Telkom has 'insourced' its internal IT systems and moved them into its own data centre environment, which will be encouraged to become a third-party business.
Telkom's results presentation yesterday focused on the new markets the company plans to attack as growth opportunities. The new Cybernest data centre environment is one aspect of its future plan.
The decision to build a data centre operation, which will be encouraged to become an entity in its own right, is part of financial director Peter Nelson's plan to cut the group's costs. He says Telkom currently has R2 billion worth of IT equipment, which has been migrated to the data centre and will be run as an outsourced project.
The first part of the systems to be moved will be the systems relating to the planned mobile business, and the rest will follow later.
Last year, Telkom began an outsourcing project, dubbed the "capability management project", which was criticised by the unions.
Nelson says that, while the IT services will still technically be in-house, Telkom consulted with organised labour and they are on board with the concept.
According to Nelson, Telkom is also looking at pushing its billing and operations systems out to a third-party player. “Telcos across the world are doing this and we will be looking at it as a possible way to cut costs.”
Putting the company's IT systems into the data centres is a strategic move for Telkom, and it is banking on growing Cybernest as a possible growth path. During yesterday's presentation to analysts and investors, CEO Reuben September said Telkom will place more focus on selling managed data services to customers.
Coupled with its strength in the undersea cable environment, Telkom says it is poised to tackle the data market, and hopes to become the wholesale provider of choice.
Share