Foster-Melliar pioneers BSM in Africa

Foster-Melliar, a subsidiary of Simeka BSG, will take its positioning as the leader in ITIL and IT service management consulting and training to a new level with the introduction of business service management (BSM), an essential part of successful IT service provision. BSM and its impact on business will form the basis of Foster-Melliar`s presentations taking place in Cape Town on 15 March 2006 and in Johannesburg on 17 March 2006.

"Business service management is an essential part of successful IT service provision allowing for the alignment of IT services to business needs. The concept of BSM has been appearing throughout the industry for a period of time, however, it has traditionally been approached from numerous and diverse areas that, despite having critical links to each other, never seem to be combined in the overall approach. BSM is the combination of IT service management, enterprise systems management, business centric systems management, conformity to compliance requirements and people transition management," explains Simon Turner, executive director of Foster-Melliar.

"IT service management (process), enterprise systems management (technology and the ability to operate the processes and systems simultaneously) and people, are usually addressed separately. However, it is the combination of these three and the combined implementation of such that will allow organisations to successfully implement products and processes, thus protecting their investments and gaining maximum benefit and utilisation from their IT services. Our BSM approach is somewhat different - by understanding the business needs and the underlying make-up of the three elements we are able to design a holistic solution combining all the requirements and interfaces using a proprietary methodology - Alpha 5 and based entirely on the customers requirements. This allows us to maximise success rates when implementing BSM for our customers," adds Turner.

In 2005, Xantium Technology Holdings acquired Foster-Melliar and Simeka Management Consulting and subsequently merged with MICT Solutions Group. These events saw the three core companies as well as eight of their respective subsidiaries become Simeka Business Solutions Group (BSG). The organisations that make up Simeka BSG, including Foster-Melliar were specifically singled out for their specialisation, expertise and leadership in their relative fields. The vast network of resources within the group has placed Foster-Melliar in a prime position to further its offering into BSM, ITIL consulting and training provisioning to an extent unrivalled by any competitors in the field. This combined with the fact that Simeka BSG is now one of the largest black-owned and managed groups in SA places the business in a powerful position to leverage new business.