The technology sector is continuously evolving, which is why leaders in this industry need to be adaptable, willing to embrace change and capable of implementing new ideas. These qualities, along with the ability to implement future-focused strategies, were among the reasons ETS Group has named Dennis Naidoo as its new CEO.
Company chairperson and previous CEO, Zandi Mbele, points out that in her search for a new custodian of the business, she felt it imperative that ETS found someone who met the three key requirements for the business.
“For us, the most important qualities for a CEO are strategic vision, operational excellence and a passion for people. In Dennis, we have found all three in abundance. In addition, he has experience in leading both entrepreneurial and multinational businesses across the African continent and beyond, which positions him perfectly to lead ETS to new heights,” she says.
“As a business that is poised for growth, ETS requires a leader who is a visionary thinker and has a strategic mindset. A leader who can work with people and understand them; as a services organisation, everything we do is ultimately about people, after all. Ultimately, the bedrock on which all this rests is integrity and the upholding of the highest ethical standards.”
Naidoo himself points out that in his opinion, a good CEO also needs to have significant experience across a multitude of different business environments. “To thrive as a leader in an IT landscape that is broad and has many and varied vertical approaches, a holistic viewpoint is necessary. A leader must have experience ranging from infrastructure to data centres, which are the heartbeat of a modern organisation – along with the ability to determine what this environment will look like in the cloud. Furthermore, it is equally necessary to have an understanding of both the integration layer and the applications layer within the business,” he says.
“Therefore, to be an effective IT leader in today’s digital world, it is necessary to have vast experience across the various verticals within this space, along with a deep understanding of the IT landscape and a strong technology pedigree.”
Mbele notes that ETS’s business has always leveraged Oracle infrastructure and is one of a few Oracle Managed and Field Delivery Partners. This level of accreditation requires that ETS retains some of the best skills in the country around this technology. She adds that ETS has also implemented Oracle projects across the African continent.
“Another reason we need a strategic and forward-focused CEO is to take us into new areas that are closely linked to what we already do with Oracle, such as the cloud, security and applications arenas. Our people are aggressively collecting the relevant certifications in these areas that we plan to focus on.”
“I must also mention that a key part of our vision is to have young, talented people being brought into the organisation, with a particular focus on girl children. A key part of our future growth strategy is built around the issues of empowering youth and bringing more women into the IT industry,” she says.
Naidoo adds that ETS aims to be the most certified, competent and capable player in the key technologies that it deploys. To this end, the company has begun an aggressive training regimen across all areas of the organisation with the aim of obtaining the best business skills with which to service customers.
“It is also imperative that we take young talent within our business and develop these people further. I personally run a programme with these individuals that deliver rigorous technical and soft skills training. In my view, these employees will be the new core of the ETS Group moving forward, as they are the bionic engine we are building the company around.
“I am further blessed to have walked into an organisation that has a management team of excellent stature, one that is hands-on, motivated and dedicated, and which shares the same value systems as myself and our chairperson. They bring to the table years of experience and maturity, as well as integrity in abundance. I am thus ecstatic to be joining this leadership team and expect our collaboration to take the ETS Group to new heights,” he concludes.
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