Acquiring an ISP these days seems like 'the done thing' for most big South African IT groups. ISPs are bought and sold, as the acquisition of Global Internet Access first by Mustek and subsequently by USKO shows.

The world is moving, rapidly and irrevocably, toward a scenario where it won`t be things any longer that determine performance, but brains and creativity. In the high-tech industry, we grapple with this every day.

The Internet, besides other things, has become the Solitaire of the late 90s. The world over, companies are grappling with the incessant requirement to be wired versus the very real experience that e-mail is really all you want for your employees, and absolutely not a stitch more.

A Web site is like a window onto a company`s technical foresight, while great customer service and responsiveness is the door through which customers will actually enter into a relationship with you.

Integrating the Internet into an IT manager`s activity profile is no longer a luxurious option, but is now on the brink of becoming a must and something on which your performance will be judged at the end of a year.