Johannesburg, 12 Jan 2016
The merger in October 2015 between Britehouse and Dimension Data Application Services (DDAS) consolidates skills and technologies that have not been available before to organisations in the Western Cape, Namibia, and Angola. It therefore positions organisations in these regions to innovate faster, more easily, and more affordably.
"Combining the Britehouse and DDAS offices in Cape Town goes beyond simply increasing our ability to put SAP, Microsoft, and Oracle skills on the ground at customer premises," says Britehouse Western Cape Director, Pete Soulsby, formerly regional manager for DDAS.
"Being able to bring together the different teams and offer solutions such as the Business Control Center (BCC), that used to be available only from our Johannesburg head offices, will make us the most significant application technology provider in the region. As a world-class enterprise technology hub, we will give our customers dedicated access to the most up-to-date expertise and tools for developing and actualising their strategies.
"And, because we live and breathe the same business and social environment as our Western Cape customers, we can offer a depth of understanding of their business imperatives that is just not possible to get from imported skills who fly in for a few days to tackle specific requirements.
"We can now guide customers through their entire technology journey, from concept to implementation and ongoing management and operation. Additionally, as a tightly integrated division of Dimension Data, we can provide our clients with full technology solutions, from the application all the way down to the physical infrastructure layer."
Through the Britehouse side of the merger, unique resources are now available in the region.
A satellite of the BCC, the only one of its kind in Africa, is under construction in the Cape Town office, due to be launched with Britehouse's new offices in February 2016. This will allow pre-emptive monitoring of customer SAP landscapes, ensuring continuous performance improvement and eliminating disruption to business continuity. SAP customers will also have direct access to the Britehouse HANA offering.
Britehouse's Oracle consultants and engineers bring market-leading skills to the Western Cape region, with exceptionally strong Database, Engineered Systems, Human Capital Management and Finance teams based at the offices in Black River Park, Observatory.
Access to Britehouse Mobility's enterprise mobility platform, ATAJO, will allow customers to rapidly mobilise their work forces at a fraction of the cost of acquiring their own platform.
In addition, Britehouse is one of a handful of companies in Africa to offer a digital advisory service along with extensive capabilities in digital disciplines focused on the enterprise space. The advisory service helps customers define their digital strategy and apply the appropriate business disciplines to optimal effect.
Britehouse's Serendipity solution is the only one on the market that enables automatic discovery of content of value to knowledge workers, based on the information on which they are currently working. Contextual and in real-time, it seamlessly integrates into repositories and systems such as Office, SharePoint, Dropbox, and Network Shares.
"As DDAS in Cape Town prior to the merger with Britehouse, we grew in 12 short months from a R17 million to a R38 million business," Soulsby says. "In 2016, this office is targeting combined revenues of R126 million.
"The reception from the market for a global business with a strong applications footprint in the region has been incredible. A year ago, the DDAS Western Cape business employed 18 people. Today, as Britehouse, we are nearly 90-strong in this region and this growth trend shows no signs of slowing down.
Michael Abendanon, Regional Executive for Dimension Data, agrees. "Many Western Cape organisations are regional and global influencers and are innately innovative. They have a need for high level expertise that knows how to stimulate or reinforce business innovation through technology innovation.
"It wouldn't be difficult, therefore, for Britehouse to continue to grow at remarkable rates in this region simply by deepening the relationships we already have with customers of Dimension Data.
"However, I am confident that the merger will trigger another exponential period of growth for us because the additional capabilities we now have will open up entirely new options for existing customers and attract customers who would not have needed us before.
"In essence, Britehouse represents significant expansion potential not just for us, but for our clients and the greater Dimension Data organisation too."
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