Rapid Latin Growth for TCS

Tata Consulting Service (TCS), India's largest software exporter, has come a long way since it started in Latin America five years ago.  From a small operation in Uruguay with 15 employees, the company has grown to a regional giant with more than 5,000 employees.

Not bad, after a somewhat challenging start. "We originally wanted to [open] in Mexico, but we couldn't," says Gabriel Rozman, president of TCS Iberoamerica, which includes all operations in Latin America, Spain and Portugal. At the time, local authorities viewed the Indian outsourcing company with too much suspicion and it faced too many hurdles in getting the necessary permits. Then it decided to set up in Argentina. However, that decision coincided with a major economic crisis, which made doing business difficult to say the least.

So TCS decided to set up not too far away - in neighboring Uruguay. A choice Rozman is happy about, although the country's market is relatively small compared to the big economies in Latin America.