Sun City, 25 Apr 2007
Cisco SA's new GM, Steve Midgley, says SA is sitting on the edge of a "perfect storm" as it gears up to capitalise on the benefits of broadband.
Midgley is currently at Sun City, where the international networking technology company is holding its annual Networkers conference.
He is the third Cisco GM to head the region in as many years, following Clive Fynn, who left in February after a year with the company. Fynn originally replaced Mokati Ramphele, who spent less than 12 months with the company.
Despite the company's historic leadership woes, Midgley said yesterday he is optimistic about Cisco's local outlook.
"I've never been as excited as I am about the prospects for SA. In the last year, Cisco SA has delivered sustainable growth, our customer satisfaction has increased significantly on last year's results, and we see our local resources climbing to about 300 people in the near-term.
"More importantly, SA is sitting on the edge of the perfect storm. We have about 175 000 broadband subscribers with a pent-up demand for one million... Prices are coming down and competition will drive innovation. Our message to government is it has to accelerate broadband strategies. Broadband is key to sustainable socio and economic growth."
He also urged the private and public sectors to join together to deliver sustainable results in skills, education and broadband as a growth engine for the economy.
"Together, we have the chance to fundamentally deliver on SA's broadband needs. We have an opportunity to leapfrog other countries and we must grab it or risk falling by the wayside. Even companies must make the decision whether they are going to bite the bullet and be frontrunners in technology, or wait and see, and find competitors have overtaken in the meantime."
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