To follow up on Alex's post below, I agree. Mexico for more than a decade has a been a valuable business partner to US firms looking for sourcing locations a few hours away, very skilled IT talent, and a young population that understands American culture and relates to its large Hispanic market. The NAFTA treaty guaranteeing free movement of labor doesn't hurt either, especially in the face of recent visa law hikes against Indian nationals.
But now that Mexico is hitting a "bad patch", there are firms avoiding the destination altogether, and other firms already there that are considering leaving. In my opinion, they're being unwise investors. Mexico, viewed through a 'longer-term' lens, carries many opportunities not only because of its US proximity and favorable time zone. One of those opportunities is Agile.
Mexico has always been an early adopter of technology. Software innovations in the US that take a year or two to reach the rest of Latin America (with the exception of Chile and maybe Costa Rica) and sometimes longer for other destinations, reach Mexico in about six months. And while the Agile method of software development is such a huge trend in the US, the fact is that not many offshore locations have much experience in it. Mexico does.
On that note, I'd like to invite all our readers to a Nearshore Americas webinar later this month titled The Agile Alternative: What Does Mexico Have that India Doesn't? It promises to be very informative in terms of answering some of the main questions I've heard on this topic.
The recent Mexico violence is something that absolutely must be dealt with, and no one is making any excuses for that. The country's image as a sourcing destination has taken a huge hit this year, solely due to this reason. And that's why I will continue urging risk-diversification in your outsourcing portfolio. But let's not write Mexico off just yet.
Tarun George
