In our modern world, technology has become a basic enabler that can be applied in many fields to make our lives easier and our businesses better.
However, technology on its own does not constitute a solution; it has to be applied within the specific context of each business situation, and must be combined with expertise and knowledge to deliver desired results.
In past years, the technology industry kicked into high gear as credulous businesses and consumers went on crazy buying sprees. Fortunes were squandered on useless technology in the vague hope that it would deliver competitive advantage, but without giving the business case a second thought.
All too soon buyers began to realise that these `investments` weren`t delivering any value; buyers questioned the hype - and the bubble burst.
Taking accountability for customer solutions is something that cannot be emphasised strongly enough in today`s savvier marketplace. Solution providers must focus on providing end-to-end services to deliver the value that astute clients now demand. Customers are no longer interested in who supplies what part of technology. Rather, they want to see business value from their technology investment.
The biggest challenge to realising business value from technology is not in implementing solutions, but rather managing change to ensure the systems are used by the people for whom they are intended.
"However when you get this right, it can make an enormous impact," points out Sizwe Nxasana, CEO of Telkom. Early in his career at Telkom he says he realised, "How powerful telecommunications can be in changing people`s lives for the better, and how much South Africa`s economic growth depends on a vibrant, well-managed sector."
Getting technology to work properly in an environment like telecommunications requires a considerable background infrastructure, as Nxasana explains: "In just five years Telkom has invested no less than R41-billion in network modernisation and expansion - one of the biggest capital infrastructure programmes yet undertaken in South Africa."
The results speak for themselves, he says, revealing that South Africans have access to services as diverse and sophisticated as any in Europe or America, from ISDN to ADSL.
The challenge of getting users to make use of these services has been overcome, and businesses and consumers across South Africa are taking advantage of a broad set of technologies that are improving the way they interact.
In the past, it was the technology that defined how service providers and their customers engaged. While technology has evolved and changed considerably, Telkom has worked to provide solutions not from the point of view of technology, but rather in the context of the changing needs of its customers. Technology has been leveraged not for technology`s sake, but to respond to the requirements of consumers and businesses.
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