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.
Colombian Students Vow to Strangle Bogota
November 9th, 2011Source: Colombia Reports
Students protesting higher education reform have announced plans to set up a permanent camp on Bogota’s central Plaza Bolivar, Caracol Radio reported Wednesday.
The camp will be set up in Plaza de Bolivar following a day of nationwide protest against the government’s proposed “Law 30″. At least 30,000 people are predicted to march in Bogota, where trade unions and other social organisations have pledged to join students on the streets – with some promising to help them “bring the city to a halt”.
More than buses full of activists will arrive in the capital tomorrow to join the encampment. They include members of the Confederation of Workers and workers from Pacific Rubiales, Colombia’s largest private oil company. Workshops and discussion groups are planned.
Sergio Tiempo, a spokesman for the Alternative National Education Board, which is leading the protest movement, told El Tiempo newspaper that if the government did …
The Rules According to Rudderham
October 17th, 2011Capgemini’s Steve Rudderham on why media has to be more proactive telling the real Latin America story.
Genpact will operate out of the popular FT zone "Zona Franca'
By Patrick Haller
After scouring Latin America for a new hub, the global BPO company Genpact has decided that Bogota is where its future lies. Citing an impressive improvement in security, political stability and a high-quality talent pool, Genpact announced yesterday at a special press conference in Bogota, that it is in the process of building-out 750 square meters in one of the city’s Zona Franca facilities. With a long-term vision that anticipates the hiring of up to 1,500 employees (95% of whom will be Colombian) and an investment of up to $10 million over the next three to five years, Genpact is angling to plant its footprint solidly on the Latin American landscape.
Seeking Opportunity Arbitrage in LatAm
August 10th, 2011
By Eric Simonson, Everest Group
I often hear organizations wanting to attain benefits but with a desire to “minimize” risk. Understandable, but what they don’t realize at the outset is that this is a limiting mindset, particularly when most also agree they prefer sustained benefits. My preferred definition of global sourcing is “attaining a different profile of benefits from successfully managing a different profile of risk.”
Instead of trying to follow what has already been proven “safe,” the innovators in global sourcing are intentional about what risks their organizations can take and successfully manage in order to achieve the desired benefits. These risks may be in overcoming infrastructure disadvantages, creating delivery models that can withstand more variability, or choosing to cultivate an underutilized talent pool.
The single largest and most enduring challenge in global services is getting the right talent. …
Colombia’s President Santos Wields Regional Influence
August 9th, 2011Source: Washington Post
PAIPA, Colombia – Juan Manuel Santos is burdened by thorny challenges aplenty as he marks a year in office: sophisticated drug traffickers, criminal gangs marauding in the provinces, hit-and-run attacks by Latin America’s last rebel army.
What Colombia’s president is relieved not to be facing is what his U.S. counterpart grapples with daily: a powerful opposition.
All but token opposition has melted away as Santos forged an agenda that aims to ease the very inequalities that Colombia’s leftist rebels cite as ideological justification for their half-century-old insurgency.
“Fortunately, I’m not in President Obama’s position. I’m fortunate to have 95 percent of the Congress with me,” Santos, his smile widening, said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Even the party of the candidate defeated by Santos last year, the Greens, has joined the governing coalition. The media is solidly behind him, his approval ratings consistently top 70 percent and …
Hildebrando Expands into South America with Bogota Operation
July 27th, 2011Hildebrando, one of the largest Mexican software developers, has launched its South American operations in Bogota, Colombia. Software development will be conducted out of a new facility constructed by TelMex in the exclusive Parque 93 District, known for its sumptuous restaurants, quiet residential areas, and a beautiful park.
Although Hildebrando’s client base includes IBM, New York Life, Microsoft, and Banorte, initially the Colombia operation will be focused on one client. “We are expanding the model that works for Mexico: TelMex and Hildebrando,” said Country Manager Rafael Lopez Escalera. Ramping up with a relatively small staff recruited from Colombia, Hildebrando plans to hire at least 400 Colombian technicians by the end of 2013. Humberto Sánchez Sandoval, VP Negocios, told Nearshore Americas. “We will be selling our services in the industries with success stories: Banking, insurance, trading, telcos, government.”
Hildebrando will …
Koombea founder Jonathan Tarud helps create a new image for Colombia
By Patrick Haller
While the world may be waking up to Colombia’s commercial dynamism, the country itself seems to finally be coming to grips with its potential as a source for IT innovation. From Barranquilla to Medellin to Bogota, there are increasing expectations that Colombia is fertile ground for startups – especially in software product development. The government is poised to ease restrictions on software products and trade groups are focused on raising quality standards in an overriding effort to put Colombia on the map as a credible tech player. [Our top four picks among the new generation of Colombia IT innovators appears below.]
By Dennis Barker
Santiago Pinzón Galán would like to invite you to visit Colombia. And if you are someone who is afraid of visiting Colombia, he would like to invite you in particular.
Pinzón is executive director of ANDI, the Asociación Nacional de Empresarios de Colombia, a national business association that works to “expand and promote economic, social and political principles within a free enterprise system.
From a Nearshore perspective, part of ANDI’s role is to represent member firms before international companies and prospective clients. It’s the oldest business association in the country, and it represents 1,500 companies, or “thirty percent of the nation’s GDP,” Pinzón says.
The New Colombia + Zemoga = Digital El Niño
January 20th, 2011DJ Edgerton, co-founder and CEO of Zemoga, talks about the innovative fire coming out of Bogota.
