In my (self-appointed) quest to seek partners for UK software and IT services companies looking to set up business in Brazil, I recently met up with Berta Papp and Alonso Silva, the wife and husband team (she Hungarian, he Brazilian) who have just opened the first international office for Brazilian ‘ethical hacking’ firm Tempest Security Intelligence here in London.
Established over 12 years ago in Brazil’s 5th largest city, Recife, (the capital of Pernambuco state for you geography buffs), Tempest now boasts a marquee client base including some of the largest financial intuitions in Brazil, as well as leading names in the telco and utilities sector. Tempest also works with government organisations.
Much as with Brazilian IT services firm Pandorga (see Pandorga turns offshore delivery into two-way trade), Tempest is seeking clients and partners in the UK, especially those with a keen interest in entering the Brazilian marketplace. And there’s an ‘inward investment’ story too. Papp and Silva are looking to recruit skilled security professionals here in the UK.
I have been both surprised and delighted to find Brazilian software and IT services firms who are keen to establish a beachhead in the UK with the aim not just to win market share but also to develop ‘two-way trade’ between the countries. Given the huge challenges that foreign companies face when trying to enter the Brazilian market alone, I rather feel that partnering with established players like Tempest and Pandorga may prove a more fruitful route to market in the land of the samba sun.