Episodios
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South African scientists have launched a cost-effective air-quality monitoring system built using internet of things and artificial intelligence technologies.
Bruce Mellado, professor of particle physics and director of the Institute for Collider Particle Physics at Wits University, is one of the key people behind the new initiative, which is aimed at improving air quality in South Africa and eventually other markets around the world. He recently joined Duncan McLeod on the TechCentral Show to discuss the project.
Mellado, who also director at the iThemba Laboratories for Accelerator Based Sciences – a unit of South Africa’s National Research Foundation – takes TechCentral through the devices, how they were built and how they’re being deployed in South Africa to detect reportable problems with air quality.
“We decided to create, for the first time in South Africa, a cost-effective air-quality monitoring system based on sensors, IoT and AI. We have named this system Ai_r.,” Mellado wrote in a recent article for The Conversation and published on TechCentral.
“Our team of 25 people includes more than 20 years of experience as particle physicists in working with sensors, communications and AI,” he wrote.
“There are only 130 big air-quality measuring stations in South Africa. They only measure the air quality in the vicinity of the station. This is why we need cost-effective, dense networks made up of Ai_r systems set up all around these stations, to measure air quality in a much wider area. Our vision is to place tens of thousands of these devices all over South Africa.”
In this episode of TCS, Mellado chats about:
• The latest developments in particle physics, some of the work he is involved in and how a particle physicist got involved in an air-quality monitoring project;
• Where the idea for the Ai_r device came from, its development and how it works;
• The role of IoT and AI in the device, and why the development team made the technology choices it did;
• The data that’s been collected so far, and what it can be used for;
• How much the solution costs, and how you can buy one to monitor your air quality at home.
Don’t miss a great conversation! TechCentral -
Jorge Mendes has been in the hot seat at Cell C for just over a year, and the turnaround at the long-troubled mobile operator is starting to gain traction.
In this episode of the TechCentral Show (TCS), Mendes sits down with TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod for a detailed interview in which he provides an update on what’s happened in the past year at Cell C, paints of a picture of the state of the business today, and sets out what comes next for the mobile operator.
To signal the management team’s intentions, and to declare the business is on a new strategic footing and is in the market for the long term, Cell C recently refreshed its brand identity and signalled its intention to take back market share from its bigger rivals.
In this episode of TCS, Mendes tackles a range of questions, including:
• Why he left what seemed to be a plum job at Vodacom to take on the difficult challenge of turning around Cell C;
• What went through his mind in the first few days on the job;
• Cell C’s plan to recapture the title of third largest mobile operator from Telkom – and to take the fight to MTN and Vodacom;
• Why Cell C has struggled to compete, how it accumulated huge amounts of debt and why the new strategy is its best but last chance of success;
• The state of Cell C’s finances – and especially its balance sheet – following the recent recapitalisation led by its largest shareholder, Blue Label Telecoms;
• His relationship with Blue Label founders and co-CEOs Brett Levy and Mark Levy;
• The role of regulatory support, especially in call termination;
• Why Cell C handed back the spectrum it secured in the 2022 spectrum auction, and its plans for participation in future auctions;
• The role of mobile virtual network operators and wholesale services in Cell C’s recovery plan; and
• Cell C’s strategy to capture more of the lucrative contract market.
There’s plenty more in the interview with Mendes – don’t miss the conversation! TechCentral -
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Meet the CIO is presented by Wipro.
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There is much more to being a chief information officer than being an advocate of the latest technology. In fact, articulating a vision, and architecting it, is critical.
That’s according to Shabhana Thaver, CIO at Investec Specialist Bank, who is the guest in the hot seat in episode 2 of TechCentral’s new interview series, Meet the CIO, which is presented by Wipro.
According to Thaver, technology is changing banking and many other industries in fundamental ways, and CIOs need to play a big role in providing an holistic view to the rest of the C-suite of what those changes mean for their company and for their industry.
“You have to be a risk officer, you have to be a compliance officer, you have to be a CIO, you have to understand the commercials and the revenue side of things… I'm a technologist, I love the fancy new stuff and dabbling and playing with it, but being in in a bank, which is systemic, you have to consider the impact of what you are doing, not just the change and the benefit.”
