Retrieved from Allafrica News
 http://allafrica.com/stories/200211210321.html

Business Day (Johannesburg)
November 21, 2002 
Posted to the web November 21, 2002 


AFRICA, once largely ignored by IT and telecommunications companies, now forms one of their strongest priorities as a market for goods and services.

Veritas Software uses SA as a springboard into Africa, where its business is growing quickly. Mike Rees, the company's business development manager for Africa, says growth in South African business is good, and markets are opening up in Nigeria, East Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands. "We have been active in Africa since the beginning of this year; the demand for technology is strong," he says. "In the past, many companies have tried to run their African operations from Europe, but this doesn't usually work. Being South African, we have a feel for Africa and how business is done on this continent. Many European firms are simply too afraid to do business in Africa. "Skills remain a problem selling and implementing systems can be difficult. But we have a partner programme that helps. People are trained and certified on Veritas products. This is formal certification, where people are tested on what they have learned," says Rees.

Data management and backup software is an often overlooked essential to trading in Africa. "Because the power grid is so unpredictable in many countries, companies need to back up and manage their critical business data regularly.

"Africa is a strong focus for us this year and we are already operating in countries like Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Nigeria, Mauritius and others. We see the full range of businesses in these areas, from those that employ state-of-the-art sophisticated technology to those that have nothing. Nigeria is a market with a huge potential and it could, in time, become bigger than the South African market for our software. Right now, though, that is not the case. Kenya and East Africa are poised for significant growth," he says.

Doing business in Africa, however, is not without its challenges. There are huge distances to cover, and this pushes up the cost of selling. There is also a melting pot of languages and dialects to contend with, as well as problems with infrastructure like telecommunications. Rees says awareness about the need for data back-up and management is growing. "The first time we made trips into Africa, very few people knew what was meant by back-up and disaster recovery. Now there is a huge awareness and a strong demand for our software on the continent. "Many firms operating in Africa are plugged into the global economy via the internet. These days, business information is the lifeblood of most organizations and it needs to be available at the touch of a button.

"Africa offers opportunities for companies prepared to do business there," he says.