Since the day it spun off from CEMEX in 2000, NEORIS has been a leader in Mexico’s tech sector. It is the largest IT consulting company operating in Mexico, according to analyst IDC, and has four offices in the nation with more than 1,400 consultants working industries ranging from manufacturing and financial services to telecommunications and healthcare.

To find out how NEORIS has grown and where the company sees the industry going over the next few years, we sat down with Juan Carlos Lopez, president of operations in Mexico. He has studied and worked throughout the Americas, from Michigan to Uruguay, and opened the firm’s operations in Colombia. Even with all the company’s past success, he thinks the best is yet to come for NEORIS and Mexico.

Juan Carlos Lopez, president of operations in Mexico for NEORIS, says that “we have a great future in Mexico.”

Mexico IT: NEORIS was founded in a time when few people around the world expected cutting-edge IT to come out of Mexico. “The CEMEX Way” helped change that and propel the company forward. How much does the pioneering philosophy still drive the company 15 years later?

Juan Carlos Lopez: The philosophy is still driving the company today. NEORIS was born within CEMEX, so we come from a manufacturing environment. This is where our tagline was born: “Practical Visionaries.” We have to look to the future — the technology, the innovation. But we must do this not in an academic environment, but more in a practical, manufacturing environment.

This is what drove the business and the philosophy at the start and is still doing it today. The CEMEX Way really was a transformational model. It set up the procedures and mechanisms to growth in line with the company’s strategy of acquisition. It meant building a model that could be replicated across the region.

NEORIS’ part in this was to build the model — a dynamic model that could adapt, not remain static — and to ensure it was improving in every iteration, so that the business could be run more efficiently. The was, and still is, the spirit. CEMEX was very successful in applying this model and approach to growth.

They became one of the three largest cement companies in the world. Many others took that example and applied it in other industries, and this is what is beautiful about the model: It doesn’t just apply to cement companies — it applies to any industry.

How would you describe NEORIS’ presence in Mexico today?

Even though NEORIS is a very young company — we are celebrating our 15th year — we are number one in Mexico in IT and business consulting. This isn’t so because we say it. I mean, we love to say that, of course. But this is in terms of the ranking from the analyst company IDC. So we are enjoying a very prominent position in Mexico.

But we think the best is still to come. When you look at the past, companies were looking for the ERP (enterprise resource planning) solution to set up the infrastructure for their IT environment. This was the basics. When you start building a house, you need to set up the foundation first. Dig a hole in the ground and put very strong materials there so you can start to build on solid ground. This is what companies have done in the past.

Now, what we are seeing, is companies asking how they can use that solid infrastructure to grow the business. It used to be about having the ERP to review the accounting information — looking to the past — to ask, “How did I do last month? How did I do last year?” It was like driving and looking in the rearview mirror. But what technology now enables the business to do is look into the future. Now, it is about anticipating, being agile, and moving your company to adapt to what is coming.

Today, this is our focus and why we think we have a great future in Mexico — and the region. Because companies, now that they have the infrastructure, are asking “How can I differentiate from my competition? How can I do things better than them?” To do that, you need to use technology and we are helping companies, in Mexico and around the world, do that. We are entering into the digital business era. It is a total transformation of the organization. It is a complete strategy in which you redesign your company to meet this new world where the physical and virtual worlds come together.

How are companies that operate in Mexico adapting to this new world?

Mexico is doing it very fast. The country is geographically located next to the United States, very close to the most powerful economic country, and has close relationships with Europe and Japan. So Mexico needs to stay on top of these new technologies to compete in this new world. It is participating in the new Trans-Pacific Partnership with the U.S. and all the Pacific countries on the other side of the world. So I think we are very well positioned in Mexico to help them translate these new technologies into their business.

We have worked with many top clients in different industries. We are helping Heineken in different projects, and Oxxo in the retail business and as well Soriana, one of the largest retailers in Mexico. And we work of course with CEMEX in addition to Vitro, Grupo Mexico, Santander, and BBVA. We help them all to improve and apply these things.

In terms of tech progress, particularly as a nearshore destination, what is that makes Mexico special and so able to adapt to this new world?

Geographically, it has an excellent location. If you’re trying to get to the largest market in the world, one of the things you need is proximity. From our Monterrey office, we can be in the United States in about two hours. We can even go by car.

Being in the same time zones is also a benefit. It may seem like a minor thing — but not necessarily. Because when you are relying on somebody to help you, it always comes in an emergency situation. When you are trying to get help and they are all sleeping on the other side of the world, you will not get the same type of help as you will get from somebody in the same time zone.

The other factor is culture. We may speak a different language, but we culturally understand the U.S. — how they think and what their needs are. When you go to Asia, they have different cultures. I am not saying they are better or they are worse. They are different and not necessarily in line with what they have in the States.

Then you add to that the talent. Mexico has great talent. It is very competitive — very good talent at an affordable cost — as compared to other parts of the world. These commonalities are what help Mexico to be a better partner to the United States. When you add all these so-called “minor things” together, you get a big difference.