In the interview, Thaver discusses:
• Her career background in software development, and what led her to Johannesburg from Durban, her hometown, and then to Investec;
• Her career at Investec, leading to her appointment as CIO;
• The role of the CIO in a modern bank like Investec, and how the role of an IT leader differs in a bank compared to other industries;
• What makes a good CIO – and the role the CIO should play in helping establish organisational strategy;
• The big IT projects she is leading at Investec and the impact these will have on the bank;
• Investec’s technology stack and how it compares to other banks in South Africa;
• The likely impact of artificial intelligence – including generative AI – on Investec and its clients, including a look at how the bank is approaching AI;
• How AI will impact the banking industry – as well as what it means for productivity and jobs; and
• How else technology is changing the banking industry
Don’t miss a fascinating interview. TechCentral -
The big mobile network operators in South Africa “have never shown a willingness to … accommodate smaller players”, so the notion that they should be entitled to “Fair Share” is “difficult to swallow for smaller operators who have been at the end of their [unfair] business practices”.
That’s the view of Dominic Cull, a leading specialist South African ICT lawyer and regulatory adviser to the Internet Service Providers’ Association (Ispa), who was speaking to the TechCentral Show (TCS) in an interview (published below).
Cull’s criticism of Fair Share – at least in the form being advanced by the large telecoms operators – comes as the Association of Comms & Technology (ACT), a lobby group that represents the country’s largest telecoms providers, agitates for its adoption by policymakers in South Africa.
Fair Share is an idea that has gained traction among operators in Europe, where margins have been pressured in a competitive market. They argue that so-called OTT – “over the top” – companies, which include streaming video providers such as Netflix, Disney+ and TikTok, should contribute a “fair share” to the development of broadband infrastructure.
Critics have said this is simply a move by infrastructure providers, which have experienced margin compression with the move from voice to data services, to try to claw back lost profits.
Speaking at last month’s Datacentrix Showcase 2024 event in Sandton, ICT industry stalwart Andile Ngcaba – who founded Convergence Partners – said the move by ACT to pressure policymakers and regulators over “Fair Share” is not needed or wanted in the South African context.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” said Ngcaba, who is a previous policymaker in South Africa and who served as director-general of communications in the Nelson Mandela administration.
In the interview with TCS, Cull echoed this view and said ACT’s lobbying for Fair Share is partly aimed at “catching the ear” of newly appointed communications minister Solly Malatsi and influencing what is included in forthcoming amendments to legislation that governs the ICT sector in South Africa.
In this episode of TCS, Cull chats about:
• Whether ACT has a point about Fair Share;
• How big content players impact smaller operators and internet service providers, and why the call for Fair Share is coming from the industry’s biggest players;
• The investments by the OTT players in both terrestrial and subsea fibre infrastructure, including Google’s investment in the Equiano cable and Meta Platforms’ involvement in 2Africa;
• Whether mobile network operators doomed to become low-margin “dumb pipes” like other utility industries. Can they somehow avoid that fate?
Don’t miss the discussion, and if you enjoyed it, check out our December 2023 interview with Dominic Cull on Starlink in South Africa. TechCentral -
What does it take to build and maintain South Africa’s largest wholesale telecommunications network? Robert Jorge, chief network officer at Openserve, unpacks what is involved in this episode of TechCentral’s TCS+.
In the latest in a five-part series of interviews with Openserve executives – you can find the other episodes in the series here – Jorge shares what is involved in building a modern telecoms network and how the company makes the technology decisions it does.
Jorge unpacks:
• What sets the Openserve network apart from other networks in South Africa;
• What the network looks like – from fibre to the home to national backhaul routes to international subsea cables;
• How Openserve’s network teams measure success – including a look at how the company measures reliability and how it achieves high availability through network design principles;
• The project to remove legacy copper infrastructure – which is outdated, expensive and prone to theft – from the Openserve network;
• The impact of load shedding and load reduction on the company’s infrastructure, and what it has done to cope with unreliable electricity supply; and
• What advances in technology mean for the future of the Openserve network – and what this means for businesses and consumers.
