Local distributor addresses IT potential in South Africa

MICROmega Technologies (MMT), a MICROmega Holdings company, is meeting the challenge to significantly enhance the local information technology sector head-on.

Following the recent network problem that cost the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) billions of rands in potential trade, it is clear that the local market is in need of companies that can source and distribute hardware and software capable of optimising network solutions.

“As an emerging market, South Africa is in a special position when it comes to technology,” says Carolyn Dunlop, director business development, EMEA, of Netcordia, a unique software solutions company whose product is distributed locally by MMT.

“The fact that there is almost no IT legacy in this country means that there is no quagmire of old systems and technology complicating the installation and implementation of modern, hi-tech systems,” she explains. “The result is a huge opportunity for South Africa to actually take the lead globally in terms of its information technology sector.”

As the sole local distributors of international companies NetQoS and Netcordia's product base, MMT has positioned itself as the channel into South Africa through which local network optimisation will take place.

“South African businesses, from large multinational financial institutes to more localised companies, rely on the speed and efficiency of their networks to complete their daily transactions,” says Tony Rolston, chief executive officer of MMT.

“However, while business is experiencing a growing dependence on network services, the sector is experiencing a shortage of appropriately skilled IT technicians.”

Companies like NetQoS and Netcordia have developed unique software solutions that not only simplify network management, but approach network utilisation from a proactive angle, detecting problems and implementing solutions before a business actually experiences any downtime.

During its few short months in the market, MMT has already secured Dimension Data, Stable-Net, Slate Communications, NSS and GijimaAST as dedicated resellers and has begun to infiltrate the African and Middle Eastern markets as well.

“As the sole distributors of Netcordia and NetQoS in southern Africa we have a complementary product offering that is invaluable to any business that relies on its networking capabilities and speed,” concludes Rolston. “South African networks tend to be large, bandwidth is still costly and skills are scarce. Solutions that can optimise a network's capabilities and prevent downtime are invaluable.”