The benefits of outsourcing IT development to Latin America

According to an article in the Miami Herald, one of the often-overlooked benefits of outsourcing to Latin America is that it shares the same time zones as the US. Having worked with colleagues half a world away, I can assure you that this distinction is more important than it sounds.

I am all for asynchronous communications, but when working in high-pressure projects under tight deadlines, it’s important to at least be able to meet on the phone. It doesn’t really work when either of the parties has to get up at 3AM to do so.

Besides sharing time zones, Latin America offers many other benefits:

A well educated, bilingual workforce (at least in IT-related fields).
Some countries—my native Panama included—use the US dollar as their currency.
Great IP and telco infrastructures.
Some countries are one flight away from major US cities. Panama, for example, has daily flights to New York, LA, Houston, and Miami.
Stable democracies. (This may not be true in some countries, but for the most part seems to be the case.)
Cheaper workforce. (Given, right?)

June 24, 2003 | Archived in Business, Web Development