Arivia.kom COO resigns

In an unexpected move, arivia.kom COO Hugo Knoetze has announced his resignation and will be leaving the company at the end of this month, having completed an extensive restructuring and realignment exercise at the IT solutions and services provider.

"I`ve achieved my objectives and now it`s time to move on," Knoetze tells ITWeb in an exclusive interview.

Knoetze was headhunted to take up the position of COO at black-owned Masana Technologies, an IT outsourcing group formed in 1997 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the PEU Investment Group.

While the move has taken the local IT sector by surprise, Knoetze is satisfied this is the next logical step for him.

Knoetze joined the company in August 2001 shortly after its establishment, as an executive director and CFO. He was involved in drawing up the strategy and business model for the new company, and was appointed COO in March last year.

Prior to that, Knoetze worked for Cap Gemini Consulting and his services were retained by the then minister of public enterprises Jeff Radebe to converge the operations of Eskom IT, Datavia and Denel-owned Aerial Technologies - which culminated in the establishment of arivia.kom.

Most recently, Knoetze led a large-scale restructuring and realignment programme at arivia.kom aimed at positioning the group as a "world class ICT operation", in terms of service delivery, as well as financial robustness.

The restructuring is about 95% complete and will be finalised at the time of his departure on 29 June, says Knoetze. As a result of its realignment, arivia.kom`s three divisions - infrastructure, focused business solutions and niche markets divisions - have ceased to exist, as part of efforts to tighten the company`s focus and utilise its resources more efficiently, he explains.

The company will now focus on a small number of key customers, rather than concentrating on quantity. Meanwhile, the new divisions within arivia.kom, namely Face Technologies, Arivia.kom Consulting, Internal Business Services, Business Solutions and Managed Services will stretch across the entire group, he says.

"I am sad to leave arivia, in a way it is my baby. But the company has legs now, and it has good leadership to take it forward. Arivia has been positioned as a customer-centric delivery-driven organisation," he says.

According to its Web site, arivia.kom holds an estimated 7.8% share of the local IT professional services market, has some 1 450 permanent employees, 17 service centres around SA, and achieved R1.59 billion in turnover in the 2004/2005 financial year.

Knoetze`s successor has not yet been appointed.

Meanwhile, Masana Technologies director Busi Tshili says the company is "very excited" to have Knoetze on board.

"As COO he will be responsible for all operation aspects of the company and the implementation of several sizeable contracts that we`ve secured recently."

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