NTR

Does Russia/NTR offer special advantages when outsourcing?
What services do you provide?
What types of maintenance do you provide?
What are the normal working hours in a day and week?
Can you provide references?
How do you address confidentiality and security?
How do you deal with the communication challenges inherent in offshoring?
Where are you located?
Do these locations have special advantages?
What about the time difference?

Questions and Answers

Does Russia/NTR offer special advantages when outsourcing?

According to a market study conducted by RUSSOFT in 2005, Russia is fast becoming a popular outsourcing destination. Software exports from Russia grew 35% percent in 2004 and 40% percent in 2005. Boeing, Alcatel, Reuters, the London Stock Exchange and Siemens are a few of the more than 250 global companies actively utilizing Russian-based offshore software development. It’s the smart choice when you consider Russia’s, and NTR’s, unique strengths:

• Globally, Russia is ranked number three, after the US and Japan, for the number of scientists and engineers per capita. That translates into a talent pool of over 4.7 million students (about 600,000 in Moscow, about 80,000 in Tomsk and over 14,000 in Novokuznetsk, the cities where NTR is located), 50% of whom are majoring in science, math, and computer sciences, according to the US/Russia Roundtable). Since 1999, Russian Universities have trained and graduated more than 1.3 million software developers, whereas Russian IT has absorbed only half that number.
• the majority of Russia’s software professionals are mathematicians or scientists who have changed their career path and gone into computing.
• Russian technical education focuses on advanced levels of mathematical and computational techniques.
• There is available an array of specialized expertise, such as Artificial Intelligence, statistical algorithms for risk evaluation in medical, financial and insurance applications and numerical optimization algorithms for financial problems.
• NTR’s entrepreneurial culture means stronger initiative and critical thinking skills at programmer level.
• A lower cost of living means a lower cost of labor as compared to the U.S. and Western Europe.
• Geographical proximity to Western Europe and the U.S. and cultural proximity to the West.
   

All in all, today’s Russia, and especially NTR, offer the right combination of talent, expertise and cost, so that your company can take advantage of the superior rewards of transformational outsourcing.
 

What services do you provide?

We provide software development solutions and services to medical software and hardware vendors worldwide. We specialize in the following:

• Application Development and Maintenance
• Product Development and Management
• Automated testing and Beta Testing
• Technical Documentation

What types of maintenance do you provide?

Contrary to what many think, maintenance isn’t a one-size-fits-all function; that’s why we distinguish between corrective, adaptive, perfective, and preventive maintenance.
 
 

What are the normal working hours in a day and week?

Generally, we work a normal eight-hour day and a 40-hour week. However, we know that project deadlines are critical and we do what it takes to meet them. Although we have a different holiday schedule than other countries, it doesn’t interfere with our deadlines.
 
 

Can you provide references?

Of course; we are pleased to provide references upon request.
 
 

How do you address confidentiality and security?

We use both corporate policy and technology solutions:

• IP protection: A mutual NDA between NTR and all clients adds legal protection for both their, and our, IP.
• Access control: Secure physical and internet access through user identification and passwords. Access to NTR offices: the facility has 24/7 security guards who monitor all entrances and exits of each building as well as 24/7 guards on each floor, and office access is restricted by electronic pass.
• Internet and system security: We use specially configured Web servers for all business with our clients. We use corporate firewalls to protect our Web servers from unauthorized access.
• Virus prevention: Constant, automatic anti-virus software updates.
• Intrusion detection: Operating systems, user accounting, and application software logging processes are enabled on all host and server systems.
• Software applications: Immediate installation of any security patches issued by the manufacturer.

How do you deal with the communication challenges inherent in offshoring?

While technology has overcome the geographic barriers, NTR has overcome the more difficult, intangible barriers of language, culture and attitude. Our meticulous project management combined with innovative communication channels - instant messaging, VOIP, online meetings, wiki’s, whiteboards, and email - keeps us on top of the changing needs of our clients. Our fluency in English facilitates easy communications, while our entrepreneurial culture ensures that everyone working on a project - developers, programmers, managers, and administration - constantly strive to improve the customer experience.
 
 

Where are you located?

Our HQ is in Moscow, with a second development office in Tomsk and a third in Novokuznetsk.
 
 

Do these locations have special advantages?

All the three cities are attractive to the technical elite, and therefore to us, because

• Moscow: Offers European-style living only a few hours away from main European and Asian capitals. It is home to numerous academic institutions, research and development centers and, therefore, give us access to thousands of highly skilled IT professionals at all disciplines and levels.
• Tomsk is a picturesque, relatively small, intimate, college town with superb recreational facilities. It is often referred to as the Siberian Athens, because it is home to the oldest universities east of the Ural mountains. It boasts six state universities and 15 satellite campuses of other universities. The abundance of graduates, along with the professionals available from the dozens of research and development institutions, provides us with fertile recruiting soil in which to grow.
• Novokuznetsk is a major coal mining and industrial center of Kemerovo region, with three state universities and about 13 satellite campuses of colleges in Moscow, Tomsk and Kemerovo.

What about the time difference?

To assure the best communication possible with our clients we shifted our work time. Typically, Moscow is available from 2 am to 2 pm EST, Tomsk from 11 am to 11 pm and Novokuznetsk from 10 am to 10 pm Eastern time. The time difference between us and our clients helps shorten the development cycle by creating a nearly 24 hour work day. Our Moscow office is located at GMT+3; in the US, EST+8 with PST+11). The Tomsk office is located at GMT+6 (EST+11, PST+14). The Novokuznetsk office is GMT+7 (EST+12, PST+15); while London is GMT, San Francisco GMT-8, New York GMT-5, Dubai GMT+4, Adelaide GMT+9.5. In addition, we can make special arrangements when there is an urgent client need.