CYMBOL Software
Funded by Euregio Karelia Neighbourhood Programme 2001-2006

Objective of the project

The goal of the CYMBOL Software project was to improve the competitiveness of companies in the software industry in Northern Finland. This was to be achieved by both lowering costs and by freeing capacity from routine work for product and business development by creating permanent capabilities for companies to engage in subcontracting in the software industry in Russia. Therefore, the intention of the project was to create a permanent foundation for Finnish companies to obtain high-quality, cost-effective and flexible software production resources from Russia in the future.

Main activities

• Assessing of Finnish companies’ needs and attitudes towards subcontracting in the software industry, • Study of the subcontractors and expertise in the software industry in the Republic of Karelia and St. Petersburg areas and an assessment of the needs and expectations of the Russian parties regarding subcontracting and the operational model criteria, • Mapping of the support processes, bureaucracy and legal issues necessary for implementing software subcontracting as well as carrying out a risk analysis of software subcontracting from Russia, • Creation and piloting of an operational model for subcontracting activities.

Achievements

During the project, the participating companies were convinced to at least consider subcontracting from Russia. During the project, it became clear that lowering costs is only one part of improving competitiveness. Product development capacity and special expertise in situations requiring problem-solving abilities is, at minimum, an equally important factor. One company began implementing a subcontracting project during the initiative and two others remained at the specification phase. Permanent conditions for subcontracting in the software industry were implemented during the project by establishing a company to handle operations between the Finnish and Russian businesses. Companies appeared to want a supportive resource during the initial phase of subcontracting, when time is taken up with creating definitions, seeking and evaluating partners, and creating requests for and evaluating quotations. The project was able to offer help with these processes. Additional information is available at www.swbusiness.fi