Integr8 IT flexes market muscle with change in executive management

Integr8 IT, South Africa’s largest privately owned national BEE ICT network integration and infrastructure management specialist, has expanded the profile of its executive management, signalling a new chapter in its steady growth as a global operator and provider of managed ICT services.

Jan Roux, former technical director of Integr8 IT, has now taken up an official position as managing director of the company. At the same time the company’s co-founders and joint managing directors, Robert Sussman and Lance Fanaroff, will take up senior executive positions as Chief Executive Officers.

Roux has been with the company since 2001 and has contributed extensively towards its growth, development and refinement of core services.

“This is by far the most significant structural change we have initiated at the company since inception. Over time Jan has proven to be an obvious choice for the position and all we have really done is formalise a situation that has taken place in the natural progression of the company. It is a challenging role with a number of key responsibilities – but Jan, being a shareholder and partner in the business, is more than up to the task. We are pleased to have someone internal fulfil the criteria, someone that is known and respected by all employees and the industry at large,” says Sussman.

The re-positioning of management is a pre-requisite of the company’s long-term strategy to manage and leverage off projected growth and changes in the marketplace.

“The time is definitely right to take the business to its next level. A recent IDC report indicated that managed services will continue its exponential growth in the local and international markets. The provision of these services are expected to reach one point seven billion American dollars within the Asia/Pacific market this year. Clearly companies must position themselves appropriately to take advantage of the positive ripple affect in emerging markets,” Sussman continues.

Sussman names the continuing prevalence of key ICT and telecommunications services, such as Software as a Service (SaaS) and virtualisation as critical market drivers going forward.

He also points to media reports quoting Gartner research as stating that projected growth for global total software revenue for SaaS within enterprise software markets through 2011 will reach 11,5 $billion.

“We see the emergence in popularity surrounding on-and off site premium hosting services, the offer of zero capital outlay and guaranteed access to the latest business-ready technology.

Against a backdrop of escalating rates of technology adoption, as well as a high demand for critical managed services, Integr8 IT has positioned itself to substantially exceed its documented 300% year-on-year growth for the 2007/2008 fiscal year.

Roux echoes this sentiment and believes the company has experienced an overwhelming amount of growth with the future holding a continued positive outlook, underlined by ‘quality not quantity’ and a ‘work smarter’ approach to the application of its business model.

The core principle remains to sustain and enhance the value proposition of managing service and infrastructure support in order to turn it into tangible business benefit.

“There are a number of key aspects driving the company forward and compelling us to act on our long-term vision. These factors include intense focus on global and Africa business markets, effective recruitment and skills development, as well as rapid growth within various divisions of the Group. As such we apply a carefully engineered operations model that compliments and reinforces our overall business model,” says Roux.

This operations model is based on the combination of certain automated processes and procedures to safeguard functionality, juxtaposed with strategic use of intellectual capital and Human Resources.

“Our focus is to ensure that systems and technology, like our Nerve Centre, is used strategically and also serve as critical business tools for consultants. The consultancy component of the business continues to play an instrumental role in sustaining and enhancing service levels to clients. Recruitment of the right skills is paramount to our vision going forward,” adds Roux.

At this point Roux has a strategy in mind and is meticulous in his approach to following objectives in accordance with the company’s proven recipe. The company has not as yet committed to a JSE main board listing.