@ gochi

Nice idea!

Have you heard of TBSL (Technodigital Business Solutions Limited). They are a leading IT outsourcing company based in Nigeria. www.tbslng.com, they designed www.SMSDimensions.com, www.alvanlive.com, etc. They are currently putting up an online system of outsourcing for nigerian compananies and nigerian software developers. It's going to be like a bidding system, where companies will place their projects and coders can come and bid for it.
The buyer decides to select the coder of his choice and he makes payment to a third party for security of funds, bla, bla, bla, and the coder swings into action. once the project is completed within the stipulated time frame, the buyer tests the product and rates the coder.

Well, i don't know how this system will work in nigeria, but i hear it is already used in places like india.

What do u think.

Good to see that there is an already existing IT outsourcing company based in Nigeria. The current project your company is working on is a good one.

Also about the payment part, making payment to a third party, I think that would improve the TRUST issue which is plaguing Nigeria's image. The third party can be a well known bank such as Zenith bank or any other registered bank in Nigeria.

- Do you bid for contracts from outside Nigeria? For example, do you bid for contracts from companies in UK, USA etc?
- Also, does your company comply with international quality standards such as ISO 9000 and SEI-CMM? http://www.offshorexperts.com/index.cfm/fa/articles.ISO9000-and-SEI-CMM-processes-and-standards-for-outsourcing
- Could you also give me the names of other IT outsourcing businesses in Nigeria.

Seun how come your total posts remain 15499 for last 2 years?

Outsorcing will efinitely come to nigeria esp in the area of Customer Service,Reception services.
Right now when u call a 0845 number in the UK , it rings in India,companies would def prefer africa CS centres due to distance,command of english etc.

That'll  also opens up a lot of opportunities for or I.T guys in programming,database mgmt and general I.T support

obabs:

@ gochi

Good to see that there is an already existing IT outsourcing company based in Nigeria. The current project your company is working on is a good one.

Also about the payment part, making payment to a third party, I think that would improve the TRUST issue which is plaguing Nigeria's image. The third party can be a well known bank such as Zenith bank or any other registered bank in Nigeria.

- Do you bid for contracts from outside Nigeria? For example, do you bid for contracts from companies in UK, USA etc?
- Also, does your company comply with international quality standards such as ISO 9000 and SEI-CMM? http://www.offshorexperts.com/index.cfm/fa/articles.ISO9000-and-SEI-CMM-processes-and-standards-for-outsourcing
- Could you also give me the names of other IT outsourcing businesses in Nigeria.

The company bridges the GAP between the coders and the buyers of the software. And it is stated clear that if the coder cannot do the job, he should not even bid at all. Buyers are from any part of the world, no restriction.

@cream2
I find your allusion to my advice, on course of study as mere crap, very interesting. I think the little I can do is to open your eyes to some of the things you do not know or maybe you've chosen to turn your back on.

1) Let's use your company as a typical example. Please, no hard feelings; we are just dissecting the issue in question.
From the TECHNOLOGY link on your website, you mentioned that Avaya IP Office is at the core of your organization's framework. But do you know that with ASTERISK you could end up with a system that offers increased flexibility, scalability, productivity and reliability? And at the same time reducing cost of deployment and maintenance? Food for thought.

2) In the field of engineering (IT included), we have five levels ( From Top to Bottom):

5, Scientists  ----------Their job is to show the world why some things happen
4, Engineers   ----------Their job is to tell the world how those things happen
3, Technologists  -----Their job is to make those things happen
2, Technicians   --------Maintains or looks after the finished products which the levels above developed.
1, Artisans  -------------Helping with menial jobs required at all levels.
For any company to be a global player you must be playing at levels 3, 4 & 5. However before you get to levels 3, 4 or 5 you must have undergone a thorough formal education in a related discipline. I have nothing against those who came into the IT field through "the back door". I'm only saying that their chance of meddling with the heart of IT as a discipline becomes very slim.

@bjcisse
Hope that helps you too.


