Southern Africa
Nutanix Appoints New Regional Sales Director Sub-Saharan Africa
Nutanix has appointed Rowen Grierson as regional sales director for Sub-Saharan Africa. Grierson succeeds Paul Ruinaard who has left to pursue personal interests. A seasoned professional, Grierson was formerly the regional sales director for the West, East and Central Africa regions, and with his new appointment will now add the Southern Africa territory to what is a growing market for the company. Prior to joining Nutanix he served a tenure in the leadership of Fortinet and was amongst others the territory manager for F5 in Sub-Saharan Africa. With more than 20 years’ experience in the IT industry, he has a proven track record in business and strategy development, sales execution, and customer experience. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_411.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_411.td-a-rec-img...
Bolt Launches ‘Women Only’ Ride Hailing Service
Bolt has launched a ‘Women Only’ service that enables female passengers to request rides from female drivers only – their request for a ride will not be visible to male drivers. Drivers and passengers utilising Bolt’s Women Only service are protected by an app-integrated SOS emergency button, made possible through Bolt’s partnership with national safety platform Namola. The SOS button enables passengers and drivers to connect quickly and easily 24/7 to private armed response teams, private emergency medical services, and roadside assistance if they are involved in any medical or security emergency while on a Bolt ride. “Gender-based violence is a reality that women across South Africa contend with every day,” says Gareth Taylor, country manager for Bolt South Africa. “Women Only – a servic...
Google Play Introduces Rewards Programme in South Africa
Google Play’s free rewards programme has just launched in South Africa. The programme allows users to earn points and redeem them for in-app purchases or credit. According to Gadgets, the reward points can also be earned by “downloading free apps and games that are featured, alongside weekly points that can boost the earning rate of points for users on select games and movies”. The Google Play Points programme has four levels, ranging from Bronze to Platinum, that are dependant on how many points collected. “More than 2 billion people in 190 countries use Google Play to discover blockbuster movies, apps that help you be more productive, and books that inspire imagination,” says Mariam Abdulahi, Director of Africa Platform Partnerships for Android and Google Play. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_69...
Huawei is Recognised as One of South Africa’s Top Employers
Huawei has been recognised as one of the top employers in South Africa, receiving the annual Top Employers Certification Award for the fourth year in a row. Huawei Sub Saharan Africa achieved Continental HQ Certification for 2021, after being certified a Top Employer in four or more countries, for two years in a row. In addition to South Africa, Huawei also received the prestigious award in Zambia, Kenya and Nigeria. The Top Employer Institute is a global authority on excellence in people practices. Through the Top Employers Institute certification programme, participating companies are annually assessed, surveyed and accredited as leading employers in respect of their Human Resources practices. “Winning the Top Employer Award is recognition of Huawei’s high standards and commitment to enc...
Commvault Launches Metallic BaaS Portfolio in South Africa
Commvault has launched its Metallic Backup-as-a-Service (BaaS) portfolio in South Africa. In addition, Metallic is adding new data protection solutions, features, and enterprise workload support. “We have seen an aggressive push to cloud, automation, and an increased requirement for intelligence as companies transition to a new reality,” says Gerhard Fourie, District Channel Manager for South Africa at Commvault. He continues, “At Commvault we understand the increasing need for a solution that’s easy to undertake, purchase, and manage without any large upfront investment. Our built-in best practices mean customers receive fast, secure backups with speedy, granular recovery to protect them against data loss. Furthermore, Commvault’s deeper integration and collaboration with Microsoft Azure ...
DFA is Awarded Top Employer Status in South Africa
DFA announced that it has been awarded Top Employer status in South Africa for 2021 by the Top Employers Institute. DFA joins 1,691 companies in 120 countries globally, including only 97 local companies, who are recognized by the Top Employer Institute for their efforts in various facets of employee management. With headquarters in the Netherlands and offices in several countries around the world – including South Africa – Top Employers Institute was established with the aim of promoting excellence in human capital management to support business strategy. DFA CEO, Thinus Mulder, said that achieving the certification was the culmination of a years-long, concerted effort to align DFA with global HR best practice to attract and retain the best skills in the market. ‘The technology industry re...
Telkom Takes on Samsung’s New S21 Range
Telkom has revealed that Telkom Mobile and Telkom Business customers can pre-order the new Samsung S21 range; which includes the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21 Plus and Galaxy S21 Ultra. The Galaxy S21 series is the latest flagship offering in devices by Samsung and boasts state-of-the-art innovation and head-turning and iconic design including a pro-grade camera and advanced processor ever in a Galaxy device. Galaxy S21 also introduces a new tool to protect and monitor privacy, allowing users to remove location metadata from photos before sharing. What’s more, a new feature has been added that allows users to also control who gets access to the content they send, and how long it’s available. Telkom will make the S Series available on FreeMe 1.5GB, 3GB, 6GB, 11.5GB, 28GB and Unlimited packages for...
FNB Launches Virtual Card Service
FNB has launched its virtual card service to all individual and business customers. The Virtual Card is accessible via the FNB App and the RMB Private Banking apps. With this service, customers no longer need to rely on a physical card at merchants that have Tap-to-Pay functionality as they can either use an Android smart device or an Apple device where the merchant accepts QR Code payments. “Customers can immediately load the Virtual Card on their FNB and/or RMB Private Bank profile and link it to a debit, credit or fusion account at no additional cost to shop safely and conveniently,” says FNB. These customers are also able to create multiple virtual cards for dedicated transactions at no extra cost. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_166.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_166.td-a-rec-img img...
Showmax Introduces 2 New Pop-up Channels
Showmax subscribers in South Africa are now able to live stream kykNET and Mzansi Magic 24/7 with the launch of two pop-up channels. “We’re always looking at ways of making the Showmax experience better for our customers,” says MultiChoice Group CEO for General Entertainment and Connected Video, Yolisa Phahle. “During last year’s lockdown, we gave subscribers access to live news channels. Now, following this month’s Presidential address, South Africans will continue to spend more time at home, and so, once again, we’d like to make sure our customers have something extra.” The Mzansi Magic live stream is available exclusively in South Africa while kykNET is also available in Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_0ee.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_0ee.td-a-...
Unpacking the Digitalisation of South African SMEs
In just a matter of months, the COVID-19 pandemic struck the world at the speed of light. Most businesses weren’t prepared and were forced to adapt to extraordinary challenges in order to continue with business operations –whilst battling to stay afloat. In South Africa, many businesses have opted for mass work-from-home policies for their staff, as businesses navigate through new ways of working as a direct result of the pandemic. Digital transformation has become the enabler, propelling businesses into the future. Technologies like collaboration and online meeting software have become a necessity through the transition to digitally enable remote working. The acceleration saw a broader...
Lesotho and Zimbabwe Implement Telco Traffic Monitoring System
The Lesotho Communications Authority (LCA) and the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) have begun the implementation of a system to monitor national and international telecommunications traffic. The system is expected to help increase revenue assurance, combat network fraud and enforce billing integrity across all communication networks available in the countries and shall be provided by leading regulatory technology developer and Big Data Analytics organisation Global Voice Group (GVG). “With these partnerships, GVG enables solid telecom metrics for tax collection purposes, fraud detection and market compliance with regulations to protect consumers and operators in Lesotho and Zimbabwe,” says James Claude, GVG CEO. “The RegTech solution provided by GVG ...
