Enter The Celtic Tiger

This tiny country of four million people is a software giant. As a prime

minister-led Irish delegation visits Delhi, Vikas Sahni outlines what makes

their tech tick-and why you should care

Ireland has been one of the fastest growing

economies in the world during the past 10 years.

This 'Celtic Tiger' growth has been fuelled to a large extent by its

booming software sector.  Despite

its small size and remote location, the Irish software industry is one of the

largest in the world.  The main

drivers behind the Irish software boom are the highly skilled English-speaking

workforce, the proximity (both geographical and historical) to the US, and the

tax/legal regime. 

For multinational companies, Ireland is perhaps the best

choice for a European base-the list of US multinationals that have their

headquarters in Ireland includes Microsoft, Google, Dell, Oracle, and others.

A number of financial companies, such as Citigroup, PayPal etc have their

European back office operations in Ireland. 

A number of Irish companies are currently developing

innovative software products.  Many

of these products are an opportunity for Indian partners-both in the domestic

market and in customization and implementation in third countries.

Therefore, can you afford not to have an Ireland strategy?

You should evaluate Ireland as your EU marketing base, and Irish products

for marketing in India and other countries.

So if you are considering doing business with Ireland, what

is the best way to do so?  One way

would be to set up your own subsidiary, but that involves a large investment and

a long gestation period.  Also, as

your company comes to terms with the differences between Ireland and India,

there will be some mistakes, which can damage your reputation, and will

definitely cost both time and money.  The

fastest and the safest way forward in a new place, especially in Ireland, is

with a partner. 

Ireland Beckoning: Irish companies are good at creativity, design and architecture. Indian companies are good at coding and testing. Companies from the two countries can cooperate, not compete

The basic rationale for identifying the right partner-that

it should be a win-win deal for both, of course, holds true.

Apart from this, there are a number of points, many unique to Irish

companies, that you should keep in mind.  The

Irish are very friendly and gregarious. The Irish people, in general, and

companies in particular, approach any relationship on trust.

However, if you give them any reason to feel that you are taking

advantage or doubting their trust, they will back off rapidly. 

Another factor is size.

Irish companies are much leaner than others, and the Irish workforce is

highly productive.  An Irish

software company with 4-5 employees will be doing as much work as a 50-person

company in other countries, and a company with 100 employees is large.

Keep in mind that the total Irish software workforce is smaller than the

headcount of the three largest Indian companies put together.

When partnering with an Irish company, an order of magnitude size

difference will be the norm rather than an exception. 

In Ireland, working from home is quite common.

Many employees of a large number of software companies, especially

consultancies, tend to work from home.  It

is quite common to come across companies where most employees come into the

office only occasionally for meetings.  This

is a result of the highly self-disciplined and flexible work culture, importance

of the family and near 100% employment.  So,

do not expect fancy offices, in fact, an expensive office is very often

considered a waste of company funds.

A major side effect of the flexible work culture and small

company size is the near absence of hierarchy.

Your company may have seven levels, while your Irish partner may have at

most seen three levels.  Therefore,

setting up a 121 contact mapping will not work.  It would be best to have a single point of contact between

the two partners.  Be prepared-if

you go over to visit your Irish partner, the CEO will be doing all clerical work

herself or himself.  There is

practically no administrative help, and you will have to make your own coffee

and wash your own cups!

Productivity and quality issues should be kept in mind.

The Irish are very good at doing high value work, such as Architecture

and Project/Program management.  They

are self-disciplined and expect their partner's employees to be the same.

On the other hand, the Indian work force is much less quality conscious

and disciplined.  Going forward, the

top management of the Indian partner would need to ensure that their employees

live up to the commitments made to the Irish partner, or else a profitable

partnership can melt away overnight.

Thankfully, unlike most other countries, partnering with the

Irish does not have major cultural issues.

Like India, Ireland was also ruled by the British and has inherited the

same system of education.  Over the

years, it has evolved quite a bit, but the basic structure is the same.

Similarly, the legal and tax systems are also based on the British

system. 

Socially, the Irish people value family ties and friendships

last a lifetime.  Modern Irish music

icons such as U2 and Westlife are well known in India, and Indian (basically

Mughlai) food is becoming popular in Ireland.

The one thing that is missing in Ireland is south Indian cuisine-if you

cannot live without idli-dosa, take your own along when you visit Ireland.

Culturally, Delhi and Dublin are more similar than Delhi and Chennai!

A major difference that you should keep in mind is the Irish

attitude to alcohol and pubs.  The

Irish love a pint or two after work, most will expect to go for a pint in the

evening, but few will insist that you drink.

It is perfectly acceptable to sit with friends or colleagues in a pub for

hours and stick to soft drinks or even tea/coffee.

A pub is a public house, a meeting place, and not a place to get drunk. 

The Irish love to talk, the Blarney stone is in Ireland and

almost everyone there seems to have kissed it.

So expect non-work related conversation to range across many topics.

The Guinness, the weather, the Irish playwrights and poets, the cost of

petrol etc are all excellent conversation topics, but cricket is not.

The Irish follow many games such as football, rugby, Formula One racing

etc but, surprisingly, for a former British colony there is little interest in

cricket.

In a nutshell, there is plenty that companies from the two

countries have to offer to each other, and few reasons why partnerships would

fail.  Irish companies are good at

creativity, design and architecture.  Indian

companies are good at coding and testing.  Considering

their strengths and the cultural similarities, companies from the two countries

can cooperate, not compete.  Find

the right partner—I believe the rest of the world is ready to be conquered by

software designed in Ireland, developed in India.

Vikas Sahni is CEO of Softedge, a Dublin,

Ireland-based software company