Articles

For the eighth consecutive year, Brasil IT+, the global Brazilian IT initiative supported by SOFTEX (Society for the Promotion of Excellence in Brazilian Software) and Apex-Brasil? (Brazilian Export and Investments Promotion Agency) is sponsoring the Gartner Symposium / ITXpo event.
In these 8 years Brazil IT has brought to Orlando over 70 different companies. For 2011, 15 were selected:

GAS TECNOLOGIA

www.gastecnologia.com.br

With nineteen years in the market, GAS Tecnologia specializes in Web Fraud Detection and is responsible for protecting Internet Banking in Brazil’s main banks. The company has innovative solutions and technologies that together with a defense strategy dramatically reduces fraud brought on by the violation of privacy of users and corporations.

Stefanini

www.stefanini.com

Stefanini TechTeam? provides offshore, onshore and nearshore IT services, specializing in application development and IT help desk outsourcing services. We offer IT infrastructure outsourcing, ERP consulting and staffing services. With 73 offices in 28 countries serving the Americas, Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia, our 450 clients represent all major industries.

Actminds

www.actminds.com
ACTMINDS has been successfully applying SCRUM framework for application development. Our broad skill set includes JAVA, LAMP, RUBY, .NET, SharePoint?, Silverlight. Rich Interface (Multi-touch, Kinect), Mobile (iPhone, iPad, Android, RIM, Windows Mobile) and Cloud solutions are our main demands currently. We’ve been innovating to bring the best solutions to our Clients.

Apdata

www.apdata.com.br

Apdata is a HR Solutions Company that has developed a local or multi-country product using state of the art technology.
The Global Antares Software allows Human Resources in all branches to work with integrated data reducing costs of integration process and different HR products maintenance. We have been in business for 26 years focusing on complete solutions for HR companies. Service quality, technology, innovation, and flexibility are in our DNA.

Aurus

www.aurus-software.com.br

The ASM, Aurus Service Manager, by Aurus Software, is a platform for managing processes and services, built over a workflow solution that allow you manage any type of process, standardizing, controlling and automating easily.
This Powerful tool for managing Process and Service was developed under ITIL specification, PMI references and Workflow control by WFMC standards.

DB1

www.db1.com.br

DB1 is a 10 years old software factory; We develop (Application) projects to attend many kinds of different Agribusiness. Our portfolio includes more than 20 Cooperatives and we already attend 4 of the 10 largest Agri-businesses in Brazil. DB1 is a CMMI certified and elected in 2011 one of the best IT Company to work for in Brazil by Great Place to Work Institute.

HDI

www.grupohdi.com

HDI Group is a Brazilian company specialized in Software Quality Assurance, with a portfolio of solutions and services that meets the demand for Quality at all stages of the software life cycle, from conception to production, all based on an exclusive methodology of High Automation.

MC1

www.mc1.net

MC1 specializes in corporate mobile applications. Since 2003, MC1’s innovative mobile technology solutions have successfully been implemented to global corporations, being a market leader in food and non-food CPG and utilities companies.
MC1 focus in customizing solutions to clients by using essential tools from its portfolio which includes: mobile solutions integration, helpdesk, and mobile assets, billing, SIM cards and devices management.

Modulo

www.modulo.com

Modulo is global enterprise provider of comprehensive Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) management solutions. Modulo’s Award winning Risk Manager™ provides over 1,000 organizations worldwide with solutions for IT GRC, ERM, BCM, Vendor, Compliance and Risk management process and the tool they need to automate the entire GRC lifecycle.

Navita

www.navita.com.br

Solutions for Mobility, Telecom, Enterprise Portals and Intranets.
Partner of leading smartphones and tablets manufacturers and Carriers in Latin America. Navita Offers products and services focused on BPO (Business Process Outsourcing). Navita MDM (Mobile Device Management), Enterprise management of smartphones and tablets; Navita TEM Management of Telecom Services and Costs in real time; Navita Mobile, for the development of mobile applications.

PCS

www.pcsbrasil.com.br

PCS - Professional Call Center Solutions, since 1996 offers products, solutions and services focused on exceeding contact and call centers' needs and expectations. We offer a complete suite of applications to help our customers to manage, control, make, receive, record and improve all their customers’ iterations with efficiency and flexibility.

Reddrummer

www.reddrummer.com.br

RedDrummer? is a breakthrough concept that was brilliantly designed and technically well-thought. Its unique architecture enables corporate information to become tangible forms of the organization "intellectual capital", into a flexible, conversational, and personalized context. Incredibly intuitive and easy-to-use, dynamic navigation bar and interface, rich media creation and publishing capabilities and extreme platform personalization options are some of the key characteristics of RedDrummer? design. Its Information Architecture responds to an innovative business rule that introduce the “value for business” notion of any Information Asset.

Softexpert

www.softexpert.com.br

SoftExpert? is a leading global provider of software solutions for business performance excellence and regulatory compliance. The company operates in 30 countries with more than 2,000 customers of all sizes from various industrial sectors, including manufacturing, government, healthcare, finance, IT and high tech, education, energy and utilities, logistics, retail, services, etc. The SoftExpert? Excellence Suite fully integrates the main organizational management elements, including governance (GRC), strategy and performance (EPM), processes (BPM), document and records (ECM), projects and portfolio (PPM), IT (ITSM), quality (QMS), products (PLM), assets (EAM), ecosystem (EHS), among others. The software also ensures and simplifies compliance with multiple standards and regulations, such as ISO9000, BSC, PMBOK, ISO2000, ITIL, COBIT, SOX, COSO, ISO27000, JCAHO, and many more.