It is a fascinating discussion – do not miss it! TechCentral -
Super Group, the New York-listed parent of Betway and other online betting brands, has achieved significant gains in efficiency and productivity through its partnership with Workday, the cloud-based enterprise software company.
The company has deployed Workday’s software, and Neil Greybe, its human resources information systems manager, tells TechCentral’s TCS+ business technology show about how it has derived significant value from the investment – including in improved consistency, simplification, integration, prioritisation and change management.
Greybe is joined on this episode of TCS+ by Workday South Africa MD Kiv Moodley, who expands on the relationship between the two companies.
In the discussion, the two chat about:
• Greybe’s role at Super Group and the company’s focus areas;
• Workday’s presence in South Africa and its strategic priorities for this market;
• The vision and strategy for Workday, and how that ties in with the Changemakers theme of this series of TCS+ interviews with Workday and its clients;
• Greybe’s top priorities in his role at Super Group, and how these tie in with the role technology can play in supporting and growing the business;
• Super Group’s relationship with Workday and how the company uses the software in its day-to-day operations;
• The value that Super Group has derived from its investment in Workday; and
• Workday’s role as a “trusted adviser” to its clients, including Super Group.
Don’t miss a great discussion! TechCentral -
Former Britehouse CEO Scott Gibson was recently appointed as chief executive of enterprise asset management company Pragma. He is the guest in this episode of the TechCentral Show (TCS).
Gibson, who also previously headed Dimension Data’s (now NTT Data’s) global digital practice, tells TCS about his appointment and why he decided to join Pragma, which develops a software platform in South Africa that it exports to companies around the world. Gibson plans to step up that internationalisation effort as CEO.
“Pragma’s software competes comfortably with the world’s top brands, such as SAP, Maximo and IFS Ultimo. I plan to use my experience growing software businesses to help Pragma achieve its international expansion goals,” he says.
Co-founder and outgoing CEO Adriaan Scheeres, who led Pragma for 34 years, will remain a shareholder and member of the board.
In the interview, Gibson chats about:
• Pragma’s history and what it does;
• The size of the business, and the opportunities he sees abroad for the company;
• Its clients;
• The trends in the enterprise software market; and
• The application of artificial intelligence.
Don’t miss the conversation! TechCentral -
Openserve, South Africa’s biggest telecommunications infrastructure provider, has been through enormous changes in the nine years since it became a separate brand and a subsidiary of the Telkom Group in 2015.
In the latest podcast in a five-part series of interviews with Openserve executives, the company’s CEO, Althon Beukes, tells TechCentral’s TCS+ about these changes and what they have meant for the company and the broader market, including its internet service provider partners.
Beukes provides an overview of these changes, including the recent spinoff of Openserve into a separate subsidiary within Telkom.
In the interview, Beukes reflects on:
• The changing dynamics of the telecoms infrastructure market in South Africa;
• Why there’s been a slowdown in the roll-out of fibre-optic networks;
• How Openserve is performing considering the broader market context;
• How load shedding and load reduction have impacted Openserve, and the investments it has made to overcome the challenge;
• The shift away from legacy copper technologies and the big growth in next-generation services, and what’s driving that demand;
• The potential for industry consolidation – and why much depends on the outcome of the ongoing Competition Tribunal investigation into Vodacom’s acquisition of up to a 40% stake in Vumatel parent company Maziv;
• What Openserve would like to see flowing from the Competition Tribunal process; and
• Openserve’s future plans, including where it’s headed in the coming years.
Do not miss a fascinating discussion – and the rest of the interviews in the series. TechCentral -
Herman Maritz, one half of the pair that developed the ESP load shedding app (formerly known as EskomSePush), is grateful that Eskom may finally have load shedding licked – even if that means fewer people are using the app.
Maritz, who returns to the TechCentral Show (TCS) – he was last a guest in 2021 – reflects on the past four-and-a-half months without load shedding, and what that’s meant for ESP – apart from giving himself and his business partner, Dan Southwood-Wells, to focus on other projects.
