Outsourcing: Martin Migoya, CEO Of Globant (Part 6)

By Sramana Mitra and guest author Rajesh Nair

Sramana Mitra: What kind of investors have you been able to attract ?

Martin Migoya: Well, we have investors from Silicon Valley with private equity funds, which do not invest in early stage companies. They invest in companies that have the potential to grow, that are tapping into very large market opportunities with strong and solid delivery strategies. Those are the kinds of investors. In the case of Riverwood [and] FTV, they have other investments in the region. They know the region, and they trust our management team and the founder team. We have a great management team to take the company to the next level. >>>

Outsourcing: Martin Migoya, CEO Of Globant (Part 5)

By Sramana Mitra and guest author Rajesh Nair

Sramana Mitra: Who are your competitors and how do you compete with India’s players? There are players in India who are also focusing on these kinds of niche applications. They have different cost  structures, and in terms of cost structure, India still has an advantage over Latin America. So, how do you deal with pricing? >>>

Outsourcing: Martin Migoya, CEO Of Globant (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: Interesting. I have spent a lot of time in Buenos Aires. One of the observations you are making is that there is more of an artistic blend, I suppose, in the workforce that you are trying to hire, and that workforce one that sits on the cusp of design and technology and is playing with mobile apps and so forth. What kind of role does the Latin American heritage of music and dance play in that? >>>

Outsourcing: Martin Migoya, CEO Of Globant (Part 3)

By Sramana Mitra and Rajesh Nair

Sramana Mitra: You are all over Argentina, so is the workforce in Argentina more distributed? Is the talent pool you are trying to tap more distributed?

Martin Migoya: No, it is not that way. For the most part, we grew first in Argentina; hence, we are distributed there and we made deep penetration into the deeper markets of Argentina. That is the same as what will happen in other countries. We started with Montevideo, Uruguay, but it is very important for us to keep on going to other cities. The same will happen in Bogotá and in other cities and countries where we start. >>>

Outsourcing: Martin Migoya, CEO Of Globant (Part 2)

By Sramana Mitra and guest author Rajesh Nair

Sramana Mitra: And that’s where you have succeeded, in doing mobile and social apps and user interface (UI)-intensive stuff and so forth, yes

Martin Migoya: Yes, exactly right.

Sramana:There are two questions that come to mind based directly on what you have just said. First, It is very difficult to work with remote developers, I guess remote partners, when you are dealing with issues like UI, dealing with aesthetics and design and things like that. So, if you look at the history of outsourcing, that is probably one of the areas that has seen the least amount of outsourcing. What are your comments about that? >>>

Outsourcing: Martin Migoya, CEO Of Globant (Part 1)

By Sramana Mitra and guest authors Rajesh Nair and Aditya Modi

About Martin Migoya

Martin Migoya is the CEO of Globant. Together with three of his friends, Martin established Globant, a company that desgins software products. Under Martin’s leadership, Globant grew from four people in 2003 to 1,500 today. He has won many awards such as Endeavour Entrepreneur 2005, Konex Award for the most innovative entrepreneurs of 2008, and Security Award for the most distinguished businessmen of the year in 2009.

About Globant
The fastest-growing software firm in Latin America, Globant, has become one of the top 10 software development companies in the world  since its inception just over seven years ago. With more than 2,500 employees it is headquartered in Buenos Aires and has offices in the U.S., U.K., Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and all over  Argentina. Globant’s clients range from software development and infrastructure management  to mobile applications and e-commerce. Globant has won awards for its innovation and its delivery model.

Sramana Mitra: Hi, Martin, and welcome to the Outsourcing series. To start with, we are definitely seeing outsourcing in Latin America as a major trend, which is why I wanted to speak with you. I would like to understand more about what you are seeing and how you are navigating your way through the outsourcing industry.

Martin Migoya: OK.

SM: So, let’s start with some background on Globant. Would you please tell me more about how and when you started and how you have built a sizeable company to this point. >>>

Outsourcing: Sandip Sen, President And CMO, Aegis (Part 6)

Sandip Sen: I think rural BPO is an interesting concept. It will take a little time. The problem with the fourth tier cities is that this business will need the infrastructure. So, some of these cities need to have the infrastructure to be able to support a BPO, but there is a trend and we ourselves are seeing that. We are part of the trend to move into tier two and maybe tier three cities. The main reason is this: Let’s take telecom as an example. >>>

Outsourcing: Sandip Sen, President And CMO, Aegis (Part 5)

By Sramana Mitra and guest author Aditya Modi

Sramana Mitra: How big is your Argentina operation?

Sandip Sen: We have two centers in Buenos Aires. We have a center in Cordoba, a center in Tucumán, a center in Mar del Plata, and a center in Bahia Blanca, which means we have six centers and we have about 5,200 people in Argentina.

Sramana: Wow. So, that makes you one of the largest BPO operators in Argentina, yes?

Sandip: It does, it certainly does.

Sramana: What are the dynamics of the Argentinean market?

Sandip: Well, the dynamics of the Argentinean market are that on the positive side, it is a group market. It is a market which we think we can exploit and expand much further. The only downside of that market is that Argentina has, like a lot of Latin American countries, high inflation. We believe that that may be dumping a lot business from the U.S., for example, but overall we think it is a very good market. I think we are in a position, because of our global skills and because of some of these strengths that we get to grow that business much, much further. We believe this year we should be able to grow that business to about 35% from the time we bought it. >>>