Johannesburg, 26 Sep 2001
Telkom yesterday announced the launch of Telkom Business Integration Services (TBIS), a new division which is to focus on the e-business sector.
TBIS is to offer a wide range of services, stretching from firewall management, acting as a certification authority and conducting penetration testing on networks to Web development and online marketing. It will also offer both managed remote and on-site hosting as well as leased line rental.
"We are able to compete head-to-head with companies that are systems integrators, value-added network service providers and ISPs," said Randall Seidl, Telkom managing executive of corporate and global markets at the launch.
The core of TBIS is a sales and marketing team of around 60 people, with the technical expertise distributed in different divisions throughout Telkom.
The group is not making public any expectations on revenue or profits, but expects its growth to be significant. Telkom is due for an initial public listing early next year.
Although the group intends to focus on the small and medium-sized enterprise market, it says it will not exclude any of the traditional Telkom customers, which include large corporations and government as well as home users.
With the exception of the certification authority which is to be established, most of the TBIS services have been offered by Telkom for some time. Internet access and hosting was offered through Intekom, which has since been absorbed back into the parent company, and Telkom Internet, while e-commerce services will be using the Cybertrade product portfolio as its basis. The group says its formation simply means an amalgamation of these services under the auspices of the Telkom Business division.
"In response to the challenges of the new economy, all of these [existing Telkom elements] have grown, and convergence has been the inevitable result," says TBIS services executive Rikus Mathysser.
Technology partners involved in TBIS include Sun Microsystems, SAP, Cisco and Commerce One.
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