There is a strong presence of providing customer relationship management (CRM) consulting and system integration services in Turkey through companies such as T-Systems. T-Systems which specializes in call center customer service, master data management, customer intelligence analytics and loyalty programs can strengthen the case for Turkey's offshore readiness.1 Siemens IT Solutions and Services, another power house in the CRM industry has invested in Turkey and has current help desk capabilities which are located primarily in Istanbul (Turkey).2 Although, Gartner does not list Turkey as the top 30 locations to outsource complete business processes in two years in a row, it is worth noting that in the CRM industry, Turkey has the capability to support such initiatives.3 The various reasons why Turkey is an excellent candidate to outsource CRM initiatives is because:

• Proximity to Europe: The proximity gives Turks the ability to speak various Eastern European languages. Russian, Polish, and Greek can be supported from Istanbul.

• Ample and low cost workforce

• Availability of large number of qualified people who are able to speak fluent German

• Low staff turnover

• Dynamic and practical culture

• General interest to work in call centers

• Flexible labor laws (e.g. you can listen and monitor calls)

• Availability of qualified blue chip suppliers

• Low set up and operation costs

Turkey's Telecommunications industry grew 23% at the end of 20071. Much of this growth is due to the recent e-transformation project launched by the government to integrate systems with the rest of EU countries, which is expected to be a tremendous boost to the telecommunications market.The funding by the government of Turkey did bring in huge profits for privately owned telecommunication companies but also in turn strengthened Turkey's capability to handle offshore requests. Further push towards ICT initiatives will provide shareholders and stakeholders with more confidence to outsource business processes to Turkey.