IT sales in the Czech Republic look simple on paper: an EU market of about 10.9 million people with a large IT industry of its own. The avoidable mistakes are just as clear: cold email that Czech law does not allow, English-only pitches to buying groups that sign in Czech, and target lists drawn from a company base that is mostly micro firms.
This guide is for software, SaaS and IT service vendors from abroad: the Czech IT market in numbers, what companies already run, language, buying decisions, public registers, email and call rules, and local costs. If you are choosing a sales partner instead, read our guide to B2B sales outsourcing and lead generation in the Czech Republic.
How big is the Czech IT market?
Bigger than the population suggests. The Czech Statistical Office (CZSO) counts 64,200 enterprises in the ICT sector in 2024, with turnover of CZK 1,181 billion, or 6.0% of all business sector turnover. The sector employed 201 thousand people, 176 thousand of them in ICT services.
About 230 thousand people work as ICT specialists. In 2025 the average gross monthly wage of ICT professionals rose 6% to CZK 100 thousand, almost twice the Czech average wage. Tools that save engineering time have an easy business case, and you compete with a large domestic ICT sector.
The buyer base is thin at the top. Eurostat counts 1,366,927 enterprises in industry, construction and market services in 2024, and 1,321,054 of them employ fewer than 10 people. That leaves 45,873 with 10 or more persons employed, 9,175 with 50 or more and 1,720 with 250 or more.
If your product needs a five-figure annual contract, build the account list from those 9,175 companies, the upper end of the 10 to 49 group and the public sector, and reach micro firms only with a self-service offer.
What Czech companies already use: cloud, ERP, CRM and AI
A first system and a replacement are different sales. The CZSO survey of ICT use in enterprises with 10 or more employees shows what was already installed in 2025:
| Technology in use, 2025 | All firms (10+ employees) | Small (10 to 49) | Large (250+) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paid cloud computing services | 54.9% | 50.6% | 85.8% |
| ERP software | 49.7% | 41.8% | 93.0% |
| CRM software | 36.2% | 30.0% | 70.0% |
| Artificial intelligence | 17.6% | 13.4% | 54.1% |
Czech firms are not behind on the basics: CRM use of 36.2% compares with 28.51% across the EU, and paid cloud use of 54.9% with 52.74% (Eurostat). AI use is still low at 17.6%, although the CZSO notes that the Czech share has tripled since 2023.
The size gap matters more. Large companies mostly run ERP and CRM already, so you sell integration, replacement or an add-on through IT, procurement and a security review. Most small firms have no CRM yet: you sell a first system to the owner or managing director, and price, Czech onboarding and a fast setup decide.
Do you need to sell in Czech?
You can open conversations in English, but plan to close in Czech. In Eurostat's 2022 Adult Education Survey, 22.1% of Czech adults aged 25 to 64 said they know no foreign language, close to the EU figure of 25.3%. Confidence is the issue: only about 15% of those who know one rate themselves proficient in their best foreign language, against 27.6% across the EU. Czechia and Italy are the only EU countries below one in five.
Language skills are also more common among younger and more highly educated people, so do not judge a buying group by the IT manager on your first call. Prepare Czech versions of the summary, proposal, contract, onboarding guides and support, and show prices in CZK next to EUR.
How Czech companies buy IT
It depends on size, ownership and whether the buyer is public; you can check all three before the first call.
- Owner-managed firms. In a small or mid-sized s.r.o. (limited liability company), the managing director, called jednatel, signs for the company. The public register names that person.
- Subsidiaries of international groups. The budget, the approved vendor list or the security standard may be set at group level. Check the owner in the register and ask early who else has a say.
- Large companies. Expect a buying group: Gartner reports that B2B buying groups typically include 5 to 16 people and that 74% of buyer teams show unhealthy conflict during the decision. Help your champion build consensus across IT, finance, procurement and security, as explained in why B2B deals stall on no decision.
- The public sector. Public bodies buy through public procurement, and many of their contracts are published, as the next section shows.
Whatever the size, bring a reference the buyer can call, ideally from Czechia or a neighbouring country. If you have none, offer a paid pilot with written success criteria instead of an open-ended free trial.
Where to find Czech prospects: public registers and data
Much of the company data you need is public and free:
- ARES, run by the Ministry of Finance, searches the economic entities registered in Czechia using data from the underlying state registers. Its public API returns each company's CZ-NACE activity codes and a headcount band from the statistical register, enough for a first account list.
- The public register of the Ministry of Justice names each company's statutory body and often its owners, and its collection of deeds (Sbírka listin) holds filed financial statements and annual reports.
- The CZSO business register can be downloaded in full as a free CSV file, in Czech, and is updated for public users twice a month.
- Registr smluv, the contract register. Under Act No. 340/2015 Coll., the public bodies and publicly owned companies that the Act names must publish, in principle, every contract above CZK 50,000 excluding VAT. Search it for software and IT services to see who buys what, from whom and for how much.
Registers give you companies and signatories, not the head of IT, so you still need LinkedIn, events and referrals. Our guide to finding and qualifying IT sales leads shows how to score what you find, and MEDDIC for lead generation helps with larger deals.
Is cold email legal in the Czech Republic? Email and call rules
In most cases, not without consent. Under Act No. 480/2004 Coll., commercial email needs the recipient's prior consent, and the Czech data protection office (ÚOOÚ) applies this to every individual and legal person, so B2B email is covered. The main exception is existing customers, for your own similar products or services, with a simple, free opt-out in every message. Our guide to cold email law in Europe covers the Czech rules and fines in more detail and compares them with nine other jurisdictions.
