Convergence Partners Chairman, Andile Ngcaba, was named as TechCentral’s newsmaker of 2011 for his significant impact on South Africa’s technology sector over the past 12 months, topping an impressive list consisting of Pieter Uys, Mamodupi Mohlala, Karel Pienaar, Robert Gumede, Roy Padayachie, Lars Reichelt, Michael Jordaan, Pinky Moholi and Mteto Nyati.

According to TechCentral: “Through his Convergence Partners investment vehicle, Ngcaba launched a US$250m satellite with Intelsat (after a false start) and signed a multibillion-rand deal to build a national fibre network with Cell C and Dimension Data’s Internet Solutions.

“Ngcaba has taken to the business world like a proverbial duck to water. Executive chairman of Dimension Data Middle East and Africa, in which he also holds a sizeable investment through Convergence Partners, Ngcaba is certainly prepared to put his money where his mouth is.”

“Despite his involvement in the launch of the Intelsat New Dawn satellite and FibreCo’s plans to deploy a R5bn national fibre network consisting of up to 14 000km of fibre infrastructure, Ngcaba has stayed largely out of the media spotlight in 2011. But we’ve been tracking his activities closely and we think he’s worthy of the accolade of newsmaker of the year.”

Read more here: http://www.techcentral.co.za/sa-newsmakers-of-the-year-the-top-five/28200/

Information technology (IT) services provider Dimension Data, a Convergence Partners investee, has been awarded the contract to supply all IT services for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change seventeenth Conference of the Parties (COP 17) event.

The contract entails the supply of network, audio, visual, wireless and Internet connectivity across the Durban venue.

Network company Cisco will provide the technology for the network, audio, visual and wireless solutions and Internet service provider Neotel will provide Internet connectivity and bandwidth for telepresence and videoconferencing.

“Dimension Data is the service integrator across the partners and will provide consulting and design services for the actual cabling and data centre infrastructure at the venue,” says Dimension Data regional executive director Jay Reddy.

The company’s sustainability strategy is based on three focus areas, namely commitments and efforts to improve its own sustainability, its employee engagement and the services and solutions that help clients deliver on their sustainability strategies.

“Our focus on sustainable solutions helps us win contracts such as COP 17,” enthuses Dimension Data sustainability director Colin Curtis.

He states that climate change is of great concern to Dimension Data and the company believes COP 17 is an important event that will deliver definitive actions for governments, businesses and individuals to reduce their impact on the environment.

Since 2007, the company has reduced its carbon footprint by 43% and has reduced the travel related emissions for each of its employees by 59%. Reddy says the company is mindful of continuing its focus to meet the aims of COP 17.

Dimension Data is also a member of environmental body Green Grid, which is a consortium of organisations, businesses, policymakers, technology providers and utility companies that aim to collaborate to improve resource efficiency of data centre and business computing ecosystems.

The company participates in work groups and the development of technical specifications that improve the efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of business computing.

Article from Engineering News

Wireless solutions provider Comsol, a Convergence Partners investee, started the R2-million installation of its new wireless multiservice wide-area network (WAN) solution at ferrochrome producer Samancor Chrome’s project sites, in Mpumalanga and the North West, in September.

Comsol chief commercial officer Darren Morgan tells Mining Weekly that the contract entails the installation of customised carrier-class high-speed wireless links to connect Samancor Chrome’s different sites.

“We will connect all the sites over hundreds of kilometres, using wireless circuits through a series of repeat sites. Instead of using cable infrastructure, we are using wireless point-to-point technology,” he explains.

Radio links are supplied to Samancor Chrome’s critical sites, which include Tubatse Ferrochrome, at Steelpoort, Ferrometals, at Witbank, Middelburg Ferrochrome, at Middelburg, Western Chrome Mines’ Mooinooi and Millsell operations, located at Mooinooi and just outside of Rustenburg respectively, as well as the company’s head office in Sandton, Gauteng.

Phase 1 of the project connected the Steelpoort, Middelburg and Witbank sites with 25 Mb/s radio links. Middelburg is the main hub, as all the centralised applications and systems applications and products are hosted there.

Morgan says the new managed WAN service is crucial to Samancor Chrome, as the company runs centralised systems and, more specifically, a centralised financial system.

“These systems are fully dependent on the capacity and quality of the WAN connectivity. Any disruption to the WAN connectivity leads to the centralised systems shutting down,” he adds.

Further, Morgan says that 48 V power backup systems have been installed at some repeat sites and the radio-frequency hardware is about 50% complete. He expects the installation project to be completed in October.

“This system will assist in improving communication between sites, which will contribute significantly to process efficiency and transparency, as faulty areas will be more easily identified,” he states.

