South Africa is slowly moving towards unfettered telecommunications services, technologies and service providers, says Andre Maree, MD of KSS.
"However, the euphoria that accompanies the introduction of the new services, service providers and technologies spawned by deregulation will soon pass, and customers (end-users) will face the challenge of: 'Who do I use, how do I spread my risk, what technologies are best for my varied business needs and who should I partner with to provide me with the best possible mix of services?`" he says.
The complexity resulting from deregulation will reinforce the need for focused communication systems integrators (CSI) with expert knowledge and specialised skills. This will enable them to add real value beyond that offered by general one-stop-shop ICT resellers, according to Maree.
"New options will become available with the emergence of new telecommunications licences and players, and the resolution of current issues around fixed-line, fixed wireless and mobile wireless. With more options, however, a whole host of questions need to be asked," he says.
Maree also believes the imminence of Neotel`s offering to businesses will introduce competition into the market, driving the need to ask questions. In addition, fixed wireless service providers such as Sentech and iBurst (and Telkom) are expected to introduce WiMax technology in the future. "This will provide users with a choice of technology as well as of multiple vendors - and this is only on the service provider level of telecommunications.
"More change in the technology arena sees traditional private branch exchanges being migrated to IP telephony solutions, making voice over IP a cost-effective alternative to traditional plain old telephony systems. Furthermore, traditional closed circuit television is also moving rapidly towards convergence, with digital rather than analogue images being transported over an IP network," he explains.
"Whoever the (un)fortunate recipient of this massive responsibility is, with so much choice and complexity, will now more than ever require specialists to assist them to understand and specify their requirements, select the appropriate technology and service provider," says Maree. "So enters the CSI.`
The new millennium CSI is vital as there are often no straightforward answers to the multitude of complex questions that need to be answered, according to Maree. "For example, some customers might benefit from 3G and GPRS as technology enablers to meet their data network redundancy requirements, while others may benefit significantly from WiMax and other fixed wireless options to meet communication requirements to relatively remote destinations.
"In addition, small organisations might need to leverage `economies of scale` by using one service provider for all their needs to negotiate the best possible bundle rates. On the other hand, a larger organisation may be able to justify the resources required to manage multiple vendors - for their fixed-line, mobile and general resiliency and redundancy requirements," he says.
"To survive in the modern communications jungle will require a close partnership with a strong CSI that can guide your organisation through the many traps and obstacles that deregulation might present," he concludes.
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