Sigma

www.sigma.com.br

Established 1976 and specialized in Software Engineering and Network Management Services, Curitiba-based Sigma is ranked over the years among the Top200 Brazilian IT companies by ComputerWorld?, Informática Hoje and InfoE xame magazines. Also, ExamePME magazine recently listed Sigma as one of the 200 fastest growing companies within Brazil. Sigma's software factory is certified CMMI level 2 and ISO9001.

SST

www.sstnet.com.br

SST IT solutions is a business partner for IT market leaders like SAP, Microsoft, and IBM, and is recognized by the Brazilian corporate market as an expert on tailor made software. The company offers consulting services, software development, outsourcing and products implementation on Business Process Management, Business Integration, Business Intelligence, Application Performance and Information Security.

-="The government has not been investing in the development of resources" - Gartner's Dreyfuss
Too much of a good thing? Gartner’s Dreyfuss on the impact of the Brazil boom on labor
=-
By Tarun George
(original posting here)
Whenever Brazil markets itself to US buyers, the argument is that with such a large labor pool, there is greater potential for scalability than in other LatAm? countries.

However, the largest Brazilian cities are beginning to see shortages of technically skilled workers for the ITO industry. With both the sourcing industry and the overall economy growing at unprecedented rates, is Brazil becoming a bubble ready to burst?
We asked that question in our recent chat with Cassio Dreyfuss, Vice President at Gartner Research. Based in Sao Paulo, Dreyfuss shares what he’s hearing from both buyers and vendors on the ground, his take on Brazil’s currency appreciation, and why he thinks Brazilian human resources provide the best value for US buyers.


What are the core advantages of Brazil as a sourcing destination? I’m not referring to basics like geographical proximity or time zone advantages, but what factors are really driving Brazil’s outsourcing market forward?


Dreyfuss: The main differentiators in my opinion are the specific characteristics of Brazilian human resources. They have a real empathy with the client, and the ability to put themselves in the client’s shoes to understand the problem from their perspective. That enables providers to create solutions much more aligned with the expectations of the client, leading of course, to higher client satisfaction. Another characteristic is service agility, and the capacity to move ahead with only partial information, which is different from many sourcing locations where employees need detailed instructions in order to get the job done. Brazilians also have an inclination towards innovation and creativity, and that kind of profile appeals to ITO companies. All this is a reflection of Brazilian culture, and how people interact with each other.

Now if you’re talking about the actual technical skill level, there’s not a real difference between Brazilian human resources and those from other LatAm? countries that specialize in IT. It’s more the approach to services that is different, the relationship that Brazilians build with clients, and how they tackle problems. I’ve seen Brazilian service providers being successful in the US mid-market with clients that have no experience with outsourcing. They play almost a consultant role, going so far as to help the client set up effective management of processes. Essentially the providers help the client manage them.

What are the negatives of the Brazil market? What pain points do buyers face when operating in Brazil?


Dreyfuss: The speed at which the Brazilian services market is growing is higher than the speed at which new human resources are created. So firms are moving out of Sao Paulo and other big Tier 1 cities and into Tier 2 and even Tier 3 cities. They’re setting up partnerships with local universities where they help with training of the students, and in return can be the first to bid for hiring them. But the critical problem is this: the government has not been investing in the development of resources at the speed at which they will be needed from now on.

Human resources are definitely becoming scarce in the Tier 1 cities – I’ve been talking recently to providers that cannot completely fill all their openings. It’s not a terrible problem for now because Brazil still has a large labor pool. But we have seen it coming, and it’s on us to figure out the solution. The other big pain point for buyers in Brazil is the deficient command of the English language.

So what is the solution? Is there a short term fix to create new skilled workers?


Dreyfuss: Well for three or four years now, BRASSCOM has been extremely active in advising the government on the education of new human resources, and also stimulating companies here to take responsibility for training. That’s the short term solution for now – service providers or any hiring companies taking it into their hands to bridge the gap and develop the resources that they want. It has actually not been uncommon. In Brazil many of the IT workers didn’t actually graduate with a purely technical degree. They’re often from business, economics or engineering degrees, and through company training programs they develop themselves into IT workers.

That being said, there absolutely must be a long term commitment from the government, otherwise this is going to become a real scalability issue for buyers.


In your opinion is there an economic bubble building in Brazil right now? Is the economy at risk of overheating?


Dreyfuss: It’s highly unclear right now. The specialists go back and forth on their predictions, but apparently the excessive growth in the Brazil market is subsiding, which means that the long range perspectives are better. I wouldn’t say that the bubble will burst – I do think that there are underlying fundamentals that are strong and continue to support the economy.

That being said, the currency appreciation and increasing wages for human resources are definitely hurting buyers, and the competitiveness of Brazilian service providers has diminished in recent years because of it. If you’re talking about standardized, low-margin services, they are definitely at a disadvantage because of the high prices. The majority of the leaders of the IT industry are now betting on Brazil’s domestic market. Most of the IT providers are focusing on the internal market rather than the US market.


(Editor’s note: We found it interesting that Stefanini IT Solutions is one of the few Brazilian providers doing the exact opposite, as we reported here.)

Brazil is expanding its presence in another edition of the Gartner Symposium ITXPO, the largest and most important annual meeting of IT industry CIOs and leaders. The event will be held in Orlando, Florida, in the United States from October 17-21 and will bring together analysts, consultants, executive decision-makers at large- and medium-size U.S. companies in addition to suppliers from various countries and journalists and influential thinkers in the industry.

