South Africa’s skills shortage is preventing the country from achieving the 5% annual GDP growth that is our only real chance of making a dent in poverty.
In a 2018 report, Pew Research estimated that some 900 000 people born in South Africa were living abroad in 2017. The firm indicates these are mostly skilled professionals.
All is not lost, however, as independent telco ICTGlobe.com believes technology will continue to help solve South Africa’s myriad challenges.
“From anti-crime cameras deployed with great effect in our cities, to world-class computational systems that ensure we run better elections than much of the developed world, information and communications technology (ICT) is becoming the bedrock of our society upon which future SA growth will be based,” says Riaan van Stryp, ICTGlobe.com General Manager.
Much of this growth, however, will depend on local companies’ success in automating ICT systems. “By automating, you’re essentially freeing up human resources to focus on their own growth and development,” explains Mr Van Stryp.
“Business automation is the catalyst to upskill entry-level staff. Why have a human being repeatedly undertaking the same routine tasks when a machine will do, leaving the person to be developed by the organisation into a much more valuable, and fulfilled, resource?”, asks Mr Van Stryp.
When it comes to the regular ordering of ICT services by reseller SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) that on-sell them to business and end-user consumers, automation really comes into its own. This is particularly true when the reseller knows what it needs and can easily place these regular orders via an online system. “A few clicks can cut out unnecessary quotations and paperwork that only serve to waste time and money,” Mr Van Stryp says.
Automating the ordering system frees up the sales team to focus on customer service and training new resellers to focus on the sale of services without getting tied up in manual processes. Machines can process while humans can focus on after-sales client happiness.
ICTGlobe.com’s ability to automate business solutions, through platforms like ‘The Ninja’, comes from its many years of building solid ICT solutions and white-labeled support structures, amongst others.
Single-view online portals empower SMEs that would like to be successful in the ICT market by getting on with the business of winning, pleasing and retaining customers.
Finally, ICTGlobe.com owns a Tier 1 telecoms network meaning it has full control over this core asset. Operating its own interconnect and networking facilities means the firm can reliably offer voice calls at competitive rates. Guaranteed voice and data services uptime is underpinned by the company’s investment in a Tier 3 rated Data Centre and presence in offsite data centres that offer clients additional redundancy.