Avantica Encourages Wellness for Employees

March 8, 2011 Leave a Comment

This post was written by our marketing coordinator Marisol.

Wellness in the workplace is way more than a trend.  For years now Avantica has been committed to the overall wellness of our employees, structuring our benefits programs and work environments to be more conducive to making healthy lifestyle choices.  Every year we host a health fair in both our development centers in Perú and Costa Rica, bringing doctors to work so our collaborators can find the time for a check up. In Avantica health fairs, our employees enjoy a wide range of services and advice on topics such as nutrition, optometry, blood tests, physical therapy, posture correction and stress relief.  You can see some pictures from health activities at the end of this post.

Recently we have taken a more active and constant approach to our employees well being by developing a fitness program with several classes that adapt to the different goals that Avanticans might have, whether it is weight loss, toning, relaxation or just plain fun. We offer Kickboxing, SuperFit (a sort of insanity for beginners), Pilates and even Dancing.  With an office located right above a grocery store, a brief moment of relaxation often comes hand in hand with a freshly baked buttery danish. And let’s face it, this might be convenient, but easy is not always the smartest choice.  We’ve all been there.  The sedentary hours we spend at the office; no matter how rewarding our work might be, takes a high toll on our waistbands. It is very important to find the time to squeeze in a little exercise every once in a while.

We want Avanticans to enjoy their work environment, and to bring the best of themselves to their jobs every day. Encouraging our employees to embrace fitness as a lifestyle choice pays off in numerous ways!

  • Increased health
  • More energy
  • More self – confidence
  • Better attitudes
  • Less stress
  • Team building opportunities
  • General well-being

Our program has been around for three consecutive quarters and we keep getting more and more fitness enthusiasts every time. The benefits are obvious – an improved health, alertness, and general well being of our staff, resulting in a reduction in the number of injuries, turnover, and sick days. In effect, we believe a fitness program will help our employees become a happier, healthier, and more productive workforce.

We hope you take the time to focus on your own personal well-being and encourage your company to do the same as Avantica has.

Pura Vida!

An Avantica employee gets health advice at our wellness fair

Eye exams are an essential part of our health and wellness program

Avantica employees in a company sponsored kick boxing class

Filed under People & Places

Interview with our QA Director Juan Carlos Porras

February 10, 2011 Leave a Comment

What attracted you to a career in Quality Assurance?

Mainly because it is growing field and continues to gain importance in recent years. Plus it’s a challenging job that demands constant research to stay current on issues and technologies and application development.

Can you tell us about your group? What are your primary objectives?

At Avantica, we know that quality is non-negotiable and this is why we have implemented a powerful methodology that comes from working on development projects with companies around the world for many years.  Our primary objective is to collaborate with our clients in the development of quality products, not only checking the final result but also improving the process used for development. Our goal is always getting the highest percentage of coverage as possible.   Our experience in the field of Quality Assurance, Software Testing and Quality Management and our complete understanding of the software development life cycle enables us to help our customers deliver high quality solutions keeping the budget under control.

Nowadays, the fast pace of the business world and the necessity to place products in the market drive software development companies to implement new methodologies to develop products that fulfill the customer’s expectations in the shortest time possible.  The risk of releasing a new product without a rigorous QA process have greater implications now more than ever because the Internet can affect the marketing position of a company if a product delivered does not satisfy the expectations and demands of the users. Users have the possibility to comment on the products using blogs and forums and many people can read their comments.  These comments can affect not only the product itself, but also the name and the marketing position of the company that produced it.

Do you do any projects that are only QA? How do you get your team integrated with the development team in this case?

Yes, we have projects that are only QA and we integrate with the development team in the same way when we do the development at Avantica. Our methodology lets us execute QA activities in parallel with development activities. For example, once the requirements are ready, we start reviewing them to create our test case estimation, then we start creating the detailed test cases in our test case management tool. When the first builds are ready, we run exploratory tests and when possible start to automate test cases. Finally, we start the formal QA cycle when the first versions are ready.