Nineteen Brazilian companies have confirmed their participation in this initiative of the Integrated Sectorial Project for the Exportation of Software and Services (PSI-SW) which will bring to the show its expertise in the fields of outsourcing, security and mobility. Developed by SOFTEX (www.softex.br) with the technical and financial support of APEX-Brasil (www.apexbrasil.com.br), it is now the largest and broadest competitive internationalization plan for software and IT services companies ever implemented in Brazil.

The importance of the event is revealed by the list of speakers at the Gartner Symposium, which occurs in parallel to the show. They include leading figures such as Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer; Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff; and Cisco CEO John Chambers. At this year’s edition, as the premier sponsor, Brazil is represented by the brand Brasil IT+, which identifies the Brazilian IT industry and whose logo is inserted in all the communications from Gartner related to the event, and is highlighted in the exposition hall.
“This was a strategic decision that will significantly contribute to increasing the visibility of the Brazilian presence, given that we will have two one-hour sessions for speeches on the Gartner Symposyum program, in addition to a 20-miniute session in the theater of the exposition pavillion,” commented Fernando Cariello, a SOFTEX consultant who organized the presence of the Brazilian companies at the event.

This vision is shared by SOFTEX Market Director Djalma Petit for whom the event has become increasingly important and more highly qualified as an important showcase of the Brazilian IT industry. “Various companies registered participated in the edition last year, which, despite the global crisis brought together the impressive number of 1,600 CIOs,” Petit said, He added that the contacts made at Gartner ITXPO are of extremely high qualification and that companies with products that suitably met market demands successfully generated business after the event. “It is also an excellent opportunity for business owners to identify trends that allow the construction of solid strategies for future actions,” Petit maintained.

“The brand Brasil IT+ is increasingly sparking the interest of the principal players present, and initiatives of this type are vital, to give more substance to expanding the presence of Brazilian companies and solutions in the leading global markets.” Proof of this is the interest aroused by the Brazilian speakers at the Gartner Symposium. One of them addresses the issue “Brasil IT+: Information Technology behind oil exploration in the pre-salt layer in Brazil” and another “Brasil IT+: IT strategies in the country to reduce the carbon footprint left by corporations.” SOFTEX consultant Robert Janssen is one of the speakers analyzing the issue “Brasil IT+: value beyond expectations.”

The Brazilian delegation is formed by the companies Actminds (www.actminds.com), Apdata (www.apdata.com.br), Aurus (www.aurus-software.com.br), BRQ (www.brq.com), Cinq (www.cinq.com.br), Compasso (www.compasso.com.br), Curitiba Offshore (www.curitibaoffshore.com), DB1 (www.db1.com.br), Eccox (www.eccox.com.br), e-Core (www.ecore.com.br), Inovare (www.inovare.net), MATERA Systems (www.matera.com.br), MC1 (www.mc1.com.br), Módulo (www.modulo.com.br), Programmers (www.programmers.com.br), QLA (www.qla.com.br), Sigma (www.sigma.com.br), SST IT Solutions (www.sstnet.com.br), Stefanini IT Solutions (www.stefanini.com.br) and Tech Result (www.techresult.com.br).

MATERA Systems is participating in its fifth consecutive Gartner ITXPO. Company president Carlos Augusto Leite Netto said the event is one of the best in the world because it helps consolidate the Brasil IT+ brand and promote the opening of new business. “Gartner was the only international event in which we closed a contract right on the fair counter,” he commemorated. He believes it is very important that Brazil is being recognized as a country that develops and exports technology.
“We understand that presence in events of this scope, especially as a premier sponsor, offers broad and distinctive visibility to the brand and to the quality and governance management model that we are offering the North American market and especially to the potential of Brazilian professionals and IT expertise,” affirmed Eccox Technology commercial director Renzo Bernacchi.
Fernando Cariello affirmed that Brazilian competence in the IT field is an internationally recognized reality, and events like the Gartner ITXPO are decisive for the consolidation of our position as an important global player. “We have professionals aligned with Western culture, which simplifies system specification and project management, without to mention other factors such as geographic location and time-zone compatibility,” the consultant concluded.

Djalma Petit recalled that despite the economic slowdown, the United States represents 50% of the world IT market. “For seven years we have mapped five Brazilian companies acting in that country and today, most of the Brazilian organizations that participate with us in the event have offices in the United States. The market has niches for all types of offers. Due to the amounts involved, contracts considered small there are sufficient to maintain the investment and generate revenue that guarantees the diversification of our industry,” the SOFTEX executive maintained.

''LEARN ABOUT SOFTEX (www.softex.br) – Since its creation in 1996, the Association for the Promotion of Excellence of Brazilian Software (SOFTEX) has been the administrator of the Promotion of Brazilian Software Exports Program – the SOFTEX Program, considered a priority by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MCT). The following guidelines steer SOFTEX’s work: dissemination and assistance to the implementation of the best software development practices; human resources training for the sector; assistance in obtaining financial resources from public and private sources; production and dissemination of qualified information about the Brazilian software industry and IT Services; support to entrepreneurship and innovation; formulation of policies of interest to the sector; and support to the creation and development of business opportunities in Brazil and abroad. The SOFTEXT System comprises more than 1,600 companies throughout Brazil and is integrated by a broad network of regional agents who provide support and local orientation to companies in their region. The SOFTEX actions have institutional, technical and financial support from various entities including ABES, ABDI, ABINNEE, Apex-Brasil?, ANPROTEC, ASSESPRO, BID, BNDES, CNI-SENAI, CNPq, FENADADOS, FENAINFO, FINEP, the Parliamentary Front for Computing, MCT/SEPIN, MDIC, SBC and SEBRAE.

