"Capgemini" top open an outsourcing center in Iaşi

Cosmina Capalău

"Capgemini", a provider of consulting, technology and outsourcing services, will open a center in Ia i, in a bid to strengthen its Eastern Europe presence. "Capgemini" is one of the first international IT outsourcing companies to have an office in this city, says Mr. Frank Wagenbauer, CEO of the company"s Romanian branch.

"Capgemini" officials announced, in a press conference, that the Ia i center will be ready at the end of July, and should become operational starting in August.

According to "Capgemini" officials, "Iaşi is one of the largest campuses in Romania, providing us with access to a large pool of talented and qualified people which meet our needs. The linguistic abilities of the graduates, especially in French, German, English, Italian and Spanish, make Iaşi an ideal location to help our company meet the constant demand of European customers for outsourcing services", they said.

"Opening a new outsourcing center in Romania emphasizes the permanent need for this kind of services, in spite of the current economic climate and allows us to continue in helping our customers grow, innovate and preserve their competitive advantage", said Mr. Richard Dicketts, Global Head of Infrastructure Management "Capgemini". "Being one of the first multinational companies going into Iaşi, we will also have access to top local talent, that we intend to develop through individual strategies into powerful teams, and we will form experts that will be proud of our accomplishments in this region", he added.

• 200 employees by the end of the year

Frank Wagenbauer, CEO of "Capgemini" România, said that "if the center gets completed by the end of July, we can begin operations in August. From our point of view, we can"t postpone opening center past that date, because we already have customers lined up and commitments that we have to honor", he added. The Iaşi center can host 250 employees, and "Capgemini" Romania hopes to have at least 200 positions filled by the end of 2009.

As to the effects of the crisis on the company"s operations, Mr. Wagenbauer said that while the crisis is affecting other types of services, the outsourcing industry is still going strong, and there is still potential for growth". "Capgemini" Romania"s CEO also said that "outsourcing can cut costs by as much as 30% compared to customers who manage their own IT systems".