5 Reasons Why Latin America is the Best Option for Software Outsourcing

Why choosing Latin America over other IT hotspots across the world?

Living in a globalized world means that remote work and offshore outsourcing are becoming the norm. For software development companies, this is more true now than ever. Although outsourcing destinations have traditionally been located in Asia, there is a strong emerging market in Latin America that poses several advantages for North American companies that outsource IT services. We shall look at a few of them in this article.

1. 1. Cultural proximity
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Cultural differences can complicate work for cross-continental teams. Respect for authority, the conception of time, and work ethics, among others, are sometimes very different in the Eastern and European world. North American companies that outsource IT may find that nearshoring is a good option for them: Latin American countries have a much more European way of working and thinking, and have been strongly influenced by American culture in the last decades, thus creating a common ground they can both profit from.

1. 2. English proficiency
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According to the EF English Proficiency Index[1], Argentina ranks among the countries with the best English level worldwide. In Latin America children learn the language from a young age, and being bilingual is a must when working in the IT industry. This makes it much easier to communicate with their North American partners, who do not need to rely on translations or be worried about misunderstandings.

1. 3. Workday overlap
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Tracking a project can be much more straightforward when the entire team is working simultaneously. If that urgent email you send is answered ten hours later, the delay can result in economic or material losses. That is why the time zone proximity between South and North America is highly convenient on a day-to-day basis. Time differences range from one to three hours (during summer clock), which allows remote teams to schedule online encounters during workday hours, be able to attend to urgent matters without delays, but also participate in planning, daily, and retrospective meetings.

1. 4. Strategic opportunity
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Exchange rates differences make Latin American countries an affordable destination to outsource developers to. This can be particularly useful when projects are just starting or are short-termed and hiring new staff at headquarters may not be convenient: North American companies can profit from skilled and highly educated developers hired during the length of the project, and focus the rest of their budget and energy on their main activity.

1. 5. The right attitude
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Latin Americans are well known for their can-do attitude. Big challenges do not discourage them; on the contrary: they make them work harder to find a solution. Having a partner who does not give up in the face of trouble is always an asset. And, if you add the technical skills of the region, -including Argentina, which is considered one of the countries with the best technological skills of the continent-, you have a winning team.

Nearshore software outsourcing is the future. And the present. It has the advantages of working with some of the best trained and qualified developers in the world, with similar cultural backgrounds and no timetable problems, at rates that are more than convenient. If you are considering hiring dedicated software development teams, Latin American companies should be the first place you look at.

[1] https://www.ef.com/wwes/epi/