LEARN ABOUT APEX-BRASIL (www.apexbrasil.com.br) - Apex-Brasil? (The Brazilian Agency for Export Promotion and Investments) is a government agency with the mission to promote exports of Brazilian products and services and contribute to the internationalization of Brazilian companies. The agency works to increase the number of exporting companies, add value to the range of exported products, consolidate the country’s presence in traditional markets and open new markets abroad for Brazilian products and services. Apex-Brazil? currently supports 50 sectors of the Brazilian economy, including the software sector. The Agency works with the image of these productive complexes by means of broad actions of marketing and promotion to businesses and consumers in markets with strong purchasing potential. Each year, it supports the participation of Brazilian companies in more than 600 events in Brazil and abroad.''

SOFTEX Media Relations
Karen Kornilovicz
Tel.: 55 (11) 3064-8066
E-mail:

APEX-Brasil Media Relations
Clarissa Furtado
Tel.: 55 (61) 3426-0202
E-mail:

Much was said and published in 2009 about Brazil finally proving it has finally gotten its’ act together. The final test was the actual worldwide financial crisis, which it was able to weather it quite well. Going forward, the challenge is to keep the momentum. The economy continues to thrive and with interest rates finally reaching one digit, the lowest money cost in the history of the country. According to the economic consultants, a 2 point percentage drop in actual interest rates means an additional incentive up to 1.5 percentage points for the gross domestic product. With actual interest rates reduced to 5 %, as expected this year, the growing potential of the Brazilian economy raises from 4 % to at least 5, 5% a year.

According to Arminio Fraga, former Chairman of the Brazilian Central Bank, the current interest rates are the result of long-term efforts to control inflation and public debt. However, he also believes that there is no assurance that they will always remain low. He mentions that lax controls may jeopardize everything and that important structural reforms are still necessary to bring down the size of the State.

Regardless, however, with the end of substantial interest gains, companies, banks and also the government will have to seek more productivity. It will be necessary to balance the drop in interest rates with an increase in operations output. This is where a new mentality is needed. This is where it is believed where lies the greatest chance for Brazil to consolidate as one of the new Super Powers. It is not by chance that is seen as a compounding effect for Brazil, the winning of the hosting of the two largest world sporting events: The FIFA Football World Cup in 2014 and the Summer Olympic Games in 2016.

The drop in interest rates is very meaningful to several sectors that have been affected in the past. The most obvious one is the stock market. In this new context, investment funds and pension funds should more than double the investments in the stock market, which could reach US %$ 160 billion by 2013. This amount does not take into account investments from foreign companies or what 500 000 new investors might invest. The number of individual investors will double the stock market and all this appetite will boost debentures and secure bonds.

The new economic dynamics will not only help revive investments in infrastructure, but above all it means that instead of going abroad to obtain cheaper money and longer term loans, now local companies can just go around the in country corner. Now companies will be able to become competitive in the global scenario by having the same investment capability, which in turn releases the power for innovation and creation of competitive advantages. Companies will be able to entertain consolidation strategies and by that create more Brazilian multinationals.

Creating bigger companies in the information technology sector is considered one of the greatest strategic challenges for the Brazilian IT industry, which is very dynamic, but also very fragmented. Now is the time to take advantage of all the converging positive elements. It is an opportunity that can’t be afforded to lose.

www.brasilexportati.com/artigos

The Brazilian Information Technology market received a new boost last Monday afternoon (12/07). To strengthen the industry and speed up the process of international expansion for Brazilian companies, government representatives, associations, executives, opinion formers and journalists gathered at the Renaissance hotel, in São Paulo, for the launch of a new brand representing the sector: “Brasil IT+” (read as Brazil IT “plus”). “Brazil is going through a magical moment and the new brand will help us gain a bigger presence on the international market,” said Antonio Gil, president of Brasscom. “Now we need to be even better prepared for the challenges.”

Brasil IT+ is an evolution of the brand Brazil IT and is built on four pillars: its Brazilian origin; the size of the sector and the country; the building of great partnerships; and its capacity to be a strategic player in IT. “These four attributes together represent Brazil and show our capacity for innovation and our potential on the global market,” said Alessandro Teixeira, president of Apex-Brasil?.

The launch of this new concept was the first step for the sector towards expanding its presence on the international market. A group of 13 institutions including associations from the sector (Abes, Anprotec, Assespro, Brasscom, Fenainfo, Softex, Sucesu) and governmental bodies (ABDI, BNDES, Apex-Brasil?, MCT, MDIC and MRE) will manage the new brand and create the strategies that will support it abroad, showcasing Brazil’s IT competencies and qualities, delivering secure and efficient solutions. “This is one of the best opportunities we have to position Brazil on the international market as a global powerhouse in IT,” said the Minister for Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Miguel Jorge. “We can certainly think about a more promising future for Brazil’s IT industry,” added Julio Raimundo, Head of the Industrial Areas at BNDES, the Brazilian Development Bank.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – December 4, 2009 – Stefanini IT Solutions (www.stefanini.com), a global provider of IT consulting, systems integration, and outsourcing services, announced today that the company was ranked as the number one Latin American outsourcing vendor in the recently released Black Book of Outsourcing report. This top Black Book ranking reinforces Stefanini’s continued growth and its commitment to providing high quality services to clients in the U.S. and other regions worldwide.

The Black Book of Outsourcing, part of the Datamonitor Group, is a widely-recognized annual survey compiled by the Brown-Wilson? Group that evaluates the costs and benefits of outsourcing. The Black Book produces a yearly ranking of outsourcing companies based on survey responses from more than 26,000 executives worldwide.

Stefanini, the largest Brazilian IT services company, with its U.S. headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, earned the top ranking in the annual user survey after evaluation of 31 leadership and management criteria and 18 key performance indicators based on client experience, including training, breadth of offerings, scalability, flexible pricing and reliability. More than 600 current Latin American clients participated in the 2009 client experience poll.

