Month: December 2017

Critical Factors to Consider Before Selecting a Nearshore Location, Part 4: Service Specialization | In the News

What smaller countries lack in breadth, they can make up in depth. Finding an area of specialization can help countries that might otherwise get lost in the pack, stand out from other locations that have a larger population from which to draw or longer track record of which to boast.

 

IBM is one of many companies that has found a regional home in Costa Rica. In 2011, it doubled down and expanded its already substantial presence in the country with a $300 million investment in a new customer support center and announced plans to hire an additional 1,000 workers.

Salil Dani, a vice president in the global sourcing service line for the Dallas-based consulting and research company Everest Group, says that the country still has a ways to go to compete with the tech-specially giants but that it is on the right path.

“Costa Rica doesn’t have a large, talented IT pool like a Brazil or a China or an India,” says Dani. “But still, even if they are able to train some talent for ITO skills, that will really strengthen the proposition of Costa Rica even further. Because then people can look at it not just as a location for voice and Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) but also doing some IT work.”

Read more in Finance TnT

Critical Factors to Consider Before Selecting a Nearshore Location, Part 3: Talent Pool | In the News

Ultimately, it is becoming a prerequisite to be business-friendly and politically stable. Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have advanced monumentally in both regards in recent years, so there are many options to choose from and it’s easy to discard the outliers from consideration. This has been reflected in the reticence companies have shown to enter Argentina and Venezuela during the last decade (not to mention the Philippines currently).

Talent, then, becomes the next differentiator. In some sense, size matters. Simply put, Brazil (with a population of almost 210 million) and Mexico (nearly 130 million) offer more people than everywhere else in the region. While Uruguay or Chile may have an advantage in terms of certain tech skills or overall education levels, when it comes to the ability to scale, there is no competing with the big two.

 

Salil Dani, a vice president in the global sourcing service line for the Dallas-based consulting and research company Everest Group, breaks it down into two elements: Potential for fast growth versus competition. Going to Mexico City or Buenos Aires means you can fill up seats fast. But you will also likely deal with high employee turnover rates since skilled workers are in high demand and have many options — not just from the services industry but in various other fields.

Read more in Finance TnT

Why Do Accenture And IBM Stand Out When Markets Change? | Sherpas in Blue Shirts

Many industry analysts have a theory that digital transformation will happen rapidly. But I don’t believe that. I think it will happen over five to 10 years. While digital adoption grows, we’ll see dramatic consolidation in the IT and business process services markets based on the legacy labor arbitrage factory model. A plethora of arbitrage-based service providers remain in the market.

In 2018, we’ll see that some service providers will be able to transition to digital, but some won’t. Those that don’t manage to change will consolidate. But I believe we’ll even some consolidation among those that make the change to the digital world. We’re starting to see early signs of market consolidation in 2017.

Read more in my Forbes blog

How can we engage?

Please let us know how we can help you on your journey.

Contact Us

"*" indicates required fields

Please review our Privacy Notice and check the box below to consent to the use of Personal Data that you provide.