Johannesburg, 09 Sep 2003
Black-owned and managed, Masana Technologies - founded in 1997 as a wholly owned subsidiary of PEU Investment Group (Pty) Ltd - has been appointed by IBM SA as a systems integrator business partner.
Says Johnny Gounden, IBM SA`s channel executive heading up the IBM Business Partner Organisation (BPO): "The appointment is proof that black economic empowerment not only works but that it can work in a very short space of time.
"Less than three years ago, Masana Technologies had six members of staff and no skills in systems integration. Today, they can successfully take on giant competitors that have dominated the local market for years."
Masana Technologies and IBM SA first joined forces in October 2000, when they formed the Sebedisana consortium to which the City of Johannesburg outsourced all its information technology (IT) in a five-year, R500 million contract. The deal is the biggest of its kind in SA.
Neither the city nor Masana and IBM were prepared to tolerate a fronting exercise. Therefore, Masana handles the service delivery to the city, while IBM undertakes rapid hands-on skills transfer to Masana, frequently as part of on-the-job training, and supplies particular expertise direct to the city only when Masana calls for it.
IBM SA also makes its intellectual capital available to Masana, in areas such as outsourcing best practice, processes and policies.
With 49% of the consortium, Masana Technologies took on most of the city`s IT staff - increasing its employee numbers to more than 70. The company has spent significantly on staff education and training over and above that supplied by IBM.
In the process, it has achieved business partner status with Microsoft, AT&T and Cisco, and has begun to win contracts in its own right in the private sector.
Becoming an IBM systems integrator partner positions Masana Technologies at the high end of the IT value chain, able to provide customers with end-to-end rather than point solutions.
Says Masana CEO, Ghandi Badela: "It gives us market credibility. It proves to potential customers that we can do everything we claim in our proposals.
"Also, by giving us access to deep IBM discounts, systems integrator partner status enables us to be extremely competitive.
"And, it creates a powerful platform on which we can build our vision of dominating the local IT market."
Both IBM SA and Masana Technologies acknowledge the key role played by the City of Johannesburg in developing a start-up black IT company into a significant, sustainable player in the industry.
The city insisted that the outsourcing contract be treated as a capacity building project, and set specific skills transfer target times as well as dates by which Masana should be earning specified percentages of the consortium revenue.
"And, they have always insisted on our giving them world-class service," says Badela. "Which in the early days forced us to stretch further than we thought we could."
"There has also been strong commitment from the top ranks of both IBM SA and Masana to make the capacity building exercise effective," says Gounden. "There was no delegation of the executive support that is vital to the success of empowerment."
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