IOCORE has entered into a joint venture with black-owned technology consulting and software development company, Southern Focus Holdings, with the aim of capturing a bigger share of the IT services market.
Employing around 300 highly skilled IT professionals, IOCORE is one of South Africa`s leading suppliers of IT services and best-of-breed solutions including Oracle, SAP, Microsoft and Forte, among others.
According to IOCORE MD, Wade Gomes, a new company, IOCORE-Southern Focus, is already formed and operational, owned 50% by IOCORE and 50% by Southern Focus.
IOCORE-Southern Focus has already supplied Petronet with a comprehensive SAP human resources management system and the company is awaiting confirmation of several other tenders, he says.
"Eventually, it is our aim to collapse both companies into a single operational entity, being IOCORE-Southern Focus," says Gomes, who confirms that a listing towards end-2002 is also on the cards.
With a client base that includes some of South Africa`s top commercial organisations including Gensec, Bankserv, Dunlop Africa and Domayne, among others, Southern Focus has established a firm foothold in its areas of expertise.
These encompass generic business and IT consulting, project management, outsourcing, implementation of business and technology solutions for mid-tier banking and financial sectors, as well as turnkey software development. Like IOCORE, the company, which employs 80 people, has key skills in SAP, Oracle and Microsoft technologies.
"A tremendous synergy therefore exists between our two companies, " comments Gomes.
"Adding further value, from an IOCORE perspective, is Southern Focus` strong presence in the government sector and among parastatal organisations, which IOCORE views as an important market."
Another key issue is that the new company will resolve IOCORE`s black empowerment status. He notes: "As the first company in the South African IT sector to commence with our own empowerment programmes in 1998, IOCORE has achieved several important milestones in this field.
"Our coming together with Southern Focus will provide an important final stamp on our black empowerment initiatives."
Martin Cele, managing director of Southern Focus, comments: "Southern Focus has achieved significant success in the IT market since its inception in 1997.
"We are becoming increasingly involved in large-scale projects, which necessitates expanding our resources. It made sense to start looking at bringing aboard partners with the capacity to cope with this expansion."
The company was attracted to IOCORE, he says, because of its complementary skills set, the large number of skilled IT professionals in its employ and its ability to transfer skills to Southern Focus.
"We were also very much drawn by IOCORE`s entrepreneurial history, which mirrors our own," adds Cele.
"With its roots in New Africa Technology Holdings (NATH), issues such as affirmative action are furthermore embedded in IOCORE`s culture. IOCORE-Southern Focus will benefit from Southern Focus` proven methodologies for closing the skills gap and successfully integrating and providing personal growth paths for its previously disadvantaged personnel."
IOCORE-Southern Focus will also be able to leverage off Southern Focus` strong ties with the business sectors of other African countries where it has offices, including Botswana and Zimbabwe.
Gomes and Cele are currently joint managing directors of IOCORE-Southern Focus.
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