Management at Integr8 IT, South Africa's largest privately owned national BEE ICT network integration and infrastructure management specialist, has taken a proactive stance to address the need for gender equality in the modern ICT workplace.
The company has put in place a deliberate strategy to recruit women in positions of middle-to-senior management.
Robert Sussman, joint MD of Integr8 IT, says the objective is to ensure a ratio of 50:50 by year end.
"We take the principles of equal opportunity and gender equality very seriously and have been proactive in our efforts to modify the status quo of individuals in positions of authority in IT. This is because the industry has traditionally been male-dominated - something that obviously needs to change," says Sussman.
At present, women occupy a number of key positions within the relatively young company, including finance, HR and the Integr8 IT Nerve Centre, the latter widely regarded as the company's backbone customer-centric component.
In addition, Integr8 IT's management has introduced a management understudy programme, whereby female trainee managers are provided with the opportunity to grow into a position and develop all the necessary skills.
"This will help to ensure consistency and sustainability of our overall efforts," adds Sussman. "Many businesses embark on similar strategies but are not able to continue. We hope this initiative helps to set an industry-wide precedent that will encourage more female applicants to seriously consider a profession in IT."
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Integr8 IT is South Africa's largest privately owned national BEE ICT network integration and infrastructure management specialist.
A renowned leader in the field of system integration, infrastructure management and support services, the company employs over 350 full time highly skilled professionals.
Integr8 IT is the innovator, founder and operator of the only South African-based Nerve Centre (www.nervecentre.co.za), providing a digital hub to manage and regulate many of the country's leading corporations.
The company's core focus is on network infrastructures specialising in design, planning, deployment, management and maintenance. Integr8 IT has offices in South Africa, Botswana, the United States of America and the United Kingdom. The South African offices are found in Gauteng, Cape Town, Durban and it has representation in Port Elizabeth, East London, and across the southern Africa region.
Integr8 IT is a Microsoft Certified Gold Partner for Advanced Infrastructure Solutions, Network Infrastructure Solutions, Information Worker Solutions, and OEM Solutions.
It has been acknowledged and accredited with many awards, namely: Microsoft Gold Partner of the Year, African ICT Achievers - CIO of the Year for Africa, Best Customer Experience of the Year, Network Infrastructure Solution of the Year, Security Solution of the Year for Middle-East, Africa, & Eastern Europe, Advanced Infrastructure Solutions, and many others, every year, since its inception.
Named as one of the country's Top ICT Companies and honoured with a position among South Africa's Technology Top 100 Companies, Integr8 IT has established itself as a strategic partner with numerous internationally-recognised technology vendors and industry leaders.
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