The whole world on the same team

There's a lot that can go wrong when using low-cost resources from warmer climes. IFS believes it has found the right strategy.

Thomas Petersson

Setting up an international organization that spans the entire globe can be fraught with difficulties. Many companies that have tested offshoring have found that it costs more than it's worth. But for IFS, an ERP supplier headquartered in Linkping, Sweden, investing in Sri Lanka has been a real success.

At the end of 2008, the company opened a new branch in Kandy, a district with 1.3 million inhabitants over 100 km inland from the capital.

"We realized that many of our employees are from that area and wanted to move back. As soon as it became known that we were opening a new office, we received more than 40 applications," says Thomas Petersson, whose job is to integrate IFS' international operations.

Well educated

Sri Lanka isn't a country most people would consider when it comes to outsourcing. It's big, and most media references are to the civil war in the north with the Tamil Tigers.

But when IFS was experiencing rapid growth in the late 1990s, the company looked around for new technology resources, especially for research and development.

That's how it ended up in the island republic southeast of India. Sri Lanka had a number of advantages, one of which was closeness to IFS' expanding operations in Asia. But above all, and unlike India, it was possible to set up a strong recruitment process.

In Sri Lanka, IFS attracts highly educated graduates from state and private universities, in particular programmers with the same level of competence as Western applicants. "We've learnt along the way, and the model for collaboration is one that we developed ourselves. The opening of a new office in the country is a sign that we've been very successful," says Petersson.