Mexico Set to Lift Ban on Land Purchases by Foreigners
April 29th, 2013By Narayan Ammachchi
Mexican lawmakers seem set to lift a longstanding ban on foreigners directly purchasing real estate in the coastal and border regions of the country. The country’s legislative body in Mexico City last week voted in favor of lifting the ban. However, the amendment bill needs to be passed through the Senate to become law.
Many attempts have been made in the eliminate the ban, but the Senate has thwarted previous attempts. But this time, analysts say, the Senate will certainly approve the proposal because it has been put forward by one of the country’s most influential politicians Manlio Fabio Beltrones, a deputy of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
Despite the ban, many foreigners have already purchased lands in these areas of Mexico having formed bank trusts. If the ban is lifted, foreigners will be able to have full rights to purchase property along the …
Report: IT infrastructure Outsourcing Rises in Colombia and Mexico
April 17th, 2013By Narayan Ammachchi
Market research firm Frost and Sullivan says the Colombia’s IT infrastructure outsourcing services market is on pace to reach $309 million by 2017.
“The Colombian market, especially big centers like Bogota or Medellin, are more likely to invest in outsourcing,” noted Frost & Sullivan ICT Research Analyst Bruno Tasco. “Large enterprises are beginning to understand the benefits of these business models and to trust service provider capabilities in guaranteeing availability.”
The rising demand for outsourcing is prompting data centers to add dedicated storage and disaster recovery services to their offerings.
The research firm predicts that Mexico’s IT infrastructure services market might grow to $899 million by 2017. A stable economy and the willingness to outsource non-core IT activities is boosting market prospects.
“The need for companies to find trustworthy datacenters to store their information and applications will drive the market positively in the next years,” remarked Tasco. “The Mexican …
Neoris Names Elfawal as President of US Operations
April 16th, 2013By Narayan Ammachchi
Latin American IT consulting and outsourcing firm Neoris has named industry veteran Sam Elfawal as its new president of US operations.
The Miami, Fla-based company stated in a press release that Elfawal will assume the new role immediately. He fills the role vacated by Doug Gattuso,who left Neoris several months ago to take a position with Trilogy Enterprises.
The new president, shouldering the responsibility of expanding the company’s operations in North America, said he would leverage nearshore outsourcing practice.
“Sam possesses deep experience in international business and has a thorough understanding of what it takes to work across multiple cultures,” the press release noted.
Elfawal has previously held key positions at IBM Global Business Services and SAP Americas, where he was director of business development and channel sales.
“Elfawal is passionate about cultural transformation and instilling customer-centric organizational behavior, which fits perfectly with our Practical Visionaries identity,” said Claudio …
IBM Opens Seventh Office in Mexico, By Targeting the Yucatan
March 27th, 2013By Narayan Ammachchi
IBM has opened one more office in Mexico as the U.S. technology giant intensifies its efforts to tap into a growing demand for intelligent solutions in the Mexican corporate sector.
The new office crops up in Mérida, the largest population center in the Mexico’s Southeastern region. Banorte-Ixe, Mexico’s third largest bank, has recently signed a ten-year US$1billion contract with IBM Global Business Services.
Located in the center of Yucatán metropolitan zone, the Mérida office represents an investment of approximately US$ 4 million and becomes IBM’s seventh office in the country after those in Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Querétaro, Toluca and Puebla.
IBM says it will use the new office for selling technology solutions in the areas of cloud computing, business analytics, mobile and social computing.
“With the opening of the Mérida office, IBM reaffirms its long-term commitment to a growing number of clients and business partners who will …
IBM Wins $1 Billion Contract with Mexico’s Grupo Financiero Banorte
March 13th, 2013By Luke Bujarski
Banorte-Ixe, Mexico’s third largest bank has signed a ten-year, US$1billion contract with IBM Global Business Services, encompassing a total overhaul of its customer facing and back end systems. “This is unlike any partnership that exists in Latin America’s financial services industry today,” explained Rafael Arana de la Garza, General Director of Planning and Finance of Banorte, in an interview with Nearshore Americas.
By James Bargent
Cesar Salazar’s IT odyssey has taken him from hacker house parties to the foremost tech startup seeder in Mexico and part of 500 Startups’ global network, which is leading the way in spreading the Silicon Valley philosophy around the world. Salazar’s journey began a decade ago when he and like minded friends started staging hackathons for software developers and tech creatives. “The idea was to surround ourselves with people who are as passionate as we are about technology and creativity,” he said.
Infographic: The Pillars of Mexico’s Economic Rise
January 29th, 2013By Luke Bujarski
Years of negative publicity have shrouded Mexico from the foreign investment mainstream. But a strong post-recession recovery has now ushered a wave of optimism over the United States’ closest Latin American ally. While challenges persist, data on market fundamentals point to a brighter future. See our latest infographic to learn more.
Latin America Creative Services: Where the Cultural Advantage Really Counts
January 16th, 2013
Banuelos of Masfusion: Culture is currency
By James Bargent
In a business world where a company’s growth and success are increasingly dependent on its relationship to technology and innovation, one sector has commandeered the cutting edge – creative services. Even in the midst of an economic crisis, the creative wave has shown no sign of breaking and is one that Latin America could be in a unique position to catch. The creative services tag is applied to a broad range of technology driven activities including digital marketing, social media, gaming, multimedia, and web 2.0 development.
Neoris Restructures LatAm Operations, Creates New Business Unit
November 19th, 2012BY STAFF REPORT
Consulting and outsourcing firm Neoris has announced that it had restructured its operation in Latin America by bringing all its units in the region, except Mexico, under the supervision of Martin Mendez, company’s senior executive.
As part of restructuring, Neoris has created a new business unit for South American region and has named Martin Mendez as its president.
“The streamlined South America Region will integrate the existing Latin American Cluster (LAC) and Brazil operations under the leadership of Martin,” the company stated in a press release.
Martin has held different roles in the company since 2000 –– first as Leader for Neoris’ operations in Argentina and later as president of the Southern Cone Region. Prior to this latest appointment, he served as president of the Latin America Cluster that includes Neoris’ operations in all Latin American countries except Mexico. As part of the restructuring, Méndez will now also …
German Outsourcer Arvato Sets up Operations in Bucaramanga, Colombia
November 12th, 2012BY STAFF REPORT
European outsourcing firm Arvato Iberia has set up a delivery center in Colombia’s Bucaramanga, saying it would provide jobs for up to 1,000 staffers.
Arvato, which is expected to begin operation in Bucaramanga’s Free Zone by December this year, has already begun the process of hiring executives and other operational staff.
The Bertelsmann company hopes to generate thousands of jobs in Bucaramanga metropolitan area alone.
Arvato, which offers back-office service to several European firms, said it would use the Colombian operation to serve customers in Spain.
“Our commitment to Colombia and the Free Zone is to provide offshoring services to our customers in the Iberian market. We are confident that we will bring quality to our European customers, ” said Alexander Weihe, CEO of Arvato.
Alexander says his company is expecting to get more outsourcing contracts from his European clients in the days ahead.
Arvato operates in 35 countries and …
