Middle East and Africa Technology
Geographically aware consultants!
How we can help:
Our experts are very experienced with working in the Middle East and Africa where there are some special considerations and sometimes technology is less developed or a wider range of options are not actually accessible. We understand the difficulties with finding the right companies and resources in these markets as well as negotiating the right deals.
What are the IT challenges for businesses operating in the Middle East and Africa?
The effective application of information technology is an enabler for improved productivity and value creation. There is a growing trend of integrating IT and business processes to allow businesses to provide services faster, quicker and more efficiently than their competitors; thus creating a competitive advantage. There are some amazing examples of this in the Middle East and Africa region.
However, at DrPete we understand that not all businesses in the region have adopted this rationale or have access to high quality technology. Even today, levels of investment in IT are low by western standards and IT based programmes to improve business practices are still not fully practiced by all companies. Admittedly, CEOs are now recognising these facts and are making changes to their businesses to better incorporate IT improvement. But, there is still a long way to go.
Having worked with businesses and government organisations in both the Middle East and Africa, the DrPete team has made the following observations.
- IT expertise at a senior level is still lacking. This is evidenced by the fact that CEOs have concerns of the availability of IT staff to deliver services in line with business requirements
- IT staff are often brought in from different parts of the world but they tend to be very technical as opposed to business focused. Decisions are therefore made around technology choices with business benefits not being fully considered in the decision making process
- In many parts of Africa, internet speeds and reliability are a major issue affecting full technology adoption. Cloud computing with its ability to radically transform business practices cannot be fully adopted in many African countries
- Whilst businesses measure performance regularly, there has been a lack of adoption of IT based performance measurement systems
- We regularly see, CEOs and Senior Managers having to intervene in the delivery of major IT projects, often without the support of an IT Director
- We note a general absence of strategic IT plans and business cases to support IT investment
- There was often little evidence of linkage between business and IT objective
- In Africa, in particular, we noted a number of organisations under utilising expensive IT systems due to lack of local supplier support or more simply, the selection of a system that was not fit for purpose
- IT Supplier contracts and Service level agreements (SLAs) are not effectively negotiated putting the customer in a poor position when things do not go plan.
We have seen the above scenarios result in frustration for CEOs and their Leadership team. Much of this can be avoided where IT is given the appropriate importance.
How can we help you?
The DrPete team can assist you by providing you the following support:
- We can help you link your IT and business objectives by implementing the appropriate IT management processes, organisation structure and governance model
- Address the shortfall in delivery capabilities by defining and implementing resourcing strategies, and where appropriate, provide expert on site support
- by negotiating SLAs and contracts that are beneficial to you - not the supplier
- by assisting with project management and implementation if your team does not have the time or skills to effectively undertake these activities
- by undertaking, if required, a full supplier selection process ensuring that you get the best value for money. In our experience, suppliers who know they are in a competitive tender situation will provide their best possible price and service levels to ensure they win the business
Ultimately, we believe that using this service will lower your IT total cost of ownership (TCO) as it will avoid many expensive and time consuming pitfalls.
How does the service work?
Typical client engagements involve:
- We would meet you, (our client) to fully discuss the work required to be undertaken
- This should aim to ensure full understanding on both sides of the objectives, scope and expectations of the project along with the timing and budget, as well as the terms of engagement
- We would then create a brief outlining the above points
- We would then meet you to discuss the brief. Where appropriate the brief would be amended to incorporate your feedback and signed off by both sides
- We would schedule regular meetings with you. Such liaison is in the interests of both parties, so that you remain informed on works progress and emerging findings.