Agile Technology, Retention, Security and Hybrid Models are Key

New York, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 01/04/2007 -- Luxoft, one of Russia's leading providers of IT outsourcing development and services to companies like IBM, Dell, Deutsche Bank, T-Mobile and others, today issued its predictions for the IT outsourcing industry in 2007.

These trends and predictions cover a range of technical, business and relationship pulse points and show the increasing maturity of the global IT outsourcing market. Top areas to watch include:

Outsourcing Gets More Agile
In 2006 there was increasing interest in employing the Agile development methodology in outsourced environments. This will continue to grow and expand in popularity in 2007. With the right people, project management and metrics in place this highly collaborative approach – traditionally thought to be only for in-house teams – will continue to speed client solutions to market.

Hybrid Models Become the Norm
No one approach – in-house, on-site, ODCs or captive models – will rule the day in 2007. Each company will access its available global resource and skill pool and choose a variety of outsourcing and in-house combinations to reach its desired business and technical goals. Outsourcing … whatever model or mix is ultimately chosen … will become as commonplace as Six Sigma.

Retention Eases Tensions
Clients want well trained, stable and vested vendor teams working on their engagements. In 2007 they will increasingly demand that vendors meet – or preferably exceed – the average industry retention rates of 85 – 88% as a requirement of winning and doing business.

The Security Bar Is Raised
In 2007, all forms of security will make it on to the shortlist for any successful outsourcing engagement – system, physical, staff and disaster recovery. These elements must be locked down and fully integrated before true security can be achieved and clients will increasingly demand excellence on this front.

Near Shoring Comes Closer
No matter where a company is headquartered or has operations, it will increasingly look to near shore development solutions to round out its outsourcing portfolio. In 2007 there will be increasing demand for outsourcing resources in Europe, Eastern Europe and Canada but this phenomenon will be seen with resources around the globe.

Value Becomes King Over Pure Cost
With the outsourcing market continuing to mature, tunnel vision around pure cost savings will continue to widen to other success factors such as the ability to deliver complex outsourcing engagements, high relationship quality and tangible ROI. In 2007 Companies will increasingly look for outsourcing partners who can provide higher value services; who have mature and proven – yet flexible – engineering, quality, security and business processes; who can forge quick and strong working relationships; who are well trained and bring specific technical and vertical expertise; and who will become vested in their success.

Fluency of Many Forms Is a Must
It's no longer enough to be fluent in English – and other key business languages – to do outsourcing business with U.S. and global companies. In 2007 fluency in specific technologies, industries, and methodologies will continue to grow in importance as "must haves" for any serious outsourcing vendor.

Player Consolidation Continues
With the need for outsourcing providers to ensure scalability of services and support for clients, consolidation among smaller service providers with similar strengths and expertise will continue in 2007. Forrester Research, in its latest report has said that global outsourcing industry could face sweeping consolidation in the next two years, mainly driven by low-cost global competition and broken business models.

Outsourcing companies will make expansion plans to compete with global leaders, to acquire vertical domain expertise as well as the access to the global resource pool. Consolidation growth will be most visible in the upcoming outsourcing markets like China and Russia with possible buyouts across the regions.

Financial Industry Increasingly Banks on Outsourcing
In 2006 financial and banking companies came on more strongly as a consumer of IT outsourcing. In 2007, this trend will continue with areas like CRM in demand. Top of mind success factors for the vertical will increasingly be security, risk and financial market diversification, disaster recovery planning and engagement staffing standards. We'll also see more real time areas like on-floor trading technology get in the outsourcing mix.

Russian IT Outsourcing Sees More Record Growth
Over the past few years Russia has seen explosive growth in its outsourcing business – now over the $1B market mark. With its strong technical performance and heritage, well-educated developer and business workforce and increasing Eastern European connection, Russia is poised for another year of stellar growth and value add to clients.

About Luxoft

Luxoft, founded in 2000, is a global software developer and IT services exporter with operations in the US, Canada, UK, Ukraine and Russia. Luxoft has the world's largest delivery capabilities in Russia and CIS.

Luxoft provides a full range of custom software development services and enjoys long-term relationships with clients including some of the best-known global business leaders, such as Boeing, Deutsche Bank, IBM and Dell. Luxoft also works closely with many mid-size growth companies and independent software vendors (ISVs).

