Leading South African IT solutions provider, Ariel Technologies has won a R10-million tender for the supply of a total IT solution to the Zambian National Building Society. The tender will be implemented together with Ariel Technologies` subsidiaries and other joint partners in the venture.
This is a first for the Zambian National Building Society and marks its move to an NT environment, replacing an old and inadequate Unix system and for the first time computerising some of its manual processes.
Says Maphum Nxumalo, Ariel Technologies director responsible for customer relationship management (CRM) and regional operations: "Our vision is to make Ariel Technologies a truly international company and this win is in line with the globalisation strategy of Ariel Technologies and follows on other successes in African countries across the sub-continent as well as in South America.
"Many of our subsidiaries such as Face Technologies, which specialises in smart card technology and biometrics, and Intersolve Health Informatics, which provides full IT solutions to the healthcare industry, have already had substantial success internationally."
Implementation of the first phase of the system will start at the end of May with the Zambian National Building Society`s head office and eight of its branches moving onto the new system by November this year.
Ariel Support Services will supply hardware including servers and desktops and will implement both WAN and LAN networks, while partners will provide financial and banking software.
Says Basie Beyers, Ariel Technologies project manager for the project: "The second phase of the project will include a further eight branches. The capabilities of the system also allow for a future expansion of the system to support card technology, ATM and e-purchasing to replace the current bank book system."
As part of the tender, Ariel Technologies has signed a service agreement with a local Zambian company, New Millennium Communications, which will provide the Zambian National Building Society with first line support on desktops and networks.
Ariel Support Services, a business unit of Ariel Technologies, will provide desktop support and back-up LAN and WAN support when first line support is not available. A further business unit, Ariel Training, will train two of the Zambian National Building Society`s technical staff in A+ and MCSE.
Says Mr Nxumalo: "Transfer of skills and the establishment of local partnerships has been a key factor in our successes globally, while Ariel Technologies` understanding of developing markets has ensured that we are able to easily meet the specific requirements of our clients.
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