What tools and techniques do you have experience with?

We can do, for example, functional testing (design and execution), test case execution and automation, performance, load and stress testing.  We have a portfolio of techniques designed to solve all of our clients testing needs such as analysis of boundary values, decision tables, Cause and Effect diagrams, State Transition diagrams, exploratory testing and evidence of pairs to name a few.  We are familiar with automation tools, test case administration tools, defect tracking tools, monitoring tools and load, stress and performance testing tools.  Our team has experience working in projects using Agile methodology, so, our people can be integrated with the Agile teams too.

Filed under People & Places

Avantica Supports Costa Rican Green

December 2, 2010 Leave a Comment

This post was written by Marisol Briceño, our marketing coordinator and champion of all things green!

We’ve Gone Green!

With only 51,000 square kilometers of land (about 0.03% of the earth’s surface) Costa Rica has over 4% of the planet’s biodiversity ranking among the 20 countries with the most biodiversity in the world. Growing up surrounded by green mountains, secluded rain forests and impressive volcanoes, Costa Ricans are by nature very concerned about the environment.  That is who we are and a very important part of our identity.

The Costa Rican government has set the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2021, and while industry and government leaders have taken significant steps over the past few years to kick start the country towards carbon neutrality, full-scale implementation of actions is needed in order to meet our international declaration.

Everyone is accountable for carbon emission reduction, and as individuals every one of us should evaluate our actions and rethink the way we do things, reform our patterns as consumers and reduce our carbon footprint. Living a simple life using only what is necessary and avoid waste. It sounds like a big compromise, but really, it takes a few adjustments to our every day routine to make a big change. Really!

With this idea in mind, Avantica as a corporate citizen has taken actions to reduce the carbon footprint of our operations.  We noticed a strong interest in environmental issues in a group of Avanticans and leveraged that initiative to start Avantica Green.   The idea of going green was put on the table and immediately we saw an amazing reaction from Avanticans. After just one meeting, the ideas started flowing and given the various backgrounds of the members of Avantica Green, from marketing to engineering, we achieved an interesting mix of perspectives and solutions.

The team is currently investigating ways to make our operations more earth friendly and developing projects to involve other Avanticans in the process. We believe that a process such as this will never be successful unless it conveys a sense of responsibility and community to all it’s participants.  And this is something that came natural to our team.

We started by joining the 10:10 campaign, assuming the commitment to make small changes that will reduce our carbon footprint by 10% starting on 2010.  You too can find out how to join 10:10 here.

Here’s just one example of what our teams came up with.  Being really close to a large supermarket, we noticed that the consumption of plastic bags was alarming.  Imagine nearly 200 people with the munchies! That is way too many unnecessary plastic bags. We came up with a very simple solution, hand crafted canvas shopping bags. This way we avoid waste and also help Santa Clara Group, an association that motivates women in social disadvantage to learn to sew and build their own business to support their families and keep their children in school.

This is just the beginning of our journey, and we are very excited about all the ideas and projects that are yet to come.

Here are some ideas you can use to make your business more sustainable:

  1. Turn off the lights and monitors when you don’t need them. How hard can that be?
  2. Avoid unnecessary printing, and use recycled paper for internal documents
  3. Find alternative biodegradable cleaning products for your offices
  4. Use a glass of water to rinse when you brush your teeth, you can save up to 5 gallons of water in 3 minutes just by doing this!
  5. Keep track of your energy consumption and make someone responsible of developing a plan to reduce it.
  6. Upgrade your equipment to energy efficient models
  7. Reduce unnecessary travel by using video conferences
  8. Motivate your employees to assume a commitment to make a difference in their homes too!
  9. Involve all employees in this plan, it is a responsibility for all of us
  10. Come up with fun activities and competitions to reward positive change

Tell us what you have done to make a difference, the more ideas we share the most we make of our efforts to preserve our planet.