Luxoft's software development processes meet the highest quality standards, and the company was the first in Europe to achieve Level 5 CMMI quality certification. Luxoft runs research and offshore development centers in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Dubna, Omsk plus centers in Kiev and Odessa, Ukraine.

Luxoft won the National Outsourcing Association's "Financial Outsourcing Project of the Year 2006" for its work with Deutsche Bank and the company has recently been recognized by BusinessWeek as the top emerging outsourcing provider in Russia and Eastern Europe. Luxoft was also ranked as the top IT services company on the Rising Star list in the IAOP's Global Outsourcing 100 and was featured in Global Services Magazine's Global Services 100 which recognizes the world's most innovative business and technology service providers.

For more information visit www.luxoft.com.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

“Nearshore” capability, innovation and financial domain expertise are keys to success

New York, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 10/19/2006 -- Luxoft, Russia's leading provider of end-to-end information technology services and solutions, today announced it has won the Financial Outsourcing Project of the Year for its work with Deutsche Bank at the National Outsourcing Association's (NOA) annual awards.

Announced last Thursday evening at an awards ceremony hosted by Anthony Hilton, the financial editor of the Evening Standard, that attracted over 400 professionals from the UK's outsourcing industry, the awards reward organisations for success in outsourcing projects and raise awareness for the importance of best practices in outsourcing. The awards acknowledge achievements in IT outsourcing, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), as well as sector specific achievements in telecommunications, finance, energy and the public sector.

Luxoft, which last year was a finalist in the NOA's Offshoring Operation of the Year category, and leading global investment bank Deutsche Bank won the award for the new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system implemented for the bank. Martyn Hart, chairman of the National Outsourcing Association commented: "In many cases, CRM implementation is poorly executed. In comparison Luxoft clearly paid a great deal of attention to meeting the business objectives of Deutsche Bank. It was impressive to see that the project was so focused on Return on Investment (ROI). Completing the project within a complex regulated environment is a significant achievement."

For Deutsche Bank, the reasons to outsource to Luxoft in Russia went beyond cost savings. "Because Moscow is only three hours from London, it was easy to get in and out. In terms of skill levels, both Russia and India have strengths. The maths and science tradition of the old Soviet Union is a plus. There is a real history of technical innovation in Russia, and there is almost a demand by the Russians we work with to be innovative and creative," according to Daniel Marovitz, chief operating officer for technology at Deutsche Bank's global banking unit, in an interview with US publication BusinessWeek earlier this year.

Commenting on the NOA award, Dmitry Loschinin, President and CEO of Luxoft said: "This award is a tribute to Deutsche Bank as a partner and to our people, who enable Luxoft to deploy the latest technologies, deliver world-class services for complex outsourcing, and effectively integrate our processes with client environments like Deutsche Bank's, while meeting the highest quality standards. We've been working with Deutsche Bank in London for several years across many projects. We have been increasing our commitment to the UK in particular, and to Europe in general."

About Luxoft
Luxoft, founded in 2000, is a global software developer and IT services exporter with operations in the US, UK, Ukraine and Russia. Luxoft has the world's largest delivery capabilities in Russia and CIS.

Luxoft provides a full range of custom software development services and enjoys long-term relationships with clients including some of the best-known global business leaders, such as Boeing, Deutsche Bank, IBM and Dell. Luxoft also works closely with many mid-size growth companies and independent software vendors (ISVs).

Luxoft's software development processes meet the highest quality standards, and the company was the first in Europe to achieve Level 5 CMMI quality certification. Luxoft runs research and offshore development centers in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Dubna, Omsk plus centers in Kiev and Odessa, Ukraine.

Luxoft has won the National Outsourcing Association's "Financial Outsourcing Project of the Year 2006" for its work with Deutsche Bank. The company has recently been recognized by BusinessWeek as the top emerging outsourcing provider in Russia and Eastern Europe, was ranked as the top IT services company on the Rising Star list in the IAOP's Global Outsourcing 100 and was featured in Global Services Magazine's Global Services 100 which recognizes the world's most innovative business and technology service providers.

For more information visit www.luxoft.com.

About Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank is a leading global investment bank with a strong and profitable private clients franchise. A leader in Germany and Europe, the bank is continuously growing in North America, Asia and key emerging markets. With Euro 1,058 billion in assets and 65,435 employees in 73 countries, Deutsche Bank offers unparalleled financial services throughout the world. The bank competes to be the leading global provider of financial solutions for demanding clients creating exceptional value for its shareholders and people.

