The Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) is in the dark about media reports that its system is slow and "barely working", saying it has increased its bandwidth, storage capacity and provisioned additional servers to improve the performance of its Web site.
Karin Coode, senior manager of strategic communication at the CIPC, said this morning she was not aware of complaints the system was not functioning optimally. The Business Report today claimed customers trying to transact at CIPC "have become frustrated by the electronic system that they say is barely working".
However, Coode says the system is no slower than any other Web-based services that may experience a dip in performance at peak times. She was unable to give any further details about the supposed flaw and said the CIPC was not directly made aware of any problems.
She stated the problem could be with intermediaries, who are high-volume users and were used to the previous system, which may have been faster. However, she could not confirm this immediately.
Increased transactions
Last week, the CIPC provided an update on its system's performance since switching to its new site on 16 September. "Already, we have seen performance improvements in off-peak times," adding there has been a substantial increase in transactions over a two-day period.
According to the CIPC, between 29 September and 1 October, the number of company name reservations have increased from 8 406 to 12 030, while company registrations have gone up from 11 758 to 17 326, and an increase in director and member changes - from 13 041 to 15 103 - had also been recorded.
"The CIPC had a problem with the automated fund allocation for the period from 23 September to 29 September, but the matter has been resolved," says the commission, adding that, internally, it had been struggling with the volumes of transactions in the following areas: company registration, amendments to company memoranda of incorporation, and director changes.
"System refinements, as well as extended processing times have been implemented to ensure we are able to address the volumes."
The CIPC adds it anticipated some teething problems when it launched the new Web site and transactional functionalities on 17 September, but adds its technical team has been working around the clock to iron out the glitches.
This morning, Coode could also not shed light on another media report that a single customer complained the new CIPC Web site exposes the private information and confidential documentation of all tickets in the system.
She said she would have to get clarity from the technical department as to the authenticity of the complaint, as well as whether it has been resolved. No information about this had been received at the time of publication.
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