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3/12/02 - Lauding our Russian peers
By Margaret Quan
The new hot spot for offshore software development is the
former Soviet Union. So says a report issued last month by PWI
Inc. of Red Bank, N.J. The software development company calls
Russia in particular a "diamond in the rough" for
offshore software development.
The report describes the
large pool of talented Russian scientists and engineers that
provide a cheap and untapped source of labor for the United
States and Western Europe. But it doesn't describe what some
call the key to the equation-the indefatigable Russian
character. In fact, I think we Americans can learn something
from the Russians.
Russians have endured decades
of hardship, especially after the end of the Cold War:
political upheaval, food shortages and unemployment. And now
they have managed to pull themselves up and build a technology
industry. To jump-start it, they are providing software
development skills to European and American companies.
An engineering manager at a
firm outsourcing software development to Siberia explained why
he considers his Russian-based developers to be good workers
and good friends.
He said his teams based in
the United Kingdom and Russia collaborate well despite the
language barrier, six-hour time difference and distance.
Not only are the Russian
developers highly qualified-many possess master's and doctoral
degrees in mathematics, computer science and engineering-but
they also are pleasant to work with. They listen to
instructions, ask questions, work hard and aren't afraid to
tackle challenging projects.
"They bend over backward
to help us," he said, adding that he often throws them
complex problems because "they are used to having a hard
time and will scratch their heads until they come up with a
solution."
Boy, that's refreshing!
Wouldn't it be great to work with people like that?
With the U.S. economy the way
it is, one would expect Americans to adopt the same
attitude-to "do whatever it takes."
Unemployed friends and
relatives tell me it's tougher to find work than it's been in
a long time. Some are out there beating the pavement looking
for work and stashing their savings while they wait for the
upturn; others seem determined to spend their way out of this
recession.
I am not sure what I would do
if I lost my job, but I'd love for someone to say of me,
"Boy, she really worked hard, she gave it her all and
always produced quality work."
It's for that reason I admire
the Russians and their resilience. They've been through so
much and yet they are willing to put their head down and work
hard.
Now that we're faced with the
hardships of the war on terror in Afghanistan, the attacks of
Sept. 11 and a recession that doesn't seem to have an end in
sight, it's time we took a page from the work ethic of
Russia's high-technology denizens.
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