There is no doubt that the international economy is experiencing a myriad of challenges currently, and South Africa is additionally able to add in its own unique factors on top of the existing world-wide upheaval. Nonetheless, the local ICT sector showed positive development over 2022, something that is set to continue into 2023.
By Stefan van de Giessen, Country Manager: SA and SADC at Exclusive Networks Africa
For the cybersecurity space in particular, we anticipate a local growth of around 30 percent this year, spurred on by digital transformation, legislative and regulatory compliance requirements, and more. The bright side is that this means our channel can still anticipate and maximise pockets of excellence.
The brain drain continues
It’s common knowledge today that data is generally regarded as being an organisation’s most valuable commodity, but without the right cybersecurity skills sets, companies remain vulnerable. However, the local IT industry is already facing a skills shortage and we anticipate losing further expertise this year, both to emigration as well as ‘semigration’, whereby remote working facilitates earning revenue with international firms.
Additionally, strong skills investment on the vendor side is also attracting top talent, leaving a smaller pool for the local channel players. Overall, we thus foresee that the skills shortage will worsen, and those that are available will need to be sourced at a premium rate, placing significant strain on the channel.
Encouraging news though is that against these difficulties, as a valued-added reseller, Exclusive Networks Africa prides itself on being able to support our channel partners in a number of different ways.
Stefan van de Giessen, Country Manager: SA and SADC at Exclusive Networks Africa.
Challenges bring opportunities
Skills enablement and training is thus a critical factor moving forward within the channel. Exclusive Networks Africa is dedicated to assisting our distribution partners, backed with the required skills, and is proud to host a number of training initiatives.
This includes certified training on Fortinet and F5 solutions, as well as non-certified training on a number of other cybersecurity products within our portfolio. Our in-office mentorship adds real and valued experience to the trainee’s certification.
Further, we regard our intern programme as a critical element of skills development within the company, and ensure that we are able to upskill younger trainees with practical experience.
From a CSI perspective, we are passionate about supporting education in South Africa to uplift members of the country’s poorest communities, partnering with The Love Trust and Literacy for Life – non-profit organisations involved in early childhood development (ECD) education – for a number of years now.
Global resources, local expertise
Exclusive Networks Africa is aligned with our parent organisation’s unique ‘local sale, global scale’ model. Our global reach and in-depth knowledge facilitate a lower cost to purchase, painless migrations and seamless project coordination.
Exclusive Networks Africa offers multiple consumption choices, with an omni-channel presence that includes options to buy, as well as finance services. Additionally, we are transforming channel consumption by offering ‘everything as a service’, harnessing innovation and disruption to deliver partner value.
Exclusive Networks Africa’s holistic vision is to deliver a value-based suite of services for our partners. We have significant global resources at our disposal, backed by local expertise and experience.
For more information on the benefits of partnering with Exclusive Networks Africa, please visit https://www.exclusive-networks.com/za/ or call +27 (0) 11 280 8400.