Morgan says Comsol aims to assist several mining houses, including Anglo American, Kumba Iron Ore and Exxaro, with various wireless control solutions.

“We are also in the process of rolling out an extensive Layer-2 access network using the Comsol owned national 28 Ghz spectrum. This will provide high-capacity carrier-of-carriers access services to our partners,” he adds.

Further, he states that the company’s outlook for the future is optimistic, owing to the continued pressure on the general South African telecommunications environment to provide higher capacity and more services. Morgan believes this will ensure that Comsol’s solutions remain relevant.

Article from Mining Weekly

Dimension Data, a Convergence Partners investee, received the 2011 South African Excellence in Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) Strategy Award from Frost & Sullivan.

Dimension Data, according to a recent Frost & Sullivan analysis conducted on the IT services market, have met a number of measurement performance criteria, pertinent to achieving a certain level of excellence, when compared to that of key competitors within the IT industry.

Brent Flint, services executive: Dimension Data Middle East & Africa, describes the award as a significant confirmation that Dimension Data is well positioned to provide its clients with services that help them at each step in their journey toward cloud architectures.

“For the last few years, we have been building cloud-related skills and capabilities in areas such as virtualisation, data centre and storage, managed services and hosting, and IT outsourcing – critical to enabling cloud architectures for our clients. Our experience with complex, multi-national systems integration projects coupled with its managed services expertise are critical to making cloud a reality for clients.”

The company’s acquisitions and investments in cloud assets such as Australian-based, Blue Fire, Internet Solutions, as well as the OneCloud initiative between their Asian subsidiary and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) was succeeded by the OpSource deal.

“The acquisition of OpSource in June 2011 marks the culmination of Dimension Data’s strategy to ensure the company accelerates the provision of its cloud offerings, and remains at the forefront of global networking and communications technology,” says Frost & Sullivan’s ICT industry analyst Ishe Zingoni. “Whereas Dimension Data is an end-to-end IT solutions provider in the South African market, the acquisition brings with it special expertise around cloud and managed hosting solutions that enable businesses to grow and scale operations, while controlling costs.”

Over the past few years, the company has been developing cloud-related skills and capabilities in the areas of virtualisation, data centre and storage, managed services and hosting, and IT outsourcing – all critical to enabling cloud architectures for clients. At the same time, Dimension Data has been educating its clients on the service possibilities of implementing cloud computing and virtualisation. Such initiatives have laid the groundwork for Dimension Data’s cloud strategy.

“The acquisition of OpSource contributes a rich set of services, a sound cloud architecture, and extensive experience in cloud services that will meet immediate client needs,” remarks Zingoni. “This is in addition to a cloud infrastructure with a proprietary integrated orchestration system that supports growth, development and globally consistent operations.”

OpSource also brings an attractive client base in the Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and Service Providers (SPs) to complement Dimension Data’s strong enterprise footprint.

Dimension Data has realised that, in order to develop its cloud-based architecture, it is essential to understand the integration of IT systems across disparate multi-technology, multi-geography IT environments. Its acquisition of OpSource represents a key element in achieving this goal.

“OpSource is better positioned to exploit its cloud architecture and orchestration capabilities, maximising on the global cloud opportunity as part of a globally diversified group, rather than on its own,” explains Zingoni. “Geographical expansion is, therefore, one of the key operational synergies that will be facilitated by this deal.”

To aid in seamless post-merger integration, Dimension Data has created a centralised stand-alone division – Dimension Data Cloud Solutions Business Unit, which falls directly under the scope of the CEO. This business model aims to eliminate duplication of costs, as well as to provide for a consistent global client experience.

“As a business entity, OpSource will operate as part of this unit, nevertheless retaining its name and brand identity,” says Zingoni. “The advantage of this strategy is to preserve brand recognition and customer loyalty in highly competitive markets.”

The Excellence in M&A Strategy Award is presented to the company that has excelled in the following criteria: synergies of acquisitions, expansion of customer base, enabling geographic expansion and strategy for post-merger integration.

Article from IT Online

The Computer Society of South Africa (CSSA), in partnership with leading IT publishers, academic and research institutions, every year recognises outstanding talent, leadership, vision and commitment of individuals and organisations within the ICT industry. Convergence Partners is proud to note that Mayan Mathen, Dimension Data CTO, has been nominated for the CSSA Visionary CIO 2011 award.

The 2011 winners of the IT industry’s most prestigious awards will be announced at the CSSA President’s Awards event – a business breakfast organised in association with ITWeb on 10 November at the Hilton Sandton Hotel.

The four awards being presented are the IT Personality of the Year, the Visionary CIO of the Year, Distinguished Service in ICT and IT Leading Employer. This year’s finalists for the IT Personality award are Asher Bohbot, CEO of EOH, Darlene Menzies, managing owner of The Development House, Greg Reis, CEO of Business Systems Group, Mteto Nyati, MD of Microsoft and Sean O’Connell, CEO of Airborne.