“The top ranking in the Black Book of Outsourcing report validates the quality of the services that Stefanini has been providing to clients in Latin America as well as in the U.S., through our Nearshore Delivery Centers,” said Antonio Moreira, Stefanini’s CEO of North America. “The report also raises Latin America’s profile as a top destination for U.S. companies that are looking for alternatives to reduce costs or are exploring viable options beyond Asia.”

The 2009 Black Book of Outsourcing also included data on the growing popularity of Latin America as a destination for IT outsourcing for the North American market, citing the favorable time zone, variety of language skills, qualified workforce, free trade agreements with the U.S., and flexible labor laws. The survey found that U.S. companies are among the most satisfied with outsourcing to Latin America.

“Latin America is increasingly becoming a top spot for IT outsourcing and as the Black Book survey demonstrates, Stefanini IT Solutions is the leader in delivering reliable, scalable and cost-efficient outsourcing solutions,” said Scott Wilson, partner, Brown-Wilson? Group and co-author of the Black Book of Outsourcing guide.

''About Stefanini
Stefanini IT Solutions is a global provider of onshore and nearshore IT consulting, systems integration and outsourcing services. The company has more than 8,500 employees with 36 offices in 16 countries, and more than 350 active customers across a broad spectrum of markets, including energy and utilities, insurance, manufacturing and distribution, oil and gas, financial services, and telecom. One of Brazil’s leading IT companies, Stefanini IT Solutions is CMMI Level 5 and ISO 9001:2000 certified. Founded in 1987, Stefanini IT Solutions currently has operations worldwide, including North American headquarters in Fort Lauderdale and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, New York, and Montreal.''

For the sixth year, Brazil IT, the Brazilian IT services technology initiative supported by SOFTEX (Society for the Promotion of Excellence in Brazilian Software) and APEX-Brasil (Brazilian Export and Investments Promotion Agency) is sponsoring the Gartner Symposium / ITXpo event.
“Brazil was not an IT destination because our internal consumption was too big. With the acquired business expertise and the commitment on getting the job done, Brazilian companies are conquering the world”, states Robert Janssen from Outsource Brazil (www.outsourcebrazil.com.br)
Brazil IT has also created a new market niche inside Gartner events: the Country Pavilion. Brazil IT initiative proved so successful that other countries followed suit. When Brazil IT started at the ITxpo Fall 2004, IT exports from Brazil reached a little more than 300 million dollars. Today Brazil is the eighth largest IT market in the world, and IT exports are bound to achieve 3.5 billion in 2010. As Glaucia Chiliatto from Softex said, “The Gartner Symposyum ITxpo is a great event to sponsor. It has all the high level buyers’ decision makers together with the analysts, the de facto opinion makers in IT”.
In these 6 years Brazil IT has brought to Orlando almost 50 different companies. For 2009, eleven were selected:
www.stefanini.com
Stefanini IT Solutions is a global provider of onshore and nearshore IT Consulting, Systems Integration, and Outsourcing services. The company has over 8,000 employees with 36 offices in 16 countries, and over 350 active clients. With 12 Development Centers in Latin America, Stefanini is the largest Brazilian native IT consulting company and one of the largest on the continent.
CPM Braxis
www.cpmbraxis.com
The largest Brazilian IT services provider with over 5,500 highly trained professionals and a 27 year track record with highly complex projects. Focused on delivering the highest quality, we are ITIL compliant, ISO 2000 and CMMi 5 certified. We offer Application Development and Maintenance, Infrastructure Management, BPO and Enterprise Solutions to leading companies.
Actminds
www.actminds.com
Actminds has been successfully applying its Agile methodology to Companies in the US, utilizing Nearshore development for Web Applications. Using several cost-effective technology platforms and Scrum methodologies, we've provided proven high value and on-time performance to our Client. Actminds has also done Test Driven Development projects, reducing development timeframes
Politec
www.politec.com

Politec is a multinational of Brazilian origin and one of the largest IT services providers in Brazil. Throughout its almost 40 years of existence, Politec has constantly increased its international market share. Today, Politec has offices in Japan, the United States, Brazil, Argentina and Chile, in addition to production clients in several other regions across Europe/Middle East/Africa. Such footprint, combined with Politec’s excellence, has made it an example of a company committed to offering innovative, flexible and customized solutions in technology, outsourcing and consulting.

CINq
www.cinq.com.br
Commitment, Innovation and Quality, with these words you spell Cinq Technologies, a company specialized in software development projects and IT solutions design for major technology suppliers and corporations.
Cinq offers a broad range of services including:
• Consulting, Design, Research & development
• Nearshore/Offshore Outsourcing
• Certified Software Factory
• Staff Augmentation
• Technical Support`
• Software development for mission critical solutions
Apdata
www.apdata.com.br
Apdata is a Software House / eService Supplier with 24 year’s experience in Payroll, HCM and Outsourcing. One of fastest growing companies in the last 2 years, Apdata is now entering the U.S. market.
Ecore
www.ecoreinternational.com
e-Core offers high quality Staffing and Application Development Solutions from New York (est. 2006) and Brazil (est. 1999). A successful track record with US customers (since 2004) along with competitive prices, overlapping business hours, technical expertise and high retention rates provide great value for your IT Services needs.
SETRION
www.setrion.com.br
Setrion Software is a Brazilian company focused on solutions to the IT services management that increases productivity and safety with a pro-active management of the IT infra-structure. Some of our specialties are software metering tool, hardware & software inventory tool, USB control, instant messenger control and help desk solution.
Ilion
www.ilion.com.br
ILION is a technology company specialized in developing software applications for the Internet, optimizing corporate communication.
These software applications allow an agile and practical management of the information common to the company's activity, aimed at providing a more effective communication among companies and their clients, sales channels, suppliers and the marketplace. Hence, a true relationship channel between collaborators is established.
Ilegra
www.ilegra.com.br
ilegra provides software development, software testing and infrastructure services, working with several technologies, such as Oracle, SAP, Java, Microsoft and others.
ZENTHI
www.zenthi.com.br
A company for nearly 10 years working in the ERP market, with stable solutions in several areas, modern technology and easy to learn.
So is the Zenthi Technology, a manufacturer of customized software, ERP products, and database consulting provider.

