According to Grant Thornton’s 2015 research of more than 2500 executives in 36 economies, over half (56%) of firms surveyed are either already automating business practices or may do so over the next 12 months.
In South Africa, research revealed that 31% are already automating, or will do so in the coming year (Grant Thornton International Business Report on Automation 2015).
To help businesses address these demands to automate operations, Grant Thornton South Africa has partnered with SoftCo, global provider of transformative process automation solutions, to jointly deliver efficient, effective automation solutions to its customers in southern Africa. Grant Thornton will be driving the sales, implementation and support services for SoftCo’s market-leading technology on the continent.
“As South African businesses continue to focus on reducing costs, improving efficiency and facilitating compliance, the demand for business process automation solutions which can meet these needs are on the increase,” says Ian Scott, managing partner of Grant Thornton Cape. “In this digital age, especially post-financial crisis, businesses are looking to technology at an ever-increasing pace as we strive for greater efficiency and better productivity.”
Scott says Grant Thornton is delighted to announce its partnership with SoftCo because the business complements the advisory services which the firm already provides to clients. In addition, the partnership allows Grant Thornton to offer SoftCo’s Cloud and Outsourcing solutions to all its clients in southern Africa.
SoftCo is a provider of business process automation software that effectively replaces operational inefficiencies with solutions that increase productivity, reduce costs, while simultaneously helping organisations to meet their compliance obligations. The SoftCo solutions assist with specific compliance requirements such as the Sarbanes Oxley requirements; South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI) which was signed into law in November 2013, but which is currently awaiting the appointment of a POPI Regulator before it comes into force; and the European Data Directive. SoftCo offers a proven and secure solution for the retention, protection and digital shredding of a wide range of documents and data.
SoftCo is a global organisation with offices in Ireland, the UK, the USA, and the Nordics. SoftCo has over 500,000 business users worldwide, is ISO 27001 certified and it is also a Microsoft Gold Partner.
“We are very pleased with our new partnership here in South Africa,” says Susan Spence, Co-Founder of SoftCo. “Our collaboration marks an exciting time of opportunity for further growth for our business solutions in southern Africa.”
Spence adds that SoftCo’s customer-centric approach to understanding the challenges faced by businesses, and being able to provide solutions to these challenges is often quoted as the reason why companies forge long-term partnerships with SoftCo.
With over 1 100 employees, Grant Thornton has 11 offices throughout South Africa and is part of a strong network of 24 locations throughout the continent of Africa.
“While our initial focus will be to deliver SoftCo’s technology to key clients in South Africa, we look forward to opportunities where we can extend our offering to neighbouring countries such as Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe,” Scott says.
Spence concludes: “We chose Grant Thornton as a partner for the region because both our businesses have a shared business focus – we are both fast-growing, innovative and committed to helping businesses transform how they work and implement best practice processes and technologies.”
