Hewlett-Packard South Africa (HP SA) has joined the South African government`s ICT-SMME Support Programme as a technology partner. This programme aims to foster a thriving community of SMMEs in the ICT industry by building up their base of skills and helping them to grow a base of corporate customers.
The ICT-SMME Support Programme is a public and private sector partnership between market research firm Forge Ahead BMI-TechKnowledge and Ntsika, the government agency mandated to foster SMME development in SA. Under terms of the partnership, Ntsika has outsourced the running of the programme to Forge Ahead BMI-T for the next two years.
Rachel Mnguni, who is responsible for the ICT-SMME support programme manager at HP SA, says HP SA decided to join the programme as part of its commitment to contributing towards the development of SA`s IT industry and its broader economy.
Says Mnguni: "HP SA`s approach to social responsibility investment is not to act only as a passive donor of funds, but to also take an active role in helping to develop small businesses and the broader economy. It is with that objective in mind that we have become involved in this programme."
Mnguni points out that SMMEs in the local IT industry - particularly those owned and managed by people from previously disadvantaged backgrounds - see the government as their major client and source of revenue. For these businesses to grow and thrive, they need to expand into the corporate world.
"Most of these SMMEs do not have access to corporate clients, who see these companies as too small and under-qualified to deliver enterprise-class technology services. This is the precise gap that the programme will try to bridge," says Mnguni.
HP will offer its SMME partners a range of services such as training to boost their skills, introductions to potential corporate customers and complementary business partners, marketing and sales support, and investment of capital.
This programme complements the other pillars of HP`s economic empowerment strategy such as employment equity and internship programmes, the outsourcing non-core elements of its business to SMMEs, mentoring programmes for smaller black-owned business partners, and technical and business training programmes.
Mnguni, who holds responsibility for the management of HP`s relationships with SMMEs in the programme, joined HP through its programme for university interns.
Says Mnguni: "HP`s role in the initial two-year pilot phase of the ICT-SMME Support Programme will be to give 25 selected resellers a stable vendor partner that can help them to grow their businesses.
"We will support the selected SMMEs by strengthening their core competencies by training and aligning them with business partners, on-the-job mentoring and skills transfer, and giving them access to HP`s base of best business practices."
The ICT-SMME Programme has the backing of several local and foreign government agencies. These include the Department of Trade and Industry, Communications and Arts, Culture and Science (DACS), as well as the British and French Consulates. Four technology partners - the local subsidiaries of HP, SAP, Accenture, and EDS - have also pledged their full support for the programme.
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HP is a leading global provider of technology products, solutions and services to consumers and businesses. The company`s offerings span IT infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global services and imaging and printing. The merged company had combined revenue of approximately $81.7 billion in fiscal 2001 and operations in more than 160 countries. Information about HP and its products can be found at http://www.hp.com.
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