IsraelWise Business Information, Brokerage and marketing services in Israel - Israel: High-tech outsourcing in the land of the Bible

What Israel has to offer as an outsourcing location

Wednesday, July 6th 2005
Bill Heldman, Network World

Previously, we have discussed the movement toward globalism and its profound impact on the world - especially in terms of jobs that relocate from one country to another. In particular, we've talked a lot about outsourcing to countries such as India and Canada. But so far, we have not explored one of my favorite places to visit - Israel.

Israel, slightly smaller than New Jersey, is truly a beautiful place and full of sharp, friendly people who are anxious to serve others as best they can. I have always felt safe when I visited the country, and I have been impressed with the richness of the culture and the old vs. new world dichotomy that surrounds the entire nation. Here you'll see a 4,000-year-old ruin that is being carefully uncovered, while only an hour or two away there is a group of modern skyscrapers in a bustling urban environment. Traffic signs are in Hebrew, Arabic and English. A minaret stands aside an Anglican church, which is close to a synagogue.

It is one thing to be a tourist in Israel, but what about outsourcing some of your high-tech operations to that country? Those interested will find some startling revelations as they begin to investigate this paradoxical land:

* According to a recent piece on Neil Cavuto's Fox News television program "Your World," it was said that one-in-four technical workers in Israel has an engineering degree.

* According to the IsraelWise Web site (www.israelwise.com) Israel has more high-tech firms that at any place other than California. There are 4,000 established tech firms and another 2,000 start-ups.

In a previous position, I was involved with buying switches for a new Asynchronous Transfer Mode deployment. We were using 3Com's CellPlex technologies, and I was surprised to learn that the bulk of the CellPlex switchgear and its software were developed in Israel - specifically in Tel Aviv, if memory serves. This was in 1997 when ATM was not too far along in its metamorphosis. Those switches went in and ran for years, trouble-free.

One of the things that I think you get when you look at Israel as a potential development site is the diversity of people involved. As we know, if you surround yourself with a diverse group of individuals you will quickly find that some are not "yes-men". They are eager to make sure that you flesh out the parameters of your idea and to provide you with contrary information, which forces you to think about all of the implications of a decision. In Israel, where a team may have people from Russia, the rest of the middle-east, the U.S., Africa and elsewhere, you are most certainly going to get numerous ideas about a proposed new endeavor and your final product will be all the better for it.

Couple that with tremendous high-tech engineering capabilities and a feel for how to cleverly develop markets and you will find yourself in the middle of the Israeli culture.

As always, I'd love to hear your ideas and input.