Nearshore is a place for partnerships, driving innovation and intelligence that fits well with the consumerization trend, says analyst Ray Wang, of Constellation Research

Cesar Gon at CiandT: For Brazil to produce value in global IT – it must embrace the future, not the past.

By Fernando Labastida

If you are a software developer or managed IT services provider entering the US market, stop talking about CMMI, agile, scrum, lean, .NET, Java, SharePoint, SAP, or any other technical or methodological buzzword.

To really prepare for the US market, to make sure you increase your chances of success, you’ve got to stop talking about the products or services you sell. Instead, talk about the problems you solve. Talk about your story, and how that fits in with your potential customer’s needs, wants and worldview. And talk about how you’re different from all the other CMMI, agile, Microsoft certified, or SAP/Oracle/IBM partners and developers out there.

Buyers and decision-makers don’t care about all the facts and figures you’ll throw at them (well, they do after they decide they like you – they use it to justify a decision they’ve already made). They care about dealing with a company that solves their problems, takes away their risks, or helps them innovate. And most of all they like dealing with companies who speak directly to them and their particular point of view.

How do you do that?

Narrow Your Focus

Just browsing through the articles at Nearshoreamericas.com, I came across three opportunities you could focus on: retail, cloud computing, and mobile software development.

If you have strong collective knowledge in your organization on one of these vertical markets it might be a good idea to focus on them.

Then research the markets like crazy. Read industry reports, go to their conferences, interview industry experts. The more you know about a particular market, the more you’ll know what to say and how to say it when you write content for your website and brochures, create presentations for conferences, and go on sales calls.

Go Beyond the Vertical

The vertical is the physical and demographic characteristics of your target market. But that’s not enough.

Remember, the US market is a hyper-competitive multi-media landscape. Your prospects are drowning in messages. Everything looks like white noise to them. They’re still not going to notice you even if you say you specialize in “cloud computing solutions for retailers.”

What you want to do next is identify two more things that will really help you cut through the noise and make your US prospects notice.

Focus On a Particular Problem

Think you’ll be limiting your opportunities by going too narrow? Not by a long shot.

Taking my earlier example: You might want to focus on providing cloud computing services for retailers. And if you read the complete article on cloud computing and the results of the KPMG study on the perceived expertise of buyers, you’ll notice a deeper opportunity: the need for education.

You could differentiate yourself by providing turnkey cloud computing services to retailers, and as a bonus you could offer free training: “Cloud Computing 101” for all your clients.

Now you’re focusing on a vertical market or two, and you’re solving a real problem within that niche.

Tell a Story That Resonates

As Seth Godin says in his book “All Marketers Are Liars ,” you need to frame a story that coincides with your target market’s worldview.

What’s an un-served worldview that is just dying for a story you could tell them? Maybe there’s a sub-group of retail CIOs and IT Directors who work for up-and-coming Tier II retailers whose mission in life is to un-seat the Wal-Marts, Targets and Best Buys of the world from their thrones.

Maybe you could tell them the story that you specialize in helping fast-growth, technology savvy retailers grow to become tomorrow’s giants.

What’s Your Story?

I just put the above scenario together in a matter of minutes using valuable information presented in a couple of Nearshoreamericas.com articles. With a bit more research and preparation you could come up with a complete market strategy by thinking along the same lines.

It’s an example of what I would do if I was in charge of your US market entry efforts and an example of the type of exercise and thinking you should go through as you plan your US or world domination plans.

So what’s your story?

We caught up with friends from across CALA yesterday during the reception at the Gartner Outsourcing Conference in Orlando. During the day, at least four Gartner analysts we listened to singled out the Nearshore as the ‘hottest’ outsourcing destination in the world right now. “More than once a day, I hear from either a prospective buyer or provider about this market,” said Cassio Dreyfuss, Gartner’s lead LatAm IT analyst. (See our recent interview with Cassio here.) 

Around this time two years ago, the Nearshore Americas brand was born. During the intervening months, our brand has attracted some amazingly talented and creative folks to contribute to these pages. Today we have launched a section – at the bottom of the home page – putting names with faces designed to help you, our valued reader, to get in touch with these professionals.

We also thank the Nearshore industry for embracing our brand from the very start. These are early days. We – together – have a bright, shining future. But our future is dependent on continuing to communicate the value of Latin America IT and services. And that’s where you fit in. Get in touch with our team members today. They are always hungry to hear about new ventures, innovations and visions for the market. We’ll always be here. And we’ll always be listening.

Nearshore Americas officially welcomes this week two high-caliber professionals to our ever-expanding content team. Patrick Haller, whose byline has been appearing the last few weeks, joins us as our first in-region, full-time Associate Editor, working from an office in Bogota, Colombia.

Also joining Nearshore Americas is Senior Research Analyst Luke Bujarski, who is already knee-deep in custom research projects for some of our clients. Luke, who has a bachelor’s in Spanish Linguistics and International Business, brings over ten years of market research to our organization.

Patrick will run day-to-day editorial operations of Nearshore Americas, which includes working with our wide universe of contributing writers and columnists. He’ll also be looking to expand his network of Nearshore services providers, not just in Colombia – where he has lived for two years – but across the region. He can be reached at: Patrick@nextcoastmedia.com and through Linkedin. Although Patrick will be writing about a variety of topics, one of his main beats will be the call center/ CRM space. If you are a vendor, consultant or buy-side customer, feel free to reach out to Patrick for a briefing or to schedule a coffee or lunch meeting in Bogota. (More bio info on Patrick is below.)