ABOUT SOFTEX (www.softex.br) - Society for the Promotion of Excellence in Brazilian Software - SOFTEX - is a non-profit organization that promotes the Brazilian software and related services industry's competitiveness. SOFTEX has more than 1,300 members.

ABOUT APEX-BRASIL (www.apex.org.br) The Brazilian Export and Investments Promotion Agency - APEX - is a government agency focused on promoting Brazilian products and the country image.

It has taken a while, but it has finally happened. After waiting for a little over a year we can now celebrate partial company tax exemption on payroll, to encourage exports of information technology software and services. On August 20th Brazil's President signed Decree 6.945, which regulates Law 11.774, of September 2008, which reduces the welfare tax rate on payrolls for companies that export from 20% to 10%. Valid for five years as of September, the benefit will require, in return, that the companies invest in training, research, development and technological innovation.

This is a victory for Brasscom and the other associations in the software sector who have gotten the measure included in the Brazilian Government's Productive Development Policy (PDP), launched in May 2008. The decree comes at a good time and signals the importance of the sector to Brazil's development at moment in which the country is gaining a profile and international interest is growing among potential investors in the country.

The decree will allow Brazilian companies in the sector to get more vigorously involved in the global competition for IT service outsourcing contracts. Analysis service providers, systems and games developers, programmers, data processors and even call centers will benefit from the tax reduction. Added to this new benefit is another one, which is already in play. Sanctioned by the President of Brazil in March this year, Law Nº 11.908 authorizes Information and Communication Technology companies to discount from their income tax twice the amount they spend on training people in software development.

With the eighth largest IT market in the world, Brazil needed an incentive to position itself on the global scenario and the President's approval is an important boost to Brazil's competitiveness. The incentive produces real gains in competitiveness for exports, an area in which labor costs could come down from a current average of 70% to 80% of companies' turnover to 60%. The reduction of taxes could be worth around US$ 70 million by the end of 2009. The government's immediate loss of welfare tax will be recouped in the medium term in greater collection of income tax.

We believe that this is a vitally important step which will be complemented by others that will expand the capacity of private initiative to operate with greater effectiveness on the global scenario. We are sure that in this way we are closer to our government-agreed target of achieving US$ 3.5 billion in exports by 2010.

Softex with the support of APEX, is sponsoring for the 6th time the Brazil IT initiative at the Gartner ITXpo 2009. The event will take Place at the Dolphin Hotel in Orlando, FL from 18th to 22th of October.

As a premier sponsor, the Brazil IT pavilion is an opportunity for Brazilian IT providers to market services to US buyers and technology partners. Together with the show floor pavilion, the initiative is also sponsoring company specific boardroom presentations for C-level executives. These presentations have a success track record of actual contract deals in the past events and are the perfect environment for business.

Brazilian companies interested in being part of this event, may email or directly SOFTEX at for further details. US companies interested in attending the ITXpo 2009 show floor only can also contact the same addresses for a complimentary invitation. Space is limited; please contact us as early as possible to guarantee your participation.

Click here to download the PDF file with the Everest Research Institute paper.

Report Excerpt

Executive Summary
Now that the U.S. economy is "officially" in a recession along with a dire
outlook for 2009, the prospects for outsourcing, ironically, appear much
better. The negative economic outlook remains discouraging; but the greatest
hindrance to outsourcing is uncertainty, and the economy is finally moving
beyond that noncommittal midpoint.

In preparation for a difficult 2009, executives are evaluating programs they
can prune, investments they can postpone, and projects they can terminate
without impacting company strategy. Given that most companies outsource at
least one operation, it is natural that some outsourcing contracts will be partly reduced in size or scope as part of this adjustment.

In 2009, Everest Research Institute believes that increasing numbers of
companies will take a more strategic view of operations. Companies will
examine methods to reengineer business processes or to restructure backoffice
operations, resulting in an increasing number of outsourcing
opportunities during 2009.

As the economy recovers, Brazil can play a stronger role in providing
globalization services to the United States and Europe. With its cultural and
geographical affinity to the United States and Europe, Brazil can be an
alternative to India as globalization matures. Rather than displacing India,
however, Brazil should expect to become an alternative for risk diversification,
competing with Eastern Europe and China, Brazil must demonstrate how it
can integrate into a global delivery structure rather than compete directly with
India.

Brazil's domestic market is also likely to see some increased competition as
outsourcing players from around the globe seek new growth markets. Both the
nature of competition and the industry structure may evolve as players seek to
compete more aggressively for business in Brazil.

This report examines the following topics:
• U.S. and European market pressures
• Impact on service exports
• Impact on Brazilian domestic market

Click on the link to hear the Podcast of Robert Janssen on an interview with Mark Kobayashi-Hillary?

PODCAST Interview

During the last economic downturn after the dot-com implosion, an increasing number of organizations shifted IT work to outsourcing providers, many of them overseas.

