Rapid growth and group restructuring have seen CCH revamp its operations with a Sage CS/3 Business Management System (BMS) implemented by Sage partner, PQ Africa.
Possibly the most powerful BMS in its class today, CS/3 replaces CCH's legacy Chameleon 2000 system and provides powerful integration and functionality ranging from mainstream accounting to comprehensive business management tools. In addition, it features integrated modules for finance, services, distribution, manufacturing and e-commerce which allow systems to be tailored to meet specific user requirements without the need to develop new software.
Since its inception in 1985, CCH has grown to become one of South Africa's largest listed IT groups. As an e-business systems integrator, the nationally represented organisation provides comprehensive insourced and outsourced business solutions which comprise technology and professional services.
Dean Thompson, group financial operational manager, says the move to implement a powerful BMS became increasingly apparent as the group looked to financial re-engineering, systems consolidation and integration.
"CCH has five strategic business units which provide infrastructure services, hosted services, consulting, software development and enterprise solutions. Although these businesses operate largely autonomously, it is critical that we have strong systems integration and a robust BMS foundation," Thompson notes.
The group thoroughly evaluated numerous other BMS solutions on the market but Thompson says Sage CS/3 - the successor to the Sage Chameleon suite - was the logical choice. It offered an easy upgrade path while providing both strong functionality and scalability to accommodate growth.
"A particular appealing aspect of CS/3 is its advanced e-business functionality which is crucial to a global organisation such as CCH. Apart from our extensive national footprint we have offices in the Middle East - thus the need for a BMS with well-integrated e-business capability," he says.
"Converting to the new system resulted in minimal disruption to our daily business and we foresee a quick return on investment."
Ashley Ellington, divisional manager at Sage International: Africa, concludes: "Although CCH was using an earlier version of Sage software, we still had to undergo the stringent evaluation procedures. This involved demonstrating additional functionality in our current financial and distribution modules. Taking an in-depth look at our new service management modules and e-commerce offering, we showed that the CS/3 product not only suited CCH's immediate needs but was also capable of meeting the future requirements of this large organisation."
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