Leading Internet of things (IOT) platform and hardware provider IoT.nxt announced changes to its executive management team as roll-out of its solutions picks up pace across different territories. International adoption of the IoT.nxt suite of offerings is growing at double-digit rates, which has required a reorganisation of the operational team to manage the growth efficiently.
“Several partnerships with different technology providers are now reaching a mature stage. For this reason, we have appointed executives to be responsible for specific territories. Shane Cooper, previously Chief of Operations, is now IoT.nxt Managing Director for Africa; Brett Grobbelaar, previously Vertical Lead: Industrials is now Managing Director for IoT.nxt: UK; and Mark Beets, previously General Manager, is now the Business Development Director of MPN (Mobile Private Networks) and Vodafone Global Partner Markets,” says Nico Steyn, CEO of IoT.nxt.
“Our partnership with IoT.nxt majority shareholder Vodacom and its parent company Vodafone has fast-tracked access to markets globally, as both companies have added our advanced IOT offerings to their enterprise solutions for customers across a diverse range of industries,” Steyn says.
”The expanded executive team have P&L responsibility for their regions, and therefore are required to drive business development and delivery in line with our global expansion strategy,” he added.
In the UK, IoT.nxt has already implemented a smart building solution at Vodafone’s head office in Paddington, London, for which it recently received a Verdantix award for Smart Building Innovation. The UK will also provide IoT.nxt with access to significant market opportunities across a range of industries. In Africa, apart from the significant developments with Vodacom South Africa, IoT.nxt has established formal relationships with telecoms giant Safaricom, where the IOT platform has been successfully deployed, and business development is being successfully explored.
According to Beets, the applicability of our solutions within Vodafone’s Partner Markets have driven the need to expand the IoT.nxt strategic and operational centres. This focus will provide the required business development support to Vodafone, and further complement Vodafone’s ability to deliver and execute on large-scale IOT projects. “We will work closely with the Vodafone teams to unlock real business value with their international partners.”
“By combining our specialist technology capabilities with the Vodafone B2B relationships, IoT.nxt can now provide our end-to-end solutions to a global landscape,” Beets, who has relocated to the UK, added.
Cooper notes that the projects in Africa, especially with Safaricom and Vodacom Business in Mozambique, are gaining traction. Africa in general, for all its historical challenges, does have the advantage of embracing new and disruptive technologies, without the concern of historical investments into legacy technology, Cooper says.
Grobbelaar says Vodafone has an extensive client base and is a trusted brand, in the UK and around the world. “With IoT.nxt’s world-leading technology and Vodafone’s reach and brand in the connectivity and communications solution space, it will allow us to access a huge market with a complete offering and deliver results to enterprise customers across industries."
Steyn, as Group CEO, will focus on the company’s broader strategy, business development, its global partnerships and international expansion programme – beyond its offices in the UK, The Netherlands and the USA – while the new operational executive team will focus on ensuring that IoT.nxt fulfils on its promise of delivering class-leading technology across its territories.
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IoT.nxt
IoT.nxt®’s IoT platform is a digital transformation enabler making the Internet of Things a reality. IoT.nxt® unlocks exponential business value by harnessing the power of system and device interoperability. Their unique technology stack bridges the gap between all protocols in the industrial ecosystem, creating a single integration/translation point. Its patented Raptor gateway allows organisations to retrofit all existing legacy systems with no rip and replace. A powerful data abstraction model further translates anything and everything from the edge, supporting a true subscription based big data model. IoT.nxt® has offices in South Africa, The Netherlands and USA. South African telecoms company Vodacom, a subsidiary of Vodafone, acquired a majority stake in IoT.nxt® in 2019 which will drive the companies’ global roll-out of IoT solutions.