São Paulo, October 5, 2015 - For the 12th consecutive year, Brazil will be a Premier Sponsor at the Gartner Symposium/ITXPO, considered the largest and most important annual meeting of chief information officers (CIOs) and leaders of the IT industry in the North American market. 20 Brazilian companies will take part in this important IT showcase, from 4 to 8 October in Orlando, Florida. More than 8,500 CIOs and IT executives will gather at this meeting seeking the insights, tools, and solutions they need to validate their IT strategies and thus ensure the success of their organizations.
The initiative is part of the software and IT services industry exports promoting project, developed by Softex in partnership with the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brazil). Currently comprising more than 160 associated companies, the project goal is to foster new business opportunities in the international market and strengthen the competence image of the Brazilian IT services and software industry, identified under the brand Brasil IT+.
Following the event “Rise to the Challenge” theme, the Brasil IT+ companies offers a broad portfolio comprising security, mobility, collaboration, design thinking, big data analytics and dashboards, human resources, telecommunications, Business Process Management (BPM), identity management applications, and IT outsourcing services.
The companies taking part in the Brazil IT+ Booth at Gartner Symposium/ITXPO 2015 are Actminds, Apdata, Aurus Software, Ícaro Technologies, Ilegra, MC1, Navita, Resource IT, Siena Idea, Sikur, Stefanini, and TokenLab. Prime Systems is attending the event for the first time with a booth on the show Emerging Technologies Pavilion.
"As the biggest IT consumer market in the world, the United States continues to be a strategic country for Brazilian companies. Twelve of the exhibiting companies of our delegation already operate in the global market and 11 of them already have offices in the United States. The Gartner Symposium/ITXPO is not a business event, but a unique opportunity for us to introduce our innovative technology capital to the global market and to contact opinion leaders with influence power in purchase decisions of organizations, with the most varied needs, throughout the world," examines Guilherme Amorim, Softex Sector Project manager.
In addition to the booth, Brazil IT+ will sponsor three presentations as part of the sessions of the symposium. Such presentations will feature the Nokia digital business success case, with the participation of Resource IT; the privacy and security versus convenience issue will be analyzed with Sikur executives and Navita will release an integrated tool to manage telecommunication and mobile device expenses (MDM).
"The number of Brazilian companies targeting the United States as their main market abroad keeps increasing. This year, besides the exhibiting companies, we also hosting seven companies interested in prospecting the American market: BRQ, Dextra, E-trust, Fiberwork, Poatek, Priori, and Unirede. To best support them in this challenge, we have organized a series of meetings with experts addressing key issues for go-to-market strategies, including: how to establish local partnerships, follow-up opportunities procedures, solutions and services positioning and marketing, and also how Softex can support these companies to compete globally, taking advantage of the rich Gartner ecosystem," adds Fernando Cariello, Softex advisor and responsible for the participation in the event.
Brazil: A Country that Relies on ICT to Grow
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been a key contribution to the increased competitiveness of Brazil, which over the next decade wants to position itself among the five major IT centers of the planet. The Brazilian industry of Software and IT Services (IBSS) is one of the priorities of the Federal Government’s Industrial, Technological and Foreign Trade Policy (PITCE). This is a market that moves about US$ 30 billion a year internally, a number that makes it the eighth largest market in the world.
Over the last twenty years, IBSS has been growing at a sharp rate, above the national GDP. It is a greatly diversified industry that provides mature and highly complex products, solutions and services, tested and approved by the market, and aimed at diverse economical sectors and segments, including finance, telecommunications, business management, health care, education, entertainment, and agribusiness. The software sector generates US$ 5.07 billion in resources, the equivalent to 1.68% of the global market. The service industry is estimated at around US$ 9.95 billion, or 1.72% of the market.
According to projections of the study "Software and IT Services: Brazilian Industry in Perspective," drawn up by Softex intelligence department, the country has over 81 thousand companies and employs more than 643 000 people, among partners and employees*.
*Reference year: 2014
About Softex (www.softex.br) - Since its establishment in 1996, Softex - Association for the Promotion of Excellence in Brazilian Software - has managed the Program for Promotion of Excellence of Brazilian Software - Softex Program, considered to be a priority by the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MCTI). This is a Civil Society Organization of Public Interest (OSCIP) which aims to conduct activities to support, develop, and promote the Brazilian Software and IT Services industry, always based on the following guidelines: dissemination and assistance to the deployment of best practices in software development and business management, human resource training for the sector; assistance in obtaining financial resources from public and private sources; production and dissemination of qualified information about the Brazilian software and IT services industry; entrepreneurship and innovation support; development of policies that interest to the sector; and support the establishment and development of business opportunities both in Brazil and abroad. The "Softex System" gathers more than 2,000 companies throughout the country, and it is formed by an extensive network composed of 22 regional Agents that provide local support and guidance to surrounding companies. Softex actions rely on institutional, technical, and financial support from several entities, including ABES, ABDI, Abinee, Abragames, Abvcap, Apex-Brasil, Anprotec, Assespro, BID, BNDES, Brasscom, CNI-SESI-SENAI, CNPq, Embrapa, Fenadados, Fenainfo, Finep, Frente Parlamentar de Informática, IBGE, INPI, SBC, Sebrae, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), the Ministry of Culture (MinC), the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE), and the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MTE).
About Apex-Brasil (www.apexbrasil.com.br) - The mission of the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brazil) is to develop the competitiveness of Brazilian companies, fostering the internationalization of their businesses and the attraction of foreign direct investments. Apex-Brasil currently supports over 11 thousand companies in 81 productive sectors of the Brazilian economy exporting to over 200 markets. In partnership with sector entities, the Agency organizes commercial promotion actions, such as prospective and commercial missions, business rounds, support to the participation of Brazilian companies in major international fairs, and supporting visits from foreign buyers and opinion makers to learn about the Brazilian production structure. It also develops commercial and competitive intelligence studies aiming to guide the national companies’ decisions about entering international markets. The Agency also coordinates the efforts of attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to the Country, working to identify business opportunities and promoting strategic events, guaranteeing support to foreign investors throughout the process in Brazil.