One of the biggest problems facing the ISP (Internet service provider) industry in SA is that it lacks the specialists to cope with the high level of growth and the immediate and future technological demands, said Douglas Reed, managing director of leading ISP Data Pro, a member of the JSE-listed Control Instruments group.
Reed said the company has just spend additional money on its `super network` for the next millennium. This new network, according to Reed, has cost the company "well in excess of R14 million" to establish. It is part of the company`s move to offer the best technology and services to its growing client base into the next century.
"Overseas," said Reed, "ISPs and network providers have specialists dealing in every field, such as routers, switches and DNSs (Digital Network Systems), which means that delivery levels and levels of service - and concomitant growth - are much higher. Here our skills shortage is fairly severe as a result of the ongoing brain drain. Sadly, our specialists have to operate more like a `Jack-of-all-trades`, covering all the necessary areas within the ISP and networking environment. We also don`t offer much in the way of tertiary training for these sought-after individuals."
Reed said he estimates from available statistics that up to 25% of employees with degrees - especially in the IT sector - are leaving SA. "There is a dire need in SA to install super-powerful and super-intelligent networks that are able to handle the information highway of the future, which will include video streaming, voice and text data.
"But the building and maintaining of these networks require a significant capital investment and a high level of specialist skills - something we are sorely lacking in this country," said Reed. He said Data Pro had the backbone of its next-century "E-Link" network designed in Lucent Technology`s Boston laboratory - at a cost of more than R10 million - to ensure that the "network is able to operate at the level of functionality that we require".
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