Calls follow a different law. Since 2022, the Electronic Communications Act has banned marketing calls to anyone who has not said in a public directory that they want them (ÚOOÚ), and randomly generated numbers or lists of people who have not opted in count as such a directory. A joint interpretation by the telecoms regulator ČTÚ, the ÚOOÚ and the Ministry of Industry and Trade adds three points for B2B:
- The ban covers companies as well as individuals.
- Calling a number that a company publishes on its own website falls outside this rule, as long as you respect any stated purpose, such as customers only, and the GDPR.
- Offering a meeting already counts as marketing, and a marketing text message would breach Act No. 480/2004 Coll., which does not distinguish people from companies.
Underneath sits the GDPR: Recital 47 says direct marketing may be regarded as a legitimate interest, which still needs a balancing test and an easy way to object. So build Czech outbound on LinkedIn, calls to published company numbers, events, partners and referrals, and keep email for customers and people who agreed to it. This is general information, not legal advice: check your setup with counsel, and where you do send email, keep it out of spam.
Hire locally or outsource? What a Czech sales setup costs
Local sales staff cost less than in Western Europe, but a wrong hire is still expensive. Eurostat puts average hourly labour costs in 2025 at EUR 19.8 in Czechia, against EUR 34.9 across the EU and EUR 45.0 in Germany. The Grafton salary survey in the ABSL Report 2026 lists typical gross monthly pay for an inside sales specialist at CZK 42,000 to 52,000 in Prague and CZK 40,000 to 50,000 in the Brno region, variable pay included and mostly based on starting salaries.
Salary is the smaller risk. The Bridge Group found an average SDR ramp of 3.0 months and median attrition of 40% in its 2025 research, and a lone rep abroad also needs a manager and a playbook. The usual setups compare like this:
| Setup | Fits when | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Local hire | Demand is proven and a manager can coach in person | Ramp time, attrition and managing from abroad |
| Outsourced team | You want to test the market or need meetings quickly | Data and domain ownership, and the written definition of a qualified meeting |
| Hybrid | A partner books meetings, your team runs demos and closing | Clean handoffs and one shared CRM |
Our own Sales Engine plans start at 1,750 euros a month (Launch: 6-month minimum, 5 qualified meetings a month guaranteed), and all plans are on our pricing page. For a full comparison, see outsourced sales vs an in-house SDR and what B2B sales outsourcing really costs in 2026. Sales as a service in Prague explains the on-the-ground option.
A 90-day plan to start selling IT in Czechia
- Weeks 1 to 2: choose one segment. One industry, one size band. Pull the account list from ARES or the CZSO register and check signatories and owners in the public register.
- Weeks 3 to 4: localise. A Czech one-pager, prices in CZK and EUR, a Czech proposal and contract, and one reference story. Check the outreach plan against the email and call rules above.
- Weeks 5 to 8: start conversations. LinkedIn, calls to published company numbers, partner introductions and one or two events. Email only customers and people who opted in. Aim for discovery calls, not demos.
- Weeks 9 to 12: review and decide. Which segment answered, which objections came up, where a paid pilot is possible. Then choose between hiring, outsourcing or a mix. For help with segment, message and playbook, see sales strategy development.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Czech Republic a good market for IT sales?
It can be, for a product that fits a clear segment. The CZSO counts 64,200 ICT enterprises and CZK 1,181 billion of ICT sector turnover in 2024, and Czech firms use CRM and paid cloud services more than the EU average. The limit is size: only 9,175 enterprises have 50 or more persons employed, so choose the segment carefully.
Can I sell IT to Czech companies in English?
You can open conversations in English, but plan to finish in Czech. Eurostat's 2022 survey found that only about 15% of Czech adults who know a foreign language rate themselves proficient in their best one. A Czech proposal, contract and onboarding guide make it easier for finance, procurement and management to say yes.
Is cold email to Czech businesses allowed?
Mostly not without prior consent. Act No. 480/2004 Coll. requires consent before commercial email, and the ÚOOÚ applies it to legal persons too, so B2B email is covered. Existing customers may receive offers for your similar products, with an opt-out in every message. Calls to numbers a company publishes on its own website fall outside the telemarketing opt-in rule. Check your case with counsel.
How much does a salesperson cost in the Czech Republic?
The Grafton survey in the ABSL Report 2026 puts an inside sales specialist in Prague at CZK 42,000 to 52,000 gross a month, variable pay included, and at CZK 40,000 to 50,000 in the Brno region. Add employer costs, tools, management and a ramp that averaged 3.0 months for SDRs in Bridge Group research. Our Launch plan costs 1,750 euros a month.
How we help foreign IT vendors sell in Czechia
IT SalesaaS runs outsourced B2B sales for IT and SaaS companies, with outreach in English, Czech and Turkish. For a Czech market entry that means a written ideal customer profile, outreach only through channels Czech rules allow, and qualified meetings that take place with a decision-maker or influencer present. See our IT sales outsourcing and lead generation services, the plans on our pricing page, or talk to us.
Sources and further reading: CZSO, population in 2026; CZSO, ICT sector; CZSO, ICT specialists; Eurostat, enterprises by size; CZSO, ICT in enterprises; Eurostat, digital economy in enterprises; Eurostat, foreign language skills; Gartner, conflict in buyer teams; ARES, company register search; Ministry of Justice, public register; CZSO, business register; Registr smluv, legal FAQ; ÚOOÚ, Act No. 480/2004 Coll.; Czech regulators, telemarketing interpretation; ÚOOÚ, telemarketing Q&A; GDPR Recital 47; Eurostat, labour costs 2025; ABSL Report 2026, salary survey; The Bridge Group, SDR report 2025.