IBM is set to sign new business deals worth $385 million this year. This is expected to fortify its position in SA and favourably position the group for the next six to seven years, says IBM SA director of global technology services Mteto Nyati.
Specifics of the deals will be announced in the coming weeks, but the entire amount will be invested in local business, he says, refusing to be drawn on details at this stage.
In addition to the $385 million in new deals, most of which have already been confirmed, IBM SA has invested R110 million in a new business recovery and continuity centre, says Nyati.
The objective of SA`s IBM services department is to grow its revenue portion from the current 45% of IBM`s local revenue to match the global standard of 60% in the next two years, Nyati explains.
The company`s hardware and software business brings in the remaining 55% of revenue.
"The future is bright as telecommunications costs come down," he says, alluding to the fact that the company`s technology services division stands to gain from this sector.
SA is the third-largest integrated delivery systems organisation in the world; India is first and Czechoslovakia is second, he says. "Some 236 international clients are served from Johannesburg.
Outsourcing partnerships
"We cannot be 'kings` in the outsourcing space to deliver end-to-end outsourcing capabilities," Nyati says, explaining that the company`s outsourcing capabilities are, to some extent, reliant on foreign participation.
"A workforce from India is helping with business process outsourcing (BPO), especially in the areas of customer relationship management and human resources. IBM has the largest BPO in India, called Daksh, which has grown by 27 000 employees in the past two years," he says.
"We won`t try to re-invent the wheel, but rather bring in our specialists from India to help with the process.
"In addition, IBM is constructing a R110 million business recovery and continuity centre in Cresta, Johannesburg," Nyati says, adding that construction started in October last year and will be completed in October this year.
"It will cater purely for local clients, meeting their changing demands for end-to-end recovery solutions like office and call centre recovery.
Addressing skills
"We already have a disaster recovery centre in Braamfontien, but we felt that the new location and modernised systems would better cater to clients. The centre will also cater for IBM executive facilities in the case of a disaster."
Addressing the shortage of IT skills in SA, Nyati says: "Employee education and training is emerging as a key tool for retaining IT professionals.
"We have decided to embark on a graduate programme, to place people in high-demand areas of the business. Over the last year, 135 unemployed people have been employed in such a programme in the UK," says Nyati.
"The programme will be supported by the Tswane University and the Vaal University of Technology. They have agreed to incorporate some of our programmes from July, and take in graduates who they will train for us."
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