Spanish IT pride: Amadeus is number 10 in software-making company around the world

Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, SAP …. eight IT companies from USA and two from Europe complete the list of top 10 software-making company around the world. But, wait a moment … are there two companies from Europe?  SAP and …. What is the other? …. Surprise! It is a Spanish company!

The Spanish IT company Amadeus is among the top ten software maker companies, citing Forbes Global ranking. Well, finally I find something that makes me very proud and satisfied to be Spanish, seriously.

Maybe they have a job for me. I will try …

About Amadeus IT Group

The Spanish company Amadeus is a leading provider of advanced technology solutions for the global travel industry. Customer groups include travel providers (e.g. airlines, hotels, rail and ferry operators, etc.), travel sellers (travel agencies and websites), and travel buyers (corporations and travel management companies).

Amadeus employs more than 10,000 people worldwide, across central sites in Madrid (corporate headquarters), Nice (development) and Erding (operations), as well as 73 local Amadeus Commercial Organisations globally.

About Forbes Global 2000

The Forbes Global 2000 is an annual ranking of the top 2000 public companies in the world by Forbes magazine. It is based on a mix of four metrics: sales, profit, assets and market value.

The top 10 companies on the 2013 list for Forbes’ Software & Programming industry listing are ranked here:

 1. Microsoft, United States

2. Oracle, United States

3. IBM, United States

4. SAP, Germany

5. Symantec, United States

6. VMware, United States

7. CA Technologies, United States

8. Adobe Systems, United States

9. Fiserv, United States

10. Amadeus IT Group, Spain

Learning English in Dublin – Experience Summary

I had been studying  in Spain in an English school in one to one classes for 3 months with the objective of improving my English to find a job in Europe. I realized that I wasn´t very motivated and my English has not improved very much. During this time I had two interviews for international companies with European headquarter in Dublin. For one of them, Oracle Corp., my English level was enough because the post was Sales Development Manager that involves leading a team of international professionals with the some level of English. Finally, they did a internal promotion and I didn´t get the job. The second interview was with “Groupon” to work as a Online Marketing Manager. In that occasion they said that my profile didn´t fit with the role AND they said that I need improve my English too. So, I had decided that I need a change and I arrived to Dublin at July 16. I stay there until August 17. Two months full of new experiences.

I booked English classes in a school in the city center (The English Academy), I had chosen this because it was very popular on Internet blogs among the Spanish people. The school had a good price but they were mainly focused on the grammar and I wanted to improve my speaking. So, I stayed there for the month I had paid in advance and after that I changed to another school called DLTC in Dun Laoghaire, a little village in the south of Dublin. That school was focused on speaking so I thought that it could be better. In fact, it was a very good experience indeed because they had many extra activities after class which gave me the opportunity to practice more my English. But, on the other hand, after two weeks there I realized that I was speaking more time but I was careless about my accent which was worst than before I arrived in Dublin.

In any case, it was a very good experience because I made good friends from Spain and different countries, I practiced a lot and I got more self confidence with my English. In my oppinion the main advantage of studying abroad is that you are living out of your familiar atmosphere and comfort zone and this make you to learn more.

Primera a la derecha, Rocio, pero que guapa que estás !!

At that time, I had applied to one hundred offers and I had other four job interviews, always by phone. The posts were to get a job as a business development manager or project manager. I got a big feedback about the IT job market in Dublin.

I realized that the project manager role is better because you get a bigger fixed wage. The 50% of the IT workers are foreigners. The companies are increasing their staff in this industry. The country has a 14% of unemployed people but it is a good place to work if you are a IT professional because the industry has a deficit of 6%, i.e., the need more people who they can find, so more qualified people is needed in this field. The salaries are very good in the IT industry. They pay double that in Spain and although the life is expensive, it isn´t double of expensive. So, you can increase your incomes and even save some money.

I think I would like to live there. People say that the weather is very bad and the days are very short in winter, but I guess that it will be good for me and my family because we like to spend our time at home in a chill out way.

Zalando e-commerce, the European Zappos?

Yes, I want to buy in Zalando.com! Free delivery, free returns, 30-day returns guarantee and a free helpline. It´s the first time that I´ve visited an e-commerce which is selling in Spain with all this so confident and attractive claims calling to buy. It´s like the “delivering happiness” from Zappos.com but in Europe (actually selling in fourteen European countries). Fantastic!

Figure 1. Zalando is available in fourteen countries (24/04/2013)

It is something to what we are not accustomed. I think this marketing strategy is which the Spanish market was needing for to stimulate the e-commerce sales in a similar ratio to other European countries. Zalando is a clear, confident and direct “buy here my friend” online retailing without conditions and brakes to the purchase.

Figure 2. Zalando.es internet traffic evolution in Spain. Source: Semrush

The Spanish E-commerce and Digital Marketing Managers/Directors must pay attention to this e-commerce brand. In my opinion, they have many things good on which we should notice. In the last five months they have grown 100 % in web traffic (Figure 2). In one year, they obtained a global Internet Marketing Effectiveness KPI of 76 over 100 in Woorank. For example, this is closely together of the KPI of the giant Zara.com and Elcorteingles.es nowadays with 77 and 80 respectively, over Adolfodominguez.com with 71. And it is possible that in one more year it reaches Zappos.com with 87 if they improve the fifteen rooms for improvement and errors to fix according to Woorank.

Figure 3. Zalando.com global KPI index. Source: Woorank

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