Mint Management Technologies (Mint) partnered with Microsoft West East Central Africa (WECA) and fellow Microsoft Gold Partners K2 in hosting a first-class Technology Open Day in Botswana. The event, held on 22 March, at the Gaborone International Convention Centre, in the Botswana capital, was very well supported by a number of top companies in the region, as well as local Microsoft Technology Partners.

The focus was on information and how various elements within Microsoft`s Technology offering can be used in the conversion of raw data into real-time, actionable, decision-making intelligence. The rich and engaging programme offered great insight around how Microsoft-based tools are enabling organisations to unlock their full potential.

“The current information explosion is top of mind for many organisations and it shows no signs of abating,” explains Carel du Toit, Mint`s Mobile and Business Development Director, a guest speaker at the event. “Businesses are finding that if they wish to glean any true value from the incredible volume of data they are generating, they need to apply some heavy lifting to data management. With so much content to sift through, categorise and beneficiate, tools need to become more robust, more automated and more intelligent. Extracting value from information has become a sort of digital alchemy.”

With this in mind, the day opened by establishing just how pervasive the effect of data on the enterprise actually is and what trends can be expected. This set the pace for a day overflowing with localised, relevant content with a definite global edge.

“We feel quite strongly that we have an important role to play in elevating awareness about technology issues in the market – particularly those that have the potential to make our clients` lives easier or their business more profitable,” says Du Toit.

A number of talking points were explored in detail by guest speakers from Microsoft, K2, Mint and Mint`s BI partners Young Blood. Topics covered included enterprise content management, business process management, business intelligence, customer relationship management and the immersive customer experience. The closing session discussed cloud computing – a topic that continues to be hot property in the ICT space as organisations seek to leverage the benefits of an agile, scalable, on-demand computing platform.

“This Open Day was modelled after a similar event hosted in 2011 in Namibia by Mint, K2 and Microsoft, which was hugely successful. The objective is not about punting product, but geared towards collaborating to create a platform for knowledge sharing and interaction, with ample opportunity for local partners to engage the Microsoft West East Central Africa team as well as with the experts from Mint and K2,” says Du Toit.

“Until recently, local partners (in Botswana) have focused primarily on `Infrastructure Solutions` for those clients who have a well-developed IT department or providing an outsourced service for those that either lack the capacity or the know-how to operate their own Microsoft environment. The market has now evolved to enterprise business solutions, which are more specialised in nature. There is a definite appetite in customers and partners alike to address client challenges in a more holistic manner,” explains Francois Pienaar, Mint`s Services Director “This is where partners like ourselves (Mint) and K2 are aiming to add value, as we are able to share our lessons learnt, customer evidence and expertise with these up-and-comers to really help them accelerate their learning curve – to the benefit of their customers and stakeholders.”

Carel du Toit
Mobility & Business Development Director
(+27) 11 856 4400
Carel.dutoit@mint.co.za