Filed under Company Updates, People & Places

Visiting Avantica’s Northern Development Center

November 16, 2010 2 Comments

I had the opportunity to visit our northern Costa Rica development center near San Carlos on my last trip to the country.  Avantica has resources in many locations including 2 development centers in Costa Rica, a center in Lima, Peru, and a collection of folks in the US.  Our distributed resources enable us to grow and staff effectively to meet customer need.  Hiring tight in San Jose?  No, problem we’re finding good people in Peru as well.  Need a consolidated work force?  We recommend a hybrid team with resources in the US and San Jose.  I think you get the point.

How exactly do we choose where to open a development center?  Generally, it is driven by opportunity or availability of resources.  The San Carlos office was a bit of both.  Our team in Costa Rica built up a partnership with a company called Northek.  Northek had created a talented pool of engineers through tight collaboration with local universities like the Tecnológico de Costa Rica by supporting programs such as workshops, technology fairs, and internships.  Some team members continue to work as part-time professors helping to form new groups of talented young engineers in each graduating class.  In 2009, Avantica formed a joint business with Northek under the name Avantek. and officially Avantek became part of the Avantica group.

Today, Avantek is one of the most recognized software companies in northern Costa Rica.  We have over 30 people in the office and grow more each year.  You definitely feel the technology vibe when you walk from desk to desk discussing projects with various team members.  The strong educational pedigree and agile development philosophy driven by the leadership has produced a talented and motivated team doing great things for our clients. But wait, I didn’t tell you my favorite part about the office.

It’s part of a larger corporation but it feels like a startup!

People collaborate around desks and share ideas and have interesting opinions on technology, software development and the industry.  Engineers are not only coding to specifications, but also evaluating new product ideas to help clients create innovative software.  During the company meeting pictured later in this post, some of the more senior engineers asked good questions about the corporate culture and what is happening in the US industry.  There is nothing like the energy of a startup, and I am very impressed they have been able to retain that energy while joining the Avantica group.

I can only assume that comes from the top.  My discussions with the general manager Jose Pablo Rodriguez, and all the Vargas brothers (there are 3 of them and, I tell you, these guys are smart), validated this group is lead by people who truly get software development.  They simply love hard problems and we have thrown a few at them including some pretty complex code architectures.  Who would of thought that the model for a US startup would be replicated in a city in northern Costa Rica?

To me, our partnership with this development center seems like an excellent growth strategy.  Here it is in plain and simple:

  1. Find pockets of talented people throughout Latin America.
  2. Hire them

Makes sense to me!

Here are some of our pictures from the trip.

On our way to the office we stopped at a well known spot for a traditional Costa Rican breakfast including gallo pinto and flavorful coffee.  In the picture, you see from left-to-right Tom Johnson, SVP Development, Bob Benedict, CTO and resident short guy, Mario Chaves, co-founder and CEO, Gerardo Delgado, GM for Peru and Luis Carlos Chaves, co-founder and President.

Mario Chaves, Luis Carlos Chaves and Jose Pablo Rodriguez address the development team.

The company meeting.

Our northern development center is located near San Carlos, Costa Rica.  It is a few hours drive from headquarters (A is HQ).

Filed under Company Updates, People & Places

Visiting Avantica Technologies in San Jose, Costa Rica

November 1, 2010 Leave a Comment

We decided to do a post on visiting our corporate headquarters in San Jose, Costa Rica because of all the increased visits to our company by new customers.  We hope you find this information helpful so much so that you visit us for business and then spend some time visiting the country on the weekend.

How to Get Here

Most major airlines fly to Costa Rica.  We recommend Continental although we have also flown American Airlines and United Airlines.  The flight from California is a little longer than going from the East coast to the West coast in the US.  In other words, it is just not that far away!  Check with the embassy in your country if you are not sure about needing a visa, but most travelers including the US need only a passport.

