South African software company, DVT, founded in 1999 and now one of the largest independent software specialists in the country, is set to exceed R250 million in revenues in the current financial year, for the first time in the company's history.
"We have experienced unprecedented growth for the past two years," says Chris Wilkins, founder and CEO of DVT. "Our focus on an ownership-based business model coupled with hiring the right staff has been instrumental in this success."
Wilkins adds that although margins have been under pressure in the industry as a whole, DVT has slowly improved the circumstances within which it operates, and has thereby negated some of the negative effects of these external market forces.
As part of the company's long-term drive to grow ICT skills in the country, DVT also has a well established internship programme through which interns are managed, mentored and exposed to the right variety of projects. "We have made a substantial commitment to this programme because we believe that the return on investment will be significant, given the impact of ICT on the economy and the shortage of local skills in this sector," says Wilkins.
DVT is currently providing internships to more than 60 graduates and entry-level professionals, and will continue to increase this number each year. The internship programme is focused on previously disadvantaged individuals, and a large proportion of all DVT staff is also drawn from these communities. "DVT enjoys a level 4 BBBEE status, and has an aggressive internal programme of training and development that rivals corporate organisations many times its size," Wilkins says.
He adds that the company's success is largely a result of sticking to its core business of software development and related services since inception. .Net, Java and Mendix constitute the core software development platforms at DVT, and Agile development, business analysis, project management, and quality assurance and testing complete the additional service offerings.
DVT has also developed skills and competencies in practice management solutions for the legal industry, mobility software, business intelligence, process engineering, and sector-specific skills in financial services, retail, banking, telecommunications, insurance, utilities, construction, media and medical services.
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