Demand for software development drives growth

During the last six months there was an increasing demand for software engineers and information technology professionals in the local economy.

Perhaps it was due to the World Cup 2010 that many IT projects were postponed, or perhaps it's a sign of the acute skills shortage that we are suffering in South Africa.

Overall, the renewed demand created by industry presents compelling opportunities for local software and IT consulting firms. Creative ways of addressing capacity problems on IT projects is undoubtedly the hallmark of these organisations.

One such company is SMC Enterprise, which has been taking advantage of the boom in software development projects. It has consistently grown its base of software developers delivering projects for the likes of Old Mutual, eTV, provincial government, City of Tshwane, PetroSA, national Parliament, Woolworths, Pick n Pay and more.

According to Allie Khan, Managing Director of SMC, in a software consultancy there has to be a constant flow of projects and people influencing the organisation. The people factor is the essence. Because new client acquisition is expensive and time-consuming, customer service is as important to retain long-term relationships. So a good combination of sales, delivery and innovation is vital to ensure sustainability.

SMC has various engagement models, which cater for large to medium size organisations that wish to outsource their software development/consulting needs. The services are offered on a fixed price project basis, time and material or outsourced development centre basis.

The software it has developed for clients include:

* E-commerce (B2C, B2B, E-Procurement, E-recruitment and G2C, G2G) portals
* Administration solutions (grant management, document and records, ERP integration, imaging and capture)
* Collaboration solutions (knowledge and content management, workflow, BI)

SMC has grown its base of software consultants to over 50 people and plans to grow its capacity even further over the medium term.

Concludes Khan: “Our team is truly diverse, out of necessity and need, across the demographic spectrum with a range of nationalities. We are proudly African!”