New E-Book Showcases Curitiba’s IT Services Ecosystem
February 7th, 2012
Click on the image to read the E-book
It’s been called “Silicon Valley South” and is one of many locations to be nicknamed “the Silicon Valley of Brazil.” Although Curitiba differs from the original Valley in several key ways – less traffic, for instance, and more trees – it does share one essential similarity: a concentration of technology expertise and software development experience.
Curitiba is capital of the state of Paraná, which is home to more than 260 software companies and six software clusters. Those providers embody more than 50 areas of business intelligence and more than 30 areas of IT specialty. Clients of Curitiba include ExxonMobil, HSBC, Nokia, and Wipro. IBM, Dell, and HP were among the first international tech companies to set up operations in Curitiba.
Who is Maria Clara Choucair and How Did She Rock the World of Colombia IT?
February 7th, 2012
Choucair: People said software testing is something users do.
Testing firm’s founder overcomes skeptics and machismo with a ‘humanist’ operating philosophy
By James Bargent
When Maria Clara Choucair founded Choucair Testing in 1999, it was the first software testing company in Colombia and one of only a handful in Latin America. The company started with a workforce of one – Maria Clara Choucair. Thirteen years later, Choucair Testing has 450 employees, branches in Medellin and Bogota and Lima, Peru, and a host of big-name clients.
Upstarts Threaten Big Players in Potential LatAm BPO Boom
February 6th, 2012
Santiago: Sustained vertical drive.
By Dan Berthiaume
Latin American nations make up about one-quarter of the 2012 list of Top 100 outsourcing locations compiled by global outsourcing research/advisory firm Tholons, and that is no accident. As Manuel Ravago, president for research at Tholons, explains, Latin America is an up-and-comer in the world of BPO. And more agile smaller countries might make the most of that.
Latin America ‘Weak’ Infrastructure Starts to Get a Major Facelift
February 3rd, 2012
Peru, Puerto Rico, Brazil, and Colombia drive forward with big projects
By Clayton Browne
Latin America has long been considered a laggard in terms of global infrastructure development, but that perception should be changing. Countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Peru, and Puerto Rico have all begun major long-term infrastructure projects ranging from roads to dams to telecommunications towers to airports. Infrastructure development in the areas of energy, transportation and telecommunications have seen the greatest recent growth, with estimates ranging as high as $450 billion, to be spent on infrastructure in the area between 2011 and 2015.
Examine More Than Cost Savings When Judging the Nearshore
February 2nd, 2012By Patrick Haller
When making sourcing decisions, a lot of attention is paid to the pricing structure and qualifications of service providers, while their actual location is sometimes a secondary consideration. However, when assessing a destination, it’s important to realize that what might be favorable today can morph into a nightmare scenario tomorrow. Don’t be caught unaware and unprepared for the ever-changing dynamics of the Nearshore.
Brazil Living Costs Surpass US; Economist Warns of Risks
February 1st, 2012
São Paulo: Making Manhattan look cheap.
By Filipe Pacheco
High costs are one of the prices international companies must pay for doing business in Brazil– especially when it comes to the services industry. Now one of the most plugged-in financial institutions in the world, the International Monetary Fund, has released numbers that demonstrate what many suspected anyway: The cost of living in Brazil in 2011 rose to slightly higher than that of the United States.
Nearshore Agile Development Needs to Fix Major Flaw
January 31st, 2012
By Katy Demong
Companies that want to grow their bottom line while saving money by speeding software cycles are turning increasingly to Agile development. But how can companies combine the cost savings of Agile with the economies of Nearshore while protecting themselves from miscommunication and the mismanagement of time and resources?
Forget Arbitrage: Just Take Labor Out of the Cost Equation
January 30th, 2012
By Dan Berthiaume
Labor arbitrage, or the moving of jobs from more expensive to less expensive locations, has long been seen as one of the chief potential benefits of BPO. And while reducing the cost of labor by shifting it overseas certainly remains an appealing option for many BPO customers, with the assistance of technology the BPO model is starting to evolve to a point where, in many cases, labor can be removed from the equation entirely.
Philippines’ Attrition is Spiking – Is Latin America Next?
January 27th, 2012
By Luke Bujarski
High employee turnover is something that sourcing managers have learned to put up with when offshoring IT and BPO tasks to India. But now the Philippines has also begun showing signs of overheating. Given Latin America’s relatively small labor pools, we worry that the region might follow suit and succumb to the same pressures that have pushed the Philippines to its limits. So far, rampant turnover has not been a major problem with LatAm markets. But just in case, we decided to take another look at some of the details around attrition and other symptoms of hot labor market conditions.
What Sluggishness? TCS Exec Sees Robust Nearshore Momentum
January 26th, 2012
Prakash: Customers want "mobility, big data, business intelligence."
By Robert L. Scheier
Days after Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) announced a 14 percent growth in quarter-over-quarter revenue, Ankur Prakash, Vice President and COO for TCS-Latin America talked with our affiliate Global Delivery Report about prospects for the Nearshore amid continued economic uncertainty.
Prakash, who is ranked number 15 on the Nearshore Americas Power 50 list, lauded for being “a strong supporter of Latin American services,” does not see the slowdown in demand for outsourcing that some analysts are forecasting.
