The availability of top notch IT resources for companies based along SA`s 3 000km shoreline has received a significant boost with the re-launch of African Legend Indigo`s (AL Indigo) coastal offices.
AL Indigo has developed a regional model that is targeted at providing unparalleled service to the ever-increasing numbers of multinationals, corporates, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), that are establishing a presence for themselves along the South African coast.
A black-owned IT company, AL Indigo is a member of the African Legend Technologies Group. From its regional office in Cape Town, the company has provided a range of IT services to various coastal customers over the past two years.
Through its newly released model, AL Indigo has successfully circumvented many of the IT challenges faced by companies in these geographical areas, most notably the tendency of some industry players to redeploy resources around the country on a project-by-project basis, which means higher costs to cover travel and accommodation expenses, as well as the inconvenience of longer lead times.
By ensuring AL Indigo`s freshly configured 15-member coastal team represents the composite capacity of its head office in Johannesburg, made possible through an aggressive training programme, all customers, regardless of their physical location, will get the best-of-the-best from the company without having to compromise in terms of quality, price and deadline.
In the words of the company`s SA coast manager, Murshid Obaray: "Customers will no longer feel as though they`re the proverbial `poor cousins` when it comes to recruiting specialist service providers, whose head offices are based in-land."
The decision to re-launch the coastal business unit forms an integral part of AL Indigo`s long-term growth strategy.
Most companies geared up for the Y2K phenomenon at the turn of the millennium. Now, five years later, many are realising that they need to reinvest in their IT infrastructure. "They`ve sweated the assets and are contemplating refreshing the technology. Since the coastal provinces represent about 37.5% of SA`s gross domestic product (GDP), it seems a perfect time to start engaging with businesses in these areas," says Obaray.
Given the high concentration of multinationals and corporate centres in Cape Town, the city in particular presents many opportunities for AL Indigo to progress. Since its establishment under the Indigo brand two years ago, it has built trusted relationships with a number of blue-chip clients and high street retailers, as well as leading financial service providers and a number of outsourcing companies.
According to the company`s figures, the Cape Town market is roughly one-fifth the size of Johannesburg`s and yet an estimated 1 500 IT service providers compete for the same piece of the pie. For AL Indigo though, its future success lies in its ability to be distinctive from its industry peers. The ability to provide equitable levels of service and expertise to its Johannesburg operation, 24/7, without the customer incurring any additional costs, creates an automatic distinction in the market, which is difficult to better.
The Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal are on AL Indigo`s radar too. Satellite offices in Port Elizabeth, East London and Durban are likely to be operational within the near future.
In keeping with its corporate vision and vertical pillars, AL Indigo will focus on the retail, financial services, government, telecommunications and energy sectors. Tertiary institutions will also be a feature in the company`s new business drive.
Initial forecasts indicate that AL Indigo`s coastal interests could contribute approximately 20% to the company`s bottom line. When analysed on a ratio-to-ratio basis, this figure is comparable to the business`s performance in Gauteng.
Although a coastal-dweller most of his life, Obaray admits that one of the greatest challenges of operating at the coast lies in what he describes as the `time to decision`.
In Johannesburg, the average sales cycle can be anything from a single day to one year. In Cape Town, that figure ranges from six months to four years!
This dynamic, which he admits is peculiar to the region, causes internal business processes to suffer.
As a major reseller of imported products, protracted delays in decision-making also place a huge burden on AL Indigo`s ability to compete, as fluctuations to the exchange rate make quoting over long periods of time difficult to communicate and sustain.
In addition, it negates the customer`s ability to compare prices with any degree of accuracy, as figures vary wildly depending on the extent of any one supplier`s currency hedge.
AL Indigo remains undeterred nonetheless and looks forward to growing its customer-base throughout the coastal region.
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