South African innovators in Internet of Things technology, IoT.nxt, achieved Microsoft Gold Partner status for data platform this month, less than a year since the company was recognised as a Silver Partner last year.
The company joins 68 other Gold Partners for data platform in South Africa and is now in the select company of 568 Gold Partners for all competencies in the country.
“Achieving Gold Partner status is testament to the commitment of our team as they are required to pass stringent assessments. Migrating from Silver to Gold Partner status in a relatively short period of time was achieved thanks to the fast — and accelerating — growth IoT.nxt has achieved since the start of the year,” says CEO Nico Steyn.
“Gold Certified Partners represent the highest level of competence and expertise with Microsoft technologies, and have a close working relationship with Microsoft. Achieving this status recognizes our success in the marketplace,” he adds.
To be considered for this competency companies must certify their application to harness the power of Microsoft SQL Server as well as implement their applications at a minimum of five verifiable customers.
“Being ranked as a Gold Partner provides us with access to a range of support services and a knowledge base at Microsoft as well as exceptional training opportunities, which will ultimately be to the benefit of our customers. Furthermore, as our company is currently expanding beyond South Africa, we are excited to now be included in the global community of Gold Partners, a support community of technology companies with comparable challenges,” Steyn says.
“Technology, and IoT technology and strategies specifically, are advancing at a rapid pace. This partnership will assist us in staying up to date with technology capabilities required from us by customers. We believe IoT is not about technology but about business strategy and approach all our customer relationships from this point of view. Being a Microsoft Gold Partner gives companies we engage with assurance that we are committed to the highest level of excellence and professionalism, with the backing of Microsoft,” he adds.
IoT.nxt opens its first fully-fledged international office in The Hague in The Netherlands at the end of this month. A delegation from the company will be visiting the USA in September to explore and further develop opportunities identified when the team visited various tech hubs in the USA earlier this year. The company will also participate at IOT Solutions World Congress taking place in Barcelona early October. IoT.nxt’s attendance at this event was part of the prizes it received as the overall winner of the 2017 MTN Business IoT Award, presented in June.
