DataArt Financial Technology Seminar: Efficiency & IP Protection in Outsourcing
April 14, 2008
DataArt semi-annual financial technology seminar at Harvard Club of New York gathered industry elites to discuss the big trade-off between efficiency and IP protection in consulting relationships.
The distinguished panel, moderated by Phil Albinus of Waters magazine, focused on due diligence as a key factor in outsourcing, and came to an interesting conclusion: many capital markets firms don’t perform proper due diligence before engaging a technology vendor.
Vladimir Dubinin, head of High Frequency Trading at Deutsche Bank, noted that each firm first has to determine the kind of due diligence it wants to perform (technical, legal, human factor), and then pursue each depending on the degree of importance. He also mentioned that in choosing a vendor, two key factors play a crucial role: years in business, and the list of existing clients.
Dean Miller, Deputy Chairman at Orbian noted that IP risk is but one of the risk considerations that must be evaluated by financial institutions. He observed that in his experience it was secondary to the risk of fraud which is compounded with the involvement of third party consulting relationships.
Ravi Manchi, Principal at Westwater corporation, stated that due diligence is equally important for onsite engagements performed by internal or external resources and offshore outsourcing engagements: the same due diligence should be performed, and if the sufficient trust level is established, the relationship can be initiated.
Other subjects of discussion included questions of what constitutes truly proprietary information in today’s financial institution, multi-sourcing as a means to preserve competitive edge, and measuring access to information by in-house staff, local consultants and offshore outsourcers.
Eric Karpman, Vice President at BoNY Mellon Asset Management, suggested a two-tier approach: keeping strategically important business data in house and outsourcing technology components to an IT vendor.
The event was followed by a wine reception. The next panel is scheduled for November 2008.
Aberdeen Group Names DataArt Best-in-Class R&D Outsourcing Provider
March 01, 2008
Aberdeen Group names DataArt a best-in-class outsourcing provider in its Market Alert, DataArt Leverages a Unique Delivery Model and Europe-proximate Facilities to Win Marquee Business.
Referencing its recent report, Aberdeen writes that from the end user’s perspective, the key benefits to outsourcing R&D functions lie in the opportunity to minimize time-to-market, reduce cost of development, enhance ability to focus on core R&D and access new professional resources. “DataArt’s solutions are designed to meet the needs of companies seeking R&D outsourcing services as its delivery infrastructure provides cost, time-zone and time-to-implement advantages,“ says the alert. “While in most companies domain experts are highly present in customer-facing positions, developers work primarily remotely. At DataArt the developers are the domain experts themselves, they bring detailed knowledge of platforms and expertise in tools, and are involved in all aspects of project scoping, customer facing and delivering allowing end-to-end development, and delivery capabilities.”
Aberdeen believes that “as a company with a high degree of expertise and specialization across several key verticals, DataArt gives extra benefits to end-users by the fact that both domain and functional knowledge are characteristics of its delivery staffers, precluding the delay of knowledge transfer that affects other firms.” Citing the company’s numerous industry awards, Aberdeen writes that “DataArt is being recognized for solid project execution, significant growth and the unique skill sets its staff brings to all parts of project development and delivery.”
DataArt Selected to Global Services 100 List for the Second Year in a Row
February 05, 2008
DataArt, a high-end software outsourcing company, was selected to Global Services 100 List for the second year in a row, and was once again recognized as a leader in Emerging European markets.
The Global Services 100, now in its fourth year, ranks vendors on effective operations, service offerings, client relationships and human capital, and takes into consideration the company’s size (revenue, employee strength, geographies covered), customers (customer base, testimonials and references, average contract size), skills (depth and breadth of offerings, delivery capability, quality initiatives, verticals covered) and other parameters (attrition, training). DataArt is named among top ten European service providers.
“We’ve been consistently ranked as one of the top IT providers,” said Michael Zaitsev, CEO of DataArt. “I’m proud of our team for delivering consistently high results, and grateful that we’re recognized by the industry for our efforts.” In 2007, DataArt was named among the top ten Emerging Global and Emerging European Service Providers.
“The Global Services 100 list has grown to be a highly credible listing of global IT services, as it helps service buyers leapfrog the request-for-information stage,” said Ed Nair, Editor of Global Services.
DataArt announced 2007 year-end results, reporting 73% overall revenue growth and 600% European revenue increase during its tenth year of operation.
While the majority of DataArt’s clients remain in the U.S., the drastic increase in annual revenue is mostly attributed to a six-time increase of European (UK) sales, which amounted to 25% of the overall revenue. DataArt signed 31 new clients in 2007, among them Cyrus Capital Partners, a New York based multi-strategy hedge fund; HedgeSpeed Technologies, an innovative provider of integrated hedge fund middle office solutions; and Betfair, the world’s biggest online betting company.
With the opening of two new offices, in the Ukrainian cities of Kharkov and Kherson, and further growth of offices in St. Petersburg and Voronezh, DataArt development force grew by 40%. A comprehensive advanced training program in finance, quantitative engineering and financial technology was established in all four development locations, to further deepen the company’s expertise in the capital markets.
DataArt received Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Status, the highest level of competence and expertise with Microsoft technologies, and marked over 1,500,000 billable hours since the company’s inception.
DataArt continues to be recognized by the industry for its achievements, and was named #4 Emerging Global Service Provider and #4 Emerging European Service Provider by CMP’s Global Services 100. In addition, it was selected to Global Sourcing 100 by International Association of Outsourcing Professionals for the second year in a row.
To celebrate a decade in business, DataArt staged St. Petersburg Dialogues Symposium, bringing together renowned international speakers from the IT industry.
“Strong growth in 2007 came from the recognition of our expertise in selected verticals by our existing and new clients,” said Eugene Goland, President of DataArt. “I’m proud of our team, for delivering the highest levels of customer satisfaction and for successfully overcoming organization challenges presented by such high growth rate.”
DataArt Sponsors Fifth Russian Student IT Olympics
November 21, 2007
DataArt continues to support academic initiatives in Russia, and was the general sponsor of the Fifth Annual all-Russia Informatics Olympiad in the city of Voronezh, where the company has an R&D center.
Over 700 students from 37 Russian cities took part in the annual competition, with 44 Voronezh students advancing to the second round. The top winners were students from St. Petersburg State Institute of Advanced Mechanics & Optics, Saratov State University and Taganrog Technology Institute respectively. The competition was organized as part of a wider government initiative to foster creative thinking and nurture new talent in the field of information technology.
“The IT Olympics is a great testament to our commitment to cultivating talent and providing conditions for its advancement. I’m certain this tradition has a great future, and DataArt will remain its dedicated supporter,” said Mikhael Fedorov, head of DataArt Voronezh office.
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