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Multinationals BPO&O

Colombia: in the sights of key multinationals in the BPO&O and Software and IT sector

Dinero-Portafolio-La República, July 14-15 and August 11-12, 2010

Hewlett Packard (HP) announced a strategic alliance with Medellín and the government of Colombia to open a new Global Services Center designed to operate as an operations center with multifunctional capacities, such as those in technology, office administration, and sales support.

Ruta N (“Route N”) has also emerged, a development complex dedicated to technology, innovation and development, in which Hewlett Packard will locate its operations. Construction of the Ruta N complex began in the second trimester of 2010 with a total investment of USD 30 million.

After a selection process in which various countries and cities in the region were analyzed, the North American company decided on Medellín to locate a BPO, an offshore services center.

The important interrelation between the public, private and academic sectors, as well as the vast opportunities for expansion into an emerging market, were important and key factors that motivated HP to decide on Medellín. The project is estimated to generate 1,000 jobs in its first phase.

Similarly, IBM announced an investment of USD 8 million to develop a new datacenter and the expansion of its offices in Bogotá, with a view to promote its services area, which today represents 60% of its revenues in the country.

The Spanish company Emergia Customer Care opened the largest call center platform in Colombia in Manizales with an investment of USD 12.5 million. The center has a capacity to generate 2,000 direct jobs.

The president of the Financial Valuing Company, the holding group of various companies, including Emergia Customer Care, stated that the contact center in Manizales is the group’s largest platform, which has offices in Spain, Chile and several countries in Central America.

Emergia has entered Colombia under the single-enterprise free trade zone regime. It started operating a few months ago and today generates approximately 900 jobs in this first phase. The objective is to have 2,000 people working at the center in Manizales by December, in the project’s second phase. The center is a BPO operation that services clients in Latin America in a range of sectors.

Another company interested in Colombia is the US company Transcom, which recently finalized details for opening a call center in the archipelago of San Andres. With an investment that will generate 250 direct jobs, the company expects to open the doors to its new call center at the end of 2010, benefitting from the language of the islanders, as well as the installation of a submarine cable that will connect the archipelago to the connect.

After Teleperformance’s arrival in Colombia, a worldwide leader in the BPO sector (the company aspires to have 14,000 employees in Colombia in three years time with an investment estimated at USD 20 million), the Indian company Flat World Solutions, the Spanish multinational Konecta, and other companies such as DirecTV, Diveo and Unisys (which all have either expanded or inaugurated service centers in the country), Convergys, a global firm with close to 70,000 employees, and Sutherland, one of the 10 most important companies in India with close to 26,000 employees worldwide, have arrived in Colombia.

Convergys will initially generate 1,000 jobs with an investment of more than USD 3 million. The company’s growth goals are ambitious, taking into account that the company expects to grow to 3,000-5,000 employees in the country.

For Sutherland, the plan is to open a center with 150 employees with an investment close to USD 1.5 million. The idea in the future is to expand in the operation to 1,000 employees.

There is also interest on the part of Genpact, the eighth largest company in the sector in the world, which is very interested in starting a services operation in Colombia. Contax has also visited the country, as well as TeleTech. Furthermore, the entry of new Spanish players in the business is expected.

These operations are the latest links in a chain with investments that show how Colombia is positioning itself in the competitive world of services and the outsourcing business since the arrival of global leaders in the country signal that Colombia has the capacity to lend excellent services at competitive costs.

The business interest is also reflected in Colombia’s growing participation in the sector’s international associations. Evidence of this is the International Association for Outsourcing Professionals’ choice of Santiago Pinzón, the executive director of the Chamber of Outsourcing & BPO of the ANDI (National Association of Industrials), as its president of the Regional Advising Council for Latin America.