Editor's Note

Dear reader,

In top news, Cell C is selling its 50% stake in Virgin Mobile. This announcement comes on the back of Red Bull Mobile's roll-out, with Cell C backing the new operator.

In other news, Johannesburg residents, fed up with the chaotic state of the city's billing system, are taking matters into their own hands and will head to court next month to force the city to sort itself out.

And finally, pending legislation could be the final nail in the coffin of an import market that has skirted the boundaries of the law for years.

Til next time!

Alex Kayle

Please feel free to mail me with any suggestions

Top Stories

• Cell C exits Virgin Mobile
  The operators will still remain network partners.
• Billing crisis heads to court
  Pending legal action over Joburg's billing mess could set a precedent for residents to hold government accountable for service delivery.
• Grey market fades away
  A new law could see the collapse of a sector that has flown under the radar.

Roundup

Robert Sussman, joint CEO, Integr8 Group
Global markets looking to executive leadership in ICT for inspiration
As recent events in North Africa (Egypt and Tunisia) and the Middle East have shown us, governments around the world are under pressure to address growing dissatisfaction amongst citizens over official policy and positioning. In particular, resource allocation and management lie at the core of growing concern.

Socio-economic and political upheaval certainly has ramifications in business. The fallout of ongoing economic pressure is forcing decision makers in business to consider trends and how best to leverage off resource management strategies to boost operations.

Managed services within ICT and telecoms continue to show growth, both within developed and developing economies. Major players in these industries will be looked to for motivation and insight in order to help set standards and help empower businesses to sustain development and compete.

Part of this role involves the identification and deciphering of trends that will directly influence the ability of businesses to deliver. Delivery today is non-negotiable.

For example, international research house Gartner has identified several key issues that we believe will impact directly on trade and commerce within ICT and telecommunications in the next three years. Given the volatile state of markets, it would be prudent of all of us to be aware of these developments.

To illustrate, one of the first on the list of evolving trends is the need to pay attention to operating system (OS) technology and system software. One of the main issues is that there is a need for more decision makers to understand what can be gained from the integration of IT and OT. Gartner predicts that inadequate software management of OS technology will result in failure for a business within the top global 100 group - a sobering thought!

The other very interesting prediction, as stated by this Gartner report, is that by 2016 all global 2000 companies will use public cloud services. If one goes by the increasing level of interest in the virtual managed services arena, and cloud computing services in particular, this prediction seems all the more credible.

It goes without saying that the ICT managed services delivery model has changed and the implication for businesses is that executive managers have to be ready to understand their critical business requirements and engage service providers based on the best possible model that would meet their needs. Connectivity has to be fast and reliable, support dependable and structured, and application meticulous, calculated and effective.

Critical aspects to consider is the need to streamline operations, consolidate levels of core operation and drive business development across various platforms.

According to Gartner, additional focal points of influence for executive managers going forward includes social media, context-aware computing, sustainability and the need to balance cost and innovation with risk and governance.

These are not merely guidelines or general words of advice, factors such as the use of social media platform to expand corporate footprints and the need to reduce costs but also invest strategically have become imperative.

Balancing cost and innovation with risk and governance is easier said than done in today's market. Again the issue is one of protecting resources and using these as strategically as possible. There is always risk in maintaining and sustaining operations - usually associated with not being able to align resources with core requirements in order to streamline all levels of operation.

The local market also reflects the importance of human resource and human capital management. The enrichment of skills and integration of intellectual capital with next-generation infrastructure will remain key differentiators. Strategists and company leaders have to add impetus to efforts to develop and acquire the very best minds in the market.

Trends, like technology, change. The challenge to executive managers will be awareness, action plans and rollout in order to adapt to change and strengthen positioning.