In this episode of TCS, Maritz unpacks the impact of the suspension of load shedding, what that’s meant for advertising and subscriptions on the platform, and what’s next for ESP.
He also chats about:
• How ESP is helping communities with load reduction;
• How they’re using generative artificial intelligence in the app; and
• The opportunities to launch the software in new markets.
Lastly, he reveals a few interesting statistics about ESP, including the number of times the app has been downloaded (it’s a staggering number). TechCentral -
Openserve chief digital and strategy officer Pushkar Gokhale is TechCentral’s guest in this episode of the TCS+ business technology show, where he unpacks the role of digital services on the Telkom subsidiary’s growth ambitions.
Gokhale, who has worked for various telecommunications operators around the world, came to South Africa more than a decade ago and liked the country so much he decided to make it his home.
In this interview – which forms part of a series of TCS+ interviews with Openserve executives – Pushkar chats about:
• His career history, and what brought him to South Africa – and to Telkom and Openserve;
• The highlights of his career so far, and why he is passionate about telecoms and the opportunities around digital services;
• His role at Openserve and what his daily work entails;
• How digital services, including Openserve’s new consumer app, are playing a role in the company’s core business as a wholesaler of infrastructure services;
• The digital transformation of Openserve’s operations – what was involved and how it is changing the way it does business; and
• How Openserve works with partners, both locally and globally.
Don’t miss an insightful interview about one of South Africa’s most important infrastructure providers. TechCentral -
In this episode of TechCentral’s business technology show TCS+, Africa Data Centres regional executive for South Africa Angus Hay discusses the significant upgrades taking place at the company’s Samrand facility in Gauteng.
Africa Data Centres is in the midst of a major upgrade cycle at the facility known as JHB 2.
The colocation facility, which is one of the few tier-4 data centres in Africa, was originally designed to handle 10MW of IT load. When the upgrades are completed in 2025, the facility will house an additional 20MW.
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In this informative discussion, Hay delves into:
- The drivers behind the upgrades at Samrand and how “hyperscalers” will benefit from them;
- The security standards at the facility and the implications for highly sensitive clients such as the financial sector;
- The energy redundancies that ensure continuous operations at the facility, even in the event of grid collapse;
- Innovations Africa Data Centres uses to manage the efficient use of energy at the facility; and
- Initiatives to minimise Africa Data Centres’ carbon footprint by investing in renewable energy sources.
Don’t miss this lively discussion in which Hay provides a behind-the-scenes peek into the inner workings of state-of-the-art data centres, the powerhouses of the modern internet. TechCentral -
In this first in a series of interviews with Openserve executives, TechCentral’s TCS+ speaks to the company’s chief commercial officer, Phila Dube, about its business model, how it works with partners and why it has embraced the concept of “open access”.
Openserve, which is a subsidiary of the Telkom Group, is South Africa’s biggest telecommunications infrastructure provider with more than 170 000km of national fibre footprint and fibre broadband connections into homes in all provinces across South Africa.
In this episode of TCS+, Dube unpacks:
• His role in Openserve, where he oversees the company’s market-facing activities such as business development, product lifecycle management, commercial economics, operations, and marketing and communications;
• The changes that Openserve has been through in the past 10 years, and what these mean for the market, including the company’s internet service provider partners;
• All the markets that the company is involved in, from home and business broadband to national long-distance links and subsea cables;
• The advantages and challenges associated with Openserve’s chosen go-to-market model of B2B2C, or business-to-business-to-consumer;
• Openserve’s plans to further expand and commercialise its network assets; and
• Why the company became a champion of the open-access model.
Don’t miss this opening interview in a fascinating series about one of South Africa’s most important infrastructure operators. TechCentral -
Meet the CIO is presented by Wipro.
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Bruce Paveley says that when he moved from a senior IT role at Standard Bank in 2017 to the then-nascent start-up digital bank TymeBank, it was “a really big shock”.
“You go from five buildings in the middle of Joburg, multiple floors, to an office in Rosebank that’s two floors, and that’s the bank, and you think, ‘Wow, is this really a bank? Can it work like this?”
