Brazil has been a leading player in the development of the worlds economy for many decades.

There are some critical facts that help the outsourcers based there to achieve superior quality.

It is the 3rd largest democracy in the world.

Brazil has the most ISO 9000 certified companies of any emerging country in the world, in 2007 there were 6890 certified companies in Brazil.

Over 40% of Internet users in Latin America are based in Brazil, it has the second largest wireless market in the world, and the most modern banking system.

Most importantly, it has the one of the largest untapped skilled resource pools waiting to be discovered.

Offshoring and outsourcing started as being a way to reduce cost, but that is rapidly changing.

It has now become a tool to improve business value and quality.

Cost was the driver and focus of early outsourcing and offshoring projects.

Vendors promised incredible savings and in many cases cost reduction has been achieved.

However a recent IDG survey of CIO’s shows that while cost reduction is still a key factor in making offshoring decisions, it is no longer the primary or only business driver. The survey found that the majority of CIO’s now place a significant emphasis on business value and quality of deliverables, which is shifting the nature of relationships with offshoring vendors.

Closely aligned with this change in focus has been the emergence of so-called nearshore offshoring (nearshoring) vendors. For US based companies these vendors are based in South and Central America with areas of focus being Brazil and Costa Rica. Key factors in driving relationships with offshoring vendors in these countries are their proximity, ability to work in regular office hours and cultural similarities. If you are a corporation based in Houston you can be in Rio or San Jose the same day if you need to have an urgent project meeting or discuss a new initiative. Similarly, individual contributors can be onsite just as quickly.