More News

• DOL, Siemens to split
  Contract termination would be too onerous, so the department will negotiate an early expiration date.
• Telkom plans further staff cuts
  The telco will again offer employees voluntary severance packages, after 186 managers already opted to exit last year.
• Pinnacle bolsters earnings
  Earnings for the first six months of the year will be at least 20% higher.
• AdaptIT expects lower earnings
  A change in year-end affects AdaptIT's earnings in the first half of the year.
• Nokia boss admits crisis
  In today's technology roundup: Nokia boss admits crisis, Microsoft boosts virtualisation credentials, Cisco's earnings dwindle, and robots to get their own Internet.
• Old tactics, smarter criminals
  Stuxnet will be one of the biggest security threats for 2011, says Telspace Systems.
• Vodacom faces uphill growth battle
  The operator runs out of room to grow as the South African market is saturated and data prices will continue to fall.
• BI skills deficiency mounting
  Business intelligence experts need to understand the business as well as technology, says IQ Business Group.
• Telecoms set to get competitive
  ISPA predicts increased competition in the South African telecoms landscape in 2011.
• Absa frees up cellphone banking
  Users can now perform banking transactions without airtime.
• Monitor vendor penetrates SA
  AOC International expands into Africa via its “biggest IT market” SA.
• Global repositioning spurs new SA business
  A new consultancy is unveiled, after global software company Progress Software shut down its local branch last year.
• Spotlight on information security
  Organisations should incorporate security into all projects, so it is built in, rather than 'bolted-on'.
• AMD merges channel programmes
  Chipset manufacturer AMD is set to invest in Africa.
• CRM: A critical business strategy
  The system is a great way to manage company's relations with clients in an organised manner, says Quarphix Corporation.
• Tech takes on corrupt officials
  The new online mining rights system may have been built too quickly and at too little cost to be of good quality, say industry players.
• DVT to import Indian skills
  The South African company sets up an office in India to supply SA's ICT market with skills.
• Telkom loses bid to quash case
  The Competition Tribunal throws out Telkom's argument that the commission has no case against it.
• Subsidising the new with the old
  Incredible Connection customers are encouraged to recycle their old electronic appliances in exchange for discounts.
• InMobi selects Africa head
  The company appoints a new Africa VP to facilitate expansion on the continent.
• Telecoms to soar
  Hosts of new mobile products and competition among service providers and operators will heat up, says Nashua Mobile.
• Africa ripe for e-commerce boom
  As more users take advantage of e-commerce, the continent must be wary of security issues, says Arcot Systems.
• CIOs need to innovate
  The CIO's strategic vision for enterprise systems management should focus on improving alignment between IT and business.
• Cipro, Valor IT continue to squabble
  The office spends another R11 million as a stopgap to fix its legacy systems.
• Net 1 offsets lower SA revenue
  Decreased revenue from the social service agency in SA hampered margins in the local operation.
• DTI 'will not pay'
  The department will not be forced to pay a settlement amount to Valor IT, says trade and industry minister, Rob Davies.
• Reunert sale to bolster per share earnings
  The company is paid R793.5 million for its 40% stake in Nokia Siemens Networks SA.
• Business needs more than back-up
  Cloud computing is a necessary platform which provides more than just back-up, says CA Technologies.
• Justin Spratt named Quirk CEO
  The former IS executive is appointed to the top spot at the fast-growing digital marketing agency.
• For more news visit www.itweb.co.za

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Quick Q & A

Jaco van der Merwe, MD of DVT Gauteng
Q: What do you see as being the next big thing in IT?

Software that frees up time. Technology has blurred the line between work and home life. People are expected to, and want to, be continuously available to respond to electronic communication such as e-mail, SMS, instant messaging and social networking and media. Many people are running out of time to do this and a market will emerge for software (and related security) that acts as personal assistants for its users online. This software will use artificial intelligence to learn from the behaviour of its user. It will be trained by its user and start to automatically act on their behalf in a number of applications such as intelligent message filtering, routing of messages between devices and applications, automatic rescheduling of appointments, automatic intelligent e-mail responses and even responses to social networking posts and instant messages.

Q: How did you become involved in your industry?

A: I was still in primary school when I wrote my first hello-world program in GW-Basic on a ZX-Spectrum. Since then I have been hooked on software development and most of my studies, training and career positions have been directly or indirectly related to software development.

Pic of the week

Kyocera Echo
Sprint has introduced the Kyocera Echo, a large smartphone tablet-PC device with two displays, and is powered by the Android operating system.

Pic by Coolest Gadgets

Clearing the fog

IT service management (ITSM) is a discipline for managing IT systems, philosophically centered on the customer's perspective of IT's contribution to the business.

Quick Facts

• European PC shipments decline

PC shipments in Western Europe totalled 19.4 million units in the fourth quarter of 2010, a decline of 4.4% from the same period in 2009.

In 2010, PC shipments reached 46 million units in Western Europe, a flat market from 2009.

Between October and the end of December 2010 the consumer PC market in Western Europe continued its downward spiral, with shipments declining 8.1%.

Mobile PC shipments in the consumer market declined 2%, mainly because many PC vendors delayed orders as cautious retailers kept inventory in check.

In a weak economic environment, consumer spending shifted decisively from PCs to other consumer electronic devices, including media tablets, gaming machines and e-readers.

A wait-and-see approach impacted PC spending as consumers expected new products and cheaper media tablets in the first quarter of 2011.

• Facts by: Gartner

ITWeb Events 2011

· ITWeb Business Intelligence 2011
ITWeb's BI Summit and Excellence Awards 2011 will focus on BI agility in a changing technology landscape, with expert advice on how to turn your legacy systems, data silos and floods of data into relevant, usable strategic information.
Date: 22 to 23 February 2011
Where: Vodaworld, Midrand

World Wide Wrap

• World Bank ditches Nairobi project
  In this World Wide Wrap: World Bank ditches Nairobi project, Hurricane system predicts risk, and Singapore gets risk institute.
• Firms mull outsourcing to cut costs
  In this World Wide Wrap: Firms mull outsourcing to cut costs, unrest threatens Egypt's outsourcing, and EMEA outsourcing rejuvenated.
• HP halts PC production
  In this World Wide Wrap: HP halts PC production, SMEs buy 120m PCs, and LG mulls 'Honeycomb' tablet.
• Fujitsu's eco-tactics under fire
  In this World Wide Wrap: Fujitsu's eco-tactics under fire, small business IT can easily go green, and new 'green' antenna unveiled.
• Google targets Malaysian SMEs
  In this World Wide Wrap: Google targets Malaysian SMEs, EC plan boon for SMEs, and free AV for African SMEs availed.
• Bad BPM 'will topple largest firms'
  In this World Wide Wrap: Bad BPM 'will topple largest firms', Skelta upgrades BPM tool, and AuraPortal reveals e-commerce module.

Publisher: Jovan Regasek

Editor-in-chief: Ranka Jovanovic

Editor: Kirsten Doyle

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