Mobile App Development: Boosting Guadalajara's Economy with Tech
Guadalajara has the third largest economy in Mexico. It is well know that the city's economy has two main sectors: commerce and tourism.
However according to the article by Robin Norvell (December 2005), Guadalajara Winning Back Business from Asia, it is the electronics and information technology sectors that have given the city the nickname "Mexico's Silicon Valley". Guadalajara is the main producer of software, electronics and digital components in Mexico. Telecom and computer equipment from Guadalajara accounts for about quarter of Mexico's electronics exports. Hence, there is no surprise for the given nickname.
Guadalajara & Development
Lately, we have been hearing or reading about the word nearshore when it comes to outsourcing. Nearshore, in short, is to outsource the work force to neighboring countries of where the company headquarters are located. The benefits that nearshoring brings to a company interested in outsourcing is considerably better than going anywhere far. These benefits also include little or no time zone changes, no language barriers, travel time, and more.
Some of the growing business sectors within the Mexican Silicon Valley are web, mobile application, and other forms of software development. Some of the questions people are asking are: "Does the city that I choose have the potential and talent to satisfy my technology needs? Are companies at the same level of quality than the local companies?" Well, let see.
A couple of days ago an article was written by Dale Quinn for the Global Deliver Report included an interview with Guillermo Escutia (president of the western chapter of the National Chamber of Commerce for Electronic Telecommunications and Information Technology) along with iTexico's CEO Anurag Kumar, and COO Guillermo Ortega. The article explains about the growing economy of Guadalajara and how important the city's ties are to the US. I would like to highlight some quotes.
“The bulk of Guadalajara’s IT industry remains tied in with manufacturing electronic components for companies like IBM, Hewlett Packard and Jabil. But as smartphone users in the United States have gobbled up mobile applications for their iPhone and Android devices, a new production trend has emerged.”
“One of those companies is iTexico, an Austin, Texas-based firm that designs, tests and maintains software for devices on iOS, Android and other platforms. To supplement its team in the U.S., the two-and-a-half-year-old company has quickly established a robust presence in Guadalajara. The mobile app company employs about 60 people in the city, roughly 50 of whom are software developers, said CEO Anurag Kumar.”
Guadalajara has proven to be the right place to grow. As I mentioned before, within the nearshore model, the benefits lies with the time zone, the small or no language barrier, etc. Additionally the hiring cost is also lower, about half or less than what companies have to pay the engineers in the US.
The government knows this opportunity of growth and jointly with the private sector promotes and supports the technology, with scholarships, courses, and trainings to get people certified. These certification courses are also offered by iTexico. So there’s growth, talent, opportunity and interest from the government as well to grow talent among the mobile app and software development community.
"Guillermo Ortega, iTexico’s chief operations officer who founded the company with Kumar, said they "began to look into capitalizing on app design after noticing the pull in the U.S. market, before such demand had even emerged in Mexico. Since smartphones only came into widespread use in the past five years, there aren’t any companies or designers with many years of experience.”
“When it comes to competition from companies in the United States, it hasn’t been formidable. Many U.S. companies that design and develop apps then turn the apps over to iTexico for testing and management." said Ortega
iTexico has taken advantage of the opportunities by taking the lead on training software and mobile app developers. Additionally, iTexico supports American clients with their delivery center in Guadalajara. Often people think that lower cost means lower quality, well, this is not the case. A major success for the company is because they have partnered with Appcelerator to impart official training courses using their mobile app software development framework. This allows all our architects the capability to train the employees and to making them competitive to an international level. That’s something to take into account anywhere in the world.
For more information you can read the full article from Global Delivery Report here.
About the Author
Alfonso Banuelos is currently a Marketing Associate at iTexico. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Marketing and a Diploma in Marketing and Sales Strategies from the University of Guadalajara. He is one of the main voices driving iTexico's Social Media updates and communications.
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