Nivsarkar: “Latin America can bring in language capabilities and time zone and proximity benefits and we are firmly convinced the way forward will be to have a globally distributed model – pulling on the strengths of every location worldwide.” The fallout from the visa hike issue is still being felt across the global outsourcing industry.  One of the obvious questions is whether large India firms will aggressively reshape their operating models to accommodate the new visa costs – or – is it just a mild bump in the road to continued expansion in the Americas? Giving us an exclusive perspective on the issue is Ameet Nivsarkar , NASSCOM Vice-President for Global Trade, who is in charge of international and policy relationships for the India ITO/BPO advocacy group. What long term impact do you think the visa fee hikes will bring to the way in which India outsourcing firms conduct business in the United States? The fee per say is not going to be a large cause of concern. Our bigger concern is the direction all of this is taking. This is not the first attempt the US. Congress has taken to discriminate against India firms. This is the first time we are seeing legislation go into law. Obviously India firms are concerned, and this certainly will add to the bottom line.

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SOURCE: NewsBlaze I was strolling along Rio's famous Copacabana Beach when suddenly I felt forceful yanking at my throat. I thought my assailant had gotten my backpack with valuable documents and money, but to my relief, I realised the miscreant had ripped a thin gold chain with a small diamond from my neck. He'd also gotten my faux gold earrings, all while riding a bike. "My diamond!" I screamed. Luckily he dropped the goods - I learned later that resisting can lead to bodily harm - and with the help of a wonderful 'abuela' (grandmother) I recovered my lost gems. I was foolish to wear jewellery in Rio. Warnings abound in South America's capital cities about street crime, largely committed by 'favela' kids so poor that theft is their only option. The threat of being accosted is real but can ...

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NEW YORK, NY and MUMBAI, INDIA, Aug 31, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- WNS (Holdings) Limited , a leading provider of global business process outsourcing services, today announced a contract to deliver analytics and customer care services for IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group). Under this multi-year agreement, WNS will deliver customer care services in several languages including German, Italian, French and Spanish to IHG's entities across Europe. WNS is also providing a dedicated analytics team to support IHG's consumer marketing programs. "IHG is committed to meaningful and lasting customer relationships through outstanding customer service, relevant communications, and memorable customer experiences. Our success rests on our ability to understand the needs and wants of all our guests, allowing us to treat each guest as a valued individual. We chose WNS because of their deep understanding of the travel industry, strong customer care capabilities, insightful customer analytics, and their global delivery footprint," said Steve ...

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Q&A with HP's Keith Kerrison Kerrison: “The Nearshore will grow because we have multinational clients who want support in their time zone or want to follow the sun, but it will not grow as fast as farshore.” By Dennis Barker Keith Kerrison looks at the Nearshore region not in isolation but sees it for what it really is: part of the much bigger world. He's been involved in sourcing applications projects ("mainly SAP") for about 15 years, back when he was with Proctor & Gamble. He came to HP as part of an outsourcing arrangement with P&G and now, as director of the Best Shore Application Services for the Americas Region within Enterprise Services, essentially has the job of running HP's global applications delivery system. Besides being an expert on sourcing, Kerrison is also numbered among the Nearshore Americas Top 50 Power Rankings. We asked him about global-sourcing challenges, the Nearshore region, what it takes to make clients happy, and Canada.

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SOURCE: BillingWorld Data from TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Insight Research Service project that telecom service revenue in Latin America and the Caribbean will grow from $122 billion in 2009 to $143 billion in 2014, led by the wireless sector. That signals a good growth opportunity for carriers in the region, as well as those looking to buy stakes in existing operators. Telecom revenue in Brazil, Latin America’s largest market, will top $55 billion in 2014, followed by Mexico, with $25 billion, and Venezuela, at $13 billion. Brazil is growing revenue at 39 percent and Mexico at 17 percent. Venezuela is a distant third, at 9 percent. Total mobile revenues are projected to grow just over 4 percent annually, while revenues from fixed-line (broadband and voice) services will grow just over 2 percent annually. Revenues will be driven by wireless and broadband subscriber annual ...

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Nokia Oyj, AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. are urging the U.S. government to ease rules that keep them from operating in Cuba even after President Barack Obama loosened telecommunications regulations last year to promote democracy on the communist island. Nokia, the world’s biggest mobile-phone maker, is urging the U.S. to ease its 47-year-old trade embargo so it can sell handsets to Cuba. AT&T and Verizon, the largest U.S. wireless providers, urged regulators to make it easier for U.S. companies to directly connect calls to and from Cuba. The companies’ pleas come after Obama said in April 2009 that greater contact with the outside world would reduce Cubans’ dependency on President Raul Castro’s regime. Still, other regulations prevent companies with U.S. operations from entering the market, according to a July report by the Washington-based Cuba Study Group, which advocates for an open economy. “We don’t understand why the regulations stopped where they did,” ...

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By Juan Gonzalez The economic downturn has had two contradictory effects on the outsourcing industry in Latin America. Demand from existing customers has slowed down, especially for those companies with offshore programs and telemarketing operations, but at the same time, this lower demand has been mitigated by new clients adopting outsourcing practices in order to lower costs and improve productivity. Meanwhile, some clients have asked to freeze their contracts, while others have demanded that additional services be made part of existing deals. Providers have responded by reducing their own costs, diversifying locations (particularly the global companies), improving efficiency, and creating innovative solutions to cope with increasing client demands for better cost structures. Some providers have also been forced to reduce their prices and decrease or freeze hiring and salaries. The Latin American market continues to grow, but at a slower pace ...

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"The resistance to nearshoring has always been the assumption that India has a much stronger talent pool than nearshore options," says CIO Steve Romeo, in the middle, joined by CIO Shaun Cooper and CIO Joanne Kossuth. By Linda Rosencrance For years the refrain echoing in the ears of CIOs and IT decision makers has been “do more with less.” And in today’s economic climate, that refrain rings true more than ever. With that mandate, the question is what can CIOs do to help their companies weather these tough business conditions? And since India is more expensive than ever, what is preventing those buyers from examining Latin America more seriously. While labor costs may be on par with India, there are fewer cultural differences when working in Latin America. And geographic proximity makes communication easier and travel less expensive and less time consuming. Yet still many IT leaders seem to be reluctant to participate in nearshoring.  Find out what three IT executives told us about why Nearshoring is not as attractive as some of us think.

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By Kirk Laughlin It's not hard to remember back to 1995-1997, when the Internet boom began to gather some real traction. Firms like Netscape, Lucent and Cisco were suddenly red hot darlings that became emblematic of a new generation of  Wall Street investment targets. There were plenty of skeptics of course who didn't like the price-per-earnings ratios of these companies or didn't believe the aggressive forecasts of top executives. And then there were the very real concerns about risks and the seeming intangibility of the Internet, backbone buildouts and why broadband mattered. Back then, Google had yet to be born and the eye-ball grabbing power of search was not really well understood. So, what does the investment climate of the mid-90s have to do with 2010 investment in Nearshore outsourcing? Plenty and I'll explain why.

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NEW YORK, Aug. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Award-winning digital innovation firm Zemoga announced today that it has been named to the 2010 INC. magazine ranking of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the United States for the second consecutive year.  Over the past three years, Zemoga has amassed an impressive 485% cumulative revenue growth record. Debuting in 2008 as a companion to the well-known INC. 500 listing, the INC. 5000 is the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy—America's independent-minded entrepreneurs.  Taken as a whole, the companies on the list represent the backbone of the U.S. economy. Zemoga moved up to #619 in the 2010 rankings from its #646 position in 2009.  Last year, the company also ...

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