That was before TymeBank had launched its first commercial services, and long before it would go on to become South Africa’s most successful digital banking start-up with nearly 10 million customers and R6-billion in deposits and R3-billion in loans.
Paveley’s love for computers started when his dad bought him a Sinclair ZX81 in the early 1980s when he was a youngster growing up in the small north coast town of Empangeni.
Today, as chief technology officer at Tymebank, Paveley is leading a team that’s building the technology underpinnings (cloud-based, of course) of a modern digital bank. And it’s a fascinating story about using technology to challenge established industry incumbents.
In this first episode of TechCentral’s new podcast series, Meet the CIO (presented by Wipro), Paveley chats to Duncan McLeod about what was involved in launching TymeBank from a technology perspective, the strategic choices it made and why, and what comes next in the bank’s journey.
Paveley tells Meet the CIO about:
• His upbringing in Empangeni and how he ended up pursuing a career in IT
• The mainframe era, and his experience as a Cobol programmer
• His IT career at Standard Bank, including his involvement in the bank’s big SAP project
• Why he joined TymeBank
• What was involved in building the new bank, and the role that technology played
• TymeBank’s technology stack, and why the bank migrated from an on-premises solution to the cloud – and why it made the technology choices it did
• Tyme Group’s internationalisation plans, and how technology is underpinning that expansion
• How he works with the rest of the bank’s management team, and where technology fits into strategic decision-making
• TymeBank’s approach to cybersecurity
• What keeps him awake at night
• And much, much more
Meet the CIO is a new podcast series produced and published by TechCentral and published monthly. We talk to IT leaders across South Africa about the role of technology in their organisations. Don’t miss an episode by subscribing to TechCentral at youtube.com/techcentral. TechCentral -
The 24th of February 2022 is a day Ronnie Apteker – and millions of his countrymen in his adopted home of Ukraine – will never forget.
Apteker woke up early that morning – as millions of others did – to the sound of bombs and missiles raining down. After months of military build-up along Ukraine’s eastern flank, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin had ordered a full-scale invasion.
In this special edition of the TechCentral Show, we chat to Apteker – a pioneer in South Africa’s internet industry – about his life in Ukraine amid the ongoing war.
Apteker has a storied career as co-founder of Internet Solutions, one of South Africa’s first and most successful internet service providers. He is also well known as a producer and promoter of movies, including Material and Beyond the River.
In 2015 Apteker bought an apartment in Kyiv and started a new life in the city, attracted by the country’s diverse tech scene and its incredibly beauty.
He had established a new and promising life for himself in Ukraine – he married a local woman, Marta, with whom he has a young boy (affectionately called “the Bunster”). Both Marta and the Bunster are now refugees from the war, living in Poland.
Never in a million years did Apteker expect he would be caught up in a major conflict, never mind the biggest land war in Europe since World War 2.
Today his life involves moving between Poland and Kyiv, where he has friends as well as business interests in the tech sector which he continues to nurture despite the chaos caused by Putin’s aggression.
In this sometimes emotionally raw interview, Apteker tells TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod about why he left South Africa to go and live in Ukraine, how the war started (he woke up early one morning to missiles raining down on Kyiv), what it’s like to live in a warzone, and how he’s coping with the daily hardships caused by the conflict.
Apteker, who is known for his wicked sense of humour – in a previous life he was even briefly a stand-up comedian – admits it’s been exceptionally difficult to stay positive about the future, but that he’s managed to keep going even us Putin’s war machine grinds on.
In the interview, Apteker chats about his daily life now and what it entails; the US election, and why Ukrainians fear another Donald Trump presidency; the new documentary film about the war that he’s been working on; his passion for moviemaking; and why love is the most important thing in the world.
Don’t miss the interview. TechCentral -
The Volvo EX30 is undoubtedly one of the most exciting electric cars to be launched in South Africa in 2024.
The vehicle, whose price starts at R792 000, offers a combination of price, performance and luxury tweaks that has attracted considerable appeal among South African consumers interested in making the switch to electric mobility.
But what is the Volvo EX30 like to drive?
