With pent-up demand in the marketplace for new hardware and software solutions to replace rapidly aging systems, there will be enormous pressure on vendors, distributors and resellers to "deliver the goods" in 2004, writes Graham Duxbury, MD of specialist networking solutions distributor, Duxbury Networking.
He looks at a variety of challenges facing all players in the channel as they strive to meet the ICT requirements of business in SA.
Whatever challenges facing the ICT industry in SA, there is little doubt that 2004 will be dominated by black economic empowerment (BEE) transformation initiatives across the broadest spectrum of companies.
For some time the industry has identified BEE as one of the most important aspects of business and have placed emphasis on skills transfer, falling into line with many government and quasi-government activities.
The need for training and skills transfer will place significant demands on both hardware and software vendors alike - although their respective routes to empowering people will be very different from each other.
These differentiators will be highlighted by the various needs in the marketplace.
Technical support
Technical support is a perennial concern for the hardware sector of the ICT industry. SA has for decades suffered skills shortages due to the brain drain of the 80s and 90s and a lack of emphasis on skills transfer.
This is changing - particularly in the networking arena where forward-looking organisations are addressing training issues from the BEE perspective.
The "hot buttons" today include wireless networking solutions and infrastructure development.
The key challenge is that while wired communication systems consist of only two components - the cable and the enabling network - wireless data systems are far more complex, encompassing the target devices, wireless networks plus data and content itself.
The marketplace will also be dominated in 2004 by the burgeoning role of small and medium-sized businesses.
Increasingly able to afford new generation technology, these organisations, many of which fall into the BEE category, have an inherent advantage thanks to the South African government`s aggressive preferential procurement policy framework.
Cost
Cost of hardware has already become a key issue with the strengthening rand contributing to falling prices and a margin squeeze for many channel players. The hardware market - particularly the PC and laptop niche - is poised for an influx of even cheaper offerings.
A number of vendors will use direct-to-customer sales methods to increase margins, but this will place added pressure on support organisations, while upsetting the delicate balance in channel distribution models.
Software
In the software area, security will play an increasing role. Studies have shown that companies often pay the price of a software system over and over again in applying security patches. So security has to be part of the initial purchase.
It is a sad indictment against big business in SA, but some of the biggest names have the most flawed solutions.
Of major concern to security experts is online fraud. It will gain in importance. The recent online banking incidents are but the tip of the iceberg.
Solutions to these and related security problems will challenge the software industry and place increasing emphasis on skills and expertise in this sector.
Good governance
The industry will also be challenged to implement good governance practices to uphold the requirements of the King II report - such as the need for companies to record and store all their data in a secure environment.
As a result, electronic data and communications records will gain considerably in value and their integrity - and the security surrounding them - will be questioned and examined at every opportunity.
In terms of these issues, many companies, particularly financial institutions and e-tailers, have gained significant intelligence on security challenges.
They could assist the software industry to prevent online fraud and identity the potential for theft. The challenge will be to liberate this information and make it generally available using predictive analysis and other business intelligence (BI)-oriented systems.
Software vendors, distributors and resellers should work together in a spirit of co-operation to foster more secure environments that protect both consumers and businesses alike.
Operating systems
Another key issue in the software sector will be the increasing need to bridge the gap between Microsoft and its rivals, by offering customers the option to run disparate operating systems on a common platform.
While much of the work to develop technologies to accomplish this goal are still in progress, there are certain pointers to the future.
Success in business is today intrinsically linked to a highly functional and available IT infrastructure. Considerable strides have been made in the development of converged technologies in areas such as 24x7 availability and security.
From a network perspective, today converged network edge and core devices have contributed to a general strengthening of the network`s availability and security capabilities.
In future, converged operating systems and network operating systems will enable companies to save on start-up and development costs and gain a faster and more comprehensive return on investment.
Share