India looks to Brazil for outsourcing

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…

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."

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).

(Hat tip: FARK.com)

Image-Expat American Living in Brazil (Brazilian call center)
Online Sources- InformationWeek, InfoWorld, Daily Times, MarketWatch, FARK.com