Following the successful roll-out of SmartStream and Analyst Financials at NMB Bank Ltd in Zimbabwe, local IT integrator, Intersoft, and its two South African business partners, Business Connexion (formerly Comparex Africa) and Comtrac, say it was product relevance that won the contract.
This is the opinion of Owen Ruwodo, of Intersoft Solutions Africa, who says Intersoft partnered with the SA companies to provide IT support to business and government in Zimbabwe.
"Few IT companies really take the time to determine the relevance of the product they are trying to sell," he says, "and match it up with the challenges faced by the client."
"The ability to identify these two major issues was the differentiator that secured NMB Bank Limited for a consortium, which included Zimbabwe-based Intersoft`s partners in SA," Ruwodo adds.
According to Benson Ndachena, deputy general manager, finance and administration of NMB Bank Ltd Zimbabwe: "Comtrac showed understanding of the technical accounting problem that the bank was experiencing and, together with Business Connexion, provided an unmatched supporting knowledge of the product and its relevance to the problem through a full-scale demo.
"SmartStream`s major advantage is its high degree of flexibility, which provides the means for rapid implementation, even when it has to combine with legacy systems and disparate software," comments NMB Bank`s SmartStream project manager, Rollins Kuutsi.
The IT industry is increasingly viewing Africa as a valuable growth area for the future. Best of breed ICT providers have indicated they expect a 30% growth in Africa over the next two years. Local solutions providers such as Business Connexion also expect to see an increase in demand for the more sophisticated end-to-end ICT solutions.
The overall aim for African banks in investing millions of rands in technology is to enable them to deliver more sophisticated products to their markets while simultaneously boosting profits and becoming more globally competitive.
"This deal is another of SmartStream`s many successes in Africa, and boosts our drive to generate new business on the continent," concludes Clive van Rooyen, executive business developer with Business Connexion`s Mainstream competency.
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NMB Bank Limited was established in October 1992 as the National Merchant Bank of Zimbabwe Limited by a young group of professional directors who had previously held senior positions in substantial financial institutions including the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, an international accountancy practice and the largest merchant bank in Zimbabwe. The impetus for the creation of NMB came from the liberalisation of Zimbabwe`s economic and financial sectors in the early 1990s. NMB was registered as an accepting house under the Banking Act in June 1993. NMB has experienced strong, sustained growth, and this created the opportunity for a public flotation of the group, and in early 1997, the NMBZ Group was successfully listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange and was simultaneously admitted to the Official List of the London Stock Exchange. NMB Bank Limited is based in Harare, Zimbabwe. For more information, go to the bank`s Web site at www.nmbz.co.zw.
Business Connexion
Business Connexion (Pty) Ltd, one of the largest black empowered ICT companies on the African continent, is a leading integrator of competitive, innovative business solutions based on information and communications technology (ICT).
The truly South African company runs mission-critical ICT systems for a large number of JSE listed organisations and manages products, services and solutions for key public sector organisations, parastatal enterprises and a host of medium-sized emergent companies. The group strives to integrate the strategic value of ICT into its client`s business strategy, multiplying the business efficiency and thereby delivering exponential value to clients.
In order to deliver solutions that add real business value, Business Connexion combines its own expertise, tools, resources and vertical sector knowledge with that of its partner companies such as Cisco Systems, HP, IBM, Microsoft SA, Opentext, Sun Microsystems and Cognos.
Business Connexion (Pty) Ltd was launched in April 2004 following a merger between Comparex Africa and the black-owned enterprise Business Connexion Investments. In May 2004 Comparex Holdings plans to delist and the Business Connexion Group Ltd will list on the IT software and computer services sector of the JSE Securities Exchange.
Business Connexion is run by a board that has 50% black representation, has offices in all major centres throughout SA and employs more than 4 300 employees, nearly 30% of whom are from previously disadvantaged backgrounds. The company has a structured six-point transformation strategy that is closely aligned to the ICT charter.
Business Connexion has attained top-level certification and received awards from many of its Business partners. This includes:
* The 2004 Cisco Customer Advocacy Award for Russia, Middle East and Africa region, 2003 Cisco accolades for Best First Tier Partner of the Year and IP Telephony Partner of the Year for Africa.
* The Cognos Partner of the Year Award and Cognos Best Solutions Provider Award in 2003.
* The group is the only quadruple Microsoft gold partner in the country.
* IBM recognised Business Connexion as its Top Systems Integrator and Services Business Partner for 2003 and we received the IBM Go for Gold Top Server Customer in Gauteng award in the same year.
The company is a founding partner of Savant, a public-private partnership that markets SA`s ICT innovations locally and abroad, and is a member of the Proudly South African initiative.
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