NOTE:
Asterisk was developed by mark spencer, a computer engineer. The same guy that developed gaim. Now that is what I call IT. Six months half baked programmers, who cannot hack into the source codes of their compilers, cannot get us anywhere in this global business. Please let us do IT right. Pleaseeeee!!

As much as it is necessary to do a feasibility at the start of any business, its not worth it to waste time instarting up.

Setting up a world class outsourcing company in Nigeria is possible inspite of whatever we see as obstacles.

Even in India, they had their challenges when they wanted to start. Particularly the language palava. Yet, the are reference point today when it comes to software outsourcing.

You don't expect to get all right from the beginning. When you start the businesss, you learn on the job. As far as getting clients is concerned, effective marketing plan will take care of that.

Get a well developed website, good sales letter, get contract from freelance sites and build a sizesable database of individual clients around the world and then use their testimonies and recomendations to get bigger clients. Like this, you're set to build a viable business.

Obabs, If you're really serious about starting this business, START NOW. While we waste time, throwing this issue up and down here, another optimistic entreprenuer is implementing this same idea.

I can be useful in the marketing of the business. Just Pm me if you'll need my service.

Hi, am Ogunjobi laide A.
I read Computer Science from the University of ibadan and would like to have discussion with you about the IT company.My email is ogunjobilaide_2003@yahoo.com
mobile: 08053381685

I want to congratulate all those that have benefited from CLUB FREEDOM. The same time am sympathysing with all the people that are currently investing in clubfreedom stuff. I know many people ll want to doubt me. I want to sound clear to anyone who is not aware of ;this business. WWW.CLUBFREEDON.BIZ is a FRAUDULENT Business. I was once a victim of such miracle money business, I have gone yonder to dig out CORE TRUTH behing clubfreedom, For those who care to know, U should know that there was a change in clubfreedom's 'contact us' address in the last 3 weeks. Their original international office address was, eCash International Inc. (12/F
168-200 Connaught Road Central) HongKong, During my joint investigation with international bodies, We went to the said address in Hongkong, You will be shocked to the marrow to hear what we saw and heard about clubfreedom, To my greatest surprise less than of 1 week of our research in Hogkong the address on www.clubfreedom.biz contact us changed. ANYONE HOPING TO BECOME OVERNITE MILLIONAIRE THRU CLUBFREEDOM am SORRY TO TELL U THIS, YOU MIGHT NOT SMILE AT THE END. Anyone doubting me can send email to antiscam2007@yahoo.com or send sms to o8o29863375 (NOTE' the line does not receive call, sms only)

The VOICE to the voiceless

@ aikyg

Starting up an IT company for outsourcing is no child Lego game. Before you delve into such an adventure, that is if you are not just having a wet dream, you need to look at yourself and see if you are ready. Let's take it one step at a time.

Question 1) How big do you expect the company to be?
Question 2) Who are your target customers?
Question 3) What is your team down here going to look like?
Question 4) How rich are you?
Question 5) How bright are you?
Question 6) And most importantly, what course did you study and what level did you get to?

If your answer does not look like what I have below, then you need to wake up and find another job. It may sound hard but you should know that your competitors are going to be Indians; who are masters themselves when it comes to outsourcing .

Question 1) How big do you expect the company to be? , As big as iFlex.
Question 2) Who are your target customers? , Big players in America and Europe.
Question 3) What is your team down here going to look like? , Software engineers, geeks and very smart undergraduates. Not NIIT "half baked Six Month Programmers".
Question 4) How rich are you? , I have up to Five million Naira that I can afford to loose.
Question 5) How bright are you? , I Can figure out some real life applications of some mathematical theorems, in three minutes. Say Taylor's series.
Question 6) And most importantly, what course did you study and what level did you get to? I studied Computers Science/Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Mathematics, Physics or Electrical/Electronics Engineering. And I have at least a B.sc. in that field.

My answer looks like what you described above, and even more than that. I haven't heard of iFlex before but I am looking to be bigger than companies such as EDS, Accenture and other big names.

