Based on its recent analysis of the information technology services market, Frost & Sullivan awards Business Connexion with the 2012 South African Customer Value Enhancement Award.
Business Connexion has become the leading provider of data centre services in South Africa, managing over 80 data centres, on behalf of its clients and accounting for over a quarter of market share.
“Their success is partly due to the capabilities in energy efficiencies that the company has built over time, designed to not only create energy efficiency internally, but also include delivery of services to clients,” noted Frost & Sullivan’s Information & Communication Technologies Research Analyst Lehlohonolo Mokenela. “The company has assisted clients in the manufacturing and hospitality industries, with expected energy savings of between 15% and 40%.”
Business Connexion has attempted to reduce electricity-related costs by adding a new dimension to its service portfolio - energy efficient assistance. It has leveraged its extensive experience and knowledge of the industry to offer energy optimisation solutions across different industries. The company has been recognised as the first, and currently the only, Eskom-approved Energy Services Company (ESCO). This allows them to develop and deploy technology that will converse power within the commercial and industrial enviroments.
“In essence, Business Connexion has been certified to assist clients to achieve energy efficiencies in their processes, including their data centres,” explainedMokenela. “As a result, the company would qualify for funding from Eskom in cases where it is able to demonstrate its contribution towards conserving energy, whether in its internal operations or in its service delivery to clients. This is expected to be a strategically important differentiating factor in the data centre market, particularly when companies start to come under legislative pressure to be more energy efficient.”
Unlike its competitors, who tend to have a fairly limited product portfolio of services, Business Connexion offers an extensive array of data centre services for its clients in South Africa. As a result, it is in a prime position to become a one-stop shop for clients looking for a bouquet of data centre services, ranging from basic hosting to disaster recovery and cloud storage.
“Business Connexion has been able to retain, and even increase, its dominance in this market, despite the increasing competition by investing heavily in developing top-end data centre facilities,” remarked Mokenela. “The company’s flagship data centre in Midrand is rated at Tier IV, the only such rating assigned in Africa up to 2011.”
This followed an investment of R23 million since 2010, geared towards increasing the availability of electricity and expansion of usable space to accommodate project growth. It is expected that the data centre will generate at least 15% in energy savings for the company.
The Frost & Sullivan Award for Customer Value Enhancement is presented each year to the company demonstrating excellence in implementing strategies that proactively create value for its customers with a focus on improving the return on the investment that customers make in its services or products. This award recognises the company's inordinate focus on enhancing the value that its customers receive, beyond simply good customer service, leading to improved customer retention and ultimately customer base expansion.
Frost & Sullivan Best Practices awards recognise companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.
For more information about Frost & Sullivan’s Best Practice Awards, please contact Birgitta Cederstrom, Head – Best Practices: Growth Innovation and Leadership, Africa, at +27 21 680 3263 or email: birgitta.cederstrom@frost.com
About BUSINESS CONNEXION
Business Connexion (Pty) Ltd is a leading integrator of innovative business solutions based on information and communications technology (ICT). With just over 6600 employees and a track record spanning over 30 years, Business Connexion runs mission-critical ICT systems and manages products, services and solutions for JSE listed and key public sector organisations, parastatals and medium-sized companies.
Business Connexion has a unique business model that represents the company’s approach to configuring and integrating business solutions, which we develop and implement by drawing on expertise from entrenched competencies across the organisation. In order to deliver a world-class service, Business Connexion has developed strong relationships and attained top-level certification with many of the world’s leading ICT suppliers. To find out how we can connect your business to a world of endless possibilities, visit: www.bcx.co.za
About Frost & Sullivan
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