Ethekwini Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal is the first of what is expected to be many public sector entities that will benefit from the unique partnership between DynaTech and TIBCO Software.
DynaTech is currently rolling out new TIBCO solutions in Ethekwini that are designed to catapult the municipality onto the global stage in terms of its service delivery. DynaTech will initially launch an application known as Smart Community.
This will integrate a range of services offered by the municipality and create a more social environment that allows citizens to be directly engaged with the council and thus part of both the local government and service delivery processes.
“Ethekwini will benefit enormously from this technology, as we hope will many other public sector entities,” says Ntokozo Xaba, CEO of DynaTech, explaining that the seeds of the DynaTech and TIBCO partnership were sown in 2006, when DynaTech began operating as a TIBCO partner.
“Our relationship was further strengthened when DynaTech became a TIBCO Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) partner. TIBCO recognised us as being highly skilled and having a good understanding of both its business and strategy, making us a strong choice of strategic partner.”
According to TIBCO, the company supports a diverse portfolio of customers across a range of industries, covering both the public and private sectors.
Xaba adds that from a DynaTech perspective, the partnership is very strategic in its nature and that company executives sit on the local TIBCO board and participate in planning its future strategic direction.
“Our business has access to some of the most experienced Silicon Valley ICT executives, while our employees are sent on highly specialised TIBCO training courses. In addition, DynaTech is one of the main suppliers of consulting resources for TIBCO in the country, in part due to this unique advantage we have in terms of skills acquisition.”
He points out that apart from concentrating on the South African public sector market, the two organisations are also pursuing a joint strategy with regard to the broader African market, with a particular focus on Kenya and Nigeria.
Xaba continued: “In addition to Africa – where we are adopting an ongoing organic growth strategy with regard to the SADC region – we are also considering expanding into the Middle East; we hope to soon announce a major acquisition in this regard.”
Closer to home, Xaba explains that the e-government solution that is being implemented at Ethekwini is known as Integrated Service Management (ISM) and came about through a ground-breaking OEM agreement forged between DynaTech and TIBCO.
“What we have done is take TIBCO technology and create very advanced software for managing service delivery issues. The ISM solution covers mobility, Fast Data, the cloud and the Internet of Things – what Gartner refers to as the Nexus of Forces – all of which form an integral part of the market-leading TIBCO value proposition. Ethekwini is thus the launch site for this technology that will provide a truly 21st century approach to service delivery in the municipality.”
Xaba believes that once the benefits of the ISM solution are seen by other public entities, they will be equally eager to transform their out-dated paper-based systems into e-government solutions that will enable them to not only keep up with, but even get ahead of the current service delivery backlog.
Commenting on DynaTech and TIBCO’s continued partnership, Xaba stated: “There is no doubt we will continue to build on our relationship with TIBCO, as we believe it is a business that is uniquely positioned to capitalise on the opportunity presented by the Nexus of Forces. There is no doubt we are heading into a future where we will see new industries created and existing ones redefined, which ties in perfectly with our own strategy of being a unique solutions provider.”.