2) In the field of engineering (IT included), we have five levels ( From Top to Buttom):

5, Scientists ----------Their job is to show the world why some things happen
4, Engineers ----------Their job is to tell the world how those things happen
3, Technologists -----Their job is to make those things happen
2, Technicians --------Maintains or looks after the finished products which the levels above developed.
1, Artisans -------------Helping with menial jobs required at all levels.
For any company to be a global player you must be playing at levels 3, 4 & 5. However before you get to levels 3, 4 or 5 you must have undergone a thorough formal education in a related discipline. I have nothing against those who came into the IT field through "the back door". I'm only saying that their chance of meddling with the heart of IT as a discipline becomes very slim.

True talk!

@ webcrawlla

As much as it is necessary to do a feasibility at the start of any business, its not worth it to waste time instarting up.

Setting up a world class outsourcing company in Nigeria is possible inspite of whatever we see as obstacles.

Even in India, they had their challenges when they wanted to start. Particularly the language palava. Yet, the are reference point today when it comes to software outsourcing.

You don't expect to get all right from the beginning. When you start the businesss, you learn on the job. As far as getting clients is concerned, effective marketing plan will take care of that.

Get a well developed website, good sales letter, get contract from freelance sites and build a sizesable database of individual clients around the world and then use their testimonies and recomendations to get bigger clients. Like this, you're set to build a viable business.

Obabs, If you're really serious about starting this business, START NOW. While we waste time, throwing this issue up and down here, another optimistic entreprenuer is implementing this same idea.

I can be useful in the marketing of the business. Just Pm me if you'll need my service.

True talk. I am looking to start business soon.


@ all
I'm finding out about Intellectual Property Law in Nigeria. Poor Intellectual Property Law is the main reason why client companies are reluctant in outsourcing their IT work to vendor companies in China.

One other issue I am looking at, is how our new company can be in conformance with international standards, such as the ISO-9000. This is very important because client companies usually check to see whether a vendor is ISO-9000 certified. Another issue I am looking at is CMM - Capability Maturity Model - which provides a process model based on software best-practices, effective in large-scale, multi-person projects. (As defined on Wikipedia.org)

You people can conduct a research about ISO 9000 and CMM certifications for IT outsourcing.

@Student

And that is all u can contribute? to bring out the mis- trust and not the skills of Nigerians.

aikyg:

@cream2
I find your allusion to my advice, on course of study as mere crap, very interesting. I think the little I can do is to open your eyes to some of the things you do not know or maybe you've chosen to turn your back on.

1) Let's use your company as a typical example. Please, no hard feelings; we are just dissecting the issue in question.
From the TECHNOLOGY link on your website, you mentioned that Avaya IP Office is at the core of your organization's framework. But do you know that with ASTERISK you could end up with a system that offers increased flexibility, scalability, productivity and reliability? And at the same time reducing cost of deployment and maintenance? Food for thought.

2) In the field of engineering (IT included), we have five levels ( From Top to Buttom):

5, Scientists ----------Their job is to show the world why some things happen
4, Engineers ----------Their job is to tell the world how those things happen
3, Technologists -----Their job is to make those things happen
2, Technicians --------Maintains or looks after the finished products which the levels above developed.
1, Artisans -------------Helping with menial jobs required at all levels.
For any company to be a global player you must be playing at levels 3, 4 & 5. However before you get to levels 3, 4 or 5 you must have undergone a thorough formal education in a related discipline. I have nothing against those who came into the IT field through "the back door". I'm only saying that their chance of meddling with the heart of IT as a discipline becomes very slim.

@bjcisse
Hope that helps you too.


