Johannesburg-based enterprise software solutions vendor, IFS South Africa has restructured its operations in the region to create a group of companies that, with revenues in excess of R60 million and a staff complement of 90, make it one of the largest software application vendors in SA.
The newly formed IFS Group in SA comprises three companies:
* IFS South Africa markets and supports the IFS Applications suite in sub-Saharan Africa and Indian Ocean countries;
* IFS Consulting, a black empowered company, provides consulting services to South African companies; and
* IFS Defence services BAE Systems` international customer base, supports IFS South Africa`s projects and is the primary conduit for sales of IFS Applications into the defence market.
"We have put together a group of companies that is able to support our solutions with extensive business consulting, solutions development, customisation and implementation expertise across a wide range of industries. It`s a move that makes IFS a leading force in the South African enterprise software and ERP fields.
"Our goal is to work as a group, leveraging each other`s specialist skills to sell, deliver and support our IFS Applications solutions suite which is still rated globally as the fastest selling enterprise solution. A total of 138 companies have bought the latest version of IFS Applications since its launch six months ago," says Paul Whalley, managing director, IFS SA.
The IFS Group in SA has a client base that includes telecommunication companies across Africa such as MTN South Africa, MTN Nigeria, Starcomms and MTC Namibia as well as Trinidad and Tobago Limited (TSTT). Its manufacturing clients include Roshcon, part of Eskom Enterprises, Munters, PBMR and Kongskilde, while global defence markets supported out of SA include SAAF, Denel, Fiat Avio, European Air Forces and British Defence Logistics.
"IFS South Africa and IFS Defence has extensive project experience which will now be available to the group as a whole. IFS South Africa is also the global research and development owner of IFS Retail solution for Telecommunications, because of the industry-leading expertise we have developed in the telecommunications market in Africa over the last few years.
"This expertise has now been augmented with the creation of IFS Consulting, which is a black-empowered company with extensive business consulting experience in the South African market."
IFS Consulting is a joint venture between IFS, which owns 76% of the new company, and Manchu iCapital, which holds the balance of the shareholding. Manchu iCapital is a well-established business consulting company headed by Joe Manchu, who now heads IFS Consulting as a director.
"Manchu iCapital has an extensive track record in the consulting field and we count among our client base major organisations such as Eskom, MTN, Telkom and Transnet," says Manchu, whose career spans systems engineering at IBM to merchant banking.
"Our strengths are strategising around process re-engineering and project managing large IT implementations. Having been involved in several ERP projects, we understand business needs when it comes to IT and how to manage vendor-client relationships."
While iManchu`s business and IT consultants will be working for IFS Consulting on an outsourced project basis, IFS Consulting has committed to developing its own resources through skills development and employment equity.
IFS Defence, which is a subsidiary of IFS Defence UK, a company jointly owned by IFS and BAE Systems and headed in SA by Henk Lange as general manager, is focused on marketing and supporting IFS Applications in the aviation and defence markets.
"IFS has created a vertical suite of IFS Applications to address this market and today includes advanced functionality that meets the demanding requirements of defence manufacturers. IFS`s fully integrated project tracking and product data management (PDM) capabilities make it easier for defence suppliers to meet regulatory compliance requirements as well as manage the design and manufacturing of complex products throughout the product`s lifecycle," says Lange.
"Our South African operation has the in-house resources to provide international pre sales, implementation and go live services that include project management, business and application consulting and software engineering and testing."
Share