Interested in sustainability?
Go see:
Article 13 - Corporate Social Responsibility, innovation, opinion forming, business responsibility, Article 13
Monthly Archive for February, 2005
IBM recently sold their PC business.
They’ve just purchased Corio, an ASP provider, or if the Salesforce.com people were talking, an On-Demand software provider.
Read: IBM to buy Corio .
Another big player stakes a claim…
For all you Star Wars lovers out there - a nice little parody:
JengaJam.com >> Star Wars Episode 3: A Lost Hope (A Short Film)
Joost has posted Metamorph. Go see it.
Beautiful
(Click “Metamorph” under commercial projects)
Such a simple question….
Kindergarden teacher: “To get to the other side.”
George Bush: “The chicken is either with us or with them. If it’s on that side then he will be destroyed.”
Ronald Reagan: “I forgot.”
Martin Luther King: “I have a dream where all chickens will be free to cross roads without having their motives called in question.”
Richard Nixon: “The chicken did not cross the road. I repeat, the chicken did NOT cross the road.”
Jan F.E. Celliers: “Dis die hoender, dis die pad, dis al.”
Eugene Terblanche: “Die hoender is die Afrikanervolk se erfenis. So ook die pad. En iemand moet dit waag om ons daarvan te beroof !”
PW Botha: “It wasn’t the road, it was the Rubicon.”
Nataniël: “Ek was vreeslik op my nerves vir sy part tot hy anderkant gekom het. Ek dink dit was stunning !”
Naas Botha: “Aan die einde van die dag maak dit nie saak hoeveel keer hy oor die straat is nie. Wat saak maak, is die telbord.”
Ferdinand Rabie: “He crossed the road to get to me. Me have also been on the other side. Millions of chickens mos supports me. I will sommer kick their wakka-wakkas if they dont!”
Nelson Mandela: “It was his long walk to freedom. A true Rainbow chicken.”
Pieter-Dirk Uys: “Was dit ‘n he-chicken or a she-chicken?” Does it Pik?
Mangosuthu Buthelezi: “Why did the chickzzblackzulujargontraditzuluunionzzcrossen the road?”.. Actually.
Allan Boesak: “How can the motives of a chicken who had done so much for chickenhood be questioned? It must have “struggled” to cross the road.
Dullah Omar: “I am sure the chicken is innocent. He did what he did because of the apatheid legacy.”
Nconde Balfour: “The government will ensure that a fair quota of black chickens cross the road as well. Why should black chickens remain on this side of the road?” I only watch black chickens crossing the road anyway…..
Trevor Manuel: “Makes me think: We don’t tax chickens crossing roads yet….”
Tony Leon: “No matter where the chicken goes, we have the guts to fight back.”
Van Schalkwyk: “Let’s join the chicken and cross the road !”
Desmond Tutu: “Weee should have crossed the road with him. Together weee will make a difference.”
Thabo Mbeki: “I don’t really have an opinion about this….” (puff..puff..puff)
Mark Shuttleworth: “I would have paid a million to see the chicken cross the road !” (or to take one to Mars with me..)
Bill Clinton: “I did not have any sexual relations with that chicken!”
Mugabe: “Stop that chicken ! It must be repossessed together with the farm it belongs to. And the farm opposite the road where it was going to. And all the chickens on both farms. Repossess it all. And it’s nobody’s business what I do in my country. It is the Brittish’s fault for bringing chickens here anyway.”
Go visit the Conchango blogs
Background reading: Press release from CallingTheCape.
Well - this is certainly good news: investment of R380m in the Western Cape call centre industry, with 2000 new jobs. And from the press release, that’s set to be matched this year, hopefully with an additional global outsourcer developing operations in Cape Town. A somewhat larger target of 25, 000 jobs between 2004 and 2008 has been set by the city, with funding being allocated towards CallingTheCape to - reflecting commitment towards CallingTheCape and satisfaction with results to date.
Looking at this, it’s really wonderful to see how things have changed over the last few years. Interestingly enough, Luke Mills, executive director of CallingTheCape, is an Englishman, and I do think that exactly this has a large part to play in the success of the body, and perhaps to a large extent, the growth of the industry in Cape Town.
But, in order to grow more and become recognised as a viable alternative to India and other providers, the government needs to start investing in technology infrastrucure, education (skills largely) and selling Cape Town as an alternative to the international market. Bottom line is that the costs in SA are relatively cheap, but I dare say not cheaper than India et al - so there has to be a point of differentiation which sets SA apart as an offshoring alternative. This differentiator, I believe, is in the service that can be provided, the time zone, the language similarity and the culture. But more on that in another post.
I said above that there needs to be investment - the deregulation of the telecomms in SA this week, the start of legal VoIP and the rush to that proverbial goldmine, and the continued growth of broadband in SA are all good signs of a maturing industry in a maturing and largely stable economy.
The question is, can SA cut it in the global economy?
I know well of one business that set up an offshore call centre in SA for the UK market, and they ended up coming back to the UK because Telkom couldn’t deliver on their service level agreements - the volumes were high and they just couldn’t deliver. I know that there are a lot of players that are going to enter the market, but this is the kind of problem they will all face - if a call centre has 5, 000 calls a day, can they handle it? What if it get’s to 8, 000? Will the cowboys who enter the market early deliver on initial promises?, and thus keep the integrity of the industry and opportunities for future growth intact? or not? It’s hard to say right now - the press release says some good things, and at least one big gun is going to have to enter the market before others jump on the next ship to SA - who will it be?, and when?
