Strengthening the European business with specialists from Colombia
Netcentric is experiencing a boom: founded in 2012 by 17 people, the IT specialist opened branch offices simultaneously in Zurich, Munich and Barcelona, and by 2017 the company had grown to 350 employees in 11 branch offices – and this trend is set to continue in the future. As a partner of global corporations, the Netcentric specialists integrate products from Adobe into their platforms, and this spectrum is growing quickly: «We have now become an all-round provider, which can cover the entire lifecycle of a digital marketing strategy,» says Michael McCrae, co-founder and Managing Director, and he adds: «We support our customers throughout the entire lifecycle of these solutions, from the initial strategy to operation.»
Until recently, it was possible to recruit many talented specialists in Spain due to the weak economy. This situation has now changed however, according to McCrae, due to the improv- ing economic conditions. «It is becoming increasingly difficult to find good people in Europe.»
The ideal location and appropriate personnel were found, thanks to S-GE
If not in Europe, then Latin America! «We contacted Switzerland Global Enterprise (S-GE) and asked them to find a suitable destination for us.» The company did not only hope to find a large pool of talented specialists there. McCrae: «Due to the time difference, we can offer our customers, who are primarily located in Europe but are active globally, a much wider service timeframe – 18 hours per day.» Supported by the Swiss Business Hub Mexico, S-GE presented Medellín as the ideal destination after reviewing numerous cities. And this proved to be a real stroke of luck. With the support of the local chamber of commerce, Netcentric found suitable premises in the prosperous «Ruta-N» district, founded its Colombian subsidiary and employed 25 people in the first eight months. By the end of the year this is to increase to 40, and by 2020 to 150. «Our expectations were exceeded by far,» says McCrae. S-GE and its partners did a fantastic job. «The support was so good that we were able to reach a decision without even visiting the city beforehand.»
«The support from S-GE was so good that we were able to reach a decision regarding Medellín without needing to visit the city beforehand.»
— Michael McCrae, Group Managing Director