The top five finalists for the Visionary CIO award are Andrew Brauer, CIO/CTO of Business Connexion, Bradley Coward, group CIO of Sappi, Mayan Mathen, CTO of Dimension Data MEA, Rubens da Silva, CIO of Johannesburg Water and Sandi Macfie, CIO of Southern Sun Hotels.

Article from BizCommunity

SEACOM, the pan-African ICT enabler, announced the appointment of Mark Simpson as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) with effect 5 September 2011. Brian Herlihy, the current CEO, will remain with the company as a member of the Board and take on the new role of Executive Director where he will focus on strategic projects essential for SEACOM’s continued success.

An industry veteran with more than 25 years’ experience in the telecommunications industry, Mark Simpson has held a number of senior international executive positions during his career, most recently as President and CEO of Pacific Crossing, a company operating a trans-Pacific cable system between the United States and Japan. He was also Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Asia Netcom (now Pacnet) and CEO of C2C Pte Ltd, Asia’s then largest cable system.

Commenting on his appointment, Mark Simpson said: “The SEACOM system has changed the African ICT landscape and I am pleased to be joining a market shaping company with a firm plan to evolve its core infrastructure and lead Africa into the next stage of ICT growth.

“It is a great opportunity to come to a company with a great team that has accomplished so much already and set out a clear strategic plan going forward. I look forward to working cooperatively with Brian, who has meant so much to SEACOM.”

Simpson will be responsible for leading SEACOM into a new era of data-based projects and growth assisted by Herlihy. In addition he will bring to bear his operational know-how in developing and running a best-in-class quality of service international network and ensuring that SEACOM’s customers are well served by its network, products and services.

In his new capacity as Executive Director, Brian Herlihy will retain a key role in the strategic direction of the company focusing on maximizing development opportunities and network deployment.

“I am delighted to welcome Mark on board. His experience will contribute considerably to securing SEACOM’s efforts to consistently improve network operations while maintaining our position of being first to market with new products.

“Mark’s extended experience ensures that SEACOM can leapfrog technology evolutions and develop a best-in-class pan-African solution.

“I am confident that our cooperation will provide me the capacity to pursue the correct partnerships necessary for SEACOM’s vision to truly lead the development of the African Internet,” concluded Brian Herlihy.

SEACOM Press Release

Read more here!

Article from Engineering News

Article from TechCentral

Seacom, a Convergence Partners investee company, has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Square Kilometre Array (SKA) South Africa to provide support for the country’s €1.5-billion SKA radio telescope project.

SKA South Africa site bid manager Dr. Bruce Wallace said in placing the SKA data transport capacity requirement in perspective, the SKA network is estimated to be 100 to 150 times larger than the current World Wide Web network.

“The SKA project is a mega-science project and will require the upgrade of infrastructure for science and research. However, the benefits of this upgraded technology and infrastructure will be felt not only by scientists, but by businesses and economies.”

He said the wavelength project and the MOU, demonstrated Seacom’s commitment to continuously elevate Africa’s position as a primary scientific and business destination.

“The timing of this important telecommunications milestone couldn’t be better; it comes in time for inclusion in the SKA site bid submission reports due by the middle of September,” Wallace added.

Construction on the SKA is scheduled to start around 2016, and the announcement of the successful bidder, either South Africa or Australia, is expected by the end of March 2012.”

Engineering News Article

Seacom, a Convergence Partners investee company, has invested R100 million in additional South African infrastructure to meet the continuous high growth in demand for broadband services and applications. The investment includes the purchase of physical optical fibre links from Dark Fibre Africa (DFA) as well as installing the equipment required for Seacom to manage the network linking KwaZulu Natal’s coast where the Seacom marine cable lands to two redundant Points of Presence (PoPs) in Gauteng.

Initially, 100 Gigabit per second (Gb/s) of the fibre will be lit (using current 10 Gb/s technology) and a further 20 waves are expected to be lit within the next 12 months. Ultra-modern transmission technology is being used with 100 Gb/s per wavelength which gives the new link a design capacity of over 8 Terabit per second (Tb/s). This is in line with Seacom’s plans to expand the marine portion of the cable to over 4.8 Tb/s.

This enormous amount of capacity enables Seacom to align current and future customer needs with the explosion in broadband demand driven by a wave of content rich applications such as cloud computing to meet enterprise requirements, HD video streaming and IPTV services. This investment also supports Seacom’s recently launched Internet Protocol (IP) platform that will drive the proliferation of content created in Africa and the regional hosting of international content.

