JSE-listed Dimension Data Holdings is on track to realise its vision of becoming a global communications services company.
Its network control centre set up at the Dimension Data Oval in Sandton to offer secure and robust network management and operational services infrastructure to SA corporates, has been replicated in Singapore and Sydney, Australia. A fourth control centre is under construction in the UK.
According to Ettienne Reinecke, director: global services and technology at Dimension Data, the centres can now meet round-the-clock networking and communication needs of global multinationals and large corporates operating in Southern Africa, Australasia and Europe.
"The end-to-end network control centres provide a single point of contact for Dimension Data group network customers, regardless of how large or s mall their communications network - or where they are located," he says.
"In today`s global information-based economy, implementing and maintaining communications networks is vital to business survival. Companies of all sizes have to be able to communicate locally and remotely across networks which for multinationals often traverse the world.
"This means networks must provide the quality of service needed to transport mission-critical applications, as well as data, video - and voice where permitted - between corporate entities.
"Companies can`t afford network downtime: our control centres are designed to warn of system failures, diagnose problems and enable faults to be repaired rapidly, all from a central facility.
"This enables Dimension Data to maximise utilisation of scarce technical personnel because most diagnosis and repair work is handled remotely. This also saves on travelling time to repair, reducing a major source of expense for customers," he adds.
The establishment of control centres around the world is also expected to give the impetus required to enable the group to maintain its competitive edge: the ability to attract and retain worldclass IT and management skills. Dimension Data boasts the highest complement of Cisco CCIE engineers of any IT systems integrator in the world. Highly qualified individuals will be able to work anywhere in the world, but remain in the Dimension Data fold and remain available to customers in all countries.
"With the opening of the centres, Dimension Data is also able to seamlessly transfer skills between group companies locally and abroad as required. Engineers and technicians can be located anywhere and work on a network thousands of miles away.
"We recently had a crisis with a customer`s network in SA while the engineer who manages that site was in the Far East. Instead of flying the engineer back to SA - a 10-hour journey - the engineer went to the Singapore control centre and resolved the problem from there.
"The control centre in South Africa is already being used to manage the international connectivity of several local companies which have offices around the world," Reinecke concludes.
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