Amid the current economic uncertainty, market watchers can't agree on the direction outsourcing will take. Some businesses will probably opt to kill existing outsourcing arrangements to cut (or at least freeze) costs, but some in the industry expect the economic downturn to result in a net gain for outsourcers.

According to Forrester Inc., which last week issued its revised IT spending forecast for 2009, IT spending as a whole will fall by 3 percent, triggering an attendant drop in outsourcing activity. "Global IT services and outsourcing will decline," read a recent Forrester release.

The upshot, according to the firm, is that government and private-sector customers will spend 3 percent less on outsourcing this year than they did in 2008. "IT outsourcing services will do a bit better than IT consulting and systems integration services, with the latter vulnerable to the slowdown in purchases of software to be implemented and integrated," Forrester concluded.

On the other hand, market watcher Gartner Inc. conceded that things seem bleak — and that it's during bleak times that outsourcing traditionally thrives.

"Although things look gloomy for the larger global economy, the outsourcing market represents a dichotomy: On the downside, organizations' cost-cutting outsourcing strategies may negatively impact market growth, but at the same time, the upside is that outsourcing will be adopted by more organizations to help them work through financial and competitive challenges," said Allie Young, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner, in a statement.

What it all adds up to, according to Young and Gartner, is the potential for outsourcing to make big gains. "The well-educated buyer and provider will have the advantage. The potential for outsourcing to address immediate cost pressures as well as long-term recovery goals will be unprecedented," Young said. "However, only organizations that are diligent about understanding and avoiding the pitfalls of cost-focused outsourcing and that apply business-outcome-focused outsourcing will be successful."

In the near-term, outsourcing activity could temporarily contract as companies focus on cost-cutting and re-evaluating existing outsourcing commitments. Arrangements that haven't resulted in anticipated efficiencies, synergies or — most importantly — cost savings could go by the board, Gartner said.

That's not all. Many customers will look to tweak their outsourcing arrangements chiefly in response to changing corporate fortunes, such as downsizing and merger-and-acquisition activity.

At the same time, shops that have thus far refrained from outsourcing — or have made only tentative outsourcing moves — could aggressively enter the mix, particularly if the economic situation worsens. For these customers, Gartner said, the impetus isn't so much to cut costs (although cost-cutting should remain an important driver) but to refocus their efforts on core business competencies. That means divesting themselves of non-core responsibilities — such as information technology.

A Buyer's Market
Regardless of who's outsourcing or why, it should be a buyer's market. Over the coming year, Gartner predicted, competition in the outsourcing segment will be especially fractious. Given the outsourcing segment's history of turnover (for example, according to Gartner, last year more than three-quarters of all announced outsourcing contracts were new deals) the coming year could test even the most well-founded of client/provider relationships.

"Almost one-quarter of contracts announced in 2008 were a continuation of outsourcing with an incumbent provider. With the continued uptake in selective outsourcing, a provider can remain a key supplier of services to a particular client, yet potentially lose a portion of its historic contract value," Young said. "Key providers are betting their future on forming enduring, long-lasting client relationships. In uncertain economic times, outsourcing relationships can prove — and test — the durability of relationships and the outsourcing value proposition."

Elsewhere, Gartner said, so-called "alternative delivery models" (or "ADAMs") could surge in popularity. ADAMs include non-traditional procurement schemes, such as cloud computing or software-as-a-service (SaaS). Other ADAM-like arrangements include "business process utility" (BPU), "infrastructure utility" (IU) and "remote management services" (RMS), according to Gartner.

You'll hear much more about ADAMs in the coming half-decade, Gartner said. "ADAMs are becoming more pervasive in many, if not all, aspects of IT development, delivery and management," said Ben Pring, research vice president at Gartner, in a statement. "Market excitement over new delivery methods is intensifying and whetting buyers' appetites for new options and services that promise greater flexibility, speed-to-solution, lowered capital investment and pay-for-use models."

Whereas India, China, Eastern Europe, and Russia get the most attention when it comes to outsourcing IT work, Brazil is fast becoming a competitive destination, offering top-quality IT talent in an intriguing location, business-wise.

Of course, every location and workforce, including here in the States, has pluses and minuses — be it wage scale, time zone, professionalism, or understanding of business requirements. With that in mind, Brazil offers a workforce of IT professionals worth considering for your next outsourcing endeavor.

For tips on landing an IT job in Brazil and beyond, see InfoWorld's guide to offshoring yourself.

I spoke with Antonio Moreira, CEO of Stefanini IT Solutions' North American operations. Stefanini is a Brazilian IT service provider with 7,000 employees specializing in IT consulting, software development, and integration.

Brazil: an alternative to India and China
First off, Moreira doesn't believe that choosing between, say, India and Brazil as your outsourcing location necessarily has to be an either/or proposition. Rather, he believes companies may want to mitigate risk by using alternative sites.

That said, 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.

As for technical skills, São Paulo has the second-largest community of Java programmers outside of the United States.

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.

"Brazil has a fabulous infrastructure to support the banking industry, and it is leveraged for other industries," Moreira says.

Moreira also says that if you have a Brazilian team on a project and there is a problem that would jeopardize the delivery deadline, Brazilian IT culture is such that Brazilians will share that information with the team back in the United States immediately.

"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."

I spoke with two U.S. companies about their experiences working with the Brazilian outsourcer.

HNI Corp., in Muscatine, Iowa, and Idera, based in Houston, turned south to Stefanini rather than east to augment their IT staffs.

HNI, a large office furniture manufacturer, and Idera, a software company that creates tools for managing and securing Microsoft Windows Server, first turned to outsourcing because the available local talent pool in their respective areas was tight.