When you land, go through immigration, and then customs after collecting your luggage.  If you coordinate with us, we will arrange transportation to and from the airport.  If you need a cab, speak with one of the assistants in a white shirt before exiting the airport and make sure you take an orange cab.  These are official cabs and will safely get you to your hotel for somewhere around US$ 20.  Drivers accept US$ in case you don’t want to exchange currency at the airport.

Where To Stay

We recommend a few places to stay that are close to the office and nice for visitors.  The below map shows you the location of the hotels in relation to the office and other notable landmarks.

We have two hotels we recommend.  Both are walking distance (literally just a short block or two) from the office and both provide breakfast:

  • Hotel le Bergerac (http://www.bergerachotel.com) – A large house converted to a comfortable and stylish hotel that reminds me a lot of France for some reason.  This hotel even offers Wi-Fi!
  • Hotel Jade (http://www.hotelboutiquejade.com) – Pronounced “hah-day”, the Hotel Jade is also comfortable and located right near an excellent restaurant.

The following two pictures show the entrance to the office building from either direction.  The entrance is marked with a yellow 1. The top picture shows the entrance if you come from the Bergerac hotel.  You actually enter through the back way by the Mercado market (marked with a yellow 2).  You can get typical grocery store items here like drinks, chips and food, and also Costa Rican chocolates and coffee.  Try Cafe Brit!  To the right of the back entrance, you see the Giacomin cafe (labeled 3) which is an excellent place to get a coffee when you need a break.  You can even hold a meeting or discussion there if you prefer.

The entrance from the Jade Hotel is displayed below and again the way to go is marked with a yellow 1.

In either case, you are looking for this doorway which leads to the entire building.  Just inside the lobby near the security guard, you’ll see a small placard indicating Avantica Technologies is on the 6th floor.  That’s how you’ll know you have the right place.

Avantica occupies several floors but reception is on the 6th floor.  Head to your left upon exiting the elevator and then go left again.  You’ll be able to see reception through the glass doors.

What To Do On A Weekend

There are several options for weekend excursions depending on your tolerance for driving or flying.  If you prefer not to brave the streets, both hotels offer trips by bus to see the rain forest or do activities like river rafting and zip lining.  If you are more adventurous, rent a car from one of the many US brands like Hertz.  Make sure you get the GPS!  The amazing Arenal Volcano is just a few hours drive way.

I stayed at old observatory on the back side of the volcano.  You can see in the picture how close the lodge is to the volcano.  There are many spas and hotels on the front side in case you prefer something less remote.  Near Arenal, there are fun activities and hot springs, and even this amazing waterfall that is just a short hike through the rain forest.

The Monteverde Reserve is also a nice drive from San Jose.  Here’s a picture of Tom walking across a suspension bridge.  You can stay in town and spend the day walking over bridges and trails.  Or better yet, take a guided tour from your hotel.

And finally, for just a little more spend, hop on a flight with a regional airline and head to the coast.  We recommend Tamarindo and below you can see why!

Filed under People & Places

Avantica Mobile Development Leader Ronald Hernandez

August 23, 2010 1 Comment

We interviewed our head of mobile development Ronald Hernández about his group and what they are working on.  Read his comments below.

What are the goals of the mobile group and what are you trying to achieve?

Obviously there is the goal of getting some great products out there.  We are trying to expand our knowledge and put in place some processes that will make mobile development run smoothly.  As a group we are a functional unit inside Avantica, meaning that we would have a whole set of resources dedicated to this specific area, like an independent group that provides services not only to external clients, but also to Avantica’s internal projects.

What types of applications does Avantica have experience with?

I guess we’ve been pretty much across the board in types of apps: Finance, Entertainment, Lifestyle, Health and Fitness. We are talking to a new client about a music application that should begin development shortly.  The apps that we’ve worked on vary a lot in terms of functionality and what it takes to piece them together to have something the client will be satisfied with.  We’ve developed them in all platforms: Android, iPhone, Symbian, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, so I can say we have experience across the whole board in both categories and platforms.  We’re never shy to go ahead and expand that.

How did you get involved with Avantica’s mobile group?  What interested you to lead the group?

