MB Worksoft, the software and services arm of JSE-listed MB Technologies, recently announced one of its newest member companies - ESI Consulting. The new entity will focus on providing solutions and benefits to both SAP Southern Africa customers and potential customers. According to Graham Hartlett, MD of the new concern, ESI Consulting will focus on providing business benefits to current SAP R/3 users, as well as becoming a service provider to new customers. "The whole IT arena is changing," Hartlett says, "Outsourcing is becoming the key buzzword and we want to provide a holistic outsourced solution. Our ambition is not just to be another consultancy, but to become a leading ERP consultancy."
Mark Gilfillan, MD of MB Worksoft explains, "With ESI Consulting, we have expanded our profile of services in pre-eminent technologies in line with our stated strategy. Graham and his personnel in ESI bring a wealth of experience in assisting organisations extract the full potential from ERP systems such as SAP R/3, and we look forward to the contribution they will make to MB Worksoft."
Hartlett says that one of ESI`s key objectives is to provide SAP R/3 customers with real business benefit realisation through the implementation of best business practices and business process realignment. "Business process realignment realigns a company`s business processes based on best business practice and is far and away the most cost-effective method of achieving an ERP solution," he explains, "This is not specific to any vertical stream, because good business practices aren`t restricted to any particular industry." Hartlett says that the mid-range market will probably see the most new implementations and that a number of these will take the form of outsourcing, which is where ESI Consulting is pitched.
The company staff complement is growing apace and Hartlett aims to have a team of 18 people by year-end. "We are hand-picking the consultants that we know can provide the type of service that ESI Consulting intends to provide. The mind-set among new staff members is very important - they must view themselves as associates in the business and be as committed to the company` s success as we are."
The southern African offices will be run from Johannesburg. But Hartlett has aggressive expansion plans for the rest of Africa, focusing firstly on Nigeria and Kenya as stepping-stones. He hints that Africa is not the limit of the company`s ambitions, though.
"The SAP R/3 implementation profile has changed dramatically," Hartlett says. "Consultancies need to apply a new model to implementations. I believe that ESI Consulting has the answer to that model. The mid-range market requires a different set of skills; SAP Southern Africa`s implementation partners in this arena need to add real value and become true solution providers by becoming their clients` business partners to ensure that they get a rapid return on their investment," he emphasises. To further support SAP R/3 customers and in line with the outsourcing concept, ESI Consulting will be setting up a SAP R/3 help desk to handle their customers end-user application enquiries. "SAP Southern Africa`s internationally-based 24x365 technical support service can be turned to for technical support issues," Hartlett emphasises.
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