“Business Connexion is the leading black-owned South African ICT player”

Look to the past to see the future. This is an adage that is often applied in the context of history; it is also a useful indicator of the strength of a company.

Business Connexion is one organisation that is proud of its three-decade track record in information and communication technology (ICT), which provides a solid foundation for the company’s future in a converged, services-oriented environment. It is the same experience that is behind the company’s “Connective Intelligence” approach to technology solutions, where human potential is combined with technological prowess to deliver competitive advantage.

Sydney Ramutla, group executive: Global Strategic Sales and Marketing at Business Connexion, says the short version of what constitutes the company is that it is the leading black-owned South African ICT player, with more than 4 000 employees.

“The slightly longer version is that we are a diverse company where the power of our people’s intelligence is the defining value-add.

“And that’s incredibly diverse: our competencies span networking, infrastructure, desktop computing, applications that we’ve developed ourselves, and specialisation around applications developed by the likes of Microsoft and SAP,” he adds.

Furthermore, Ramutla stresses, as the world turns to cloud computing, he says Business Connexion’s managed services division is of particular relevance. “Already, we are delivering cloud-based infrastructure services from our purpose-designed data centres, while our managed services division offers diverse capabilities to a client list spanning the private and public sectors with one common thread – our commitment to value, performance and efficiency.”

He adds that above proven competence, Business Connexion also brings a human approach, one that is not dissimilar to the phenomenon of cloud computing.

“Connective Intelligence is the result of combining cloud technologies for collaboration and information exchange to enable our workforce to co-operate as a cohesive whole,” Ramutla says. “In such a structure, the whole is far more than the sum of the parts.”

A 32-year track record, he continues, means a broad and loyal client base. It further means the company has seen monumental changes in an industry renowned for the pace of development.

“Throughout this period, our clients have looked to Business Connexion to maximise the value of existing, emerging and brand- new technology. That is something we can be relied upon in South Africa and, indeed, across Africa; we have operations in Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Namibia, Zambia and Nigeria, and in Europe,” says Ramutla.

Providing brief insight into its competencies, he says the company enjoys traditional strengths in server-side and data centre infrastructure, through to both the desktop and deskside.

It has software competencies in Microsoft (desktop and enterprise), its own-developed municipal enterprise resource planning solution, and in SAP.

Business Connexion houses a Geographical Information Systems Division; and, as a company with an eye on the future, extending its portfolio is considered essential.

As examples, Ramutla points to the acquisition process under way to incorporate selected divisions of UCS – a maker of retail software – as well as the recent conclusion of a partnership for global content distribution with LimeLight Networks.

With its complete portfolio of solutions and services, Business Connexion enjoys top-level partnerships with major vendors including Microsoft, Cisco, HP, EMC and many others.

Looking to the future, Ramutla says this cannot be done by resting on past laurels.

“While our organisation comes from an IT background, we have been far from complacent in keeping abreast with developments within the broader industry. To this end, we have, over the past years, invested in creating a self-owned and operated next-generation network (NGN) – an essential building block for converged solutions and delivery of cloud services to our clients.”

Additionally, he points out that Business Connexion offers massive data centre capacity, through existing facilities in Midrand.

“These facilities – the NGN and the data centre – already provide ‘infrastructure as a service’ to South African companies and are proving to be a shrewd investment in our future,” Ramutla states.

Cloud computing, he notes, depends on network and data centre – plus content.

“Content, in the converged environment, is what it is all about. Our partnership with LimeLight Networks gives us all three elements required for a complete cloud computing play,” he adds.

Ramutla continues by saying that as a company, Business Connexion is a committed and enthusiastic South African corporate citizen that believes in a bright future for the nation. “That future is a digital one in which the Connected Intelligence, which our organisation enables and delivers, will play a key role in shaping, helping companies and individuals achieve more from their lives through smartly applied information and communication technology.”

www.bcx.co.za