The Internet Service Providers’ Association of SA (ISPA) has named the management committee for 2011-2012.  Marc Furman of Internet Solutions (IS) and Jaap Scholten of eNetworks will lead the management committee as joint chairs, while Mike Silber of Liquid Telecom is the treasurer.  Other members of the management committee include Graham Beneke (Neology), David Gentleman (Enyuka Internet Access), Rob Hunter (Neotel), Jenny King (e-Schools Network), Ant Brooks (Future Foundation), Wilmari Hannie (MWEB Connect), and Elaine Zinn (Future Foundation).

Article from MyBroadband

Article from TechCentral

Dimension Data division Internet Solutions (IS) has increased its stake in its Kenyan subsidiary from 51% to 80% as it seeks to further expand its presence in the fast growing East African region. IS initially acquired a 51% stake in Kenyan service provider iConnect in 2005, which was then rebranded Internet Solutions Kenya.
The Kenyan business also serves Tanzania and Uganda. IS has plans to expand into Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan in the near future and has secured an option to acquire the remaining 20% stake in its Kenyan operation.

See attached press release

Article from TechCentral

The Internet Solutions (IS) Global Service Centre (GSC) was recognised as a top industry performer at the recent Business Process enabling South Africa (BPeSA) awards ceremony, receiving the award for the Best SA Customer Service Centre in Gauteng.

The GSC is a dynamic and interactive contact centre located at The Campus, in Johannesburg, which serves all South African and African IS clients. Operating 24 hours a day, the GSC aims to attend to all IS client needs with the most efficient and effective level of service. The GSC fields 17 000 inbound telephone calls, 40 000 service requests and averages 15 000 successful network generated events on a monthly basis.

“Over the past two years, we have been working hard to create a fun, challenging yet highly rewarding environment for our staff to work in, while also meeting the needs of our clients through excellent client service,” explains Matthew Kaplan, Global Service Centre Manager at IS. “This is all aimed at developing the GSC into a world-class contact centre through the use of the best service technologies, as well as the most highly trained, qualified and professional staff.”

According to Kaplan, the GSC’s main internal focus over the last two years has been the growth and development of staff through a number of programmes. “Training and development is a key focus for both our staff and managers,” he explains. “For instance, we have implemented an in-house training and development centre, offering A+, N+, MCSA, CCNA and CCNP courses for our staff, who are encouraged to attend at least one certification annually. They are also encouraged to attend relevant seminars and receive soft skills training around call coaching and telephone and communication skills. Our managers, on the other hand, attend Generation Y management, interpersonal-style, people development, and team dynamics training, among others.”

Additional staff enrichment tools include bi-annual KPIs, positive environmental variables, like chill rooms, and management development programmes for staff that have been identified as having the calibre and aptitude to follow this non-technical path and become future leaders. “All of this has resulted in a staff attrition rate of just 4% for 2010, which is in stark contrast to the industry norm of around 25%, and is something we are very proud of,” says Kaplan.

“Externally, our focus has been on our clients’ experience when using our service, ensuring that it is of the highest quality,” he continues. “We conduct regular client satisfaction surveys to rate the initial interaction the client received when logging a call, as well as the interaction and service received when dealing with a specialist technician. This has enabled us to continually improve on our client touch points and evolve the processes we use in logging, classifying, prioritising, investigating, escalating and resolving their support calls.” Kaplan also believes that the company’s smooth transition to the ISO20000 international IT service management standard in August 2010, having adopted it more than two years ago, also improved the level of service offered to IS’ local and international customers through the contact centre.

“Having invested so much into both sides of our business, it is very rewarding to be recognised by an industry representative body such as BPeSA,” states Kaplan. As the national co-ordinating industry association representing the interests of the business process outsourcing and off-shoring sector in South Africa, the overriding aim of BPeSA is to deliver a national co-ordinated support services to the industry, to enable the development, growth and continued success of the sector as a whole. Accordingly, these awards form an important element in the recognition of operators who are doing exceptional work in this rapidly growing and increasingly important sector.

“The award re-enforces the positive client feedback the GSC has received, and confirms that our process enhancements and the training and development we are giving our agents and engineers is yielding the desired results,” continues Kaplan. “It should also reaffirm our clients’ trust in our ability to effectively outsource and support their networks by offering a truly world-class experience when dealing with the service centre. Our clients can rest assured that we will continue to raise our level and quality of service, especially as the GSC plays an increasingly important role in cementing our market leading status locally, while helping to drive IS’ expansion into Africa,” he concludes.

ITWeb Article

Convergence Partner’s investee company, Internet Solutions (IS) has acquired a majority stake in locally managed Linux service provider Synaq, for an undisclosed sum.

IS executive for communication services Wayne Speechly says the acquisition boosts the ability of IS to tackle the growing need for managed communication services in the small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) market, through the delivery of robust hosted Linux and open-source technologies. Synaq, on the other hand, will benefit from access to IS’s infrastructure and gain a strong base of support for African and international expansion.

Synaq’s operations, structure, management and staffing will remain unchanged following the acquisition and the company will continue to serve its current customers from its Johannesburg head office.”

Read IS Press Release here!

Article from Engineering News

The Group recorded a sound trading performance for the quarter ended 31 December 2009. Reported turnover reflected an approximately 6% increase in relation to the three months to 31 December 2008.

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