World Bank now operating its BSC in Sofia
14/10/2019
In late summer, the World Bank Group opened its new Shared Services office in Sofia, Bulgaria to provide corporate and technology support to the group’s business operations around the globe.
Sofia was chosen following a competitive search for a location, based on a broad number of criteria including cost effectiveness, the quality of the information technology (IT) infrastructure, and the local talent pool, according to a statement from the World Bank. The World Bank Group expects the site to employ up to 300 people in the medium-term. “Our new shared services operation in Sofia will efficiently and effectively support the World Bank Group in delivering on its mission of ending poverty,” said World Bank Group Managing Director and Chief Administrative Officer, Shaolin Yang. “I am very happy with the establishment of the shared services centre in Sofia. It further strengthens Bulgaria’s strong partnership with the World Bank and acknowledges the many advantages Bulgaria has to offer,” said Koen Davidse, the World Bank Group Executive Director for Bulgaria. The new office complements an existing World Bank Group shared services centre in Chennai, India which opened in 2001 and currently serves the organization with accounting, human resources, IT and other services. In addition to providing IT and corporate services, the Sofia centre will allow the institution to better serve its locations across different time zones and continue improving the diversity of its workforce, the statement said. French pharma giant Sanofi will create a Centre of Excellence in Budapest. Initial hiring plans are for 100 FTEs to work in this CoE focused on F&A and HR. The company expects to grow to 350 employees by 2022.
Sanofi has HQ in Paris, employs over 100,000 people in 100 countries, and has a huge R&D division. It's also one of the top pharmaceutical companies in Hungary, and Hungary's 16th largest exporter. Its main manufacturing and R&D centre is in Budapest, but they also have smaller manufacturing units in Veresegyháza and Csanyikvölgy near Miskolc. The Hungarian government is boasting that Sanofi is the 110th BSC in the country, and that the sector now employs over 50,000 people. The new office will service Sanofi's European and North-American subsidiaries in seven languages; however, Sanofi expects to expand its CoE services offerings in the coming years. OAG expands further in Kaunas (Lithuania)
14/10/2019
Operating in Kaunas for only a year, the OAG office will soon develop about 60 percent of all OAG technology products both for the airlines and the passengers. The organization started the OAG (Official Aviation Guide), and it has been operating for over 90 years now. Since the start, the company has been a leading player for data and, today, for digital information in the aviation market.
“Our business area is extremely dynamic and engaging. We control huge arrays of data. Every day, we process 4 million flight change information, affecting almost 12 million air passengers. The solutions we offer include the world’s largest flight scheduling database (OAG Schedules), a real-time route and flight status system (OAG Flightview), and a passenger traffic flow monitoring and analysis toolkit (OAG Analytics). In addition, we award the most efficient airlines and airports in OAG on-time performance star ratings: a highly respected rating in the aviation market,”says Simona Vabalė, Head of the OAG office in Kaunas. Although OAG is not a large organization – with 170 employees spread across the offices in the United Kingdom, the United States, Lithuania, Singapore, Japan, and China – it works with top brands such as Google, Bing, Expedia, Skyscanner, British Airways or United. OAG’s main clients are airlines, airports and technology solutions providers. OAG officially opened its office in Kaunas in September 2018. Since the start, it has grown to 27 employees and plans to expand even more in the coming years. Most employees are software development and testing engineers, data scientists, and a few specialists working on data operations. The company is currently hiring IT infrastructure engineers to work in product teams. Krzysztof Wierzchowski has recently assumed the new position as Site Leader & Global Trade Services Director at Franklin Templeton Investments in Poznan. He has assumed the position recently held by Krzysztof Bronisz.
Webhelp Group announced its acquisition of PitechPlus, a Romanian company that designs, develops and deploys custom – made software solutions, particularly in the areas of sales digitalization and process automation. PitechPlus already supports major European companies in their digitalstrategy in several sectors including automotive, tourism & travel, public administration and online gaming.
This acquisition reflects the Webhelp group’s strategy to strengthen its technological services to support its clients in the implementation of their digital transformation by offering them tailor-made solutions combining customer relationship management, artificial intelligence and automation. This transaction will increase expertise and growth drivers for both companies. For Webhelp and its consulting subsidiary GoBeyond, PitechPlus increases its methodological know-how on application development and management (agile method, sprints development) as well as strengthening capability with 250 experts in software development and integration. Its ability to act as a certified integrator of Robotic Process Automation solutions represents a key differentiator in a market where AI and automation are growing in importance. This unique combination of expertise complements Webhelp’s existing capabilities to design and develop technology services in areas such as voice and data analytics or mobile apps development. For PitechPlus, Webhelp provides strong commercial synergies (more than 500 customers now trust Webhelp to manage and optimize their customer relationship), access to new markets and the opportunity to integrate artificial intelligence and machine learning features into its custom software solutions. Vincent Tachet, Chief Information Officer of the Group, sees in this acquisition: “a major step in our ability to offer innovative custom-made technology solutions in key areas such as Robotic Process Automation or end-to-end digitalisation of sales processes.” According to Yan Noblot, CTO of the Webhelp Group, “The acquisition of PitechPlus will enable us to better meet the growing needs of our customers, by having a scaled innovative and competitive structure, expert in agile development methodologies”. Bogdan Herea, CEO of PitechPlus, believes that “joining a global entrepreneurial team like Webhelp that is sharing the same culture and values, is a fantastic opportunity for PitechPlus. This puts us in an ideal situation to take a step forward in our growth by bringing our expertise, methods and talented employees to Webhelp’s client portfolio.“. PitechPlus’ management does not change: Bogdan Herea, founder, will continue leading the company headquartered in Cluj Napoca (Romania). The transaction has been advised by legal firms Stratulat & Albulescu and Șomlea & Asociații for PitechPlus and McDermott Will & Emery AARPI and Wolf Theiss for Webhelp. |
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