"It is important to remember that the Financial Services segment has an exceptional growth potential, with an estimated IT global spending of US$ 430 billion in 2007, according to Gartner Group researches," says Jose Carlos Cusnir, international business manager, SOFTEX. For him, an increase, even a minimal one, of the Brazilian share would bring highly expressive results.
"Today Brazil answers for 3.4% of the IT market in the financial segment. If we are able to capture more 0.6%, we will have access to a US$ 2.2 billion business," affirms Cusnir, who sees great business opportunities for Brazil in Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO).
The Brazilian delegation is comprised by ACS, BRQ, CPM, DBA, Politec, Stefanini, YKP and YMF. "We have gather together skilled companies, many of them with offices abroad, because the event is an opportunity window to sell the "technological Brazil" concept, presenting success cases and state-of-the-art technologies for a highly qualified and decision-maker audience," comments Jose Carlos Cusnir, who also thinks that is crucial to take advantage of the moment to exchange opinions with Gartner consultants about the Brazilian software industry. "Indian and Irish companies, important players in this segment, will also attend the event," he notes.
Gartner Financial Services Technology Summit is a conference targeted to CEOs, CFOs, CIOs and executives at the IT industry, banks and insurance companies, which goal is to bring a vision of the technology's future, giving subsidies to face new scenarios and addressing complex technological issues. The organization expects to bring 400 speakers. Representatives of several institutions have already confirmed their participation, such as Bank of New York, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, HSBC, Chubb, Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo.
Besides an extensive conference schedule, the event will hold a collective stand, Brazilian Software and Services - SOFTEX/APEX, where the visitors will be registered and referred to Brazilian company representatives.
"The software and related services industry has a strategic nature, since it develops advanced technologies and allows Brazil to compete in the same conditions as his competitors in the global market," says Juan Quiros, president, APEX-Brasil. For him, with the new Industrial, Technological and Foreign Trade Policy launched by the Brazilian administration last year, the segment has enjoyed a bigger support, because the companies now receive fiscal incentives and credit lines as instruments to expand their presence in the global market. "APEX has worked for three years to expand software and related services exports and has already invested R$10 million in initiatives that have benefited 197 companies," tells Quiros.
The next APEX initiative, together with SOFTEX, for the financial segment, is to attend the Midsize Enterprise Summit West 2005, that will be hold on September 18-21, 2005, in Salt Lake City, United States.
PROSPECTS OF GOOD DEALS AND NETWORKING
CPM, which goal is to export US$ 100 million in the next three years, believes that the event will be a success. "Brazil now is considered an upcoming country by Gartner and this, without a doubt, is a great incentive for the companies in the segment. The fact the event is focused on the financial services industry has motivated us even more, because this is the segment where Brazil has acquired stronger expertise. By uniting business knowledge, flexibility, competitive costs and the benefits of the nearshore model, we can offer great value for American companies. We expect to consolidate and expand business with our installed base and generate new business opportunities, besides positioning Brazil as the best choice for nearshore outsourcing solutions to American companies, mainly for banks, insurance companies and credit card operators," comments Ricardo Asse, new business manager, CPM.
"The financial market is highly demanding and needs a solid expertise. Some Brazilian companies, among them Stefanini, own enough know-how to leverage these opportunities with innovative and ingenious projects. We will use the Gartner Summit to approach potential costumers from the financial industry and visit our branch office in New York City, presenting our expertise in the sector," explains Marco Stefanini, the company president. The executive notes that the financial industry is strategic for Stefanini and answers for 40 % of the revenue. The company estimates that by the end of the year the foreign market share will reach 20 % of the revenue, rising to 50 % by 2009.
Yim King Po, president-director at YKP, is optimistic and foresees good business opportunities for integrated systems targeted to middle-size banks that the company intends to sell using they own infrastructure already in place in New York City. "YKP has a solid experience on services for the financial sector in Brazil. Based on the knowledge accumulated in 15 years of activity, we are prepared to offer innovative, high quality solutions, with a flexible infrastructure to meet the various requirements of demanding and exigent customers in the foreign market," he says.
"Companies such as Politec compete with big corporations in equal terms, and, in some cases, have some advantages over them. That's the case in the banking sector, where the local system sophistication have led IT companies to develop solutions considered innovative even by major world economies," comments Humberto Ribeiro, foreign business manager, who highlights the importance of global promotion initiatives that bring together companies capable of providing world class services.
For Benjamin Quadros, BRQ president, one of the majors technological service and solution providers for the Brazilian financial industry, attending the Gartner Financial Services Summit will provide a detailed vision on the American market and the technology future, besides allowing to meet the most acclaimed experts in the market, potential customers and partners. "We already have two customers in the United States and we are opening new business fronts. We hope to hold a competitive position in the software world market using the competitive advantage we have acquired for being one of most developed software and service industry for the financial sector all over the world," explains the executive.
"Despite not having a long-time tradition in the global market, the Brazilian banking technology industry is one of the most advanced in the world. The American market, specially, is huge and there are opportunities in several sectors, from retail banks to pension funds," says Paulo Mordehachvili, EVP and international business manager, DBA. According to Mordehachvili, the Gartner Financial Services Summit is a unique opportunity for Brazil to present itself for the companies that are looking for sourcing alternatives with the best cost-benefit.
According to Jose Eduardo Ribeiro Lima, Foreign Business Development manager at ACS, the financial and the telecommunication industries are the segment with biggest demand for business process outsourcing (BPO), including call center services. "ACS considers the financial industry one of its priority markets, either in Brazil or abroad, since the company has an operating infrastructure, state-of-the-art technology and non-stop processes usually required for services in this segment. We believe that the ACS call center services will complement the services by other companies that, together, will offer a complete set of IT solutions for the industry. We have big expectations regarding new contacts and potential customers," says the ACS manager.
"It's about time to connect the Brazil name with state-of-the-art technology," says Dajma Petit, deputy coordinator, SOFTEX. "And the best way to achieve this is obtaining recognition and asserting our competencies in sectors we are well positioned, such as banking automation. We are putting in practice an aggressive and systematic strategy that includes Brazilian companies participation in specific events, such as the Gartner Summit and actions to strengthen the relationship with foreigner opinion-makers who could testify the Brazilian IT industry reliability and competence," concludes Petit.
LEARN MORE ABOUT SOFTEX (www.softex.br) - Society for the Promotion of Excellence in Brazilian Software - SOFTEX - is a private, non-profit organization that develops entrepreneurship, readiness, financing and marketing initiatives in order to promote the Brazilian software and related services industry's competitiveness. The SOFTEX System has more than 1,300 members and maintains a regional agent network covering 23 cities in 13 Brazilian states.
LEARN MORE ABOUT APEX-BRASIL (www.apex.org.br) The Brazilian Export and Investments Promotion Agency - APEX - is an governmental agency focused on promoting Brazilian products and the country image abroad. APEX-Brasil is conducting 200 projects with entities representing 52 sectors of the industry. In its activities, APEX-Brasil uses the expanded concept of commercial promotion, embracing foreign trade management training, products and processes adjustment, even direct action in the foreign market, promoting Brazilian products at fairs and exhibitions, organizing business missions and business meetings abroad.