I think that I’m a very technical person.  I love to work with gadgets and play around with stuff, so, all mobile things and working with small devices comes really natural to me.  Henry [Avantica Director of Development] came to me and asked me if I was interested to get the group going.  I did a couple of applications and the company saw that there was potential to get into this line of work.  Ever since then, I’ve grown to like the experience.

Can you describe a favorite project your group has done?

One of my personal favorites is a news app we developed for La Nación, which is an important Costa Rican newspaper that has the largest circulation in the country. It’s a personal favorite because it took a big effort to get it done, it’s a really cool app, and I think it pushes the boundaries in the UI side more than what we have done in the past.  It meant working with a very important client in Costa Rica and it’s going to give us a lot of exposure as a development company.

What mobile platforms seem interesting to you and what technologies are you looking at?

Every day is a new learning experience for us.  We try to cover as much as each SDK has to offer. We are investigating cross platform options like Phone Gap or Mono Touch to be able to go ahead and build mobile applications from other types of frameworks.  That is interesting to us because then we can generate apps in a lot less time across all platforms than if we create different applications for each platform.

From the Graphics point of view, I would say iPhone and iPad are very interesting to us. Obviously we don’t want to outcast other platforms, but seeing an iPad and the real estate that it offers, the possibilities we can explore are very interesting to us.

How do you envision Avantica´s mobile division in the future?

I see it growing in size.  Our engineers need to be fully trained in a whole suite of platforms.  Obviously I want them to be experienced in iPhone, Android, Blackberry and all major platforms.  Also I see us as a unit that generates content and learning material so that we can give back our knowledge to Avantica and all its resources, so that if they are not directly involved with the unit, at least they know what we are doing.  And from then on I also think that at one point we will be able to be recognized as experts in the area and we will be able to give back and share our knowledge to clients and the regional mobile community via seminars.

What is your favorite device and why?

My favorite device at the moment is the iPad.  It just rocks! It’s a tool that helps you with your every day activities. I’ve been using it for work, to write down notes, check out websites, check out trends and new apps coming out, that’s pretty cool. I carry it with me all the time. It’s great and it has given me an excuse to not carry my laptop around anymore, and that is always welcomed.

If a person is interested in mobile development, what do you recommend they do?

Read a lot.  Scour blogs and forums because it is an ever-changing environment and new stuff comes out every day.  Just being able to browse through the information that the Internet offers is a great start. Certainly, mobile is something that is flourishing at this moment.  Not all the rules and standards have been written down and there is new stuff coming out every day so just keep up with the trends and all that is going on.

I would recommend that if you are looking to get into mobile development, to start only with one platform and then move on to the others. If java developers are serious about doing mobile they can start off with Android or Blackberry because they can actually do java developments in there.  They just have to learn the quirks, nuts and bolts of how to do the application, but they already have the skill to start with.  If they want to do iPhone, I would suggest they get a book.  There are a ton of really good books out there that feature the craft.  Just keep in touch with other developers and what they are doing.

Any final thoughts?

Mobile devices are adding more functionality every generation so consequently apps will get more and more complex.  That gives developers and users lot of opportunities.  Faster processors, larger memory and bigger display screens are giving great opportunities to get creative and we are getting to a point where the sky is the limit to what you can do.  It is only going to get better with time.

I would encourage companies and developers to go ahead and jump into this. It is very interesting in the technical side and is something that the end user is going to be craving, especially with the proliferation of smart phones. It’s good business-wise and is also great progress from a technological and scientific approach.

Filed under People & Places, Technology & Engineering

Avantica Ruby on Rails Expert Christian Segura

August 23, 2010 Leave a Comment

We interviewed our most senior Ruby on Rails expert Christian Segura about this growing technology movement.  Read his opinions below.

When did you start learning Ruby on Rails (RoR) and what interested you about it?

I started learning RoR more than 2 years ago based on the fact that I am a web developer specialized in scripting languages and at that time I used to work mostly with PHP. The forums, discussions and the web in general terms were pretty hot regarding the Ruby programming language and its most popular framework Rails.

