In between Europe and The Americas, Portugal stands to capture the new wave of tech innovation investments. After being hard hit by the 2008's global financial crisis, the country is showing promising growth signs. At the forefront of the recovery is the Portuguese IT industry, which is gathering the attention of tech companies, multinationals and VC firms.
Portugal is in the same time zone as London, with world-class telecommunications infrastructure and a high-quality education system that makes it 15th out of 72 countries in English proficiency, this sunny country has opportunities until recently left undiscovered by tech firms. Its mature legal and fiscal environment, government incentives to investment, and political stability, among the other characteristics presented above, led Gartner to place it in 5th best country for captive or outsourced IT and business process services in 2015.
Culture is another reason why the country has been gathering such buzz, besides the well-known climate and cuisine, Portugal has a high educational quality with several thousand new IT graduates entering the job market a year with western standards of performance. Indeed, one of the major worries of companies experimenting with outsourcing is the level of culture compatibility between the head office and the team overseas; a challenge that is greatly diminished by the similar business culture between Portugal and the rest of the Western world.
To get ahead, companies need to cut costs while still being able to improve the quality of their end product. This was the conundrum of the 20th century, however, with globalization and the disruption of international markets due to technological innovation, the 21st century's answer to it has but one name: nearshore - the establishment of a dedicated team of developers in a foreign country. Portugal's labour costs are about 50% of the EU average and there are several government financial and tax incentives should you decide to set up a business here; which is also increasingly easy to do so due to bureaucratic reforms in recent years, you can now create a business in 2.5 days (4th fastest country in the world).
Lisbon, Portugal's crown jewel, is increasingly talked about as one of Europe's leading innovation hubs. The capital was the first one to be awarded with the European Entrepreneurial Region of the Year in 2015 by the EU's Committee of Regions and is rated by an Allianz 2016 study as the 5th best performing startup community in Europe. Adding to it, the city also boasts a high quality of life, low cost of living and is listed as one of Europe's safest cities.
At Lisbon Nearshore, we are keen to provide the very best nearshore and staffing services to help your business reach its goals. We are proud to have in our ranks some of the best developers around, a talent which has been recognized by our clients. To work with us is akin to have an extension of your in-house team, a perfect combination of onshore and nearshore teams, but less costly and more flexible. An authentic connection, in the same time zone, you can expect a pragmatic, iterative agile approach to your projects without experiencing global time zone or cultural challenges, with high quality outcomes. Our Nearshore team will be dedicated to your Project for an agreed timeframe alongside your specific requirements, and can be blended to include Technical Coordination, Solution Architecture and Project Management. We provide world-class development capabilities that can be employed at half (or lower) of central Europe costs, high level of English proficiency, modern telecommunications infrastructure, tax incentives and a favourable business environment.
By Lisbon Nearshore, visit their website here and find out more about Portugal as an attractive business destination.
