Narayan AmmachchiArgentina could be the ideal country for developing healthcare software for the United States, as the South American country is home to a large number of IT professionals with expertise in Agile methodology and the knowledge of US data security laws, according to a new White Paper released by Nearshore Americas.
The paper, titled “Healthcare Software: The Argentine Advantage”, details the advantages Argentina offers in contrast with the advantages available in offshore destinations such as India. According to the report, software engineers in Argentina demonstrate qualifications and are equipped with greater experience than their counterparts elsewhere in the world. They know the US culture better. “At the same time, their English language skills are usually superior to other non-English speaking countries,” the report noted, adding the Argentine government offers tax-breaks on software service exportation.
As developing software for the US healthcare market requires navigating through a maze of legal and jurisdictional issues, developers should know the art of combining Agile methodology with the SaaS model to make sure that codes are kept up-to-date with minimal cost or disruption.
The Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) delivery model is ideal for healthcare, because it makes application updating easy, while providing more extensive visibility and reducing infrastructure costs. Similarly, having the software developed in a nearshore environment can be more affordable, while still maintaining the high levels of control and quality the industry requires.
In fact, since the currency devaluation in 2001, those US companies offshoring to Argentina have benefitted considerably. The reasons, according to the paper, are: the government has embraced the concept of Argentina as a services exporting and nearshoring destination, and has subsequently incentivized the export of services from Argentina in many areas.
If the Argentine currency floats against the dollar, which many observers consider likely, the United States currency will become even more valuable, thus increasing Argentina’s nearshore value proposition.
Of course, there are some disadvantages too with regard to the volatility in the currency market. But it has played in favor of the exportation sector so far. The imposition of import and foreign exchange controls may also have the potential to affect all exports to Argentina, regardless of origin or product category, but it has little impact on software that is exported from Argentina, says the report, co-sponsored by Accelone, based in Seattle, Wash.
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