VOICES FROM THE TELECOMS & IT SECTOR
What have been some recent highlights for Admios?
We have been developing software since 2005 in the Bay Area around San Francisco. Our founders, Peter Carruba and Kelly Ross, began their careers in the financial sector in San Francisco. After that, they started the company, and then they tried to find a hub; a good location to start a second part of the company. They decided to expand to Panama because the time zone there and in San Francisco is similar. They moved all the production over to Panama and we started working with financial companies developing software. We operate based on a business model called “nearshoring,” We work with their resources. We are not the only developers; hence, we always try to build relationships, which means that there has to be technical talent on their side. We are just enhancing that talent. We have worked with popular companies like CouchSurfing, which is based in San Francisco. People all over the world use it for finding a place to stay in somebody's house for free.
Why did you start in Panama?
Nine out of 10 businesses we work with become success stories. In Latin America, generally, many of the companies are family businesses that have grown tremendously and have areas to improve on, such as corporate governance, management, or control of their processes. Thus, we basically focus on providing our services to SMEs, whose inner structure is not as matured as large corporations. So, our target is to help Latin American businesses in these transformation processes. We started in Panama because we saw a huge market in Latin America for our business. We decided to begin in Panama because of its logistics, the currency, the taxation system, and access to talent. It is easy here to hire foreigners. Our point of entry was Panama, but then we started to expand in Central America and now in the Caribbean. In addition to that, many multinationals have established their headquarters in Panama. Being in Panama City makes it easier for us to attend meetings of regional clients. When you are amid an expansion plan, as we are, the priority tends to be expanding coverage, increasing invoicing, and growing the number of clients. However, today we are interested in growing more with our current clients because we want to reach a very high-level of trust with our partners and customers.
What is it like running a business in Panama?
For TECNASA, being recognized by a leading market research company as one of the highest regarded Panamanian companies is validation from our clients that we have been doing a good job for them for a long time. Our clients and our relationships with them are long term. But most importantly it is a validation of TECNASA's focus on ethics and values. This focus has led us to become a successful company for over 45 years in what is a changing and disruptive industry. These values and ethics, and the way we conduct our business resulted in the recognition of TECNASA reputation for excellence. I believe that as a business you can only operate in a sustainable manner by being an ethical business provider. A focus on ethics is an approach that seems to be deteriorating in today's world. We have more than 40 alliances with world leaders in different technology sectors. We are experts in those sectors. Our biggest partners are Hewlett Packard Enterprise, NCR Corporation, Schneider Electric, McAfee, Microsoft, and Dell Technologies. Those are the partners that represent the biggest business for TECNASA. The alliances we have with all our partners are crucial, so we can deliver the complete and integrated solutions our clients are looking for.
After almost 20 years in the market, what does Panama mean for Alorica?
Panama is the headquarters of our Latin America operations. Most of the services that we provide in the region are based in Panama. Alorica is the company that pretty much brought the industry to the region. Most of the initiatives and ideas were born in Panama. We have nearly 2,000 employees and a complex and strategic location in the west, which allows us to target the entire market. Panama holds the key for us because its economy was founded on the back of the banking industry, and that gives us strength when it comes to finding financially oriented partners. Anything around the realm of financials is the strength of Panama. We started with the entire sector, and then we moved to areas like technology, hospitality, and travel. The finance and banking sectors are our primary markets; in the 1980s, it was popular to study banking in Panama and we built on that. We have been in the business for 20 years, and over that period we obtained knowledge on how the industry has evolved. Notably, we provide our services to many Fortune 500 companies, and we are extremely proud of that achievement. A company cannot partner with such companies unless it has a specific trajectory, and we have earned that success.
VOICES FROM THE TELECOMS & IT SECTOR
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Spotlight Feature
Success in Sight
ith the election of the new government, Panama's recovery has begun, and the general consensus is that the country is ready to grow to new heights. The new policies, initiatives, and projects being undertaken across the country, in addition to growing FDI levels, have all proven to be extremely encouraging, and businesses across sectors have much reason to be positive and contribute to the country's economic rebirth.
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