Brazil gets priority on the global map of Logica
Valor Econômico
The new technologies have affected the traditional discretion of the British. Not even the British royal family resisted to the exposition provided by Twitter and decided to create its own page in the social network. Through the microblog, which allows messages up to 160 characters, the royals began to exhibit family photos and videos of ceremonies like the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. For the discreet Andy Green, head-executive of the British company Logica, it is also about time for his company to expose itself more aggressively, not through Twitter, but in the billionaire market of technology services. This way, he says, Brazil is one of the main destinations of the company.
Specializing in providing information technology (IT) services, Logica has been in the Brazilian market for 11 years. With a data center installed in Mogi das Cruzes (SP) and a central office in the state capital, the subsidiary has 500 employees. Green does not mention investment values, but says that the company's plan is to double in size in the country in two years. The executive, who visited the country last week, spoke exclusively to the newspaper. "Brazil has gained increasing economic influence around the world and we want to participate in this cycle", he says. "Besides India, the country is our priority to offer global services".
Multiply Logica's business in Brazil will be one of the major tasks for a newcomer in the company. Late last year, Green hired Edson Ferreira Leite to take the leadership of the company in South America. Over the past six years, Leite was responsible for the operations of Tivit, a Brazilian company of IT services controlled by the Votorantim group. It also brings into the curriculum 21 years of dedication to American EDS, acquired by Hewlett-Packard (HP). "By the end of the decade, we have an operation with thousands of employees in Brazil," says Green.
Logica started operating 41 years ago, and currently has more than 40,000 employees around the world. To get to what it is today, Logica made a round of acquisitions. In recent years, it bought the Portuguese Edinfor, the Swedish WM-Data and the French UNILOG. Last year, the global earnings reached US$ 5.8 billion. It is, therefore, a large-sized operation, but that is facing the vigor of the American giants like Accenture, IBM and HP. In the hall of fame of global companies in IT services, the company also has to fight for space with the Indian's Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys.
Green, who hás run the operations of Logica for two years, says that the technological independence is one of the assets of the company to differentiate itself from some of its major competitors such as IBM and HP. "We do not manufacture equipment, we have no ties with any software vendor. This gives us the autonomy to provide the best technological option for the user." In Brazil, beside the strength of multinational rivals, the company has to face the appetite of local competition, a list of companies that includes names like Tivit, Politec and Stefanini - all exclusively focused on providing IT services.
The specialization in some segments is another joker in the hands of the company, says Green. Most contracts for IT services closed by Logica are tied to customers in the areas of energy and telecommunications. The company is also specialized in serving the public sector. Brazil still has a discreet role in the financial statements of the company, but according to Green, this game will turn around. "We will invest heavily in the country and the whole market will see this."