Altron CEO Mteto Nyati
With the completion of a strategy review and a successful consolidation and realignment of the business, telecommunications and information technology giant Allied Technology (Altron) CEO Mteto Nyati has set his sights on shaking up the JSE-listed firm to unlock a “new era” of growth and expansion after losses in recent years.
The JSE-listed group had recently transitioned from a family controlled and managed business to an independent management structure, with the appointment of Nyati in March as successor to Robbie Venter in a move to aggressively drive a strategy aimed at returning the company to its previous fortunes.
Four months in, Nyati unpacked the new five-year structured roadmap, founded on a “One Altron” principle, to media at a roundtable, in Johannesburg, on Tuesday.
This had followed an intensive review of Altron’s strategy for the growth of the core businesses, any capability or resource gaps that existed and where various capabilities already within the group could be synergised within the four focus areas – healthcare, financial inclusion, safety and security and training and development.
The revised strategy, themed “positioning for growth”, is based on the company’s four standing strategic pillars of revenue growth, profitability improvement, customer experience transformation and employee excellence.
“We are making significant headway in implementing our plans and our vision to be the leading technology solutions company that delivers innovation that matters and has a meaningful impact on society by addressing challenges facing our communities in South Africa, the continent and globally, while delivering shared value for our stakeholders and inspiring pride in our employees,” Nyati said.
Altron had already streamlined its management structure and simplified its operations, resulting in a leaner, more engaged head office that was 40% smaller and saved the group around R60-million a year.
Several core assets were being realigned, while the bulk of Altron’s noncore assets have already been sold. Nyati is determined to shed the remaining noncore operations by February.
Altron will focus on profitable growth through cross selling and the continued building of strategic partnerships, along with the pursuit of bolt-on acquisitions and the establishment of an Africa-focused operation, which feeds into geographic expansion and acquisitions.
In addition, Altron plans to continue to break down the company’s silos, which are attributed to the company’s acquisitive growth structure, to develop and apply end-to-end capabilities for customers.
“We have spent a lot of our time this year reorganising the business to make operations more cost-effective and to unify the different parts of the business so that we operate as One Altron,” he explained.