New technology and strong opportunities were the talking points of the latest Intel Channel Conferences (ICCs) held during May at various venues across southern Africa.
"The fact that the conferences held in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town represent the three largest ICC events in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region speaks volumes of the commitment by Intel resellers to the rapid growth in IT in southern Africa," says Calum Chisholm, reseller channel manager for Intel South Africa.
The Intel Channel Conferences provided resellers from the SADC with exposure not only to the latest Intel technology but also to the growing potential of the region. "There were essentially two themes for the conferences - one which focused on technology with Intel`s concept of being 'One Generation Ahead` and the opportunities for increasing sales through our 'Formula For Success`," says Chisholm.
On the technology side, the conferences underscored Intel`s technological leadership across all platforms from the desktop to the server to the mobile system. Highlights included new desktop performance with 800MHz frontside bus and Hyperthreading for entry-level systems. "Entry level desktop systems are now achieving performance levels that were only previously seen on high-end systems," say Chisholm. "As a result, users can experience performance increases of as much as 40% over older technology."
Intel`s new Centrino mobile processor was another highlight, stressing the chip`s ability to deliver high performance and built-in wireless combined with power saving and new form factors. A number of Intel resellers including Pinnacle Micro, Digitec and Micropro demonstrated their new Centrino-equipped mobile products that are now available.
"Centrino represents the next step for mobile computing, capable of delivering the performance to run a broad spectrum of the latest applications and operating systems while extending battery life for users who are always on the move," comments Chisholm. Servers and opportunities for deploying new servers was also covered and guest speakers from companies such as Microsoft and Wi-Tel, a wireless LAN ISP and 'hot-spot` enabler, provided insight into what lies ahead in these areas.
The business challenges facing integrators in southern Africa was another theme that was explored during the ICC. A number of positive factors have contributed to the growth in IT opportunities in the region, including the strength of the rand, the abolition of ad valorem tax on IT components and the fact that most of the IT systems deployed in the region are due for upgrading.
"These factors are probably the most important in spurring IT growth," says Chisholm. "A stronger rand means cheaper components with the savings being passed onto the end-user. The elimination of ad valorem duties on IT components provided further savings of 5.75% which again have been passed onto the end-users, making it the best time to consider either new IT deployments or upgrades of older systems."
Many of the existing IT base in the region is pre-Y2K and many companies which are presently using 500MHz systems running older operating systems are seriously considering upgrading to faster technology capable of running new software. This presents an excellent opportunity for resellers to start hard selling. Sales and motivational speaker, Paul Naidoo, who has more than 15 years of experience in the IT industry, provided delegates with tips on improving selling skills and maximising deal closing by talking benefits instead of just technology, particularly to the small and medium business market where benefits are foremost in the IT procurement process.
Adds Chisholm: "While many regions are experiencing stagnation, southern Africa has seen an increase in IT growth. Almost 2000 delegates attended this round of conferences at the venues held in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban as well as the smaller venues in Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth and Windhoek. 95% of those delegates had attended the previous ICC. I can confidently say there is a commitment by resellers to the Intel brand and the advantages that are now available to them."
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