Outsourcing has become very popular over the past few years, especially within the development sector. Lately, I have read several articles about why companies should outsource their development to other parts in the world. In this article we will focus on the emerging market of Argentina. The country has a growing market, thriving IT sector, and many more beneficial aspects that will be explained in more detail.
# 1 Emerging growth of IT Talent
With the growth of internet usage and the high volume of IT talent, Argentina is becoming more and more tech-talent centric. This can also be seen throughout the expanding market of (tech) startups. The entrepreneurial spirit of Argentina shows that there are a lot of talented people doing everything they can to get their own business going.
In addition, the universities of Argentina are expanding their Technological courses.
The Regional Faculty of Buenos Aires of the National Technological University is offering a broad variety of IT courses, which relates to the growing number of IT Talents. This, in addition to the fact that universities do not ask for college tuition, shows that education is a priority within Argentina.
The growth of Tech Talent can also be seen in the emerging number of users of Stack Overflow, an internet site for programmers. The site shows the number of top users. Buenos Aires has 21 top users which is the highest number of all cities in Latin America (second is Sao Paulo, Brazil, with 13 top users). Moreover, there are many other Argentinean cities that show top users.
# 2 Costs
Hiring a developer in Argentina will costs less than hiring developers in the US and Europe. In Europe a good developer will cost $100-$200 an hour (depends greatly on the region). They will cost $100 to $250 an hour in the US. As for Latin-American countries, the cost will be around $40 to $70 an hour. The cheaper cost in addition to high quality will make Argentina an attractive choice for your next outsourcing development hub.
# 3 Time zone
For US companies, outsourcing to Argentina would be practical with regards to the time difference. New York lies in UTC-4 and Los Angeles lies in UTC -7 (two of the biggest cities on each coast). Argentina has UTC -3 which means that within a working day there is a big overlap of possible contact hours. The time difference between the US and India and China is much greater and therefore there is little overlap of contact hours.
The small time difference makes live communication and team integration easier. In addition, when traveling is necessary, jet-leg will not have as much of an impact, which will increase productivity.
# 4 Language proficiency
The EF (Education First), gathers and analyzes the language skills of more than 910,000 adult English learners over 70 countries.
The EF English proficiency ranking of 2015 shows a rise within the Latin American countries. Where Argentina in dark green shows the very high proficiency band, the low proficiency band is colored orange. This means by far that Argentina has the best English proficiency within the Latin American countries.
The higher national levels of English proficiency can be linked to higher income levels, better quality of life and higher employment rates. But also within technology sectors, the higher level of English shows a higher level of high-technology exports.
To conclude, it is very helpful when companies outsource that they have a mutual language with which communication will be easier. Especially when you want specific product/service requirements.
# 5 Regulations restrictions
Europe has very strict regulations that withhold possible technology development. With increasing monitoring from Brussels and a strict supervision from governments, it is getting harder for technological companies to escape detection in regulations restrictions. A lot of big technological companies are threatening to leave Europe. These regulation restrictions in Europe can lead to opportunities in other parts of the world.
# 6 Culture
The working hours in Argentina can differ a great deal. Some executives put in long days which can lead to working late in the evenings. An 8pm business meeting is not unusual. However, Argentinean culture is strongly influenced by European civilization. The biggest differences might be the working relationships; they tend to be seen more as a partnership. In addition, the working pace might be a little less than the US. However, developers seem to be more assertive and creative. On the other hand, there are also a lot of similar cultural aspects. These are; a strong work ethic, team work, respect and appreciation for a strong family.
To summarize, when searching for an outsourcing hub for development, Argentina should be strong considered. The large amount of IT talent will give your company a new and creative insight. This, in addition with the small time difference, the high level of English and the reduced costs, can assure that you will get a high quality service from Argentina.