NOTE:
Asterisk was developed by mark spencer, a computer engineer. The same guy that developed gaim. Now that is what I call IT. Six months half baked programmers, who cannot hack into the source codes of their compilers, cannot get us anywhere in this global business. Please let us do IT right. Pleaseeeee!!

aikyg - no hard feelings at all, there's never hard feelings only warm fuzzy ones,

I still maintain that as a nation we are still too focused on 'books' rather than getting out there and getting the job. Don't get me wrong, education is good but after a while it's simply jarring,

With regards to your comments about opening my eyes, I am fully aware that an open sourced based system is probably better but you need to understand where we are in Nigeria. Most people are still so much into what they see rather than what they are actually getting, that they won't allow something that isn't name brand give them the same benefits that a non name brand would, you see ultimately, I am a business man here to make money period - so which ever way, I can 'razzle dazzle' the key decision makers then I'm all about that,


Just so that you know, I have a Asterix PBX/Call Centre Application from Halidzo as well

Hello Obabs,

Your initiative is quite commendable, there is one challeng before me now which I think the initiatve like this would provide solution to. Could you belief that we are still lacking in the area of Library Automation Software. I have visited most of the libraries that deployed e-library but they still complain of one problem or the other with this softwares. I would be glad if you could include this in your project. There is market for it in Nigeria, most libraries are now going electronic. I am presently sourcing for reliable E-library software for my organisation, which I am yet to come up with one. In case you have any link where I can get it, could you please get in touch with me and let us discuss do business together. (tunde.sobola@gmail.com)

This is an interesting topic

@aiyg n all
Just a question bothering on source of personnel, do you think the average nigerian computing graduate can actually do good in this outsourcing biz. Can they hack into compiler source codes?

What do hacking and Christianity have to do with outsourcing? Are you sure you know what you're saying?

me too i wanna know

hi obabs,

its really nice to hear someone with such ambition talk most especially in IT, you know IT is soon going to take lead in the world, please keep that spirit and let nigeria make a difference. i am also into IT and i also want a case study for Nigeria positively. here is my email address , evergreen_luckia@yahoo.com OR evergreen_luckia@hotmail.com OR evergreenluckia@gmail.com,

hey, we can always talk and share ideas, love to hear from you soonest,

tk care

Good discussion people.

Has anyone here considered setting up an online IT outsourcing firm just like Elance.com etc which, first of all, would focus on outsourcing freelance IT skills to companies in Nigeria and maybe west africa?

It is possible that if you succeed in getting Nigerian businesses and individuals to buy services from IT freelancers in Nigeria then the quality of Nigerian techies will start becoming clear to the world.

If this is accomplished, i believe that folks worldwide will buy their services from Nigeria.

Finally, we do visit this forum every now and then because of our business interest in Nigeria, I must confess that it appears to me that Nigerians are the ones that seem to have more problem with their image. You seem to worry more about fraud (at least you write more about it) than europeans. No harm meant here.

You must understand that serious businesses do not give a damn if you are in Nigeria, Irak or where ever. What is of interest is if you can deliver the services and the quality. People will come to you when they see you have what they need. I have a feeling that Nigeria has not shown what it can do yet, but on the other hand this IT thing is still in its infancy worldwide.

BTW do you think online IT Freelance outsourcing will fail in your country Nigeria and in west africa? If so, why?

A very good one! I think we are missing the point here. An IT company, outsourcing or not is really possible in this country.

But before we rush things and at the end of the day meet brick walls in the global market, lets look inwards. How many companies in Nigeria are using software made in Nigeria. And how many softwares are really made in Nigeria. I think what we have to do first is to conquer our local market, we first must hold our local market tight and then prepare to compete outside, our banks might be a good example for us, they are battling to control the local market and then some of them are now going to African countries and even moving one leg in the global market.

I know some of you might have done some software and maybe sell little or most companies are not using the software, then that is part of the issues to be handled in our local market. I mean proper marketing, indepth technology marketing is what is needed, you might think you must have a perfect software better than the ones coming from abroad, no, what we need here is technology marketers, Hey, not just listing what the software can do but really doing some underground marketing so the users can buy.

I will come back to this topic soon, but for Obabs, I think the first step is to conquer the local market and take the hold in the international market. check this out, most of our hostipal are not using any software to run their hospital, the farmers nothing, Look at the schools except websites they don't use technology to make learning fast and more cordinated.

what of the police that is a total minus, the move to the government and also take a step to the judiciary, wait have you been to our local courier companies and see what is happening there, how they battle with countless papers and form just to locate common paper, you see there are a heep of work to be done locally before doing the outsourcing. May be you can also think about asset mangement that feets to the local market too.

well I said I will come back to this issue, till then.

