Johannesburg, 14 Jan 1999
Genfood Industries has concluded a R26m deal with JSE-listed Datacentrix for a year 2000 IT integration project based on Microsoft technology.
Genfood recently bought Premier Food Industries, making it one of the largest food producing companies in South Africa. It boasts 74 sites countrywide, with products including maize, corn, rice and bread.
Datacentrix executive director, Klaas Lammers, says the project will be rolled out over the next nine months. "It comprises the installation of a complete hardware and software platform, standardised throughout the group."
On the software side, this will be the biggest implementation of Microsoft Terminal Server in South Africa. Lammers says the solution is to allow for centralised computing in a distributed environment.
Genfood will also be using Microsoft NT Server Enterprise; SQL Server Enterprise and Exchange Enterprise. Datacentrix has recently been appointed a Microsoft Recommended Support Point, one of only three in South Africa. This comes in the wake of the company`s increased emphasis on the service and support aspects of Microsoft business, and follows Datacentrix` accreditation as a Microsoft Certified Solution Provider on partner level and Large Account Reseller.
"The value-added component of the sale is in the design, consulting, installation, configuration and support of the Microsoft Enterprise solution," says Lammers, "which Datacentrix is uniquely positioned to provide."
Genfood Group Manager, IT, Charl Joubert, says the reason the group chose Datacentrix is because of the company`s track record, professionalism, dedication and commitment. "Datacentrix also provided an understanding of Genfood`s business and culture."
An important facet of the decision to choose Datacentrix, is the company`s exceptional skills and accreditation on Microsoft. "To us, Microsoft represented open standards and a very cost effective option compared to the cost of proprietary legacy systems. This way, we could obtain a total software solution from one company," adds Joubert.
The hardware is Hewlett-Packard (HP) equipment which Genfood has used previously, and made this decision based on that experience. "We viewed it as a complete hardware package - including networking, file servers and backup. The financing programme is also very competitive," says Joubert, "and the reliability and performance of the hardware were major influencing factors." He adds that the fact that Datacentrix is HP`s biggest Corporate connect reseller was also an important motivation.
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