased slightly from 2.2% to 2.4% of GDP.

Looking into details we can see that the Portuguese economy was the one that experienced the major

increase in R&D intensity. In 2010 the Portuguese economy expenditure is almost similar to Poland and

higher that Czech Republic.

Other indicator that must be observed is the higher education expenditure on R&D.

Figure 7 - Higher education expenditure on R&D, 2001 and 2011 (source: OECD)

Total higher education spending on R&D (HERD) accounts for 0.4% of GDP in the OECD area and has

increased in most countries over the last decade.

HERD intensity in Denmark, Estonia, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic and Portugal has nearly

doubled over the last decade. Governments rely on two main modes of direct R&D funding: institutional and

project-based. Institutional funding can help ensure stable long-run research funding, while project-based

funding can promote competition and target strategic areas. This distinction is addressed by an experimental

indicator on modes of public funding for the higher education sector.

These two indicators illustrates the investment that has been made by Portugal across the last decades in

highly qualified human resources.

2001



4.2.3 Languages spoken

Portugal

Portuguese is one of the major languages of the world (the sixth most spoken language worldwide), spoken

by about 200 million people on four continents. Approximately 32% of Portuguese in sum speak English

whereas 75% of professionals do speak English. Many

Portuguese people living in major cities such as Lisbon

and Porto speak a high level of both English and

Portuguese. In order to compete with the local labour

market, especially to enter major multinational

companies, a high competency of both languages is

required and the professionals investigate in this skill.

English is set to be a compulsory subject in

Portuguese schools, as one of the measures to be

implemented by the Ministry of Education from 2013,

according to reforms it is to carry out in the education

system in Portugal. Students in Portugal could chose

between a range of other languages as their first

foreign idiom, in a system that obliges them to learn at

least two: English and one other such as German,

French or Spanish.

Poland

Polish people stand out in Europe for the rapidly improvement in English skills. Poland’s English proficiency

level has improved more than any other countries in Europe since 2007. This finding is in line with other

education indicators that have tracked the country’s transformation.

Students in Polish schools typically learn one or two foreign languages. Generally, the most popular

obligatory foreign languages in Polish schools are English – 67.9%, German – 33.3%, French – 13.3%,

Spanish – 10.2%, Russian – 6.1%, Italian – 4.3%, Latin – 0.6%, and Others – 0.1%.

Czech Republic

In Czech schools, the first foreign language is compulsory when one is eight years of age, typically being in

the 3rd class of elementary school. However, the kids often begin with a foreign language games already in

the kindergarten which means at the age of about four years. Unlike some countries of the EU the language

education is not established, but mostly English is offered.

Generally it can be claimed that more and more pupils learn foreign languages. This foreign language is

mostly English – at elementary schools 87% pupils learn English, at grammar schools 100% and at the high

schools with vocational orientation 74%. The second language is usually German, but in the last years

Spanish and French have been very trendy.

Figure 8 – EU Member States (source: www.eeas.europa.eu)



Ukraine

In Ukraine, English language learning starts at primary school and continues through higher education. The

Ukrainian system of education, however, is rather new. Only a small percentage of the population has

graduated from the system, while the majority learned foreign languages according the Soviet educational

system. During the Soviet times, learning English as a foreign language usually started in the secondary

school and continued at higher educational institutions. Without evaluating the present Soviet system of

English language instruction, one may expect that more than 10 years of even poor language instruction

should result in a level of English language proficiency that is sufficient for communication.

One other possible explanation for the data on the English language skills among Ukrainians is the lack of

incentives, material ones in particular. A study of the motivation for learning foreign languages in the

European Union showed that the reasons for foreign language learning are becoming more and more tied to

practical benefits, such as using the skills at work (32%), working abroad (27%), and getting a better job

inside the country (23%). Although geographically Ukraine may be considered close to the centre of Europe,

politically this is by far not the case. Only sixteen years ago when the Soviet Union collapsed, the borders of

Ukraine were closed to Western influence. This resulted in the absence of an English language environment

necessary for language learning.

