Colombia and Peru Looking for New Call Center Outsourcing Opportunities

By Michael Guta
TMCnet Contributing Writer

Companies that provide call center outsourcing services face considerable challenges when the market they are addressing is limited to one particular country. South American companies that have been providing call center operations for organizations in Spain have been struggling as the Spanish economy continues to recover from the financial crisis of 2008. This has led Colombian and Peruvian contact center outsourcers to start looking within the Americas for more opportunities. A new report released by Frost and Sullivan titled, “Colombian and Peruvian Contact Center Outsourcers Focus on the Americas” highlights the impact of the dwindling Spanish economy has had on both of these countries

According to the report, the offshoring segment in Colombia and Peru have in essence been forced to change their strategy regarding business opportunities in Spain and focus more in North, Central and South America because of the large Spanish-speaking population.

The report pointed out that both countries had one of the most dynamic markets in Latin America up until last year. Their decline has been attributed to competitive pressures from new participants in the marketplace that are providing quality services as well as the downturn in Spain’s economy.

Even though the markets in Colombia and Peru are feeling the pressure, Frost & Sullivan (News - Alert) still has a positive forecast for both countries in the long run. According to the company the Colombian market will reach $2.2 billion in 2020 compared to its 2013 revenue of $1.045 billion. On the other hand Peru is a much smaller market and in 2013 its revenue totaled $385.4 million with projected growth of up to $647.3 million in 2020.

"In the Colombian contact center outsourcing services market, domestic business still accounts for more than 70 percent of the revenues. However, revenues from the offshoring segment are growing at a faster rate than those from domestic business as a result of multiple deals with the United States," said Frost & Sullivan Information & Communication Technologies Industry Analyst Sebastian Menutti. "Meanwhile, in the Peruvian market, nearshoring from South American countries such as Argentina and Chile is bringing in new business."

By relying on one country as their main source of income, Colombia and Peru highlight why diversification is extremely important in this industry. Companies in India in particular provide services in a wide range of languages, therefore hedging their industry if a particular country has a weak economic outlook. However, the Americas are set to grow, and Frost & Sullivan sees this entire region being a dominant market by 2020 as the economies of these countries continue to mature.