It is only possible when you start.

Hi Obabs,

Its always a pleasure to see another Naija Broda taking that tentative step towards making knowledge transfer into the Nigerian economy a reality, The brain drain has gone on for far too long!

I'll like to highlight certain points here

1. The Business venture should be considered as such and should not be borne out of a patriotic zeal {Never helps}
2. Your customer base must be available before you commit funds as unlike the US Nigeria is just starting to develop its own IT knowledge base
3. Numbers crunching is most essential, Please ensure that you get a realistic forecast for the business as opposed to theoretical profit potential
4. Consider the fact that even Nigerians will rather outsource their jobs to foreign partners than Nigerians !!!
5. Take a critical look at how globalisation affects the Nigerian economy and what part it has to play,

These are some of the questions that i didnt answer when i carried out my 1st business venture in Naija {Also in the UK} and i paid dearly for it!!! Consider this a lessons learnt report from my experiences.

Wish you all the best.

Euclidian Logick is dialectic

Hi Obabs,I'm interested in your proposition.Pls get me in.I'm crazy about building business systems and so i have been studying privately in this direction.thanks as you do.We can create the wow-feeling!!!

don't bother yourself nigeria's infastructure isn't solid enough, and ask your selves why would a foreign firm come to you in NIGERA when there are plenty of companies within their vicinity that they can trust and rely, as nigerians do not have a good reputattion overseas trust me i know this because the streotype has been used to judge before. go get a job in the us, do software engineering or something or work in an it firm, shit with 180,000 dollars per anum i wouldn't give a shit bout nigeria, i wud just come 2 visit thats it !!!!!

@obabs

I see you location is showing as UK so you are probabably located in the UK and must have some affinity with what i'm going to tell you here. Your idea is a good one but there are some inherent disadvantages you need to consider if you are to proceed.

Firstly, i'm a Nigerian who runs a rather large company in the UK and for the past 3 years all our customer service, IT Solutions, software developments etc have been outsourced to companies in India and we couldn't ask for for a better service. So be prepared to offer an equal or better service than UK and other western companies are getting already.

Secondly, be prepared to face hurdles and obstacles especially when soliciting for werstern business. The reason I am telling you this is the following. As a Nigerian who runs a company in the UK, even we have our difficulties when we bid for contracts for our service especially if the client knows that the overall boss of the company is Nigerian. In some cases, I have to let my staff who is white to handle negotiations even though it is me that ultimately oks everything. So look for a foreign partner to get you foreign contracts.

Thirdly, these westerners will not trust you. Most probably your biggest obstacle is TRUST with a capital T as that is what business in the western world boils down to and the botton line is that most westerners don't trust Nigerians period. Even somebody like myself who has lived most of my adult life in the UK they still have a prblem when they find out my origin is from Nigeria and I'm sure i'm not alone in facing this problem.

Fourthly and at the risk of repeating what some else in this forum has already said, the cost of doing business in Nigeria is too high & the lack of good and quality IT people in my view in comparison to let say India and other IT hotbeds. I'll give you an example.

- Our company plans to open a branch in Victoria Ireland and we discovered that the Broadband Internet Service being provided by a company called Hyperia is actually more exepensive than the amount we pay for Broadband Service in our office in London. So you might not be able to compete well with your competitors in India until our so-called government make the price of doing business in Nigeria go down. Every country that want to attract foreign investors in the world are doing it but not Nigeria. How can the cost of doing business in Nigeira be higher thant the cost of doing business in the UK or USA? What is the rationale for this? Can anyone explain that to me? This is a rhetorical questions so I don't need people posting messages to me about the ifs, whats and whys of why this is so  .

- Also, there is the lack of enough IT professionals. Our company have been looking for a good ASP.NET Coders in Nigeria to take a position in our Nigerian Office IT Solution but for the past 2 months we have not even found even a single one. So in my view there are not enough qualified IT people like in India which of course is a disadvantage to Nigeria businessess.

