VALOR it was established by a group of passionate information technology (IT) professionals with a wealth of experience that they had acquired from working with and in different entities.
They came together because they shared a common vision of providing services and solutions to the information and communication technology (ICT) market, particularly in the government, as they themselves had worked with the government and had identified a need for their services.
These enthusiastic individuals are proud of themselves, as they have been able to grow the fledgling company into a significant organisation with a head office and a number of operational offices.
In unison, the team agrees that starting a business and venturing into the entrepreneurial environment takes courage, determination, willingness and commitment to make a difference by working closely with their clients. The latter is vital because it assists in achieving long-term sustainable results and relevant solutions for the business.
VALOR it offers a range of solutions in the IT sector, but mainly in the government. “Our competencies are what differentiate us from other solutions providers. We engage our customers extensively so as to better understand the needs of their business; and thus provide them with solutions that will address their business needs appropriately,” says Josias Molele, chairperson.
This allows VALOR it to put creativity and thoughtfulness into the services and solutions that are crafted and offered to our clients. The company employs qualified project managers and technically competent IT specialists, who are knowledgeable and skilled to identify the integration points for effective and efficient delivery - they are the backbone to creating seamless solutions.
VALOR it's matrix business model allows the allocation of relevant competencies to the different projects. Each project has an accountable project manager. Exposure in the different projects allows for skills transference growth, success and sustainability for individuals and the business.
When asked to give their opinion on the skills shortages in many of the country's sectors, specifically in the IT sector, the VALOR it team says that this is an overall problem that is challenging and requires serious attention from the public, the private sector and the country as a whole.
In this technological age, South Africa cannot afford to lag behind. They feel that when addressing these shortages in the ICT arena, the focus should not only be on entry-level basic training, but also on advanced specialised, high-technical areas such as security, architecture, infrastructure, and product-related skills and knowledge. Currently, there are difficulties still for individuals to gain entry into such areas because of a lack of relevant and appropriate skills required by businesses.
For graduates who may have studied in these fields, on completion of their studies they prefer to open their own small businesses, and once again this becomes a problem for the country because their businesses focus on the mainstream skills that are mainly for survival, rather than venturing into high-tech specialisations required by business needs. This means that some opportunities will remain untapped for a while by black professionals. Private sector needs to partner with the education and training sector.
As with the skills shortages, there is also a lack of ICT knowledge among South African communities and business. Molele comments, “There is a gap between private and public sector.” Most of the time, people move from the public to the private sector to gain more experience and knowledge on technologies and advanced solutions, he says.
“The government has been attempting to attract those who have moved to the private sector back into the government, to ensure that there is equity on both sides, because it is the government's intention to strike a balance between the two sectors,” continues Molele.
The VALOR it team believes that the lack of ICT knowledge could be addressed by focusing on the following areas:
* Educating communities from a young age to familiarise themselves with technology and its benefits;
* Upskilling of teachers, training and education institutions to be technologically orientated;
* Business people understanding their strategic objectives and alignments so that when they procure IT systems, a broader view of the business is taken into consideration, for long-term possibilities of integration of technologies and platforms;
* Monitoring and implementation of IT projects and tender allocation should be centrally controlled for cost saving and efficiencies;
* The sector education and training authorities should focus more on research to ensure that they address the core priority skills development gaps, versus spending in areas where the investment is not benefiting the country and its priorities. *Incentives should be considered for organisations that invest in skills training versus those not investing but “poaching”.
VALOR it further believes that IT departments, both in the private sector and in the government, cannot afford to isolate themselves from the rest of the business for efficiencies, cost effectiveness and impact. An overall strategic view of the business should dictate what technologies or solutions to procure, and in that way, service delivery improves.
ICT is a fast-paced and evolving industry. When asked if South Africa is succeeding in keeping up, the VALOR it Team answered “Yes, very much so. The Internet and the Web have made the world a smaller place.”
This said, there are still many challenges in South Africa with regard to bandwidth, skills shortages, fiscal matters and innovation. However, by keeping abreast of what is happening globally, forging partnerships and creating opportunities through exchange programmes with advanced countries, South Africa can better its competencies and serve as a hub for other African and other developing countries.
“As a private sector company, VALOR it is focused on international and global best practices and standards, and basically delivering world-best technologies and solutions locally,” the team added.
Solutions that have been implemented by international government entities are researched by VALOR it to ensure that when recommended for local use within businesses and government departments, they can add value. The team is confident that they are getting the best of both worlds in that sense.” We're following the lead, but we also are very close to the lead,” says Molele.
Looking back at where we come from as a country, there are still very few black individuals and businesses that enter the ICT market without any backup from large conglomerates. VALOR it feels that it has accomplished much because it is now able to compete for business that it would not otherwise compete for in the past. The company has been faced with many challenges that have built it up and also encouraged the founders to continue on the journey they began years ago.
The team agrees that working for and with the government means you stand a better chance of securing business when you are 100% black owned. “There are some tendencies in some of the quarters to maintain the status quo, by decision-makers both in the private sector and government with procurement policies that are not supportive of the development of small black enterprises. However, the fact that today there are regulations that attempt to address these imbalances is a positive thing, and the right way towards creating opportunities for companies like ours,” says Molele.
VALOR it is focused on service delivery and believes that the road ahead is still very long and challenging, but one that will be reached eventually.
Key to the company's business development strategy is relationship building. Our platforms and technologies allow for opportunities for extension and expansion toward a fully integrated enterprise content management solution. This has assisted some of VALOR it's clients to manage their budgetary constraints.
VALOR it currently is running projects that are huge and sure to change the way business is done by the government, particularly service delivery. The team has a vision of creating a painless experience when visiting government entities for all the citizens.
VALOR it seeks to create an environment that will provide ease of access to information for employees within government entities, citizens and other relevant stakeholders for quicker decision-making and efficiencies. With the right product mix and real-time accessibility of information, the implementation of these technologies in an integrated way, surely will result in efficiencies and good quality service for its clients, which is the core of VALOR it's values.
“We would like to continue generating our revenues as an organisation in the electronic content management space for our growth and sustainability and toward a meaningful contribution to the transformation of the ICT sector in our country,” says Molele.
In terms of moving forward, VALOR it is using its expertise for continuous improvement in the way the company provides solutions. It also takes pride in getting into the spaces and technologies within which very few people are operating in .
Essentially, VALOR it is looking at establishing a national footprint, and it has begun working in other provinces and looking to set up offices there as well.
The focus for 2010 is definitely on revenue generation and service delivery VALOR it aims to continue to be the leading light in the ICT space in South Africa.
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