Latin America – The next sourcing frontier or an afterthought?

In Spanish, the word “servicial” is a high compliment. It describes a person who is always ready to lend a hand, who senses what others need before they even ask. Parents teach the concept to their children, in hopes that they will develop this behavior. Providing a service in Latin American culture is noble and prestigious—so how is it that it is not the business services engine of the world?

Nearly every provider of IT and Business Process services has wrestled with a Latin American Strategy. On one hand, it is a large, relatively prosperous market with a wealth of well-educated professionals. On the other, it is highly fragmented and diversely regulated; as a result, it has been difficult to scale. Another difficult choice for service providers is focus: are we building for the local market or to provide offshore/nearshore services? The two options require very different approaches, and therefore it is difficult to do both successfully at the same time.