About the National Outsourcing Association (NOA)
The NOA is an independent body whose objective is to ensure effective business management through the promotion of best practice, service and innovation in the application and development of outsourcing. The NOA's role is to lobby UK government, OFCOM and the European Union on matters affecting the collective interests of its members and to deliver information on market developments and lessons learned from business outsourcing.

Members fall into three main categories:

• Users - UK and overseas companies, which have outsourced (or are about to outsource) significant business infrastructure, such as: IT; telecoms; and processes
• Suppliers – companies which fulfil outsourcing contracts
• Support services - legal, recruitment and consultancy service companies which support the industry

The NOA communicates the significant benefits and strategic lessons of outsourcing to a wider audience, through conferences, seminars and publications.

For more information on the NOA please go to: www.noa.co.uk.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Movers & Shakers Breakfast Part of Advancing Colorado Technology Week In Denver

Denver, CO -- (ReleaseWire) -- 09/20/2006 -- Dmitry Loschinin, President & CEO of Luxoft and key client Andre Durand CEO of Denver-based Ping Identity will team up tomorrow to share the "secrets" of their successful global outsourcing partnership at the DaVinci Institute Movers & Shakers Breakfast Series event. This event is part of Advancing Colorado TechWeek being held in Denver.

As the thought and business leaders of Russia's top provider of information technology services (Luxoft) and a leading player in on-line identity management and security solutions (Ping), Loschinin and Durand are in a unique position to give attendees a first-hand perspective into fostering business growth and transformation by finding, building and maximizing the right global IT partnerships.

Following an extensive global partner search – and after hitting snags with outsourcing players in India and Mexico – Ping chose Luxoft to create a dedicated Offshore Development Center (ODC) in Russia. Luxoft serves as an extension of Ping's product development and testing teams and provides access to Russia's best IT talent pool, advanced project methodologies and cutting-edge technology skills.

The CEOs' remarks to the DaVinci Institute will range from the strategic to the practical on topics such as how to drive timely delivery, how to reduce hidden costs and how to build and nurture global relationships that breed success.

Since being launched in 1997 as a non-profit futurist think tank, the DaVinci Institute has emerged as a leading center of visionary thought, attracting both a national and international following of idea junkies and business leaders. In addition to writing and publishing countless papers shared across business and academic circles, the institute has also hosted over 100 events ranging from hands-on interactive boot camps and "meet the visionary" sessions, to programs like the "Future of Money Summit" sponsored by Forbes Magazine.

The DaVinci Institute is the brainchild of Thomas Frey, a seasoned entrepreneur and one of IBM's most decorated idea laureates.

"Dmitry and Andre are truly a "dynamic duo" in terms of understanding and leveraging the power and challenges of outsourcing," said Frey. "We are delighted to have them as part of our Movers & Shakers series to help spark new ideas and propagate best practices."

The Loschinin/Durant event entitled "Building Your Business with Global Partnerships" will take place on September 19, 2006 from 8:00 - 9:30 a.m. at the Phipps Mansion, 3400 Belcaro Drive, Denver. For more information visit www.davinciinstitute.com.

About Luxoft

Luxoft, founded in 2000, is a global software developer and IT services exporter with operations in the US, UK, Ukraine and Russia. Luxoft has the world's largest delivery capabilities in Russia and CIS.

Luxoft provides a full range of custom software development services and enjoys long-term relationships with clients including some of the best-known global business leaders, such as Boeing, Deutsche Bank, IBM and Dell. Luxoft also works closely with many mid-size growth companies and independent software vendors (ISVs).

Luxoft's software development processes meet the highest quality standards, and the company was the first in Europe to achieve Level 5 CMMI quality certification. Luxoft runs research and offshore development centers in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Dubna, Omsk, and Kiev, Ukraine.

Luxoft has recently been recognized by BusinessWeek as the top emerging outsourcing provider in Russia and Eastern Europe, was ranked as the top IT services company on the Rising Star list in the IAOP's Global Outsourcing 100, and was featured in Global Services Magazine's Global Services 100 which recognizes the world's most innovative business and technology service providers.

