Mark Davison at the Cisco One Africa Summit, Legends Resort – If you are focusing on the digitisation of Africa, then there is probably no more appropriate venue to do it from than in the middle of the Waterberg bush where Cisco last night kicked off its One Africa Summit 2015 at the Legends Golf and Safari Resort.
At a dinner last night, new Cisco South Africa GM, Cathy Smith, welcomed assembled partners, customers and press from countries throughout the continent and emphasised the importance of the channel to the company.
“Our partners continue to play a vital role in Cisco’s business and for that we thank you,” Smith says. “Yes, we have our ups and downs but, personally, I’ve had nothing but good experiences with our partners.
“I look forward to that continuing well into the future,” she adds.
Digitisation is the dominant theme at this year’s summit with no less than three keynotes addressing the issue. Cisco’s Africa head, David Meads, kick starts the day with a keynote entitled Be Bold: Leading Africa’s Digital Transformation. Meads is directly followed by Wendy Mars’ keynote, Fast Innovation in a Digitised World – Delivering the Internet of Everything (IOE) and, later in the day, Brian Hackett will enlighten delegates about Digitising Services.
In between these keynotes, the effervescent Den Sullivan will address software and security opportunities for partners, John Donovan will look at opportunities in the mid-market space, and Meghan McCarthy will discuss the benefits of partnering with Cisco.