Author: Paula Diaz

ITJ continues to grow by welcoming Patricia Hernández to the team

Posted on | by Paula Diaz | 1 Comment on ITJ continues to grow by welcoming Patricia Hernández to the team

We at ITJ are dedicated to advancing the Cali Baja tech industry by offering top-tier digital engineering services to forward-thinking businesses in the San Diego megaregion and across the rest of the US. We are thrilled to announce that Patricia Hernández has joined ITJ as Senior Binational Advisor in support of that goal.

With a long career in international commerce, logistics, and value chain integration, Patricia has developed international competitiveness and clusters for domestic and foreign businesses doing business in Mexico and abroad. Over the past 24 years, she has been leading, developing, overseeing, and operating strategic projects that either advance high technology or spur economic growth in the major binational industrial sectors and emerging industries. The majority of these projects have been in the fields of advanced electronics, ICT and software development, renewable and clean technology, R&D, Industry 4.0, and entrepreneurship.

“I believe in our unique binational regional capabilities to expand the BioMedTechValley Initiative,” said Patricia, “I cannot stop being super active in collaborating with companies worldwide to meet their software and innovation development goals in very challenging industries such as biotechnology and MedDev. We are part of a multi-trillion-dollar industry that is growing at a rapid pace worldwide. So, there is no competition but collaboration. We are all working for a common purpose: to serve humanity to improve all people’s health and life quality. We are all in it together, and I am proud to be part of this ecosystem.” 

We at ITJ are delighted to welcome this strong team player with open arms and believe that with this tremendous talent, we can continue to be a motor for the unparalleled regional and binational capacities to advance the BioMedTech industry.

About ITJ

ITJ is devoted to serving fast-growing and high-value market sectors, particularly the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), working with innovative medical device companies looking to improve people’s lives. With a unique BOT (build, operate, and transfer) model that sources only the best digital talent available, ITJ enables companies in the US to create technology centers of excellence in Mexico. For more information, visit www.itj.com.

Mexico: The biggest talent pool of engineers

Posted on | by Paula Diaz | 3 Comments on Mexico: The biggest talent pool of engineers

“While the pressures of the Great Resignation and attendant labor shortage have wide implications for businesses in just about every industry, it’s even worse for companies looking to hire highly skilled tech workers. Prior to the pandemic, it was tough to fill specialized technology roles. Now, he says, it’s “next to impossible.” (Kelly, 2022, Forbes)

Software developers are in more demand than ever in the US. Luckily, not so far away there is a latent solution and a tech hub full of potential within. 

Every year, there are more than 160,000 graduates in computer science in Mexico. Comparing Mexico to nations with considerably larger economies, such as the United States, which has just 65,000 graduates, it is evident that Mexico is outperforming its peers. The talent market is getting more competitive, but Mexico remains a strong player in the global digital talent ecosystem because of the sheer number of graduates and the expansion of informal education institutions like coding academies. According to Steve Mezak, chief software services deal-maker at Next Coast Brokerage in Silicon Valley, “there is a continuous designer and developer scarcity that is prompting American service organizations to explore outside of North America.”

Nowadays, at hand with the Great Resignation, one million positions in the technology sector go vacant every year, according to a 2019 Wall Street Journal analysis. To address the talent gap, governments and the education sector are acting rapidly. When compared to other Latin American nations, Mexico has been at the forefront of developing a new generation of STEM graduates since 2006. Mexico may be the answer for American businesses wanting to outsource their software development. 

In terms of the salary of their software teams, there is no denying that labor costs are appealing for businesses trying to expand without paying the higher wages required to hire workers with the same abilities in the United States.

Latin America and Mexico are growing rapidly for potential U.S. employers, so establishing a team or office there should be as much about strategy as it is about the obvious cost reductions and annual salaries significantly lower than US ones. And, aside from salary costs, working with Mexican teams on projects is substantially less expensive than dealing with outsourcing partners in other regions of the world. Near real-time cooperation lessens the possibility of misunderstandings, work that wasn’t necessarily being done, or errors that can happen when requests for modifications aren’t fulfilled on time and as required. 

Consider San Diego and Tijuana as an example; the two cities are just a 30-minute drive away by car. If organization A has an IT team and a center of excellence in Tijuana, they may visit their team there for a single day without incurring additional expenses like lodging and travel costs. Flying to Mexico from the US could mean a huge deal for some, a 30-minute drive from the border could be a viable solution. 

Other benefits are the strong employee retention rates and prompt communication thanks to the cultural compatibility — a professional, diligent approach, and a dedication to outcomes between 2 similar cultures. In regions such as India or Eastern Europe, regardless of the great working teams, the understanding could vary because of the cultural scope, this will not happen with Mexican teams because not only of the proximity between countries but also because of the extent of the software engineering teams that speak fluent English. This common understanding can facilitate connections across Zoom and Slack in a professional setting and hasten the development of trust. Additionally, since most of Mexico is on central time, there are additional possibilities to interact due to the natural working day overlap.

In conclusion, IT firms of all sizes compete to scale their product design and engineering skills. The demand for digital products is outpacing the growth of the IT skill pool in the highly competitive U.S. labor market. Companies that look globally when expanding their teams can lower risk and scale more quickly than those that just invest in domestic education.

ITJ firmly holds the mission to offer mentorship and career development to a new generation of software engineers. To know more about it, visit ITJuana is committed to investing in developing digital talent in Tijuana.

About ITJ

ITJ is a trusted partner in building the finest software engineering teams in the Americas. For more information, visit www.itj.com.

New CoE in Tijuana

A new Software Center of Excellence settles in Tijuana, Mexico

Posted on | by Paula Diaz | 10 Comments on A new Software Center of Excellence settles in Tijuana, Mexico

Tijuana is once again honored with opening a new Center of Excellence in Tijuana’s bustling Zona Río. The new facilities that will welcome a market-leading medical device organization that focuses on the continuous development of its IoMT mobile and cloud-based software platform for insulin delivery and monitoring offer an energizing collaborative workspace filled with local flare. The space is equipped to host 140 full-time staff members with another 100 co-working stations for visitors and our growing hybrid team located across Mexico.

In recent years, San Diego and Tijuana have been in the eye of innovation and technological forecasters, including the Montreal-based World Design Organization. Recently the region has been chosen as the World Design Capital for 2024, beating Moscow. The award recognizes the region’s leadership in design across economic, technological, and cultural sectors. Two countries mean more room to grow and prosper. 

For companies creating revolutionary IoMT smart medical processes and devices, Tijuana has become a key partner that helps accomplish the IoMT company’s strategic goal of confidently and cost-effectively enhancing its highly skilled digital engineering capabilities without sacrificing quality and productivity. 

The nearshore approach encourages growth in many ways, allowing companies to establish world-class software engineering centers of excellence. With the help of the right partner, more organizations are currently flourishing with the right experts. 

To know more about the potential and fast-developing innovation hub Tijuana is, you can visit Tijuana Leads Innovation with Borderless Business Congress.