What type of applications is RoR suitable for?

In general terms, RoR is suitable for most types of web applications that currently exist. However many people have been using it for quite a long time in apps such as e-learning systems, content management systems, blogs, CRM, social networks, e-commerce solutions, web services and API connectivity applications among others.

Do you think there is a real benefit for customers who choose RoR?

Indeed they are going to perceive real benefit from the start.  RoR allows you to set up a basic application literally in minutes, which makes it great for the customers that enjoy watching results sooner than later (what customers don’t like that?). In that same line, Rails gems and plug-ins allow you to add core functionality into the application (authentication, pagination, etc.), that have been used by many applications and even more important are being tested around the world, so you can focus on development of customer specific business rules.

What are you favorite parts about working with RoR compared to other languages and frameworks?

I have to say that what I like the most from RoR is the fact that it is based in a pretty solid language. Ruby native core functionality provides developer with powerful tools such as metaprogramming and reflection which makes it really flexible and effective in some tasks that in other languages would be painful to accomplish.  I think definitely Rails has an advantage over other frameworks because it is based in simple principles like convention over configuration, DRY and even the Model/View/Controller pattern (MVC). Any developer with the notion of MVC will feel comfortable working with RoR.  The ramp up process for new developers that join an existing RoR project is clearly minor than with other languages/frameworks.

You are now the company teacher about RoR.  Can you tell us how you train new engineers?

I like to start by taking a look at the powerful functionality that the language provide.  Ruby has many interesting features that any developer can take advantage and that definitely is worth it to teach first. Also, I think it is important for developers to recognize where the programming language ends and the Rails framework starts.  After that, I like to teach the basics and theory behind the framework: Active Record, Action Controller, Action View, etc. After some basics, I like to combine theory with the creation of a project from scratch since it is great for developers to see before their very eyes how fast they can build an application.  At the very end, I include other more complex topics/tools not only from the framework but also that help to create better products.

What is interesting about upcoming changes in the language and framework?  Do you like the direction it is going?

The next major milestone is going to be Rails 3.  It’s really interesting because they are also merging the Merb framework (another popular Ruby framework) into Rails, and the core dev team is going to receive great input from Merb.  Besides that, I think some of the interesting features are going to be ActiveModel which is going to allow the use of validators and other ActiveRecord functionality into regular classes, Responders which will allow to set specific business logic to be wrapped when you are sending a result back from controller to views (like the format of response, etc) and also performance improvements among others.  They are also planning on defining more standards to have better API integrations, for example, new ActiveModel would make easier to include a particular ORM’s (by following the standards) instead of ActiveRecord if needed.  The direction I think is the correct one.

Why do you think engineers like RoR so much?

I’m one of them!  I can say that in general terms we like the flexibility that Rails and Ruby allow without leaving out important topics such as security or performance.  Definitely Rails facilitates the learning process when you need to move from one project or application to another since you don’t need to learn the whole stack and architecture from scratch.  The conventions will show you the way to go.  One thing that every human being appreciates is having an easier life.

Filed under People & Places, Technology & Engineering

Cultural Similiaries Costa Rica and US

August 10, 2010 Leave a Comment

We often mention that Costa Rica and the US have significant cultural synergy.  Clients give us instructions like they want a site like Facebook but with LinkedIn groups and forums like StackOverflow and our teams understand what that means because they are on-line savvy and familiar with what is happening in US markets.  To prove the point, I walked around the office on my last trip to Costa Rica and took pictures of anything I was likely to find in a US office.  Here’s what I found.

We get our news and information about the industry from the same sources.  The latest Wired was sitting on a desk in an office.

We both care about our health and eating right.  This post about healthy eating was on a common bulletin board.

Wii is fun in any country.  Who hasn’t participated in a Wii tournament at this point!  This was on that same bulletin board as the health information.

Raising your kids to do well in school is important.  Most offices have family pictures in them.

