africa and internationalHeadingnorthNeo Nwako, head of<strong>Integr8</strong> IT in BotswanaWORDS Patrick HeskeAfrica is acontinent withunbelievable ICTprospects, says<strong>Integr8</strong> IT.Lance Fanaroff, joint-CEO at national networkintegration and infrastructure managementspecialist <strong>Integr8</strong> IT, is energetic and passionateabout the company’s African expansion efforts. Withfunding already available from many governments,organisations and companies that want to becomepart of the global village, he believes there is a fortuneof business opportunities in Africa.He says African businesses are no different fromthose on any other continent in the world whenit comes to IT requirements, and are experiencingthe same business pains, such the lack of high-levelskills, services and support, due to challenging andremote conditions. “They also want the value add, theinnovation and the latest processes in place that willallow them to be competitive in their industries,” hesays. “With IT and where the world is today, anything ispossible even in the most challenging conditions, butit’s also a case of ensuring that the solutions that makethese companies work are financially sustainable. This iswhere we come into play.”<strong>Integr8</strong> IT’s rich technical skill set and the company’sability to execute on decisions quickly, Fanaroff believes,are the two main areas that set <strong>Integr8</strong> IT apart fromlarge corporate companies wanting to enter the Africanmarket. “The big problem large firms have is the redtape and time it takes to make and act on a decision.With some, it could literally take a year, but with us, itcan be a month or two, or even weeks, so there is reallynot much competition. If a company has the right skillsand right structures in place, there is more than enoughwork,” he says.Value addsUsing Intergr8 IT’s multimillion-rand Nerve Centre, itshigh-tech digital central nervous system that hosts ahybrid of technology and technical skills to its clients,the company provides a range of technical skills,technology, support and customised value-addedmanaged outsource services to its African clientbase, such as Goldfields, Blue Financial Services andAmadeus. “The rationale behind the Nerve Centre isthat clients, irrespective of geographic location, canconnect directly into the <strong>Integr8</strong> IT system, and beprovided with managed infrastructure services andutility-based services immediately,” Fanaroff says.<strong>Integr8</strong> IT’s African growth has been organic, butthe company made a conscious effort to expand intoAfrica through a two-phased approach. “Firstly, <strong>Integr8</strong>IT pro-actively set up offices in countries such as Ghana,Nigeria, Namibia, Tanzania and Botswana, to namea few. Secondly, some of our larger clients, such asGoldfields and Blue Financial Services, have aggressivelyexpanded into Africa and require the same level ofsupport if not more than they do locally in South Africa,so it was really a case of providing that high level ofservice wherever they are,” Fanaroff explains.Roadmap for the futureHe adds that a key priority for <strong>Integr8</strong> IT is to ensure thatthe IT strategy it puts in place for its clients is not onlyright for them now, but is a roadmap for the future andthat their infrastructure is scalable to gear for massivegrowth to keep their competitive edge. Not only is thecompany expanding its African operations, but it’s also24
“If a companyhas the rightskills and rightstructures inplace, thereis more thanenough work.”Lance Fanaroff, joint CEO, <strong>Integr8</strong> ITmaking inroads into the UK and the Netherlands dueto referrals and past business encounters with localindividuals that have relocated overseas.“For example, in the UK, we are one of the largerproviders of fax to e-mail services, a product that hasreally taken the market by storm due to the significantcost savings involved. Other countries that have thevision and skills, such Saudi Arabia, are also requiringour high-level consulting services, design and roadmapping from a technical perspective, and I think it’sjust the beginning for us,” he concludes. BIntergr8it Ad_half page_June08_conv.pdf 2008/06/24 01:32:12 PM
Change language