Sofftek plans expansion in LA
Valor Econômico 09/27/10
Even in the face of the impacts of the economic crisis, the market of information technology services (IT) had growth of 4.47% and generated R$ 19 billion (US$ 9.64 billion) in Brazil in 2009, according to consulting firm IDC. In the same period, the sector registered global losses of 5.3%, according to Gartner. More than being restricted to numbers, those local market indicators are beginning to be reflected in the growing interest of the global companies for the potential of the segment in the country. Such trend was strengthened with the recent purchase of the Brazilian CPM Braxis by the French Capgemini, in a negotiation involving R$ 517 million (US$ 295.4 million).A provider of IT services with operations in more than 20 countries, Softtek follows the same path and it points the Brazilian market as one of its strategic pillars, even though it does not reveal the investments planned for the country. In 2009, the company grew 10% in Brazil and it projects growth of 15% for 2010. With a team of 1.4 thousand employees and earnings of US$ 98.8 million, the Brazilian subsidiary caters to nearly 250 customers and is responsible for 28% of the overall revenues of the company. As it overcame the headquarters of the Mexican company, Brazil became the second-largest operation in the world and it is only behind the revenues generated by the American market.
"Brazil is a welcoming country. The executives are much more receptive and the market opened itself to Softtek without knowing our company was present in so many countries", says Blanca Treviño, International CEO of Softtek. The perception of such openness was one of the first impressions of Francisco Lara, currently CEO of Softtek for South America and the Caribbean. With a mission of starting the Brazilian operation and little knowledge on the local language and culture, the Mexican Executive landed in Rio de Janeiro in 1994 and installed himself in a hotel room, where he learned his first words in Portuguese through television programs. "I started making contacts and I noticed the difference. I called the IT directors and they answered the phone. In Mexico, that would take years", says Lara.
From the improvised beginning in the hotel room, Softtek Brasil evolved into a structure with seven offices and a global delivery center. The offers in the country include from the development and managing of the whole cycle of life of the applications to maintenance and support services. Brazil is the source of several pilot projects of the company, which are replicated to other offices in the world. Among the initiatives, Softtek recently closed a partnership with the Brazilian Ankyla to offer consulting services. The new segment should represent 15% of the earnings in Brazil in 2010, with a market share of nearly 4%.
As of the consolidation of the offer in the country, the perspective is to expand it to Europe and Latin America as a whole. The idea isn't to produce major results with the unit, but to cause it to be able to generate new businesses for the services of Softtek. With a portfolio that includes companies like Ambev, Lara explains that Softtek follows in Brazil the same philosophy of other subsidiaries, which is reflected in the catering to global companies with operations already underway or investments planned for the country, besides catering to national companies.