What is your vision of outsourcing software development? Two companies in different parts of the world, locked in their offices and knowing each other only in the virtual world? If the answer is ‘yes’, you’ve got it right—at least in the majority of cases that’s what outsourcing is all about. Modern technology enables us to work for someone and never meet them saving on labor and traveling costs.

But that doesn’t mean it’s totally satisfying and we at NTR know that personal contacts build firmer business relationships, promote understanding and boost corporate reputation. Therefore, we’re always looking for opportunities to meet our international clients, both in Russia and abroad.

In February this year, NTR CEO Nick Mikhailovsky had a two-week trip to England (with stops in London, Bristol, Truro and Cambridge). Along with discussing new contracts with current clients, he met a number of potential ones through the business network of our British counterparts.

One meeting, with Oleg Podsechin, a director at Ionsquare Ltd, resulted in an agreement to organize a trip to our facilities in both Moscow and Tomsk for companies interested in developing more extensive relations with us.

Cabot Tower in Bristol

Bristol University

The first reciprocal visit was in March. In addition to dealing with multiple business issues, our guests enjoyed the sights of our two cities – cosmopolitan Moscow and picturesque, cozy Tomsk; some even went to a ski resort near Novokuznetsk for the weekend.

We had arranged for Pavol Rovensky, a technical project manager with 15-year hands-on experience, to deliver a lecture on Agile development methodology. Unfortunately, our cold Siberian winds worked their mischief and the lecture was cancelled.

NTR’s second destination was Italy where Gelena Katkova, the head of our BPO (business processing outsourcing) department and director of Tomsk division of NTR Lab, spent almost two months at the Tuscany headquarters of our client’s partner as part of an experience exchange program. She also visited Pisa, Rome, and lots of other small towns. Unforgettable and awesome…

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