Big Upside for Latin American CROs
September 15th, 2009Bright Future for CROs: Why Offshore Lab Research is Booming
By Federico L. O’Conor, founder, ICCL Inteligencia de Mercados.
Contract Research Organizations (CRO) in Latin America are key strategic partners to many pharmaceutical and 
biotech companies from North America and Europe. CRO’s allows these firms to concentrate efforts in their core skills, mostly related to manufacturing, marketing and sales. In the continuous race to optimize resources, cost reduction generally results the very first variable to be adjusted. Areas such as legal affairs and logistics have been pioneers when their specific duties have been outsourced into the hands of organizations more specialized in those key activities.
Beginning fifteen years ago, healthcare enterprises began using outsourcing providers to assist in areas like Regulatory Submissions, Patient Recruitment, Project Management and Clinical Monitoring. In recent years, Latin America has become an increasingly attractive destination.
First reports of …
Putting Governance First
September 15th, 2009By Anupam Govil, Chairman, Global Sourcing Forum + Expo
Latin America and the Caribbean have emerged as attractive sourcing destinations for North American companies because they are geographically close, have compatible time zones, and can provide strong bilingual capabilities. Recent reports by Zagada Research on Contact Center industry in Caribbean and Central American have shown a dramatic growth of almost 300% over the last four years.
However this rapid growth has stretched the middle management talent available in the region, giving rise to increasing concerns about quality control, risk management and governance. When choosing a partner in Latin America or the Caribbean it is important for North American firms to carefully consider local laws, regulations and business practices which may either impede or help with effective governance and enforcement of contracts and SLAs.
Varying Strength, Varying Quality
Quality assurance metrics, timeline and deliverables as …
Making Sense of Mexico’s Crime
September 15th, 2009By Mike Barrett, CEO of Unosquare
I rummaged through the home filing cabinet to find my life insurance policy. I’ve travelled around the world for 
business, from India to Australia to Canada, and never before dug out my life insurance policy before I left. But this time was different. I was travelling to the place that some call “kidnap capital of the world” – Mexico City.
I dusted off the manila folder and brought it to my wife the night before I left for the airport. I told her who to call if I’m kidnapped and gave her the file. Then I kissed her on the cheek and said something like, “Don’t worry, nothin’s gonna happen.”
“Sadly, I feel more unsafe walking the streets of Los Angeles or Houston than I do in Mexico”
Border Cities: Crime Zones
Mexico has indeed become a …
Nearshore Americas: Sourcing in Real Time
August 31st, 2009Nearshore Americas – the only media website dedicated to independent reporting on outsourcing in the Americas. We are foremost a resource for North American corporate buyers evaluating Nearshore sourcing options.
Q/A: Costa Rica is Still Rich with Talent
August 31st, 2009NSAM Staff Report
StarTek's new facility is just outside the capital city of San Jose.
Some critics will argue that Costa Rica is oversaturated – that wages are too high and that the professional labor force to shrinking rapidly. While that argument goes on, companies like Startek, based in Denver, are quietly discovering that there is still plenty of upside left in this peaceful and geopolitically stable country of 4.2 million people.
StarTek’s current contact centers are primarily located in the US, with a handful of sites also in Canada and also one in the Phillipines.
We recently sat down with Mary Beth Loesch, SVP of Corporate Development for StarTek to tell us more about its new 400-seat facility, with approximately 37,000 square feet and situated near San Jose, in the city of Heredia. Ryan Carey has been hired as site director to build the local team.
CSC Acquires BearingPoint’s Brazil Assets
August 31st, 2009NSAM STAFF REPORT
Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), a global consulting, systems integration and outsourcing company, has completed its acquisition of BearingPoint’s operation in Brazil. The acquisition enhances the expertise of CSC in domains such as Chemical, Energy and Natural Resource sectors.
Brazil is the ninth largest economy in the world and the county is known as an affordable alternative in the offshore sector. The country has a rich IT culture and lots of skilled professionals in mainframe are available there. The acquisition is expected to help CSC in improving its global delivery model.
The CSC acquisition is also see to assist the company in terms of time zone alignment with US customers. Well known global technology companies such as IBM, EDS, Accenture and TCS among the biggest global operating companies in Brazil.
In Brazil, BearingPoint serves industry leaders in oil, gas and iron ore sector. With BearingPoint Brazil’s acquisition CSC will look to …
IAOP Puts Big Focus on Cloud Computing
August 31st, 2009Cloud computing, or delivering hosted and scalable services over the Internet, is revolutionizing the way that outsourced services are sold, purchased and delivered, resulting in greater flexibility in the delivery of services.
The International Association of Outsourcing Professionals® (IAOP) is exploring the technological issues of migrating to cloud computing through several initiatives.
The IAOP has added an educational track, “Outsourcing’s Next Frontier: Cloud Computing,” at its annual conference, The 2010 Outsourcing World Summit, Feb. 15-17, in Lake Buena Vista, Fl. 
IAOP has also formed a topical chapter on cloud computing, co-chaired by technology companies Microsoft and BeyondCore, which will launch in November.
“Recent industry studies have identified cloud computing as today’s top disruptive technology with the very real potential to dramatically reshape the way companies acquire and manage their technology, and the way they run their businesses,” said IAOP …
Telus is probably the most bullish company I have yet to run into that has established a comprehensive Nearshore presence.
As the second largest telecom carrier in Canada, Telus has made global expansion a key priority under the leadership of CEO Darren Entwistle, who has run the company since 2000. That global growth comes partly in the form of responding to the requirements of customers, who increasingly require call center agents to possess Spanish language skills.
Telus, through its partnership with Transactel, runs three outsourced customer delivery sites in
