Mention the word “outsourcing” and the image that usually comes to mind is that of customer service reps in India. But with that country’s increasing economic growth and clout on the world stage Indian companies have begun looking elsewhere. Enter Brazil into the fray.According to a recent assessment by global management consulting firm AT Kearney's Global Services Location Index, Brazil has become an increasingly attractive outsourcing destination. In the case of India’s second largest software exporter, Brazil’s closeness to the U.S market forced the firm to expand operations there. “Some of our US customers asked for a centre in Brazil, as the country falls in the same time zone,” said one exec at Infosys Technologies who added that the move would generate at least 100 jobs.
Aside from proximity to the U.S., there are other factors that set Brazil apart in the global market according to a senior official with Stefanini IT Solutions:
(Antonio) Moreira does promote Brazil as a place with a lower turnover rate than India, and as a place where IT professionals have a high degree of technical skills and business savvy. Stefanini, for example, experiences an average of 15 percent employee turnover, Moreira says…Not all is well with Brazil and outsourcing, however. The authors of the "Black Book of Outsourcing" cited Rio de Janeiro as one of the ten riskiest locales for outsourcing. (The top spot was taken by another South American city: Bogota, Colombia).
Brazil also has what Moreira calls a "western" business culture, including a large financial and banking industry footprint. This means the Brazil IT workforce includes a great many mainframe programmers as well…
"Brazilians are more proactive," Moreria says. "If they see they are not able to meet the deadline, they do something. They won't wait until the last minute and then say they can't meet the deadline."
(Hat tip: FARK.com)
Image-Expat American Living in Brazil (Brazilian call center)
Online Sources- InformationWeek, InfoWorld, Daily Times, MarketWatch, FARK.com
Are they serious about Bogota's # 1 ranking?
ReplyDeleteWhoever compiled that listed is way off.
Bogotá is one of the MOST enviromentally-friendly, best-sustainable city in the Western hemisphere and probably the world. Colombian currency has always been stable. Bogotá's safety is better than Washington DC's. Check this Outsourcing report published in allbusiness.com OR tmcnet.com, a leading technology/ telecomunications community site:
http://www.tmcnet.com/call-center/0907/cis-outsourcing-0907.htm
http://www.allbusiness.com/company-activities-management/management-personal/8913621-1.html
What the hell are these people talking about???
Let's not exaggerate please. (The peso has been slightly unstable over the past year with the exchange varying wildly at times).
ReplyDeleteAdmittedly, there have been numerous major improvements in Bogota under previous mayors Mockus and Penalosa. But there's still plenty to be done and it's not the oasis that you briefly make it seem.
For instance, the social and economic conditions between the northern and southern parts of the city are still pretty large. Much like the other major cities of Colombia, urban crime has gone up and become a notable concern. (There are other minuses, but I'll leave it at these two).
Perhaps the real error made by the listmaker was to extrapolate Colombia's major problems like the armed conflict and center them on Bogota. But having visited the metropolis myself several times the #1 ranking is not that undeserved.
(BY the way, you might want to check out what The Economist had to say on Bogota:
http://colombiareports.com/travel-in-colombia/94-bogota/4478-bogota-least-desirable-city-to-live-in-latin-america-the-economist.html )
What about Argentina? I have recently moved here and there seem to be outsourcing companies everywhere. I thought I would teach English but at the moment I see it more likely working in one of these companies. www.5ca.com is a Dutch company that set up here that provides call centre and customer service support in many languages.
ReplyDeleteYes Argentina seems to be the answer to call center outsourcing today. It is rapidly becoming the new hub for the industry. And why not? It has a highly educated population, a well developed telecoms infrastructure and a close proximity to the US.
ReplyDelete