Fifthly is the issue of "RELIABILTY" with a capital "R" and a two-prong dimension. Firstly, how reliable would be the infrascructure you are going to use like electricity, Internet Access etc? Because don't forget, IT Solutions needs to be reliable and accessble most of the time. For example the company handling our Call Center operation with our customers enquiries in India are able to talk to our customers on the phone and Live Chat 24/7. You've got to ask yourself, is this something you can offer, assure and deliver to your foreign clients? The second prong to the reliability issue is, how reliable are the people working for you? You've got to get this spot on! You cannot afford to have or allow some half baked twits working for you that are unreliable when the person you are delivering the service for is a western company from Germany or UK or Canada or wherever who are used to evenrything functioning like a Swiss clock.

I could go on and on to give you more reasons why this will be dificult not from a single company's setting up point of view but from the bigger picture of Nigeria becoming an IT Hotbed like India or other countires in the Asian Sub-continent. But even as a single company setting up you still have to address the above listed issues especially if you want to become a big and successful company. ABOVE ALL, Nigerians have to brush up on their professionalism beause believe you me, it is not an accident that thousand of companies are outsourcing to India, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand that are like almost the end of the world in terms of distance when countries like Nigeria which is just like 5 hours away from Europe with a high literate population is just around the corner. Believe you me, this is no accident.

Setting up and looking after the local market is probably a better solution and a step forward before concentrating your efforts on the international market unless you have massive amounts of money that your company can survive on until contracts start coming from foreign comapnies. One more thing, I can't imagine how you will do it without the participation of a foreign company that actually source the foreign contracts for you (ibid my second point).

This is not a criticism of your idea or by any means trying to dissuade you but just a reality check of it. At the end of the day even with the listed problems our company is still setting up a branch in Nigeria. So good luck with this endeavour and hopefully you succeed.

www.outsourcenigeria.com
I am from the UK and am about to go into to business here in Nigeria with my company Outsource Nigeria. We will be looking for key people to join us so if you are interested, please drop me a line at mark@outsourcenigeria.com. We will be loking to tak eon National work to start with and build a good solid reputation before going to the outside world. Nigeria has a lot to offer and I think taking one step at a time is the right approach.

So if you have I.T skills please get in touch.

Mark

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Hi all,
After many years working in the software business around the world, we have decided to move our services to Nigeria. We think the time is ripe for the move.

To this end, we have spent the last few months working on a number of software products directed at the Nigerian market. Our first offering is a Payroll and Human resource management software called 'EasyWare Human Resource Manager'. You may download an evaluation copy at: http://www.easyware-ng.com/human_resources.html.

We are looking to partner with software sales/marketing any organisations or individuals with a good understanding of the Nigerian market and good contacts within the software end-user market. Are there people on this forum who can point us in the right direction?

Thanks

Great Idea , We are  running a web design company ,TheDesignTubes, a web designing & developing division of OpenConceptz which is located in Kerala, India. We are in the web designing world for past five years.  We provide highly customized web programming solutions, website design, logo design, flash design and brochure design solutions of supreme quality at affordable rates,   
  If you are looking for outsourcing your work ,we would more than happy to assist you in your ventures  . we have started a new wing of TheDesignTubes which really intended on doing outsourced work directly .By this  we can do the project at extremely reasonable rates and we can guarantee better interaction through direct contact.
  We have a world class infrastructure equipped with very highly skilled and experienced team members. Our team is a right mix, which got the potential to synergize between their creativity and clients requirements.
   If you are interested in learning more of how our services can benefit your business, please contact us at your convenience.
Our company E-Mail -  thedesigntubes@hotmail.com . We look forward for your great response .

Thanks & Regards
  Danial

Am a programmer with experience in C/C++, C#, VB.net. I really want to be a part of this.

It Outsourcing company is a very competitive business today and many investors are investing more on outsourcing because they know how competitive it is and how much the return of their investments. Starting up an IT outsourcing company is not that easy because you need to have a deep knowledge with regards to IT stuffs and you must know the processes in order to make and provide the right IT services.