South African ICT service providers will face many challenges in the future, says Peter Watt, outgoing CEO of Business Connexion, speaking at ITWeb`s IT Confidence conference in Midrand yesterday.
Watt listed the developments impacting on the service industry, headed by voice over Internet Protocol, open source software and convergence trends that are gaining momentum.
"The rapidly changing ICT landscape has led to an adaptation of business models generally, and so too must service providers reinvent the way they deliver their service."
ICT services is one of the most exciting sectors in ICT today, Watt said, but added, "you can`t do today`s job with yesterday`s products and expect to be in business tomorrow".
IT architecture is too often regarded as merely an afterthought in business, he argued.
Insufficient collaboration across ICT disciplines, limited standardisation of products, and professionals with a narrow skills range contribute to the challenges facing SA, he added.
Watt also believes government spending on ICT "remains slow".
On the positive side, he pointed out that "state-of-the-art data centres and broadband connectivity enable the delivery of services, including business process outsourcing, from anywhere in the world".
He said SA needs to embrace change in the service industry in order to compete against service providers in the growing countries of India and China.
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