Danny Naidoo hands in staff card

Danny Naidoo, Microsoft SA's developer and platform group director, has decided to hand in his staff card. Today will be his last day in the position he has held for over five years.

Naidoo says he decided to take at least a three-month sabbatical before deciding what he wants to do next, but expects it will be in the private equity arena.

"The South African market is ripe for consolidation and it is just starting to really takeoff. I think the right debates are taking place around issues such as the cost of broadband, connecting schools, and developing a new view for the industry and the country. It feels as if we are on the verge of a renaissance," he says.

Naidoo, who is originally from KwaZulu-Natal and now lives in Cape Town, is an engineer by profession. He spent the last seven years travelling three weeks out of every month and, while he says he enjoyed it and gained valuable experience, wants to spend more time with his family. His previous job as CTO for CS Holdings also entailed extensive travel.

"I really enjoyed my time with Microsoft SA. I appreciate the opportunity they gave me to make a difference for our partners, clients and the country. It is a big organisation, with a lot of power, but I also think that we, Microsoft SA, have persuaded our parent to take a more favourable view of the country," he says.

Naidoo and his team were responsible for instigating and running a number of projects that were ultimately adopted by Microsoft on a global scale. This includes the Project Firefly .Net programming competition for university-level students that has become an international competition.

He was also involved in developing the Smart Cape IP project, in Cape Town, and Smart Exchange project, in Durban.