| Mon 14 Oct 2002, 11:00 | | Spescom Group Forges Ahead With Black Empowerment |
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Spescom Group Forges Ahead With Black Empowerment Initiatives
Spescom Group Limited
Press Release
SPESCOM GROUP FORGES AHEAD WITH BLACK EMPOWERMENT INITIATIVES
Spescom group company, Leseding Electronics Investments (Pty) Ltd, has, in
conjunction with Spescom Software Limited (UK), announced a deal that will see
the eB document management software suite distributed in South Africa by BEE
company TSS (Tactical Software Systems).
Leseding is the operation responsible for Black Empowerment in the Spescom
Group. This announcement is the latest development in Spescom`s Black
Empowerment programme.
The eB suite of products is an acknowledged award winning, world leading product
in the document and knowledge management arena.
TSS has agreed to assume the distribution of the eB product range with immediate
effect and will provide all of the necessary services and expertise to support
the suite of solutions.
The eB software remains the wholly owned intellectual property of the Spescom
Group. TSS will now provide the specialised personnel resources to market,
deploy and maintain current customer accounts.
"The product which was previously distributed via our South African
subsidiary, Spescom Software SA, will now essentially be distributed and
supported by TSS thereby providing continuity to the existing customer base,"
says Vernon Leas, Spescom`s chief executive officer, SA Operations.
"We have a long-standing relationship with TSS which has formed part of
Spescom`s commitment to BEE initiatives. We are excited by this development as
TSS offers the depth of skills and experience to provide eB solutions to
customers effectively and with added value.
"The eB product suite will now be sourced directly from our UK subsidiary,
Spescom Software Ltd, and distributed locally by TSS. This holds significant
benefits for both the Spescom Group and eB customers as well as providing a
meaningful opening for the development of skills in the BEE area," notes Leas.
Danny Mackay, chief executive officer of TSS, explains the progress that his
company has made since its inception in 1997. "We started with just four staff,
originally focusing on Y2K remediation projects," he says, "and in this regard
Spescom closely supported us in winning our first contract. This was the start
of a long and close relationship that has now realised this opportunity.
"Since those early days, TSS has grown to about 100 staff, our revenues have
tripled and in the process TSS has formed strong international partnerships
alongside our activities in local markets. We offer a number of solutions
including ERP, desktop and network infrastructure support (availability
management), healthcare and e-commerce solutions," says Mackay.
He notes that the eB product suite is a welcome complement to these
services and products and significantly enhances TSS` knowledge management
service offering.
Mackay adds: "our commitment to transformation and empowerment through
technology is part of our culture. In the last five years we have won and
retained some of the best IT resources in the country. These resources form part
of our skills transfer programme and act as mentors to individuals from a
historically disadvantaged background. In this way we hope to play a significant
role in the redress of historic imbalances. "Our close relationship with Spescom
promotes locally developed technology. This supports healthy growth in the South
African software development industry and offers an important value proposition
for our broad base of customers," concludes Mackay.
Date: 14/10/2002 10:41:15 AM Produced by the JSE SENS Department
