IBA Group’s Development Center Celebrates 10th Anniversary
By Iba Group, PRNESunday, July 17, 2011
PRAGUE, July 18, 2011 -
IBA Gomel, the second largest software development center of
IBA Group (
), 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
Contact: Irina Kiptikova, IBA Group PR Manager,
kiptikova@iba-it-group.com, Tel. +375-17-217-3952
.
Tags: Czech republic, Iba Group, July 18, Prague
