T-Systems Proof of Concept for the TNPA's Durban port innovation wins global SAP Award

Issued by Evolution PR for T-Systems
Johannesburg, 09 May 2017

T-Systems South Africa has received international recognition for its disruptive partnership with the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA).

The local technology leader was awarded Silver (2nd place) in the 'Digital Trailblazer' category at the 2017 SAP HANA Innovation Award.

"The T-Systems South Africa's entry stood out amongst over 150 entries, as one of the most compelling examples of innovation," says Diane Fanelli, SAP's Senior Vice President and General Manager of Global Channels and Platform GTM.

The award-winning entry demonstrated how T-Systems, through a proof of concept, activated exciting opportunities for Durban to become a truly digital port - combining lightning-fast mobile broadband, with connected aerial and aquatic drones, connected video cameras, and advanced data modelling using SAP HANA as the connected platform.

"Numerous technologies were combined, creating a tailor-made solution that dramatically enhances the operations at South Africa's busiest port. We thank our partners who worked with us on this and our client, TNPA, for entrusting us with the responsibility of bringing innovation to their port," comments Gert Schoonbee, MD of T-Systems SA.

Awards rolling in

The accolade comes just six weeks after T-Systems SA received two SAP Partner Awards (including the highly-coveted MD's Award) for its role in transforming clients' businesses and accelerating innovation in Africa.

"These honours are extremely fulfilling," says Schoonbee, "they recognise the incredible work of our dedicated teams, and give credit to our unique approach to Digital Transformation."

Within the 'Un-Outsourcer' agreement, local customers running the SAP HANA platform are free to cancel their contracts at any time, for any reason, while T-Systems even offers to pay for the costs of migrating out of the environment. It's a radical departure from the traditional models of multi-year, locked-in contracts.

Powerful results

Schoonbee says the TNPA partnership shows what's possible with SAP HANA. The teams collaborated to build advanced wireless networks gathering data from various systems into the SAP HANA platform - integrating sensors and telematics data, aerial and aquatic drones, satellite information, and other data sources.

With these real-time insights, port management has a crystal-clear view of the port's operations at any moment. They can dynamically reallocate operational resources throughout the course of the day, and continue to refine and automate more aspects of the port.

Lentle Mutle, TNPA's Chief Information Officer, reflects on the advances that have been made: "We're able to be much smarter with capacity planning, giving everyone the same information, and allowing us to predict and create alerts whenever there are any disruptions in the value chain."

Overall, the initial SAP HANA pilot focused on:

* Reducing truck turnaround Transforming the Port's operational insights to real-time, 'in the moment' visibility.
* Shifting Port Asset Identification from hours, to minutes.
* HANA as a connected platform to automate fault detection and incident management for Smart meters.
* Creating a single view of Port connected logistics such as incidents, assets and activities.

Deutsche Telekom

Deutsche Telekom is one of the world's leading integrated telecommunications companies with around 151 million mobile customers, 30 million fixed-network lines and more than 17 million broadband lines (as of 31 December 2014). The Group provides fixed network, mobile communications, Internet and IPTV products and services for consumers and ICT solutions for business customers and corporate customers. Deutsche Telekom is present in more than 50 countries and has approximately 228 000 employees worldwide. The Group generated revenues of EUR 62.7 billion in the 2014 financial year - more than 60% of it outside Germany.

T-Systems

Deutsche Telekom considers the European business customer segment a strategic growth area. Deutsche Telekom offers small, medium-sized and multinational companies ICT solutions for an increasingly complex digital world. In addition to services from the cloud, the range of services is centred around M2M and security solutions, complementary mobile communications and fixed network products, and solutions for virtual collaboration and IT platforms, all of which forms the basis for its customers' digital business models.

With approximately 47,800 employees worldwide, T-Systems generated revenue of around EUR 8,6 billion in the 2014 financial year.

Since the inception of T-Systems in South Africa in 1997, the company has cemented its position as one of the most successful T-Systems companies outside of Europe. A leading ICT outsourcing service provider locally, T-Systems offers end-to-end ICT solutions in both the ICT Operations and Systems Integration markets. Their extensive portfolio of services covers the vertical, horizontal, IT and TC space. T-Systems South Africa's head office is located in Midrand with another major office in Cape Town, and 20 further representative offices in locations throughout southern Africa.

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