By Patrick Haller

Nearshore countries say they want the IT and BPO jobs, but some are apparently not willing or able to provide the office space those jobs require. Dynamics vary from location to location, but finding the right facilities for your business is not typically going to be simple. Here are five risks you should be aware of when sourcing real estate in the region.

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By Claudia del Aguila

En los últimos 10 años, Guatemala ha dado pasos trascendentales hacia la Industria del Outsourcing con miras a ser uno de los oferentes nearshore más competitivos y atractivos de la región.

Esto se ha visto reflejado en el establecimiento de importantes empresas como los son 24/7 Customer, Capgemini, Transactel, NCO, Genpact, Atento, Allied Contact Center & BPO, Asistencia Global, ACS Xerox, Tellamo, Digitex, Intelenet entre otras que han invertido en nuestro país.

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Country starts to rally around a  “digital industry” centered on software developers and mobile apps

By Dennis Barker

Guatemala has been ascendant as a BPO destination in the past year — “an impressive comeback,” as we reported here a few months ago. But the country has its eyes on higher ground: software development. After all, why should regional giants like Brazil and Mexico get all the splashy and really interesting work?  This past week the Digital GT Committee, a young wing of the Guatemalan Exporters Association, launched its campaign to boost awareness of the country’s “digital industry” and the companies developing products ranging from iPhone games to mobile business solutions.

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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.

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Blackstone-backed Intelenet Global Services is expanding into Guatemala to provide nearshore business process outsourcing to North American clients, the Indian company says.

The new operation will provide multi-lingual support in English, French, and Spanish.

“Guatemala has emerged as an important BPO destination as the local population has a very good understanding of the American culture and the country has an abundance of English-speaking people. It offers a strong blend of multi-lingual skill sets, talent, and a favorable business climate, making it an ideal location to service clients in America,” said Susir Kumar, Managing Director and CEO of Intelenet.

Intelenet delivers business process outsourcing services to Fortune 500 companies in 36 facilities in the UK, United States, Australia, Philippines, Mauritius, Poland and India in industries in a variety of industries, growing from a handful of employees to more than 32,000 …

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Source: Prensa Libre
A government plan aimed at training two thousand students in English will end the year without having achieved its objective of giving only 85 scholarships, due to the low language level of the applicants.
The National Trust Scholarships and Student Loans made Q16.2 million available for two thousand students, but only 85 qualified.

Recipients have the opportunity to work in call centers and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO).

The program, coordinated by Social Cohesion, includes a grant of U.S. $ 325 to $ 350, of which 65 percent would pay the General Secretariat of Planning of the Presidency (SEGEPLAN), 20 percent of call centers and 15 percent stakeholder.

German Lopez, Chairman of the Contact Center & BPO Guatemalan Exporters Association, confirmed the low level of awards and added that only two years ago they had identified a group of two thousand potential candidates.

According …

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Finding out if you still get the same bang for your Quetzal in Guat City

By Tarun George

When Guatemala arrived on the outsourcing stage a decade ago, it was pegged as the new destination of choice in Central America. But after the first two big fish Capgemini and ACS jumped in, it quickly became evident that Guatemala did not have a well thought-out plan of action to ramp up and ride the outsourcing wave. The perception in following years was of a saturated labor market and a country that had missed its peak.

Recently however, Guatemala is pulling off an impressive comeback in BPO and contact center services, buoyed by promo agency Invest in Guatemala working to replenish the labor supply and provide quality talent to meet firms’ demand. That’s an ambitious goal, and it remains to be seen whether the country can throw off the old image and deliver. 

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Source: BusinessWire

Capgemini, one of the world’s foremost providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services, today announced that it is growing its BPO footprint in Latin America with the expansion of its delivery centers in Chile, Brazil and Guatemala. The centers currently employ 1,500 Business Process Offering (BPO) specialists, with capacity for more than 2,000 employees and additional room for expansion. In addition, Capgemini is increasing the scope of its BPO services in the region to include a range of finance and accounting, procurement services and customer operations management solutions. The centers currently service 5 prominent North American and global clients, including Unilever, Coca Cola Enterprises and International Paper.

Capgemini’s Latin America delivery network is comprised of new centers in the Campinas region of Sao Paulo, Gaspar City in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil, and in Guatemala City, Guatemala, as well …

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By Susan Arledge, President/CEO, Arledge Partners Real Estate Group

The nearest of the Nearshore outsourcing markets are gaining plenty of global attention, but are they prepared to react and adjust to market demands?

According to Indrajit Basu in his article entitled Latin America Offers New IT Outsourcing Challenge states: “Although work has not started running away from India yet, over the last few quarters, few new businesses of inbound voice back-office processes are coming to India,” says Ramesh Kamath of Aditya Birla Minacs, an IT-services BPO company.

The main reason:  Latin America is getting fiercely competitive. “While Indian service providers are still conscious about margins, Latin American providers offer rates that are at least $3 to $4 cheaper than Indian voice process rates per hour,” says Kamath. “Consequently Latin America is not only emerging as more competitive in …

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SOURCE: Siglo

Automated Translation from Spanish

Rep. Mariano Rayo anticipated that the Free Zones Act could be approved later this year.

The zones represent investments in the country, employment generation and value added to exporters. However, the country could lose these benefits by having an old law that regulates this activity, for which various sectors are urging the adoption of the initiative is in the Congress.

The 3858 bill, Free Zones Act, which seeks to amend the Decree 29-89, Law on the Promotion and Development of Export and Maquila activity, received a favorable opinion of the Committee on Economy and Foreign Trade of the Legislature in 2008, but since that time has not fully discussed.

This initiative aims to create conditions for promoting investment. “As a business we have participated with other organizations in the dialogue table in Congress, for presenting this proposal is innovative and futuristic,” said the director of the Competitiveness of …

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