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Equal Experts, a company truly worth being associated with


Johannesburg, 08 Mar 2021
Brian Ford
Brian Ford

When I start talking about Equal Experts, most people will stop me and say: “Equal Experts, who are they?” This is not an uncommon response as Equal Experts are not good at marketing themselves! Funnily enough, this is also one of their endearing qualities.

In September 2019, I received an innocuous appearing message from a LinkedIn associate enquiring whether I would be interested in a “key role for an International SW Consultancy's Cape Town operations”.  I responded that my interest was piqued, and more information was then sent to me. When I first researched the company, I must admit to feeling a little underwhelmed by their digital presence. I hadn’t heard of them in South Africa, and their positioning was predominantly UK-centric. I posed a plethora of questions to the recruitment agency, some of which I thought were quite direct and hard. I was pleasantly surprised at their response to my questions. I was put directly in touch with Equal Experts, and the People Manager in South Africa answered all my questions, even what I perceived as being my hard/direct questions in the most transparent way.

I remember that in my first chat with the People Manager, I was hammering on about companies that are not true to their values. Too often have I come across companies where the values are not adhered to. I have been involved with companies where it is lip service especially for the leadership, so this became a personal ambition for me, ie, to find a company where the values are truly lived. His response to me was, you need to be inside Equal Experts to experience whether the values are truly lived.

My next interaction was with the Business Unit Lead of South Africa, someone that I now realise truly epitomises what Equal Experts is about. Brian Blignaut is one of the most down-to-earth blokes you will ever meet. I knowingly say “blokes”, as most who understand the informality of the word will conjure up the image of a person who will automatically put you at ease, and someone you feel you can trust immediately.

After our conversation, Blignaut suggested that I chat to some of the team, and I was introduced to Werner Smit and Charles Tumwebaze. Smit is a big bear of a man who would not be out of place in a Viking village, and Tumwebaze has the aura of a wizened soul who has seen most of what life could throw at him. Both are intimidating in their own right, but the conversation was never uncomfortable, or in any way tense.

The interview process is not designed to “catch you out”. There is a genuine intention to get to know you, to understand your likes and dislikes, and to find that magical place of connection where you feel that you could add mutual value to each other.

Fast-track to my involvement inside Equal Experts. I was appointed as the Client Principal, essentially responsible for Sales/Business Development and to some extent Marketing in South Africa. My first few weeks at Equal Experts culminated in me feeling quite intimidated by those around me. In fact, someone hit the nail on the head when I confided in them as to how I was feeling, and they said that I may be suffering from something called “imposter syndrome” [Imposter syndrome can be defined as a collection of feelings of inadequacy that persist despite evident success. 'Imposters' suffer from chronic self-doubt and a sense of intellectual fraudulence that override any feelings of success or external proof of their competence. – Google definition]. The biggest reason for me feeling this way is that everyone I met seemed to be at the top of their game. I always give the example of “continuous delivery”. Now most IT practitioners will know what continuous delivery means in the context of continuous integration/continuous deployment, but what most people would not know is that the term continuous delivery, or the book “Continuous Delivery”, was co-authored by Jez Humble and Dave Farley. Well, Dave Farley is closely associated with Equal Experts! And this was the level of people that I was now interacting with. I was now engaging with world-class software engineering and business practitioners.

The journey inside has been a massive learning experience, something that is a foundation within the company. If you embrace learning, you will feel at home in Equal Experts and this helped me overcome my “imposter syndrome”, coupled with the realisation that I was appointed into a role based on my expertise and experience, and this was appreciated and valued. I also feel comfortable and safe to express myself as the organisation epitomises psychological safety, a belief that is driven by the CEO, Thomas Granier.

The growth in Equal Experts in the last year has been phenomenal. When I started in February 2020, there were 35 people in the South African operation. We are now over 70 people with an immediate need for another 50 people. In the short to medium term (one to three years) we estimate that we will need over 200 people. COVID-19 has demonstrated that remote working is effective and this has presented the opportunity for South Africa to provide world-class software engineering skills to global clients.

Paramount to our success are our philosophies and values:

Delivery – “We’re all here for the same reason: to deliver the best outcome we possibly can, in the most meaningful way.” Supporting this are values that clearly provide both direction and inspiration as to how and what we wish to deliver.

Technology – “Technology isn’t the answer to every problem, but every successful software project is built on rock-solid technical foundations.” Underpinning this is another set of values that clearly informs on our philosophy towards technology and what our approach would be.

Finally, from a consulting perspective, the overriding message is: “Above all, we’re a company of grown-ups – and this is borne out in how we work with our clients.

Hopefully now you know a bit more about us! World-class expertise, global reach and values that are lived. Egos are left behind in the pursuit of delivering real value to our clients and all those around us.

– Brian Ford, Client Principal, Equal Experts, South Africa

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Editorial contacts

Brian Ford
Client Principal
bford@equalexperts.com