Digisystem inks contracts with health, energy firms amid LatAm expansion

Brazilian IT services and systems integrator Digisystem sees demand for digitization in the healthcare and energy sectors as a driver to expand in Latin America, with projects and prospects underway with companies from both verticals in the region.

In the Dominican Republic, Digisystem closed a contract with one of the largest hospital complexes in the country, Clínica Unión Médica, BNamericas was told.

The project relates to the implementation of the Tasy software platform, developed by Philips Healthcare, that helps manage the clinic’s data.

“Digisystem is now Philips’ largest partner in Latin America for the healthcare sector. In Brazil, we were already the biggest one. About two years ago, they asked us to support projects in other markets. On the back of that, 'Digi' is aiming to expand in Argentina, Colombia and the Dominican Republic,” CEO Daniel Rocha told BNamericas.

The Brazilian firm has over 300 clients in its home market, and Philips over 2,000. According to Rocha, Brazil's main hospitals currently operate with the Tasy platform.

The software is a leading one in the hospital management market.

At Clínica Unión Médica, the platform has started preliminary operations, but full implementation, which will be gradual, is expected to take place over the next 15-18 months. 

Tasy runs both in the cloud and on-premise. In the case of the Dominican hospital, the customer chose the latter option. Contract values were not disclosed.

Before implementing Tasy, the hospital used its own management software. Yet, many of its processes were still manual, Rogério Riccardi, Digisystem’s regional commercial director, told BNamericas.

Consisting of five towers, the Clínica Unión Médica hospital complex offers oncology and transplant services, among others. In total, it has over 1,500 employees, in addition to clinical staff of over 1,000 professionals and a capacity of 430 beds, according to information shared by Digisystem.

The deployment project will rely on a multidisciplinary team composed of IT professionals, nurses and other medical experts, who will be responsible for detailed mapping of critical processes in order to design the future operations of the complex together with hospital management, said Digisystem.

After this stage, all necessary parameterizations will be made on the Tasy platform to meet the particularities of the hospital and allow for the integration with back-office and other existing systems.

Digisystem will have a hybrid team, on-the-ground and remote, dedicated to the project in the Dominican Republic.

“The value chain of a hospital is much more complex than that of other industries,” said Rocha.

EXPANSION

Digisystem has also been working with healthcare clients and prospects in Colombia and Argentina, and new contracts are expected to be announced in coming months, said Rocha.

The firm started direct operations in Colombia in 2020, following the acquisition of a local firm. In Argentina, the company established a presence in 2021.

“Argentina has a lot of potential in the health area. In addition to having excellent professionals there, the entire healthcare sector is quite good and structured. Even with the challenge of inflation and macroeconomics, we see great opportunities there.”

New M&As are on the radar, according to Rocha. The company is in negotiations in both Argentina and Colombia.

Regional expansion will be focused on the healthcare segment in the next two years. From 2026 onwards, other, not yet defined, segments should come into focus.

“We expect aggressive growth in the region, with a goal of increasing our presence by more than 300% in the coming years,” he said.

ENERGY

While healthcare is the company's main focus outside Brazil, energy is one vertical seen as highly promising in the country, according to the executive.

Digisystem has provided services to a major company in the sector, but related to a specific project. Now, there are more opportunities for automation and digitization, both executives highlighted.

“In Brazil, we are actively researching the energy sector; it's something that interests us a lot,” said Rocha.

“We are currently working on our strategic planning for next year and will decide whether we will invest in something different, have a structure, or whether this will become a business unit,” he said about the energy segment.

Decarbonization and climate change are driving opportunities, Rocha said.

Founded 34 years ago, Digisystem has 2,100 professionals employed in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasília.

In addition to health and energy, the company serves clients in the government, finance, utilities and retail segments. 

As for technologies, it has strategic partnerships with IBM, AWS, UiPath, Microsoft, Oracle and ServiceNow, in addition to Philips and others.

Rocha also said that the company will announce genAI features for its products in October.