4.2.4 Travel

Portugal

Traveling from Portugal to the European Union is viable in terms of commodity and celerity. It´s easy to travel

in 27 other countries with no concerns about visas and passports and also the airline connections within the

country are modern and well estblished. Portugal has three international airports in the continent – Lisbon,

Porto and Faro – and seven in the Madeira and Azores Islands. Regular daily flights to all major cities in the

world are standard. Distance from Germany to Portugal is 1953 kilometers and this air travel distance is

equal to 1214 miles. Travelling by an airplane between Germany and Portugal takes 2 ¼ hours flightime.

Poland

The country has one international airport in the capital Warsaw and twelve regional airports. Distance from

Germany to Poland is 607 kilometers and this air travel distance is equal to 377 miles. Travelling by airplane

between Germany and Poland takes only ¾ hours flighttime.

Czech Republic

The country has five international airports – Prague, Brno, Karlovy Vary, Ostrava and Zlín. Distance from

Germany to Czech Republic is 386 kilometers and this air travel distance is equal to 240 miles. Travelling by

airplane between Germany and Czech Republic takes only ¾ hours flighttime.

Ukraine

The country has eleven international airports – two in Kiev, Simferopol, Odessa, Donetsk, Lviv,

Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson. Distance from Germany to Ukraine is

1516 kilometers and this air travel distance is equal to 942 miles. Travelling by airplane between Germany

and Ukraine takes 1 ¾ hours flighttime.



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Travelling by plane from Germany to Portugal, Poland, Czech Republic and Ukraine

Figure 9 – Comparison of flight costs from Germany (source: analysis by the authors on www.rome2rio.com)

Travelling to Portugal by plane is more or less similar to the other countries being analysed. Due to the

advantageous in climate and being a major holiday destination, the opportunity to make business and also

enjoy a few days in Portugal is easily to be taken. It is motivating to delight oneself with the climate and light;

history, culture and tradition; hospitality; concentrated diversity that this small country in the southern of

Europe has to offer after a successful day of business (see references. [9]).

4.2.5 Cultural proximity and easiness of doing business

A study by the World Bank for 2014 (Reference [10]) investigated 189 countries and classified their

economies by the ease of doing business. A high ranking of ease of doing business means the regulatory

environment is more conducive to the creation and operation of a local company. The rankings for all

economies were determined by June 2014.

In terms of easiness of doing business, Portugal is in number 25th, Poland is in 32nd, Czech Republic in

44th and Ukraine in 96th.

4.3 Differentiating factors for Portugal

We believe setting up a nearshore centre or investing in Portugal has several advantages.

4.3.1 Strategic access to markets

The combination of Portugal’s economic openness, strong ties with the EU and unique geo-strategic

location, make it a natural gateway between the EU and world markets. The country’s ties with the African

continent, Brazil and transatlantic link with the USA, provide a cost effective internationalisation base.



Promoting a better business Environment Significant investment in Next Generation Networks, Public Administration Modernisation and on-line services.

4.3.2 Cost-competitive, qualified and flexible workforce

Portuguese employees are known for their versatility and commitment to work, with a positive attitude

towards the adoption of new technologies and practices.

4.3.3 Excellent environment to live and work

The country has safe urban centres and suburbs that promote a freedom impression to anyone living in

Portugal. All major international studies put Portuguese cities on the top of almost every European cities

ranking for conducting events and conferences.

Furthermore Portugal offers various benefits concerning technical aspects, e.g.

excellent training capacity with a network of quality university and polytechnic higher education, with

countless courses linked to ICT;

qualified and competitive human resources in the areas of technology;

proficiency in understanding and speaking in other languages (especially English);

as well as on a social contextual level. Examples are:

capacity for adaptation and predisposition of Portuguese citizens to work in multicultural

environments;

the IT professionals are among the most skilled, creative and committed workforce when compared

with its peers on an international basis;

proximity to a large number of developed countries with a lack of qualified human resources in

technologies.

4.3.4 Infrastructure

During the past decade, Portugal has invested heavily in modernising its communications infrastructure: the

result is an extensive network of land, air and maritime route facilities.

The quality of infrastructures is a competitiveness factor highly valued by foreign investors. When it comes to

making business move forward, we have everything we need – by sea, air or land we have the necessary

speed to make our customers products move worldwide.

In the callcentre space, Portugal is already identified as a hot spot. Recently, the German Deutsche Well

asked “Is Portugal the new 'India of Europe?'“ (References [10]).



