The software industry in Uruguay has always looked abroad. However, getting clients abroad is not an easy task for local companies, which compete with big players from all over the world. And being well positioned in rankings or lists of companies is always a great help.
This happens in the ranking of mobile application developers in Latin America of the Clutch platform. It is noteworthy that eight Uruguayan companies are in the top 20 and that in the top five there are four Uruguayan companies, since in the category "compete" with 681 regional firms.
The companies in the top five are: Code of the South, Bixlabs, Xmartlabs, and UruIT. Also in the ranking are Hattrick IT, Octobot, December Labs and Inmind. In total there are 22 Uruguayan companies registered in Clutch both application development, web development, software, web design, digital agencies and IT services.
Clutch's senior analyst for Latin America and Spain, Ricardo Real, told El Observador that the ranking is updated every time a new company registers on the platform, but Uruguayan companies "are always at the top".
In 2017, Clutch, a "B2B" (or business-to-business) services research platform - founded in the United States in 2011 - decided to start researching Latin American technology companies that focus on web, app, design and marketing development, and one of its goals is to help them locate potential clients.
Companies that offer services in any of these areas register for free in Clutch and ask their customers to add reviews of the work done, which is then verified from the platform with the company that hired the services of the firm.
Then, based on that information, the companies are ranked. To produce the rankings, Clutch analysts review each firm's reviews, project portfolio, client list, marketing presence, ability to deliver successful projects, among other factors to highlight the best firms. Clutch's algorithm also produces directories and lead matrices to connect potential clients around the world with the best listed firms.
Highlighting Factors
Real explained that since the beginning of Clutch's expansion in Latin America a year ago, Uruguayan companies have had a very active participation in the platform. "We have 22 Uruguayan firms that have collaborated with us to curate their profiles. They have also allowed us to interview their clients to publish verified reviews of their developments or previous collaborations," he said.
Among the reasons most reiterated by clients of Uruguayan companies are the work culture similar to that of the US and Europe, the good quality of design and code of the products or digital services developed, the good level of English of the professionals and the time zone similar to that of the US. "All are factors that facilitate collaborations to meet goals," said Real.
On the other hand, the Clutch analyst commented that representatives of the commercial area of the Uruguayan Embassy in the US, and the Uruguayan Chamber of Information Technology (CUTI) met with him to "highlight the technology services industry in Uruguay and position local firms and contact them with customers in the world," he added.
Technology firms can register for free with Clutch on the web.
Export growth
The latest survey conducted by the Uruguayan Chamber of Information Technology (CUTI) to its partners -corresponding to 2016 figures-, reflects a 10% growth in exports compared to the previous year, while sales in the domestic market remained relatively stable.
This increase allowed the total turnover of the ICT sector to reach US$ 1,158 million.
The report indicates that the United States continues to be the main destination for software and services exports (58.1%), followed by Argentina (5.7%), Spain (5.4%), Colombia (4.5%) and Ireland (4.5%).
Source: The Observer
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