Datatec expands South American operations

Johannesburg, 14 Sept 2006

Datatec`s IT and networking systems integration company, Logicalis, will invest over $1 million to establish offices in Chile and Peru.

The offices - to be based in Santiago and Lima - will be wholly owned by Logicalis South America and will bolster Logicalis` current footprint in the region beyond its existing four offices in four countries.

CEO Jens Montanana says the establishment of the two offices will give the company the critical mass to expand operations and grow revenue in Chile and Peru seven-fold by the end of its 2008 financial year.

The South American business contributes 7% of Logicalis turnover.

The move will also position Logicalis as the number one Cisco partner in the region, it says.

"The move will enable the company to become the partner of choice for advanced technology vendors and users in the region," says Montanana. "Our Chile and Peru operations will focus on IP telephony and security.

"The move to grow our presence in the region is supported by our strategic partners, many of whom see huge growth potential," he says. "For example, Cisco expects to grow its revenues in South America by 40% a year over the next two years."

This news comes shortly after Logicalis announced it had made two acquisitions. It purchased Computech Resources, a US-based IBM premier business partner and a $35 million solution provider of IBM products and services. It made the other acquisition in Europe, where a subsidiary bought re:solution, a small German ICT services organisation.