4Sight Holdings, a multi-national, diversified, investment holding company specialising in Industry 4.0 technology, has announced the financial results for the year ended 31 December 2018 with revenue of $44,54-million, up from $11,98-million for the six-month period last year, and a headline earnings per share of USD 1.13 cents, up from USD 0.50 cents.
“Our subsidiaries focus on a variety of existing, new, and emerging technologies that encompass everything from Cloud Computing and Business Intelligence, to Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things. Organisations across industry sectors and geographic locations are becoming increasingly aware of the business opportunities these technologies can unlock. Of course, it is not only the private sector that is benefitting from this; government has recognised the advantage Industry 4.0 offers in terms of efficiency and improved service delivery for citizens. This has enabled our subsidiaries to continually evolve their offerings and deliver solutions that let customers take advantage of the digital operating environment,” says Vince Raseroka, CEO of 4Sight Holdings.
Additionally, 4Sight Holdings made several acquisitions during the 2018 financial year. These included AccTech Systems, Dynamics Africa Services, and Simulation Engineering Technologies.
The strategic nature of these acquisitions reflect the importance Industry 4.0 is having on business. AccTech and Dynamics experienced exponential growth into Africa and have Cloud resellers in over 30 countries globally. These subsidiaries are part of a select group of approved Microsoft Azure partners on the continent – with AccTech being awarded as the Microsoft Azure Hybrid Cloud partner of the year 2018, this highlights the importance of strategic partnerships with leading software vendors.
“Since our inception, we have focused on acquisitions specialising in digitisation solutions for the telecommunications and media sector. These recent acquisitions have enabled 4Sight Holdings to formalise three operating clusters: Mining, Manufacturing, Energy & Chemical (MMEC); Telecommunications and Media; and Platform Systems,” says Raseroka.
The MMEC cluster will continue to drive the digital transformation agenda in mining and manufacturing. As such, it will push solution development using the likes of big data analytics, machine learning, and augmented and virtual reality solutions. This allows its MMEC cluster to bridge the gap between the operational and information technology worlds; with an end-to-end digital transformation framework focused on industrial customers.
“The cornerstone of our approach in this cluster is to visualise the business problem, digitise the relevant processes, analyse the data, and optimise by applying the relevant technology to enable and sustain the improvement of these solutions. This is also done through partnerships with key technology vendors; such as AspenTech, one of the leading industrial software providers in the world, enabling our subsidiaries to give their customers the means to deliver operational improvements, drive innovation in their market, and reduce costs. Our goal is to take our industrial customers on a digital journey from ‘no sight’ to ‘4Sight.'”
The 4Sight Holdings subsidiaries in the Telecommunications and Media Cluster – Digitata and Fleek; are also growing their specialised offerings to customers in this segment. As is reflective of the global market, there is a strong focus on mobile solutions that improve the operational, revenue, and end-customer prospects of operators.
“We have identified significant opportunities in previously untapped markets like North America, Asia, and Europe, where the subsidiaries can partner with mobile operators and drive growth using Industry 4.0 technologies. A particular highlight has been Digitata Networks deploying technology and intellectual property in commercially active Tier 1 and Tier 2 mobile operators within the Americas.”
The newest of the three clusters, Platform Systems, was formed last year and is focused on creating an ecosystem where 4Sight Holdings subsidiaries, partners, and alliances can build, run, and grow their Industry 4.0 solutions.
“By digitising the business operations of its customers and ensuring technology platforms are correctly adopted to improve data management, the Platform Systems cluster will provide key digital and advisory services for the connected world. It is all about data enablement, developing a modern digital work force and unlocking measurable business value from the data assets of its customers,” says Raseroka.
As at 31 December 2018, the 4Sight Group has over 400 employees, operating in 30 countries, with 42% of revenue coming from customers outside of South Africa.
“Irrespective of the technology used, one of the most fundamental aspects around business success, remains people; and by combining a people-centric approach with effective data management and analysis, 4Sight is focused on delivering the best value possible for its customers. Data is the currency of Industry 4.0 and people are using this to gain meaningful insights to make more informed decisions. This is our platform for growth in 2019 and beyond,” he concludes.