For more information visit www.luxoft.com.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Russia’s Leading Outsourcing Provider Enhances its Agile Development Specialization

New York, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 09/08/2006 -- Luxoft, Russia's leading provider of end-to-end information technology services and solutions, announced today that Askhat Urazbaev, an Agile project manager in its Moscow development center, has received certification as a ScrumMaster to manage Agile projects in SCRUM methodology. Certification for Agile is new, but is gaining traction as the use of Agile methodology expands, according to industry analysts.

As a Certified ScrumMaster, Urazbaev will head Luxoft's Agile Excellence Center, serving as a coach and mentor to different client and development teams using Agile. His training is part of an overall commitment by Luxoft to offer its clients the best of Russian IT talent and the latest methodologies, technologies and processes for its client engagements. Additionally, Luxoft offers training across a range of technologies and approaches, both formerly through its Centers of Excellence, which collect and internally disseminate best practices on a range of technologies, and informally, through mentoring.

In Russia and Eastern Europe, Luxoft is a pioneer in Agile methodology, an increasingly popular approach that relies on iterative, incremental work of self-organized and self-managed teams for faster, more collaborative software development, as much as two times more productive than traditional, document-heavy predictive processes. In a report on Agile and outsourcing, Forrester Research predicted improved customer satisfaction, not just cost savings.

Luxoft's form of Agile draws from several process schemes, employs proven practices for offshore and distributed development and has been successfully deployed for a number of its product clients, such as Ping Identity. While not appropriate for every client project, Luxoft has provided tremendous value in reducing time-to-market through iterative development, better utilization of manpower resources and skills, and ultimately a better product developed faster than by using traditional application development methods. For example, Luxoft has been able to find and fix product and process issues early, reducing defects and the associated costs and delays.

"The most important thing about mastering Agile is to be able to set up truly collaborative environment for customer and project team. This is especially significant for successful offshore development. Because it is still a relatively new approach, getting certified provides Luxoft clients with an additional confidence that we can deliver software that has customer-focused features and fewer defects in a shorter time frame," Urazbaev said.

Writing in Dr. Dobbs Portal, focused on software development, Scott Ambler, author of Agile Database Techniques, observed, "I believe that certification is an important part of the overall picture, and that it's something that every developer should consider."

For Ping Identity, Luxoft's commitment to training has paid off. "The success with Agile starts with really great people and that means the engineers and others in Luxoft," said Bill Wood, VP of Engineering, Ping Identity.

"The Agile methodology is increasingly important to our product clients, who need to reduce development time while focusing on features that customers actually need. This certification and our Agile Excellence Center show our commitment to this approach, to serving our clients and to ensuring we are using the best processes," said Dmitry Loschinin, President and CEO, Luxoft.

About Luxoft
Luxoft, founded in 2000, is a global software developer and IT services exporter with operations in the US, UK, Ukraine and Russia. Luxoft has the world's largest delivery capabilities in Russia and CIS.

Luxoft provides a full range of custom software development services and enjoys long-term relationships with clients including some of the best-known global business leaders, such as Boeing, Deutsche Bank, IBM and Dell. Luxoft also works closely with many mid-size growth companies and independent software vendors (ISVs).

Luxoft's software development processes meet the highest quality standards, and the company was the first in Europe to achieve Level 5 CMMI quality certification. Luxoft runs research and offshore development centers in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Dubna, Omsk, and Kiev, Ukraine.

Luxoft has recently been recognized by BusinessWeek as the top emerging outsourcing provider in Russia and Eastern Europe, was ranked as the top IT services company on the Rising Star list in the IAOP's Global Outsourcing 100, and was featured in Global Services Magazine's Global Services 100 which recognizes the world's most innovative business and technology service providers.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Provides access to the latest technical materials and technologies to help Luxoft develop .NET-based solutions for its clients

New York, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 08/09/2006 -- Luxoft, Russia's leading provider of end-to-end information technology services and solutions, today announced it is a new member in the Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Program. With expertise in custom development and data management solutions together with specialization in business intelligence and smart client development, Luxoft enhances its ability to develop and deploy robust business software, which helps clients better manage and capitalize on their company's data.

"Being a Gold member of the program extends Luxoft's expertise in providing high-quality software development services," said Dmitry Loschinin, President and CEO, Luxoft. "We'll have access to the latest technical materials and Microsoft technologies to help our clients prepare .NET-based solutions."

The Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Program provides a way for customers to identify companies that have proven their commitment and expertise in one or more specialized areas when delivering Microsoft technologies. Specifically, those related to Microsoft SharePoint™ Portal 2001, Exchange 2000 Server, or SQL Server™ 2000.

Microsoft Certified Partners, who meet the highest set of criteria, including advanced certification and a portfolio of real-world customer references, are identified as Gold Certified – the most skilled partners in specific solution areas.

"Core to most business challenges today is developing a reliable system to round up, manage and utilize data within their organization that allow better data tracking and dissemination from legacy data stores to new systems," said Allison Watson, Vice President of the Partner Sales and Marketing Group at Microsoft Corp. "Microsoft recognizes that companies want a technology partner who has experience in this business of managing critical company data. Today, Microsoft recognizes Luxoft for demonstrated customer satisfaction with prior successes with these critical deployments. This distinction brings value to the Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Program and makes it clear that Luxoft has the skills and experience to provide high-quality collaborative solutions on Microsoft technology."

About Luxoft
Luxoft, founded in 2000, is a global software developer and IT services exporter with operations in the US, UK, Ukraine and Russia. Luxoft has the world's largest delivery capabilities in Russia and CIS.

Luxoft provides a full range of custom software development services and enjoys long-term relationships with clients including some of the best-known global business leaders, such as Boeing, Deutsche Bank, IBM and Dell. Luxoft also works closely with many mid-size growth companies and independent software vendors (ISVs).

Luxoft's software development processes meet the highest quality standards, and the company was the first in Europe to achieve Level 5 CMMI quality certification. Luxoft runs research and offshore development centers in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Dubna, Omsk, and Kiev, Ukraine.

Luxoft has recently been recognized by BusinessWeek as the top emerging outsourcing provider in Russia and Eastern Europe, was ranked as the top IT services company on the Rising Star list in the IAOP's Global Outsourcing 100, and was featured in Global Services Magazine's Global Services 100 which recognizes the world's most innovative business and technology service providers.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Embedded Systems, Real-time & Linux Development Will Be Team's Focus

New York, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 07/11/2006 -- Luxoft - Russia's leading provider of end-to-end information technology services and solutions - continues its expansion in Eastern Europe as well as strengthening its focus on delivering complex outsourcing services by opening an office in Odessa, Ukraine. The office's new team will provide development expertise in embedded software and hardware systems, micro processing, real-time computing, and Linux. Luxoft also has offices in Kiev, Ukraine, US, UK, and Russia.

Luxoft Odessa was established to serve a leading European automotive electronics client but the location will also work with other near shore European as well as international clients seeking specialized and complex software development resources.

Heading the Odessa office will be Michael and Vladimir Dianov, twin brothers who also run Luxoft's Kiev office, which opened in June 2005.

"The addition of the Odessa office represents several important milestones for Luxoft," said Vladimir Dianov, director Luxoft Kiev and Luxoft Odessa. "The team will work with our first major client in the automotive industry space, build an anchor account in the growing embedded systems outsourcing arena, and serve as a showcase for Luxoft's ability to offer near shore specialty teams."

The choice of Odessa as the location for the new Luxoft office was a natural. Odessa, once known as the Southern Capital of the former USSR, is a long-standing hotbed of technology and science and is home to over 15 universities with strong engineering and computing programs.

About Luxoft

Luxoft, founded in 2000, is a global software developer and IT services exporter with operations in the US, UK, Ukraine and Russia. Luxoft has the world's largest delivery capabilities in Russia and CIS.

Luxoft provides a full range of custom software development services and enjoys long-term relationships with clients including some of the best-known global business leaders, such as Boeing, Deutsche Bank, IBM and Dell. Luxoft also works closely with many mid-size growth companies and independent software vendors (ISVs).

Luxoft's software development processes meet the highest quality standards, and the company was the first in Europe to achieve Level 5 CMMI quality certification. Luxoft runs research and offshore development centers in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Dubna, Omsk, and Kiev, Ukraine.

Luxoft has recently been recognized by BusinessWeek as the top emerging outsourcing provider in Russia and Eastern Europe, was ranked as the top IT services company on the Rising Star list in the IAOP's Global Outsourcing 100, and was featured in Global Services Magazine's Global Services 100 which recognizes the world's most innovative business and technology service providers.

For additional information please visit our site at www.luxoft.com.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm