Kathy Gibson is at a Dell Technologies webinar – With the news that Covid-19 has been declared a pandemic, digital transformation has become a pressing issue for organisations around the world.
Doug Woolley, GM Dell Technologies South Africa, explains that, on the one hand, the virus is causing problems of supply.
“We have seen the impact in our supply chains,” he says. “As Dell, we have done a good job of mitigating it, so we are in a good position from a supply perspective.
“The biggest threat to supply at the moment is if countries start to close borders, but there hasn’t been much disruption yet.”
On the other side of the coin, digitalisation offers opportunities for organisations to find new ways of working despite the disruptions caused by the spread of Covid–19.
“The cloud plays a big role in being able to work from any place,” he says. “It allows more flexibility for organisations.
“It is part and parcel of where computing is going, and of making it more accessible to every person on the plant.”
Dell is a sponsor of the Springbok rugby team, and has helped the team on its own digitalisation journey.
Technology in the back end of the modern rugby game has a massive impact, says Jacques Nienaber, head coach of the Springbok rugby team.
“How the current player is learning from information is not like the old days,” he says. “Our information flow goes during the week to players; before any meetings they can go through learning themselves and teach themselves. They can also interact with me.
“So when we meet, it is not information delivery; it is information interaction. There is transparent plan-making.
“We are very goal-driven: there will be a goal of the day, and we can report-back to players on how well as achieved this goal after the training sessions.”
In addition, with so many players abroad, it’s necessary to have meetings between Nienaber and the overseas coach who is interacting directly with overseas players.
Dell is also a Maclaren partner, helping the racing team with using sensors to analyse and improve race performance.
The same technology can be used in small and medium businesses (SMBs) Wooley says. “Technology enables organisations to be more connected to markets that SMBs may never have been able to access.
“Economies grow when there is a very large base of SMBs and entrepreneurs.”
He says some of the technologies that will feature in a post-Covid-19 world include artificial intelligence (AI) and business intelligence/analytics to help companies make informed decisions.
Robotics will also be a big driver, Woolley adds.