Tarsus takes Compaq into Africa

In a deal worth an estimated R2.3 million, Tarsus Technologies has supplied hardware for a project carried out at the Zambian Revenue Authority (ZRA) by Bull Computers South Africa.

"Bull became a Tarsus reseller six months ago after being handed over to us by our branch in Zimbabwe, where we have a partnership with Case," explains Andre Wollheim, Compaq enterprise and storage product manager at Tarsus Technologies, the value-add distribution arm of JSE-listed MB Technologies. "The joint company, Case/Tarsus, felt our expertise was required with such a large deal."

Case/Tarsus operates in Zimbabwe, Namibia, Angola, Zambia and Mozambique. In March 2001, Bull Computers was awarded the project for the software design and development phase of the Integrated Tax Administration System (ITAS) project for the ZRA. The pilot site is now underway in preparation for hardware installation and integration.

The entire project, valued at approximately US$2 million, includes the supply of hardware for the final deployment of the ITAS solution, comprising servers, PCs, printers, UPS, routers, cash drawers, bar code printers and scanners. The supply of software - operating systems, Oracle products, anti-virus software and NSMS software - as well as the preparation, deployment and integration of these elements within the ITAS network at the 10 sites complete the project.

"The ZRA requested Compaq products, as this is what they have standardised on," says Wollheim. "And Bull chose to use Tarsus Technologies` services because we have the technical expertise in handling large deals like this. We also have the logistical expertise to ship this stock to Zambia. This includes handling freight, customs, duties, etc, which we take care of on behalf on the client if requested to do so," he concludes.