Luke is taking command of a powerful new extension of the Nearshore Americas brand by tapping into our industry-leading access to influential Neashore market decision-makers and players. Luke, who is based in New York City, has a rock solid combination of custom research experience in the economic development area and also first-hand familiarity with Latin America. Luke will help develop a custom research unit at Nearshore Americas that – foremost – provides an economical  research option for Nearshore buyers and providers. Luke can be reached at: Luke@nextcoastmedia.com (More bio information on Luke is below.)

Patrick Haller: Before relocating to Bogota, Colombia in 2009 from the United States, Haller was a Risk Manager in the Insurance industry where he worked with several associations, such as the American Booksellers Association, regional bookselling associations and the Auto Service Association.  In this role, he created and conducted loss control seminars at industry events and published articles in various periodicals.  Haller has extensive experience writing articles for newspapers, magazines, trade journals and on-line publications

Luke Bujarski: Luke brings 10 years of market research and international business experience to Nearshore Americas’ analytics division.   From 2001 to 2006, he worked as a consultant in strategic sourcing at Intersources UK (now Hubwoo).  Based out of London, England, he managed the global eSourcing portfolios for two major consumer goods manufacturers – Reckitt Benckiser and Diageo, the world’s leading premium drinks business.  He oversaw the successful completion of over 70 international sourcing initiatives, across 15 categories of direct and indirect spend.  This included projects in Latin America with buyer and supplier networks reaching Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and Chile.  Prior to joining Nearshore Americas, Luke was Lead Researcher at Regional Intel, a custom research consultancy based out of Chicago, Illinois.  He has a bachelor’s in Spanish Linguistics and International Business, and later went on to obtain his Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he graduated with honors.

Source: Cronista.com

BUENOS AIRES — Kirk Laughlin is an expert on IT outsourcing and BPO. Visiting here to lecture on the possibilities that the U.S. market holds for Argentina’s IT companies, he took time to speak with IT Business about what the U.S. tech market needs and what local companies can do to meet those requirements.

“Many U.S. companies need software to add value to their businesses,” said Laughlin, founder of NextCoast Media and the publication Nearshore Americas. “In terms of outsourcing, the price is still important — but not the only factor to consider. The Argentines have, in relation to the rest of the countries of the region, a very interesting talent base, a good education system, and there is the cultural affinity that helps to develop business relationships. For all these reasons, Argentina is in a good position to meet U.S. demands,” said Laughlin.

Regarding the global economic crisis, which had its epicenter in the United States, Laughlin said that there were cuts in some areas but that was a good time to assess the situation of the IT market. “The big question that American companies are asking since then is whether the Indian market for IT services remains the most desirable for reasons of price, or whether they should open up to others, in which quality is the most important value,” he said.

However, Laughlin said he believes that much remains to be done in the local market to generate business and a reputation in the U.S. “I think Argentina is not ready yet to send a comprehensive and unified brand to the outside. But this is a good time to say to the world, ‘We are open to do business, we have talent, quality, and commitment.”

“These messages must be delivered actively by Argentina technology providers because people in America still do not know where to go to find information about what’s offered by Argentine companies,” Laughlin said. “The companies in this country really need to ask themselves if they want to go out and sell their services and products to the world.”

John Parkinson, global sourcing chief at Axis Capital, talks (at Nearshore Nexus 2011) about the importance of meeting your sourcing partners – face to face.

(Press Release, Jan. 22, 2011): Softtek, a provider of process-driven IT services that increase the business value of Fortune 1000 organizations’ application portfolios, today announced that it has launched two new blogs focusing on the IT industry.

One blog, The Process of Creating, presents discussions on the evolution of IT services, which emanate from creativity. Creativity is essentially free of rules, yet it still follows a process. This blog allows Softtek to participate and share its thoughts and ideas more openly during a time of disruptive IT evolution.

The second blog, Nearshore Outsourcing, was created from Softtek’s unique vantage point as the founder of the nearshore concept. The blog discusses the various complex, interwoven and regionally-specific ways in which the nearshore industry is poised for growth. This space is dedicated to providing cutting-edge perspectives on nearshoring across the globe.

The posts are written by Softtek thought leaders, as well as senior reporters from the leading industry nearshore blog Nearshore Americas. Both blogs will also showcase guest writers discussing best practices and insider perspectives on the IT outsourcing industry. The blog hopes to become a destination where individuals from across the globe can interact and share ideas.

“With all of the noise that exists on the blogosphere today, we are confident the expertise of Softtek’s executives, Nearshore Americas writers and our guests will shine through,” said Beni Lopez, CEO of Nearshore at Softtek. “Through the voice of all contributors, we will provide insider-insight into the trends, practices and happenings that are impacting our industry today.”

“At Nearshore Americas we continue to see strong demand for high-level, thoughtful analysis on the expansion and implications of Americas-based IT sourcing and services,” said Kirk Laughlin, founder and editorial director of Nearshore Americas. “Our collaboration with Softtek provides a valuable opportunity to drive greater awareness about this increasingly influential industry.”

The blog will be updated on a regular basis; it can be found at the following address: http://blogs.softtek.com/