Argentina Software Factories Have a Great Story, But Don’t Look to the Government to Tell It
May 16th, 2011By Kirk Laughlin
Selling IT Services in the US was the topic of a event sponsored by CommonSense and Globant last week in Buenos Aires.
Argentina is – no doubt – a success story in both the domestic and exported IT services market. But one can only fathom where this nation of just over 40 million would be if there was a more collective industry effort to rally around an Argentina IT-empowered “brand.”
This fact is one of several interesting takeaways from a visit to Buenos Aires last week, where all kinds of contradictions and complexities underlie an IT industry that has been growing between 15% to 20% each year since 2003, according to industry group, CESSI. In a variety of meetings with education and technology ministry officials and also executives from Softtek, Globant, Grupo Assa, Neoris, CommonSense, Belatrix and other smaller firms, one sees almost immediately that the exported software sector remains ‘one of the best kept secrets’ in IT offshoring in Latin America.
Lino Barañao, Argentina’s Minister of Science and Technology, explains why wine and IT have a lot in common in a country which requires 7,000 new tech grad every year to meet demand.
We’re gliding through the Globant facility in the heart of downtown Buenos Aires, and our guide is the t-shirt clad CTO and co-founder of Globant: Guibert Englebienne. First stop – the new executive leadership work space where all top five executives of Globant will work together in the same area. No doors, no walls – just open collaboration space and a nice view of the river.
The new Neoris facility in Rosario
ROSARIO, ARGENTINA — Neoris, one of the leading multinational global business and technology consulting companies, has opened new offices for software development in the city of Rosario. Governor Hermes Binner, Mayor Miguel Lifschitz, and more than 200 guests attended the opening.
Rosario Neoris is a symbol of the company’s growth. The company first operated here under the name of Amtec. It was in 1996 when Martín Méndez, current President for the Latin American Cluster region, founded and led the industry leader in Internet services in Argentina.
Today, 10 years after the creation of Neoris, a global company with more than 3,600 employees in 20 offices and a turnover of more than $300 million, the company is still committed to Rosario and thus inaugurated the …
Image Matters: The Latin America Perception Shift
April 24th, 2011log in or Register to Download the WhitePaper ( - PDF )
By the editors at Nearshore Americas
Enterprises are re-assessing their outsourcing portfolios, and looking for locations that offer them more stability and minimal risk. When examining geopolitical risk, business decision-makers do so with partial information, rather than accurate assessments of the situation on the ground. Especially when it comes to the Latin American region, outdated safety attitudes and perceptions are widespread.
This new study by Nearshore Americas is aimed at addressing this information gap. We found out what the relative perceptions are of different Latin American countries, and to what extent personal safety concerns impact buyers’ decisions to invest in those countries. This report is intended to be tool for buy-side clients, industry analysts and country promotion agencies interested in comparing the real Latin American safety situation with what is being perceived in the market at large.
Philips SA Picks NCR to Handle IT Services for Latin America
April 4th, 2011Technology and solutions provider NCR Corp. has been selected to provide help desk, customer support, and other managed services to the Spanish-speaking customers of Philips S.A. throughout Latin America.
As per this new contract, the facility in Buenos Aires will be used by NCR for providing technical support and customer care services with respect to all Philips S.A. consumer products. NCR will also assist with inbound marketing support for promotions and deliver other specialized call center functions.
NCR’s selection by Philips SA was based on its successful track record for delivering managed services, as well as the company’s ability to gauge consumer behaviour, which will help Philips S.A. develop strong relationships with consumers and differentiate itself from competitors.
The company is making headlines with frequent deal wins. For example, in the month of January 2011, NCR Corp. clinched a deal with Chase, the U.S. consumer and commercial banking …
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Globant, a leader in the creation of innovative software products that appeal to global audiences, today announced that Riverwood Capital and FTV Capital have invested an additional $15 million in the software company. The funding will help Globant continue its strong organic growth and will support its strategic acquisition plan throughout Latin America and the U.S. This is the third investment in Globant from Riverwood Capital and second from FTV Capital.
According to Globant’s CEO Martin Migoya, “We have big plans for 2011, and this new financing round will be vital for our continued growth. The launch of our eight studios has enabled us to enhance the level of innovative, value added service for our customers, which has been key to our revenue growth and customer satisfaction. In addition to our rapid organic growth, we also plan to grow through the …
Employee Protectionism: Not Made in the USA
March 11th, 2011
Compared to nations where US companies send work, US employee protection laws are nearly nonexistent
By Ken Hess
The mere mention of laws to protect US workers from losing their jobs to cheaper labor locations incites strong opposition from US corporations, from companies involved in helping to move jobs offshore, and, of course, from cheap labor locations. However, the US is behind the rest of the world in protecting its valuable tax base — i.e., its workers. Employee protectionism is a dirty term when referring to preventing American jobs from being bled off to offshore locations.
So, where are the protectionist laws in place? You’ll be surprised to know that the popular cheap labor locations have the most employee protection laws.
Outsourcing in Latin America: Are We There Yet?
March 9th, 2011
The view on Argentina: The government has to get serious on incentives.
A LatAm-specific dive into A.T. Kearney’s 2011 Global Services Location Index
By Rodrigo Slelatt
Talk of Latin America emerging as a key offshoring location has grown significantly in the last few years. Multinationals and top outsourcing providers have set up delivery centers there, and countries in the region are making significant efforts to attract offshoring-related investment. Despite the efforts, the question remains as to how soon Latin America will become recognized as an established outsourcing region.
Latin America’s proximity to the U.S. consumer market has certainly served it well as a services hub. With a growing Spanish-speaking population in the United States and English proficiency rising in Latin America, customer service activities will naturally increase. But the region is aiming higher – just like India and the Philippines did over a decade ago. Latin America wants to become a global player in the BPO and ITO space. And for that it takes more than just language skills and proximity.
The Globant Plan: Keep Doing What We’re Doing, and Hit Nasdaq in Two Years
February 15th, 2011Exclusive interview with Globant CEO Martin Migoya
By Tarun George
One of Latin America’s IT stars, Globant has proved that it can take Nearshore sourcing successfully to Silicon Valley. But what is the plan in coming years? We spoke with CEO Martín Migoya to find out. He tells us how Globant is differentiating itself in software development, and discusses his plans for acquisitions and public offerings. Read on for more.
What are the key areas of innovation in tech services that your customers are looking for in 2011?
Migoya: They’re mainly looking for innovation around mobile applications, and around gaming technology. Those are the areas where we’re seeing massive movement , such as firms expanding the use of gaming technology into other areas like training, etc.
But the area that we’re seeing the most innovation happening these days is in social applications connected with the main social networks, and how those can be replicated efficiently without a massive amount of development effort. Corporations want applications that allow them to access that world, in order to target their customers in a more efficient and specific way – this is the big thing that’s bringing social networks into the news these days.