Who can say, but we all know that the path to the top of the mountain starts with a single step. I know South Africans, and I know they can do it if they really want to.
PRESS RELEASE:
CallingtheCape
February 1, 2004
CallingtheCape helps create 2,000 new jobs in 2004 and again in 2005
New investment commitments of R380m were made in the Western Cape call centre industry last year resulting in over 2,000 new jobs, a total which is set to be matched this year.
Speaking at the Annual General Meeting of industry promotion body CallingtheCape, executive director Luke Mills said these new investment commitments accounted for 25% of the total foreign direct investment facilitated by Wesgro in the Province last year.
Outlining CallingtheCapes goals for 2005, Mills said the body hoped to secure at least another R380m in investment and another 2,000 jobs, as well as securing a commitment from at least one global multinational outsourcer to develop operations in Cape Town.
The City of Cape Towns Alderman Clifford Sitonga said the citys Integrated Development Plan had set an ambitious target of creating 25,000 new jobs in this industry between 2004 and 2008. Acknowledging the sectors importance, he said both the city and the provincial government expected to allocate further funding to CallingtheCape in their next financial year. This funding increase reflects our commitment towards CallingtheCape, as well as our satisfaction with CallingtheCapes recent performance.
He added that CallingtheCape has a vital facilitation role to play in addressing the issues of industry growth and equity.
CallingtheCape has implemented an ambitious black economic empowerment (BEE) programme. During 2004 this included assisting 60 learners into the commercial workplace, supporting a programme through which 65 Afrikaans-speaking black students learned Dutch, reaching 10,000 young learners through a schools outreach programme and aiding the formation of eight new black-owned outsourcing companies.
We now have 32 outsourcing companies in the Western Cape, said Mills, of which 50% have some measure of black shareholding. Noting that there were still some significant obstacles to the formation of new black-owned companies in the industry, he said CallingtheCape was in the process of appointing consultants to assist with business development and finance raising for young companies.
CallingtheCape had also, at the end of last year, released a draft strategy for a major new skills training initiative which will see it working in partnership with the Provincial Government, the Smart City programme, FETs and the private sector.
Announcing CallingtheCapes new Executive Committee (Exco) for 2005, Mills said the associations unique election process which allows all stakeholders to vote for their preferred candidates in six sector silos had generated exceptional participation, with well over 50 director nominations and more than 2,100 individual votes.
Four of eleven primary members (up from two in 2004), as well as five out of eight secondary members, are black candidates.
The new Exco members are:
Luke Mills CallingtheCape Executive Director
Brent Martin Provincial Government Public Sector
Rae Wolpe City of Cape Town Public Sector
Dr. Maria Phalime Wesgro Public Sector
Birgit Thuemecke Lufthansa Globaltelesales Corporate Silo
Sipho Zungu Old Mutual Corporate Silo / Transformation
Greg Love 3i Solutions Outsourcing Silo
Tracey Ellison Emmanuels Recruitment Silo
Karel Botha Spescom IT Silo
Lize Moldenauer Connectivity Training Silo
Cherrel Jacobs Solus SME Silo
Rhomeez Hendricks
Communications Officer
Telephone No: +27(0) 21 487 8655 : Switchboard No: +27 (0) 21 487 8600
Fax No: +27(0) 21 422 3744 : Mobile No: +27(0) 82 927 8021
Website: www.callingthecape.org.za
Calling The Cape - 12th Floor, Waldorf Arcade, 80 St. Georges Mall, Cape Town, 8001, South Africa
My friend Paul sent this to me today - Kinda like a sanitized, clean version of a good UK directory…
Dear CITI (Cape IT Initiative) Community
You are invited to a VoIP presentation by Dave Gale, business development manager at storm.
Date: 10 February 2005
Time: 09h15 – 11h00
Venue: UUNET Bandwidth Barn, 5th Floor, Buitengracht Street, Cape Town
Cost: R75 for non-members and R50 for CITI members
RSVP: 021 409 7000
From tomorrow Voice of Internet Protocol (VoIP) is legal. A Wild West style gold rush is sure to ensue with every ISP, voice systems provider and networking specialist in the country out there shooting hype from the hip as they attempt to stake their claim as experts on this amazing technology.
Not so fast… beneath the noise and dust lie a host of business and technical issues the must be carefully considered to guarantee that any VoIP implementation offers tangible and lasting value. That’s why storm and CITI have put this listening breakfast together. It will help you separate the sense from the snake oil and make an informed decision on how to get the best out of VoIP. The presentation will also address how the technology actually works, who stands to benefit and what to watch out for.
Latest Comments
RSSAllison
Johan, Gareth Knight, macn00dl3
RussMac, Kiran Kashalkar, Kiran Kashalka, ani, jason, Gareth Knight, Ani, gbuster, Staanakaalicia, Gareth Knight [...]
xut, Joe, gefail, andrew, Kerry, Victoria, Henry, Gareth Knight, Sorero, Gareth Knight [...]
IntesteLanK, IntesteLanK, aLL cLoWnS aRe eViL, Oli, ben, Gareth Knight, ben, Gareth Knight, ben, Gareth Knight [...]
Shaun Dewberry