IBA Group’s Development Center Celebrates 10th Anniversary
PRAGUE, July 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ –
IBA Gomel, the second largest software development center of IBA Group
(http://www.iba-it-group.com/), will celebrate its 10th anniversary on July
27, 2011. An alliance of IT companies with over 2,500 people, IBA Group has
seven development centers in Belarus, Czech Republic, and Kazakhstan. IBA
Gomel is located in Gomel, the second largest city of Belarus.
IBA Gomel was registered as a legal entity on July 26, 2001, while the
official opening was held on December 17, 2001. The founders were members of
IBA Group, namely IBA Minsk, IBA IT GmbH, and IBA Intelligent Systems. The
goal was to take advantage of highly-qualified human resources of Gomel
Region with its long IT traditions and universities providing education in
IT specialties.
The first IBA Gomel’s project dealt with SAP development for IBM.
Implemented in cooperation with IBA Minsk, the project involved ten
programmers. At the end of 2001, the IBA Gomel team comprised 16 employees.
In November 2001, a special department was set up to service banks, its
first customers being Belarusbank, the largest savings bank in the country,
and the National Bank of Belarus. In 2002, the Lotus Technologies and
Mainframe Applications, and in 2003 the E-Business and Marketing departments
were formed.
In December 2004, IBA Gomel received its first ISO quality certificates
and now the development center is DIN EN ISO 9001:2008 and STB ISO
9001-2009-certified.
In December 2008, IBA Gomel Park was set up by IBA Gomel to join High
Tech Park, the Belarusian Silicon Valley.
To date, IBA Gomel employs more than 250 IT and business professionals
working in five production departments. The company currently implements
around 50 projects in mainframe, SAP, e-business, Lotus, and other areas.
The IBA Gomel’s client base includes IBM, Goodyear, T-Systems, Rockwell
Automation, Belarusian Railway, IDGC of Urals, and Belarusian Steel Works.
IBA Gomel cooperates with local universities, primarily with the Gomel
State University and the Gomel State Technical University. Its laboratories
are functioning at the mathematical and physical faculties of the Gomel
State University. IBA Gomel conducts training courses with 140 students in
annual attendance.
Igor Khobnya has been the IBA Gomel’s head since its foundation. Today,
he is in charge of the company strategy and day-to-day operations, and
oversees finance and HR management. Prior to IBA, Mr. Khobnya led major IT
projects for railway and other industries.
Khobnya recollects: “We had to start the company in the times when
dotcom bubble burst. The crisis affected the Belarus’ IT industry that was
already suffering from the downturn caused by the breakup of the USSR. So it
was hard at the beginning. As the company initially aimed at the
international market, we needed to recruit the people who had advanced IT
expertise and experience in the implementation of international projects. To
this end, we trained the candidates at IBA Minsk and the IBA Training Center
and then fit them in the projects executed by Minsk teams where they could
gain the needed experience.”
“After we acquired our own projects in 2003-2004, it went on easier. The
company’s culture and standards were developed, making it simpler to build
new teams and win new projects. In parallel, the company’s structure and
infrastructure were set up and modified.”
“IBA Gomel since its first years has closely cooperated with the Gomel
State University to train students in IT specialties. We are planning to
expand our business, which will result in additional high-tech workplaces
for the region and enable university graduates to become full-fledged
players of the global IT community.”
About IBA Group
IBA Group is one of the largest IT service providers in Eastern Europe
performing software development, migration, maintenance, support, and IT
consulting services with more than 2,500+ IT and business professionals.
Headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic, IBA Group has offices and
development centers in the United States, Germany, Belarus, Bulgaria,
Cyprus, Russia, and Kazakhstan. IBA Group focuses on mainframe systems,
enterprise applications, web-based solutions, SAP and other ERP systems,
Lotus technologies, and business intelligence. IBA has achieved SEI CMMI
Level 4 and is DIN EN ISO 9001:2008-certified. IBA Group serves clients in
more than 30 countries across diverse markets and industries, including
banking, railway, telecommunication, manufacturing, healthcare, trade, and
public sectors. IBA Group is recognized by the International Association of
Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) as one of The Global Outsourcing 100 in the
Leaders Category, ranks as one of the world’s largest software companies in
theSoftware Magazine’s Software 500 andin the Global Services 100 in the
category Emerging Leaders: Eastern Europe of Global Services. In 2011, IBA
Group won an IT Europa’s European IT Excellence Award in the Relationship
Management category. For more information, visit
http://www.iba-it-group.com
Contact: Irina Kiptikova, IBA Group PR Manager,
kiptikova@iba-it-group.com, Tel. +375-17-217-3952
SOURCE IBA Group