And of course, Costa Rica is into the same cultural icons and trends as we are.  Take a look at what I found on cubicle shelves around the office.

I can’t believe someone had a Mr. Potato Head!  That just made my day.

I guess there is something to that cultural similarities point after all.  We’re concerned about the same issue like health and education.  We’re all really into technology and having fun.  And truthfully, Homer Simpson is funny in any language.  Doh!

Filed under People & Places

Happy Birthday Henry, Director of Development

August 4, 2010 1 Comment

Just because we work under tight deadlines does not mean we can’t have a little fun now and then.  Happy Birthday to Henry, our Director of Development and one of the longest standing employees of Avantica!

Filed under People & Places

Costa Rica Hosts Global Outsourcing Conference

July 16, 2010 1 Comment

This guest post was written by Diego May, our Director of Business Development.

I recently attended an event organized by Procomer in Costa Rica called the Costa Rica IT Alliance Summit.  As the head of business development for Avantica, I am often provided opportunities to be involved in conferences and events to see how the technology industry is growing in Costa Rica and Latin America.  Proccomer is a government agency charged with connecting Costa Rica technology companies with US and other companies.  Avantica is a regular participant at their events.

For 7 years now I have been involved with the development of Costa Rica´s technology and services sector. I had the opportunity of contributing to the first Costa Rica Technology Insights event back in 2004. After that initial event, and always with the Verde e Inteligente slogan (translation: green and intelligent), Costa Rica has continued these conferences and its international positioning. With these events and the networking coming out of them a lot of interesting companies have risen and grown and the outsourcing industry has matured.

The event was held July 7th and 8th and was a good evolution of what has been happening for the following reasons:

Very interesting visitors – It was nice to see companies from US, India, Trinidad, Dominican Republic and other countries coming to this event. Prior to the event lots of meetings were pre-arranged and with that level of preparation the 30 minutes sessions were really productive and to the point.

Diversity of players – In a couple of days we were able to interact with some potential direct US clients, professionals in the US advising companies about outsourcing and nearshoring, and companies in India and in US really interested in moving forward about partnering. Very interesting people and very valuable meetings to understand how are the different types of players in this interesting industry evolving over time.

Learning about how market is evolving – Two meetings I am pretty excited about were with companies that are advising other companies on how to best approach outsourcing. It is interesting to see how the outsourcing industry is evolving and how it has become clear now that there are a lot of variables that have to be taken into account in order to find the right outsourcing for the different project types. There are people who have experienced different types of outsourcing engagements and are offering valuable advise to companies thinking about this important, potentially cost-reducing factor. I look forward to following up with these two companies to convey the nearshore value proposition.

Seeking nearshore partnerships – While we met with different potential clients and advisers we also saw clearly how there were also some interesting services boutiques that are seeking for the right partners to scale their businesses. Nearshore and outsourcing in general has matured and these small companies offering great value to their clients can now see that a solid nearshore partner can really help them scale their business. We´ve seen that happen with some of our partners and we look forward to following up with the potential partners we met during the conference.

On a very professional perspective it is nice to see how after some iterations of these events we got to highly productive sessions that in a few days allow its participants to sense what is going on. From direct clients, to partnerships and general industry knowledge, in this event we were able to get a lot of value. Thanks Procomer for such great organization.

On a more personal perspective, as the Argentinean and proud Costa Rican I am, it is fantastic to see how the synchronization of some people some years back and some good intentions well-organized and directed can have such an impact. Today Costa Rica is a well know hub for the IT services industry and it is clearly seen as a top provider of nearshore development services and perhaps 14 years back it was hard for anyone around the globe to think about Costa Rica hosting an Intel Operation.

Pictures from the conference:

Diego May, Director of Business Development, Avantica (far right)

More information about the conference and Costa Rica’s outsourcing industry:

Nearshore Americas link

Costa Rica IT Alliance site

Procomer: The foreign trade corporation of Costa Rica

Filed under People & Places

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