4.3.5 Protection of Intellectual Property

Regarding to Intellectual Property, Portugal was one of the 11 founding members of the Union for the

Protection of Intellectual Property. Portugal is a signatory to World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreements

and a member of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and of the World Trade Organisation

(WTO).

4.3.6 Disruptive ideas coming from Portugal

In Portugal we have conditions for nearshore and the country has already good examples of how companies

can provide outsourcing services in this area. Some of the R&I work carried out in Portugal has a direct

impact on the daily life of its citizens, as the ones pointed out below. Some success stories take advantage

of the increasing evolution of the information technologies and of electronics which have overcome Europe in

its innovative projects.

Via Verde – Integrated system of automatic toll payment in highways that has been implemented

throughout the entire country;

Automated Teller Machine (ATM12) Network Service (developed by SIBS) - Innovation and

universal availability of features such as mobile phone top-ups, transfers, direct debits, events ticket

and transportation ticket (more than 80 operations available);

Crioestaminal - Pioneer and leading company specialised in the isolation and cryopreservation of

stem cells from umbilical cord blood and 3rd in Europe in number of clients.



5 Interested? How we could help

In case some of the topics addressed reflect your situation and the nearshoring approach is of interest,

enclosed are some examples of how pliXos and ubiwhere could help:

Staffing fitting IT experts in Germany: A simple and first option to get started might be sending

dedicated IT experts from Portugal to Germany and them getting an integral part of your local team.

As mentioned before, this is typically no solution for very long times but fast, easy and a perfect entry

point for a later nearshore set up. After having been working on your premises and with your local

team, the IT experts have an opportunity to go back, remain working for you and build up and

manage nearshore operations. This is a great opportunity for IT expert as well as for you. We are

able to manage all administrative and operational tasks. This ranges from employment in Germany,

searching for fitting candidates, checking technical and cultural skills, supporting them in relocation,

initial local training, among others.

Implementing first test projects as prime contractor: In case you have task which would fit a

nearshore approach but you do not want to invest time and effort or to take the potential risks of

implementing such a project yourself, you can rely on taking over the project as prime contractor

(“Generalunternehmer”). You get one local partner with a German onsite project management and

the takeover of the responsibility. We will manage the interaction with the nearshore team. After the

first successful deliverables you can take over from us, as it fits your expectations.

Setting up a dedicated nearshore development team: In case you have certain concerns about

the benefits and want to set up a dedicated nearshore centre closely controlled by you and aligned

with your goals, we are able to help. This might range from identifying appropriate locations,

searching and hiring fitting team members as well as managers, setting up the infrastructure, getting

the administration and legal tasks done as well as to continuously supporting in the management of

the remote centre. Important to keep the control, effective governance and ensure the Intellectual

Property (IPR) remain with the originator (e.g. in Germany).

These are just examples. We are happy to discuss your specific requirements. Contact us at

[email protected] and [email protected].

mailto:[email protected]



6 References

[1] Engpassanalyse 2013, Besondere Betroffenheit in den Berufsfeldern Energie und Elektro sowie

Maschinen- und Fahrzeugtechnik, Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie (BMWi),

11019 Berlin (www.bmwi.de)

[2] VDMA: Fachkräftebedarf nachhaltig sichern, Der VDMA hat die Politik aufgefordert, ihren Beitrag zur

langfristigen Sicherung des steigenden Fachkräftebedarfs erheblich zu verstärken, www.vdma.org

from 07. February 2015

[3] DIE ERGEBNISSE IN DER TRENDMONITOR-ANALYSE, February 2013 extracted from

www.computerwoche.de

[4] A.T. Kearney Digital Business Forum in Berlin in November 2014,

http://www.atkearney.com/web/digital-business-forum-executive-roundtable-2014-berlin/agenda

[5] Simulation with https://www.destatis.de/bevoelkerungspyramide/

[6] “Migration von Fach- und Führungskräften nach Deutschland”, Ergebnisse Unternehmensbefragung,

Bitkom Research GmbH im Auftrag von LinkedIn Deutschland, Österreich, Schweiz, Berlin, 16.

