The convergence of voice and data in a single, integrated infrastructure that takes advantage of significant cost savings and improved operating efficiencies is a trend that is rapidly becoming a “de facto” standard for companies of all sizes in South Africa.
However, the ease of migration from standalone or traditional solutions, such as fixed-line communications for telephony and Internet connectivity for e-mail and data, should not be regarded as a “silver bullet” that instantly solves all ICT-related problems, warns Calvin Collett, CEO of iConnect, a fully licensed and independent telecommunications service provider.
Commenting on cutting-edge technologies and massive investments made by fixed-line and GSM network operators in infrastructure that is facilitating rapid migration of applications to the cloud, as well as the ease of integration of voice and data as a converged solution, Collett has urged organisations to pay careful attention to maintaining their desktop, local area network (LAN) and Internet environments.
“Effective management of these environments within the organisation itself remains just as critical to system performance and availability in the new era of convergence and the cloud as it was in the days of standalone computing and communications,” says Collett.
“For this reason, iConnect has formed a strategic alliance with SevenC, a well-established and highly skilled South African company that is widely recognised as a market leader in the provision of Linux hosted management services.
“In conjunction with SevenC, iConnect is now able to offer a range of value-added services that are designed to help ensure that a customer's internal desktop, LAN and Internet infrastructure is supported at the highest possible levels of performance, reliability and integrity,” says Collett.
The SevenC portfolio of solutions includes LinExchange, Archive7, MailActive, Firwewall7, Sync7 and Diskmirror7.
“Together, these solutions provide comprehensive services that help to ensure the protection and integrity of data, full firewall protection against malicious attacks or viruses, e-mail management and reporting, and disaster recovery capabilities that conform to stringent corporate governance and statutory compliance standards,” he adds.
Darren Osbourn, managing director of SevenC, says the alliance with iConnect creates a new and unique dimension to the concept of “converged” solutions.
“Customers who deploy iConnect's fully integrated voice and data solutions in association with SevenC's hosted services are guaranteed to be dealing with a single point of accountability when it comes to ensuring that their systems meet their expectations in terms of reliability and performance.
“Not only are the solutions offered by both companies totally complementary, but as organisations, we share a business philosophy that is focused on technical and service excellence and a commitment to the delivery of measurable business value to all clients,” says Osbourn.
The alliance between iConnect and SevenC extends to back-office systems that are used to monitor and manage solutions and services on a 24/7 basis and according to a monthly service level agreement (SLA) that is put in place to meet the customer's operational requirements.
“A single bill from a single provider covers a fully integrated and managed service that covers virtually everything from the desktop to the cloud, including voice, Internet and data,” says Collett.
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iConnect
iConnect is a licensed* new-age telecommunications company providing voice and integrated data and converged solutions and services to the corporate and SME markets based on a highly personalised, single point-of-contact that delivers measurable savings and business value.
* Individual Electronic Communications Network Services Licence 0300/iECNS/May09 and Individual Electronic Communications Services Licence 0300/iECS/May09.
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