GET TO KNOW
What are the
region-specific
challenges when
implementing new
technologies in Africa?
If you could go back
and change one career decision,
what would it be?
I wouldn’t change anything because
every experience in my past, good or bad,
helped to prepare me for my current career
and challenges.
What do you currently identify as
the major areas of investment in
your industry?
The cloud. The tech industry continues to
invest in the transition towards the cloud
because we need cloud-native infrastructure
to power the next wave of innovation.
It remains a priority area for us because
cloud-based business solutions are the key
to helping our clients achieve the levels of
automation, operational efficiency, scale
and flexibility they need to keep pace with a
fast-changing world.
Big data and data analytics also allow us to
interact with data in new ways, while the IoT
enables us to instantly and automatically
capture information. This information can be
presented visually, to provide new insights
into the business and to help you make
better decisions.
Depending on the country,
the challenges can be as
varied as high connectivity
costs, a shortage of budget
and in-market skills, and
a lack of electricity. But a
lack of installed technology
can, in some cases, offer the
opportunity to leapfrog legacy
solutions. Thanks to more affordable
mobile broadband and infrastructure
improvements, there is a big demand for
cloud-based solutions that allow people to
be mobile and productive.
The cloud is helping African businesses to
get up-and-running on the solutions they
need at a rapid pace and with minimal
upfront capital expenditure. Cloud-based
business solutions are perfect for many
African countries because they are simpler to
install and support than on-premise software
and do not require organisations to make
large, upfront capital investments.
What changes to your job role have
you seen in the last year, and how do
you see these developing in the next
12 months?
It’s not a new trend that has emerged over
the past year, but one that has accelerated.
The pressure is on for business leaders to
innovate in the pursuit of customer value.
Sage is developing a culture that embraces
“
THE PRESSURE IS
ON FOR BUSINESS
LEADERS TO
INNOVATE IN
THE PURSUIT
OF CUSTOMER
VALUE.
experimentation and a two-way dialogue
between customers and our company.
Our internal culture fosters collaboration,
open honest dialogue and colleagues feel
connected to our vision.
What advice would you offer
somebody aspiring to obtain a
C-level position in your industry?
There are two important qualities in the
technology industry today, irrespective of
the role that you play. The first is that you
need to be ready to learn, adapt and change
at high speed to keep up with the evolution
of technology. The second is that you need
to take a customer-centric approach to
everything that you do. Constant, customer-
led innovation is a core part of our business
model and my personal approach. Be
ready to be a lifelong learner. And put
the customer experience at the heart of
everything you do. Get that right, and the
rest will follow. n
Blockchain works as a global and
public ledger without a central database
that can be tampered with. What this
means is that we can begin to really
start digitising and automating financial
transactions that today require manual
control mechanisms, checks and balances.
Blockchain could also alter how companies
record transactions with each other,
streamlining invoicing, payments, and other
business-to-business transactions.
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