TechCentral recently had the opportunity to spend time with the twin-motor version of the EX30 to put it through its paces. Apart from a few minor niggles, including the quality of materials used in the dashboard, we can confidently say this is a very compelling option for those interested in buying an EV in the sub-R1-million price category.
While it’s not as affordable as more entry-level EV models from the likes of China’s BYD, the vehicle offers many luxuries usually reserved for more expensive EVs, including a panoramic (non-opening) sunroof, high-end Harman Kardon audio and well-thought-out software features.
It’s easy to see where Volvo has compromised to get the price down, but the decisions it has made in this regard have mostly been carefully considered.
As for the driving experience, the power underfoot is extraordinary. The twin motor version TechCentral tested accelerated from 0-100km/h more quickly than a Porsche 911 – it really is a thrill to drive!
This is a sentiment shared by Greg Cress, who owns the EX30 and has been driving it since March, when he took delivery from Volvo. Cress joined TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod on the TechCentral Show (TCS) recently to review the vehicle and to talk about the state of the EV market more broadly in South Africa.
Cress, who works for Accenture – where he is principal director of automotive and e-mobility – told TCS about his experiences with the vehicle and what he likes about it and what he doesn’t.
He unpacks his experiences so far, including with the regular software updates that Volvo has issued and why he settled on the EX30 over other EV options available in the South African market. He also shares details about a recent long-distance return trip he did from Pretoria to White River in Mpumalanga and how he found utilising the charging points along South Africa’s national roads.
Then, in the second part of the TCS interview, Cress shares his views on the state of the EV market in South Africa, what is hindering its wider adoption and the outlook for electric mobility in the country.
Don’t miss a hugely informative interview. TechCentral -
Identity theft is a massive and growing problem that requires smart risk mitigation strategies.
That is one of the key messages coming out of a TechCentral TCS+ interview with executives from CYBER1 Solutions and iiDENTIFii.
CYBER1 Solutions security architect Christiaan Swanepoel and iiDENTIFii co-founder and chief technology officer Marco Wagener unpack the subject in greater detail in the interview.
They discuss:
• The background to iiDENTIFii and its relationship with CYBER1 Solutions;
• The current trends in identity theft, and why this type of theft is a growing concern for businesses;
• How iiDENTIFii’s software can play a big role in fighting the scourge of identity theft;
• What companies are doing right and wrong in fighting the problem;
• How businesses can enhance their identity verification process to mitigate against the risk of identity theft;
• iiDENTIFii’s solutions, and how they integrate with existing corporate systems; and
• The role that cybersecurity tools can play in protecting personal identities;
Swanepoel and Wagener also share their insights into future trends in the identity verification market and how businesses can prepare themselves.
This is an important discussion for anyone involved in IT, but especially for those involved in cybersecurity – don’t miss it! TechCentral -
South Africa’s telecommunications industry is facing a barrage of threats, from crime and vandalism to power cuts and overreach by politicians.
This is the word from Nomvuyiso Batyi, CEO of telecommunications industry lobby group the Association for Comms & Technology (ACT) and an industry stalwart who served as a councillor at communications regulator Icasa for eight years and as special adviser to the minister of communications. She was speaking to TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod on the TechCentral Show (watch or listen to the interview below).
ACT, which represents the six big telecoms operators in South Africa – MTN, Vodacom, Rain, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Telkom and Cell C – was founded two years ago as an interface between the industry and policymakers and regulators.
In the interview, Batyi unpacks a range of issues affecting ACT members. She discusses:
• Her first engagement with newly appointed communications minister Solly Malatsi, and her views on him;
• What her day-to-day work involves;
• Why government shouldn’t be setting deadlines for 2G and 3G switch-off in South Africa;
• Import taxes on cellphones, and why luxury taxes on 4G devices should be scrapped;
• How the load shedding problem has been replaced with the load reduction problem, and what the impact has been on operators;
• The scourge of theft and vandalism, and why urgent action is needed to address the problem; and
• South Africa’s upcoming spectrum auction, and why telecoms operators should get access to spectrum below 694MHz that has traditionally been reserved for broadcasting.