Rural Iowa isn't the easiest place to find IT talent or attract young, upwardly mobile IT professionals, says Mike Roelf, applications manager at HNI. Moreover, Roelf adds, HNI competes for the available talent pool with local giants such as Monsanto and John Deere.

Competition is what keeps Idera from finding sufficient IT talent in local Houston, as it draws from the same pool as do the giant oil and gas companies.

"We compete with the energy industry here, so anyone that can write code, even poorly, is hired by those companies," says Rick Pleczko, Idera's CEO.

Those are the companies' rationales for outsourcing. But why Brazil, I asked Pleczko and Roelf?

Brazil's advantage No. 1: Synchronized business hours
Time-zone overlap proved key to both HNI's and Idera's decisions to outsource to Brazil.

Idera's Plezco says that trying to manage an outsource development team across an 18- to 24-hour time difference would be a daunting task that would have to change the way Idera's teams work.

"If we had a time-zone difference, we would have to write amazingly detailed specs and hand them over and wait for a period of time for feedback and agreement before we let them build. That's not the way we work," says Plezco. Idera's development teams work iteratively. The teams are "exploring and learning as they go."

"What we needed was an outsource team that could provide us with remote people but who could embed themselves in our teams rather than having a separate team," Plezco says.

São Paulo is never more than three hours ahead of the Eastern time zone in the United States, giving Stefanini the ability to adjust hours locally to suit the customer.

For HNI's Roelf, the biggest internal barrier to a successful outsourcing partnership is developing the kind of documents, aka "artifacts," that work well with the outsourcer's environment.

With a decade's work with outsourcers in India, and having traveled to Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, Roelf has come to realize that outsourcing venues such as Brazil offer much fewer hurdles to collaboration in terms of the culture of IT here and abroad.

Brazil's advantage No. 2: Cultural alignment of IT
Plezco adds yet another plus to working with a near-shore country that shares many of the same cultural values.

"We didn't want the culture of 'You tell me what to build, and I will build it, even if I think it is the wrong thing to build,'" says Plezco.

Working with IT staff in Brazil has provided a different experience for Plezco. In Plezco's experience, a Brazilian team will say something like, "We understand what you are trying to do, but we think you will be better off to do this another way."

"This approach is prevalent in the Brazilian workforce," Plezco says.

Cost savings over U.S.-based talent is about two to one, says Plezco.

Both companies believe they could not have developed the number of applications they have completed if they didn't outsource.

"Brazilians embrace the opportunity to work long hours without saying a word, and the next day they are right back first thing in the morning," Plezco says.

Softex with the support of APEX, is once more sponsoring for the 5th time the Brazil IT initiative at the Gartner ITXpo 2008. The event will take Place at the Dolphin Hotel in Orlando, FL from 12th to 17th of October.

The Brazil IT pavilion is an opportunity for Brazilian IT providers to market services to US buyers and technology partners. Together with the show floor pavilion, the initiative is also sponsoring company specific boardroom presentations for C-level executives. These presentations have a success track record of actual contract deals in the past events and are the perfect environment for business.

Brazilian companies interested in being part of this event, may email or directly SOFTEX at for further details. US companies interested in attending the ITXpo 2008 show floor only can also contact the same addresses for a complimentary invitation. Space is limited; please contact us as early as possible to guarantee your participation.

May 20 (Bloomberg) — When Catarina Delboni traded in her generic computer for a new system from Hewlett-Packard? Co., she joined the ranks of Brazilian consumers taking advantage of lower prices and payment plans to buy from the top U.S. brands.
Her old machine was a lumbering Frankenstein pieced together with parts from different companies, said Delboni, a 22-year-old engineering student in Sao Bernardo do Campo. The new one, bought in March for 1,800 reais ($1,084) with her father's credit card, is faster. Spreading the cost over 10 payments ``definitely made my life easier,'' she said.
Brazil ranked as the fifth-largest PC market last year as bank credit offers, installment plans and growing prosperity fueled purchases, especially among low-income consumers. The shift is a boon to Hewlett-Packard? and Dell Inc., the world's top PC makers. A tax break for PC makers has allowed them to cut prices and compete with unregulated sellers whose so-called gray- market machines dominated the market.
``You have a consumer market that's exploding as people have more access to credit, said Mario Anseloni, managing director of Hewlett-Packard's Brazil division. ``That's transforming the whole economy.
Demand in Brazil is helping PC makers expand revenue as U.S. spending slows. Hewlett-Packard?, which generates two-thirds of its sales outside the U.S., may disclose fresh evidence of the trend today when it reports second-quarter results. Sales grew 11 percent to $28.3 billion in the period, according to a preliminary report last week.
Overtaking TVs
Total Brazilian PC shipments rose 38 percent to 10.7 million units last year, according to research firm IDC in Framingham, Massachusetts. That marked the first time that shoppers bought more PCs than television sets in the country. Brazil's PC market, which ranked seventh in 2006, is poised to take third place by 2010, behind the U.S. and China. Japan and the U.K. are now third and fourth, IDC said.
Palo Alto, California-based Hewlett-Packard? fell 58 cents to $46.71 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange trading. The shares have declined 7.5 percent this year, dragged down last week by concern that its $13.2 billion acquisition of Electronic Data Systems Corp. is too costly. Round Rock, Texas-based Dell, down 14 percent this year, declined 11 cents to $21.20. 5
Brazil's economy last year grew at the fastest pace since 2004 and should be able to maintain annual growth of as much as 4.5 percent, Standard & Poor's said in April after raising the country's debt rating to investment grade for the first time. The upgrade will spur foreign investment, furthering economic growth.

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