The AST Group has been awarded the contract for the IT outsourcing of Reinforcing Steel Holdings (RSH), a significant business unit in the Murray & Roberts Group.
RSH is a vertically integrated supplier of all reinforcing products to the construction industry in southern Africa and internationally. The five-year contract, worth over R20 million, will see AST not only assist RSH with outsourcing, but with strategic offerings that will assist in improving RSH`s bottom line.
In terms of the agreement, the AST Group will take full charge of application hosting, WAN and LAN services, desktop services and all RSH IT assets.
Flip Pretorius, COO of AST Enterprise Hosting, explains that the AST Group prefers the partnering approach to outsourcing, rather than being a mere supplier of services. "This type of relationship lends itself to multitude benefits such as risk sharing and investment in the business opportunity. Such an approach has a win-win outcome for both parties."
Outsourcing of non-core business components is becoming an increasingly popular trend among large companies. By outsourcing its IT requirements to AST, RSH will benefit from ongoing exposure to best practices and new technologies. "This will enable RSH to focus on its core business and customers, as well as operational issues that impact on technology," notes Graeme Blewitt, Financial Director for RSH.
RSH either owns or has alliances with steel operations strategically located in all major cities in southern Africa. "AST`s geographic representation makes us feel confident about the group`s ability to provide us with network support and management in our distributed environment," concludes Blewitt.
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In just three years the AST Group has established itself as one of the leading information and communication technology companies on the JSE Securities Exchange. Its consistent creation of value for shareholders, clients and employees has resulted in a steady increase in monthly revenue to the R100 million plus mark.
AST is now the fourth largest South African IT company by market capitalisation, and is one of the top three in terms of physical infrastructure (mainframes, servers, desktops, and networks under management) and geographical footprint with over 62 physical locations. Counting almost 90% of the top 100 JSE-listed companies among its clients, the AST Group services mostly large corporate and government clients, but is increasingly offering services to rapidly evolving small and medium enterprises.
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