Brian Herlihy, Seacom CEO, said: “South Africa continues to offer tremendous growth opportunities and this investment confirms Seacom’s view that adequate infrastructure  will ensure that the market can absorb new capacity within record time.

“In our continuous quest to improve quality of service, this is one of the many investments that we are making to ensure that we provide our customers with the best possible support  as we continue to build the African Internet based on low-latency, high speed and reliable infrastructure.“

Managed by Seacom and its suppliers, the route is the company’s first co-build of this nature. It will be operated in parallel with Seacom’s existing routes and will provide customers with the benefit of protected services delivered across multiple, physically diverse routes and operated by multiple providers.

Suveer Ramdhani, Seacom’s Head of Product Strategy, said: “This new capacity will benefit the end user by enabling Seacom clients to bring new content rich products to market in a reliable and economical way.

“The scale of the capacity we are making available on the route is yet another first in Africa and you can expect us to continue rolling out more ground-breaking technological developments in the near future.”

Seacom believes in a world where the African Internet experience is characterised by abundant local content, minimal latency, fast download and streaming speeds, and interconnected African markets. Today, over a dozen countries across the African continent have access to Seacom’s low cost products and services via its extended network.

SEACOM Press Release

Engineering News

MoneyWeb Article

Dimension Data, the 74.9% holding company of Convergence Partners investee company Dimension Data Middle East and Africa (DDMEA), announced that it has acquired OpSource, an enterprise cloud company, in a deal that will see Dimension Data (itself a wholly owned subsidiary of NTT Holdings) accelerate its cloud computing services offerings.  At the same time, Dimension Data, a US $4.7 billion ICT services and solutions provider has created a centralised Cloud Solutions Business Unit which will report directly into Dimension Data’s CEO, Brett Dawson.  OpSource will become part of the Dimension Data Cloud Solutions Business Unit.

OpSource employs 150 staff and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California with operations in Virginia, United Kingdom, Ireland and India.  Over 600 enterprises, service providers and Software-as-a-Service Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) employ OpSource’s expertise, experience and cloud automation technology to operate high-availability, business-critical cloud computing and hosting environments.

Brett Dawson, Dimension Data CEO said, “Market readiness for cloud services is being enabled by technology maturation, along with clients’ needs for more flexible services-centric, IT sourcing options.  Our decision to accelerate our focus on cloud services aligns to our long-standing strategy to become a services-led business.  Over the past few years, Dimension Data has been building cloud-related skills and capabilities in the areas of virtualization, data center and storage, managed services and hosting, and IT outsourcing – all critical to enabling cloud architectures for our clients.

“OpSource brings a rich set of services, a sound cloud architecture, and extensive experience in cloud services that will meet immediate client needs – in addition to a cloud infrastructure which supports development and growth in this space. We believe OpSource provides us with an accelerated time-to-market as their infrastructure and services are well-established and tested.  Dimension Data is now well-positioned to provide our clients with services that help them at each step in their journey toward cloud architectures,” Dawson explained.

Dimension Data’s competencies and capabilities in IT integration are a strategic differentiator and critical to helping organizations effectively adopt a cloud architecture. The Group’s experience with complex multi-national systems integration projects, coupled with its managed services, data center and storage, and security expertise are critical to accelerating the transition to cloud computing for clients across all regions.

According to Treb Ryan, OpSource CEO and co-founder, mapping a migration path and architectural design for cloud is complex and requires in-depth understanding of an organisation’s entire IT infrastructure, architecture, and relative interdependencies and risks.  “An understanding of IT integration across disparate multi-technology, multi-geography, IT environments is critical to evolving toward cloud-based architectures.  We believe that as part of Dimension Data, OpSource will be better able to capitalize on the global cloud computing market opportunity.  We’re thrilled to be a part of the Dimension Data family.”

Press Release

Article from TechCentral

On Friday 25 February 2011, Communications Minister Roy Padayachie met with the leaders of 30 of SA’s top ICT players to discuss cooperation between government and private sector in order to create jobs and enhance growth. Chairman of Convergence Partners and Dimension Data, Andile Ngcaba, attended the roundtable discussions, which were aimed at developing a 2020 vision for the South African ICT sector.  Andile noted that applications and software are central to the ICT ecosystem and that opportunities exist for innovation and development in these fields. The potential for job creation opportunities would also arise from the production of new set top boxes, required for migration to digital television signal distribution in South Africa.

Andile Ngcaba said: “The conversation that has been started between the Ministry and the ICT industry is encouraging and key in building a strong ICT industry in South Africa.  Out of this dialogue, it became clear that in order for South Africa to meet the challenges and opportunities presented by the emergence of the new ICT ecosystem, it would be critical to have in place pervasive and accessible broadband infrastructure and undertake a concerted effort to up skill our human resources to ensure sustainable and quality job creation in South Africa.”

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