Advancing connectivity capability is forcing businesses operating in Africa to continuously upgrade systems or risk being left behind.

Ravin Naidu, Regional Director South Africa, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, says old or outdated systems pose various threats including compromised security, inability to support new business requirements and system failures.

Naidu believes continuously upgrading systems should be a global priority and Africa is no longer considered a continent that is lagging when it comes to technology.

"Connectivity capabilities are advancing daily, especially with wireless, forcing organisations operating out of Africa to adapt to these developments to ensure they remain relevant. This ensures they are able to provide the best service to their clients both internationally and locally," he says.

But in Africa's case, the benefit of system upgrades is not only a priority for individual businesses, but also for the continent as a whole says Naidu. "Our infrastructure becomes stronger, more opportunities become available from international investors. Advancements such as these place Africa on the map for future investors to take notice and fund projects coming out of the continent."

Although the business case to upgrade systems is well versed in Africa, as Naidu points out the rapid increase of new applications, communications devices and network users has added to the continent's list of challenges, including infrastructure development and the high cost of communications services.

Naidu adds that replacing existing infrastructure with upgraded technology is costly and time consuming, but a necessary investment that promises ROI. "Infrastructure replacement is a long term process that needs to be embraced by all members of staff within an organisation. With infrastructure replacement, training is required to ensure your workforce understands new processes and procedures associated with this."

Greater collaboration

When a business considers replacing infrastructure, Naidu says it is critical that newer infrastructure encourages greater collaboration between devices that are supported.

He asserts that Machine-to-Machine (M2M) is considered to be one of the most important aspects of any business infrastructure because it creates a synergy in which all devices are connected. "How your server connects to employees phones as well as to the cloud where all this interconnected information is stored is what makes this link between machines so vitally important. Machine-to-Machine goes hand-in-hand with BYOD, as this is the process that makes the link between devices possible," he says.

And BYOD is no longer the contentious issue for businesses it was a year ago, with more corporates are seeing the value offered to their workforce in terms of productivity, collaboration and employee satisfaction says Naidu.

He suggests that going forward, ERP, BI and Unified Communications will ultimately change the way in which businesses operator by improving employee productivity and customer experiences.

"My message to the African market is don't be afraid of technology and the positive impact enterprise software can have on your organisation. The corporate world is overflowing with innovation and new advancements that are changing the face of communications and this is something that should be embraced," says Naidu.