An increase in business confidence and an upswing in the economy of the Eastern Cape have prompted Comztek, one of the largest IT systems and communications distributors in SA, to open a new branch in Port Elizabeth.
Comztek`s customer base and the resultant IT spend have also grown. This is on the back of an increased demand by local resellers for a regional contact to assist them with developing their businesses. In addition, they are keen to deal with distributors on a face-to-face basis.
The opening of a Port Elizabeth office therefore made perfect sense in order to cope with this increased demand.
Ian Duvenage, regional manager for the Cape region at Comztek, says the scope for development and growth in the Eastern Cape is phenomenal, considering developments surrounding the Coega Project.
"We will partner with local resellers, including those who support the corporate and government sectors, working with them to deliver a wide selection of best-of-breed IT products, solutions and services to their customers," he says.
"Our preference is to establish long-term partnerships with our resellers and not adopt a `box-dropping` approach to business. Complementary to this, our back-up stock and technical services skills now extend into the Cape region, which means we can successfully manage logistics," he adds.
The 3Com Service Centre is able to assist resellers and their customers with technical and product support in the region, and delivery times and charges are therefore never compromised.
Duvenage explains that the Port Elizabeth office, with back office support from the Cape Town branch, will be responsible for sales and service to resellers throughout the Eastern and Southern Cape. There will also be regular contact sessions with East London resellers.
The Port Elizabeth office is being headed up by Werner Rust, who is very well known by local Eastern Cape resellers from his days at the State IT Agency (SITA) and who, in turn, has extensive knowledge of the Port Elizabeth market.
He also understands the product preferences of large clients in the region, complemented by a thorough knowledge of hardware, especially from a network and LAN design perspective.
"The time I spent at SITA has provided me with an understanding of how the procurement processes work with regard to SITA, Tecor, Gijima and the government departments," he says.
As a highly motivated individual, Rust also recognises the importance of client satisfaction. He believes the networking hardware skills and specialised software expertise offered by Comztek in the region will enable resellers in the Eastern Cape to provide impetus to the local IT sector.
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