An Affirmative Model

[JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA] – Novell’s newly purchased R18m Rivonia office block is to serve both as a technological showcase and as exemplar of the companys renewed faith in the South African economy.

“We believe the South African economy is set for strong growth and a sound investment in real estate will be the building block for expanding our business on the African continent,” said Novell SA’s managing director, Richard Beytagh.

The office will also be the first “Internet only” office for Novell, showcasing wireless access to the Net from every room as well as state-of-the-art biometrics security systems.

Undoubtedly the new office’s emphasis on connectivity and technological sophistication follows an increased global focus on e-business and technological transformation.
“Our traditional networking business is still strong, but it is the Directory deployments and eBusiness initiatives where we are experiencing the greatest interest,” explains Beytagh.

Along with a up-to-the-minute model office will come a new-fangled Consulting Division to help increase the acceptance of the very latest Novell technologies into local markets and to help in the design and project management of increasingly complex systems.

“A new generation of products are becoming more and more complex as they evolve from the traditional ‘file and print’ arena into fully-fledged Internet and e-business solutions,” states Novell Consulting branch manager, Christo van Rensburg.

Given Novell’s increased focus on the SA and African markets the company felt that it would be appropriate to introduce a local team of experts rather than rely on expensive back-up through its US or European operations.

Van Rensburg also believes that companies are more likely to spend money on brand new technologies when the vendor will be directly involved in assisting the reseller with the implementation of the solution.

Novell is currently a global leader when it comes to the provision of network and Internet directory software and services its renewed emphasis on local operations can only bode well for new SA digital economy.