As part of Novell`s strategy to expand its business in sub-Saharan Africa, Novell South Africa has embarked on a major drive to educate its partners in this region.
"Education in Africa has always been a key focus for Novell," says Graham Hallworth, Novell regional manager for sub-Saharan Africa. "While vast marketing potential exists throughout the sub-Saharan region, it is inhibited by a workforce that is particularly lacking IT skills. Consequently, our focus over the next two years will be to establish Novell Authorised Training Centres (NAECs) in these areas."
NAECs already exist in Tanzania and Ethiopia, and Hallworth reports a keen interest among professionals to enroll in the Certified Novell Administrator (CNA) programme. Courses are also scheduled to start soon in Ghana and Nigeria.
"The next step will be to establish partnerships with tertiary institutions," Hallworth continues, "setting them up as Novell Education Authorised Partners (NEAPs). Students will then be able to enroll in Novell training programmes as part of their regular study curriculum."
Not to be neglected in the education drive, is the increasing number of Novell resellers which, since September 1999, has grown from a mere four to 72. These, says Hallworth, are currently receiving training in the Certified Novell Salesperson (CNS) programme. "There`s no point in establishing a market presence if your resellers aren`t empowered to offer value-added service to their customers," he explains. "Owing to our current focus on establishing a training infrastructure, we have set modest sales targets for our resellers this year. Next year, however, we expect to see a substantial increase in our sales figures as our well-trained business partners begin channeling revenue back to us."
Several large deals have already been concluded, including a contract between Botswana Railways and reseller ICL Botswana to upgrade their existing operation.
The education drive also aims to address the issue of piracy, which, says Hallworth, is rife in the sub-Saharan region. "About 75% of all software currently in use by organisations in these countries are pirated," he says. "We will be forming an alliance with a major auditing company with the objective of auditing those organisations which we suspect are using pirated software. Should the audit confirm our suspicions, we will offer them the opportunity to legally purchase the latest versions of the Novell offering."
Hallworth is bullish about the vast market potential that exists in Africa. "Countries such as Nigeria that were previously economically and politically restrained have made tremendous progress in, for example, establishing a satellite or microwave communications infrastructure. This opens up tremendous opportunities for us, and we expect to conclude several large deals before financial year end in October," he concludes.
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