September 2013 and 12. August 2014, http://www.bitkom-research.de or

http://www.slideshare.net/linkedindach/linked-in-bitkommigrationsstudiefinal

[7] One example is pliXos itself which builds on nearshore software development for its own SaaS

product suite and has a Joint Venture in Kolkata, India for dedicated own tasks and further customer

projects. Cost saving of 50% were achieved in many cases in pliXos and customer projects.

[8] “Leading Offshore Services Locations in EMEA, 2015: Nearshore Increases Despite Geopolitical

Concerns“, published in December 2014

[9] National strategic plan for Tourism – Fostering the development of Tourism in Portugal -

http://www.turismodeportugal.pt/english/TurismodeportugalIP/AboutUs/Anexos/PENT%20VER%20I

NGLES.pdf

[10] Economy Rankings – Ease of doing business, published by the World Bank Group in June 2014

http://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings

[11] http://www.dw.de/is-portugal-the-new-india-of-europe/a-17266320

http://www.bmwi.de/

http://www.vdma.org/

http://www.computerwoche.de/

http://www.atkearney.com/web/digital-business-forum-executive-roundtable-2014-berlin/agenda

https://www.destatis.de/bevoelkerungspyramide/

http://www.bitkom-research.de/

http://www.slideshare.net/linkedindach/linked-in-bitkommigrationsstudiefinal

http://www.turismodeportugal.pt/english/TurismodeportugalIP/AboutUs/Anexos/PENT%20VER%20INGLES.pdf

http://www.turismodeportugal.pt/english/TurismodeportugalIP/AboutUs/Anexos/PENT%20VER%20INGLES.pdf

http://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings

http://www.dw.de/is-portugal-the-new-india-of-europe/a-17266320



7 The authors

7.1 Nuno Ribeiro

Nuno is the founder and MD of Ubiwhere which is headquartered in Aveiro, Portugal. Ubiwhere’s main

objective is to research and develop bleeding edge technologies, to design state-of-the-art solutions and to

create valuable intellectual property. With strong knowledge in IT business development, Nuno has been

developing important synergies with leading companies that have perceived the added value that Ubiwhere’s

team can bring to a project. He can be reached at [email protected] or +351 914641450.

Ubiwhere aim is to Research and develop bleeding edge technologies, design state-of-the-art solutions and

create valuable intellectual property. Our customers can rely on a fully committed, skilled and very

empathetic team. Our approach is mature but at the same time we are flexible, always having in

consideration our customer's requirement and needs. That flexibility that we have is the key to the success of

nearshore approach.

The successful exploitation of innovative ideas comes from our ability to imagine and develop new tools for

dynamic and challenging environments. In addition to investing our own resources in researching effective

solutions for our clients, we work with other industry-leading companies and universities in order to make the

most out of our capabilities and expertise. Our R&I process and expertise cover idea generation, planning,

designing, developing and testing, so that we are perfectly equipped to embrace any challenge.

For further information on ubiwhere please have a look at www.ubiwhere.com.

7.2 Joerg Stimmer

Joerg has successfully implemented numerous offshore and nearshore outsourcing projects in past years,

being responsible at customers side, in charge at the service provider or supporting customers in form of an

external consultant. Furthermore he is actively engaged in combining offshore/nearshore outsourcing in SW

development with applying agile methodologies (mainly SCRUM) plus supporting team collaboration and

governance by tool integration. He is founder and managing director of pliXos, a venture capital backed SW

startup offering a comprehensive Software as a Service toolchain to industrialise IT outsourcing, especially

when applying distributed teams. This is extended by a free global B2B Marketplace for SW projects. He can

be reached at [email protected] or +49-89-44234770.

pliXos is his way of actively pursuing his vision of how successful SW sourcing will take place in future:


http://www.ubiwhere.com/




For further information on pliXos please have a look at www.plixos.com.

Ubiwhere Headquarters Rua Pedro Vaz Eça 6ª 3800-322 Aveiro, Portugal [email protected] +351 234 484 466 www.ubiwhere.com

CONTACTS

pliXos GmbH Munich Technology Centre (MTZ) Agnes-Pockels-Bogen 1 80992 Munich, Germany [email protected] +49 89 44234770 www.plixos.com

http://www.plixos.com/



Getting SW Developed in Portugal – as Pleasant as Going there on Holidays?

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