European companies are increasingly looking to SA to supply world-class ICT outsourcing skills at extremely competitive rates. Factors that have influenced this include the quality of service and skills available locally, the relatively low cost base, the favourable exchange rate and the similar time zones between Africa and Europe.
According to Mike Sewell, Group Executive, Managed Services at Comparex Africa, the number of requests from European companies seeking ICT partners in SA has grown 300% in three years.
"SA has the opportunity to become a favoured destination for outsourcing, particularly in areas such as call centres, applications development and hosting."
Sewell says SA is increasingly being considered ahead of India for work in applications development. "The gap between the billing rates for India and for SA has narrowed which has led to European companies seeing SA as a serious competitor in the offshore outsourcing space."
South African-based multinationals are also increasingly making use of SA IT companies with global expertise. "A few years ago, South African companies expanding offshore would immediately appoint partners overseas. However, in recent times these global players have recognised that South African-based service providers who have the experience in dealing with the complexities of global service provision in a sustainable fashion can do the job."
He attributes this move to pressure on budgets, the quality of local talent and in some cases cultural affinity. "The global downturn has forced companies to seek cost-effective ways of achieving more with the same," he says.
Sasol recently appointed Comparex Africa to provide a Service Management Centre (SMC) service. "Whether the Sasol business user is based in Rosebank or in Europe his or her service call will be managed by Comparex Africa in Midrand," says Alex Zwiegelaar, Chief Information Officer of Sasol. "All calls are logged, IT problems managed and requests resolved through the Midrand-based team."
The SMC is part of Comparex Africa`s offering to provide global IT services to Sasol. "Comparex Africa is working with Sasol to achieve cost leadership in IT," he says.
"We opted to work with a South African-based service provider in order to achieve a cost advantage - a rand-based service is highly competitive in the global energy market. We believe local skills can match best global skills and we can benefit from the proximity of a local provider."
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