Don’t miss the interview! TechCentral -
Andy Higgins, founder of e-commerce solutions company Bob Group, knows more about e-commerce in South Africa than most people.
Higgins founded Bidorbuy (now Bob Shop) at the height of the dot-com boom in the late 1990s, and over the past 25 years has actively participated in the industry as it has mushroomed from those nascent beginnings.
In this episode of the TechCentral Show (TCS), Higgins has a look back at the growth of the industry, and what’s likely to propel its future expansion.
In the show, Higgins unpacks:
• How Bob Group has done since it was created nearly two years ago through the merger of Bidorbuy and uAfrica, and what the future holds for the business;
• What is driving the rapid growth in South Africa’s e-commerce industry – did Covid lockdowns give it the spark for its current rapid expansion, or is there more at play?;
• The rise of on-demand deliveries in South Africa and what it means for online retailers;
• The rise of Chinese competitors – how much of a threat are Shein and Temu really, and is the South African Revenue Service right to crack down?;
• The Competition Commission’s intervention in the market and whether it is warranted;
• Whether Amazon’s South African launch was a flop; and
• What trends to look out for as the market develops further in the coming years.
Don’t miss a fascinating discussion! TechCentral -
Customer relationship management software giant Salesforce recently showcased the power of its latest artificial intelligence and cloud-based solutions to customers, partners and associates at Salesforce World Tour Essentials Johannesburg, held at the Kyalami Convention Centre in Midrand.
In this episode of TechCentral’s business technology show, TCS+, Zuko Mdwaba, Salesforce area vice president/Africa executive and South Africa country leader, shares highlights from the event. He also provides insight into the company’s plans for South Africa and Africa.
More than 2 200 global and local leaders attended the Salesforce event in Johannesburg, demonstrating the huge interest in AI and digital transformation in South Africa, with organisations from across a range of sectors eager to learn more about new technologies that will allow them to leverage their data more fully and grow their businesses.
The Salesforce ecosystem of partners in the South African region has grown 34% year on year, but the most significant improvement is in the area of certifications, with an increase of 43% in the same period. These partners, Mdwaba explains in the TCS+ interview, are helping organisations across all sectors to raise employee productivity and transform with real-time insights and new levels of customer experience.
Mdwaba shares data from International Data Corp, which shows Salesforce and its partner ecosystem is being fuelled by AI- powered cloud solutions and will generate US$5.8-billion in net new business between 2022 and 2028.
In the interview, Mdwaba delves into:
• The economic impact that the Salesforce ecosystem is going to have on South Africa in the next few years.
• How the combination of CRM, cloud, data and trust is transforming organisations.
• How Salesforce is ramping up its skills development and talent programme in Africa to build the workforce that will help drive its aspirations for the continent.
Finally, he speaks about some of the infrastructural challenges on the continent and where the opportunities for technological innovation and business growth lie.
Don’t miss the interview! TechCentral -
Braintree’s Grant van der Westhuizen and Heath Huxtable tell TechCentral’s TCS+ business technology show about how to acquire software that solves present and future business needs.
This might sound simple, but software purchases are complex and expensive. For companies to get their money’s worth, properly diagnosing the problem a new piece of software ought to solve and ensuring that the solution is futureproof are key to extracting the most value from a purchase.
In this episode of TCS+, Huxtable – MD at Braintree – and Van der Westhuizen, the company’s business applications sales manager, tell TCS+ about important considerations companies should take into account when looking to solve business problems through software.
Huxtable and van der Westhuizen delve into:
• How customers don’t really know what they want because they tend to hyperfocus on solving pain points instead of looking at the bigger picture;
• Balancing short-term vs long-term thinking in purchasing decisions;
• The importance of unlocking value versus thinking of software as a grudge purchase;
• The flexibility provided by the Microsoft suite of business applications;
• How to balance personalised solutions with maintaining a consolidated view in multi-faceted business; and
• How to deal with resistance from employees in implementation projects, especially where artificial intelligence is involved.
Huxtable and Van der Westhuizen are passionate about using software to drive value creation in business, and their energy comes through vividly in this interview. Don’t miss the discussion! TechCentral - Mostrar más
