Key highlights from Vietnam IT Outsourcing Conference - VNITO 2015

Ho Chi Minh City – Oct 16, 2015 - VNITO 2015, the biggest Vietnam IT Outsourcing conference was successfully held at Saigon’s Times Square for the first time. The conference gathered 100+ international investors and vendors from 20 countries including the US, Japan, Europe, Australia, Korea, and Singapore, as well as 100+ Vietnam software outsourcing companies and many IT universities, creating an effective business matching platform for buyers and Vietnamese software outsourcing vendors.

The conference included a notable lineup of speakers discussing the potential of Vietnam software outsourcing from different perspectives

• The prospective landscape of Vietnam software outsourcing with facts and figures from the global experts in the industry like Gartner and KPMG 
• Success stories and best practices from investors like ISB, Harvey Nash, Logigear, ISB, and Luxoft.
• Vietnam’s capabilities and competencies from top companies like TMA Solutions and FPT Software
• Competitiveness, human resources, and development opportunities for Vietnam ITO were covered in panel discussions led by 24 speakers. 

All keynotes and presentations from the conference are available for download here: http://vnito.org/conference/download/ 

Some of the key highlights from the conference include:

1. The Future of Offshore IT Outsourcing and Vietnam (by Gartner): Gartner considers Vietnam to be a Tier-1 emerging IT outsourcing market location in Asia, with high potential for growth due to cost, labor pool, infrastructure and cultural compatibility strengths. Vietnam’s vendors should prepare for the new competition triggered by SMES (smart-machine enabled services) which automate most manual tasks.
2. Vietnam as a potential market for ITO services (by KPMG): According to research completed by KPMG right before the conference, Vietnam is considered an attractive destination for IT outsourcing services thanks to its young and well-trained workforce, competitive cost structure, and stable business environment. Vietnam’s labor force is made up of eager, hard-workers that can quickly adapt to technological changes. Language skills remain a barrier while professional expertise is positively assessed. However, access to a high-skilled workforce remains difficult. Competitive cost (especially in the context of rising labor costs in ITO hubs such as India or China): According to Adecco Salary Guide 2015, the salary for IT jobs in Vietnam is among the lowest in Asia.
3. Success stories by “early-adopters,” business people, and investors in Vietnam ITO: During the morning of the conference and throughout the afternoon panel discussions, Vietnam software outsourcing investors and companies presented their specialized approaches to building competitive advantages in the global market. While LogiGear focuses its efforts on Software Testing & Automation Testing as a key unique selling point, Luxoft shared their success stories in the aviation and automotive vertical industries; and FPT Software inspiringly shared their ambition to help Vietnam become the Cloud Factory of the world. Rather than introducing any services or competencies, TMA Solutions told their story of focusing on people development and resources. TMA described how they have been “turning ore into gold” by building on the strengths and fixing the weaknesses of their people—investing in the capabilities, sustainability, and scalability of the resource. 
4. Further business development opportunities: During the conference, the 1st Vietnam ITO/BPO directory website was launched: http://vietnamitodirectory.com. The directory will help potential customers to quickly find Vietnamese software outsourcing vendors..Last but not least, the VNITO organizing committee confirmed that they would be running more business matching events for buyers and Vietnam software outsourcing vendors in the US, Japan, and other countries. The events will be held in 2016 to promote the Vietnam ITO industry and to build networking opportunities for Vietnam software outsourcing companies. 
5. Vietnam Outsourcing Excellence Awards: The conference also held its first award ceremony, recognizing the outstanding achievements of 33 Vietnamese enterprises in three categories: Top 10 IT Outsourcing Enterprises, Leading IT Outsourcing Enterprises, and Emerging IT Outsourcing Enterprises. The total revenue of the Top 10 IT Outsourcing Enterprises in 2014 reached 230 million US dollars, with a total workforce of 12,665 people.