The Bulgarian software sector was the next to catch the global financial bug, as companies axed workforce, bonuses, business trips and Christmas holidays. So far, however, none of the market players has owned up, with some managers even optimistic about the future.

The Bulgarian office of US software giant Microsoft said they were quite busy and did not need to consider lay-offs. The company was optimising costs by reducing business trips and replacing them by video conferences, as well as using green technologies to cut power bills.

"In the face of a crisis we are shifting our focus. We see our role in helping customers optimise costs and spend less, and, on the other hand, increase revenues by improving customer service," said Microsoft Bulgaria general manager Ognyan Kiryakov. He added that now was the right time to invest in IT and that squeezing IT spending would be the gravest mistake.

Yet other manufacturers thought recession was not the right time to buy software.

"Software is not a basic commodity. Installing big systems is a long process and companies do not dare go down this road at the moment," Ognyan Trayanov, president of Bulgarian software company TechnoLogica, said.

Times were tough for Bulgarian exporters, who have already delayed projects, especially those selling on markets hit by the crisis, Trayanov said. In the worst-case scenario, large-scale corporations will cross out Bulgarian investments and even dry out local divisions to rescue parent companies, he added.

Public projects and EU funding could help Bulgarian software providers weather the crisis by playing the role of a reliable source of income.

TechnoLogica is among the companies that plans to reconsider its investment plans despite sticking by its strategy to expand into Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Macedonia.

The fully foreign-owned companies with nothing but research and development centres in Bulgaria would be the first to fall victim to the global financial downturn, Sirma Group executive director Tsvetan Aleksiev forecast, adding that other companies that were vulnerable were those focusing on pure outsourcing companies and start-ups.

The group, which comprises 14 companies, was faring well and did not need to streamline operations by cutting cost or staff, he said.

Source: Dnevnik