At an exclusive and intimate gathering of clients, media and partners today in Illovo, Sandton, two major announcements were made by Sagent Southern Africa, an enterprise information management consultancy and exclusive distributors of the Sagent Solution software product suite in southern Africa.
Susan Andre, Managing Director and founding member of Sagent Southern Africa, was joined by international representative, Dick Kakebeeke, of the American-based Customer Communications Management software development giant, Group 1 Software, in making the announcements.
Following months of intensive negotiations, it was confirmed by Andre that the merger between Group 1 Software and Sagent Inc, the international holding company for some 12 companies worldwide, has been a successful one. The move by Group 1 to take over the Sagent Inc assets was made official here in SA by Andre herself. While there was much to indicate that a new era is dawning for the SA-based consultancy, the biggest news of the day came when Andre made it known that Sagent Southern Africa was formally - no more. The dynamic, all woman consultancy was officially re-launched under the new banner of Alicornio Africa (Pty) Ltd in an inspired unveiling of the new look and feel.
While many didn't anticipate the dramatic implications the Group 1 merger would have on their South African counterparts, said Andre, "We fully endorse and will continue to distribute the Sagent Solution, it is, however, a time for change, and we have grasped the opportunity with both hands. We have taken a leap of faith and in doing so, gained enormously."
Andre confirmed that the directors were particularly excited about the direct impact that their new found independence had for existing and new clientele, big business and the IT industry as a whole. When probed to expand, said Andre, "We aim to stretch the boundaries of information integration. We are planning to change stoic market place perceptions, and are in the midst of exploring unchartered territory. The biggest impact we hope to make is to bridge the enormous gap between business as a whole and enterprise information integration."
In terms of the Customer Communications Management and Information Integration Management industries, the move by Group 1 and Sagent Inc is certainly a first on a global scale. The product and skill combination that Group 1 now has to offer, puts this company at the forefront of the industry. The direct implication for the all new Alicornio Africa goes beyond the conventional in that the company will continue to benefit from the international network of partners and intellectual capital shared across continents, while tailoring their offering to directly meet the needs of medium to large local organisations.
Following Andre's presentation, Dick Kakebeeke, Director Business Develop and strategic alliances EMEA and AP, took the benchmarking occasion to a higher level by announcing that, "We fully support the move made by Susan and her incredible team, so much so that we have invited them to go to market with our Doc 1 products." Doc 1, Kakebeeke went on to explain, is a highly evolved platform for customer communications management.
Having already enjoyed huge success within the local markets, Andre comments: "We are taking our experience and the successes we have achieved to date, to a new level. Our expanded consultancy, training and software offering puts us in a whole new league, and although we are aware that many challenges await us, we remain extremely optimistic and look forward to what the future holds." For further information, visit www.alicornio.co.za or contact Susan Andre on (011) 258 8739 or e-mail info@alicornio.co.za.
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For the past four years, Alicornio Africa (previously known as Sagent Southern Africa) has serviced an impressive array of blue chip and other companies. In addition, it has continuously added to the knowledge pool of its industry by hosting leading international experts in the field in training and discussion forums. It has established itself as the leader in the education of the expert and layman alike in the intricacies of the highly complex arena of business intelligence, information integration management, data warehousing, architecture, design and implementation. Alicornio Africa services are both product and non-product specific.
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