Companies are often measured not only by their own success, but also by their ability to accelerate the growth and sustainability of the industries they are active in.
T-Systems' Enterprise Development Programme in South Africa is no different and has contributed to the business growth and subsequent success of its South African partners.
Mthombo Managed Services (M-IT) and Tactical Software Systems (TSS) Managed Services are perfect examples of the success of the programme, which speaks volumes not only of T-Systems' commitment to its partners, but also its ability to transfer skills that are based on globally benchmarked practices and technologies.
T-Systems' Enterprise Development Programme includes financial support towards training as well as mentorship and partnership with regards to steering and developing business in a sustainable and competitive manner.
M-IT, for example, has, since its inception in 2000, grown from a start-up with three employees to a company with more than 200 engineers nationwide, specialising in contact centres, infrastructure, projects and managed services, among others.
Parastatal arivia.kom and M-IT has, since 2003, partnered on a number of prominent public sector projects. Additionally, in 2005, MI-T merged with EOH to form a black-owned listed company. EOH described the transaction with M-IT as an excellent example of true business transformation.
Subsequent to the acquisition of arivia.kom by T-Systems in 2010, the partnership has been fortified and the companies have more recently partnered on a major public sector implementation.
Says Sam Sibeko, operations manager at M-IT: “There is considerable skills transfer between MI-T and T-Systems, which is undoubtedly indicative of our mutual interests and strong partnership. From M-IT's perspective, it is important to be exposed to the methodologies of a global ICT company such as T-Systems, which in turn enhances our own competitive advantage.
“We look forward to our ongoing partnership with T-Systems and have already set plans in motion for a strong 2012 where we can continue to build not only our own business, but also our relationship.”
TSS employs more than 120 professional consultants and has, in the last 14 years, grown to offer critical business management services that span a vast array of disciplines such as SAP software implementation, outsourcing, consulting and business process re-engineering and workflow process modelling.
The company was also in a partnership with arivia.kom (from 2004) and the relationship has continued with T-Systems subsequent to the acquisition. Today, TSS and T-Systems' relationship features a number of important public sector contracts.
“Our understanding of the demands of the local marketplace, coupled with T-Systems' global expertise, is undoubtedly a winning formula. One of the biggest benefits of partnering with T-Systems is that the company enables you to fast-track your skills and expertise while also allowing you to stand on your own when you are ready,” says Jehan MacKay, chief operations officer at TSS Managed Services.
“Going forward, we will continue to grow both our businesses while working more closely on exciting, future projects.”
Comments Collin Govender, Vice-President: Human Resources at T-Systems South Africa: “Our Enterprise Development Programme proactively works at enabling our partners to grow their businesses. Additionally, these partnerships also expose us to great local skills that strengthen our own service delivery to clients.
“It is therefore a two-way skills transfer process that ultimately enables our partnerships to go from strength to strength and improve our individual and mutual competitive advantage,” she says.
MI-T and TSS are undoubtedly testament to T-Systems South Africa's Enterprise Development Programme, which is not only characterised by past successes, but also continues to build on these milestones to strengthen and, importantly, create a platform for sustainability for years to come.
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Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom is one of the world's leading integrated telecommunications companies with around 128 million mobile customers, 35 million fixed-network lines and approximately 17 million broadband lines (as of 30 June 2011).
The Group provides products and services for the fixed network, mobile communications, the Internet and IPTV for consumers, and ICT solutions for business customers and corporate customers. Deutsche Telekom is present in more than 50 countries and has around 241 000 employees worldwide. The Group generated revenues of EUR62.4 billion in the 2010 financial year - more than half of it outside Germany (as of 31 December 2010).
T-Systems
Drawing on a global infrastructure of data centres and networks, T-Systems operates information and communication technology (ICT) systems for multinational corporations and public sector institutions. T-Systems provides integrated solutions for the networked future of business and society. The company's some 47 600 employees combine industry expertise and ICT innovations to add significant value to customers' core business all over the world.
T-Systems generated revenue of around EUR9.1 billion in the 2010 financial year.
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