Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 40 | Page 15

NEWS Software specialist e4 appoints new CIO Fintech software specialist, e4, has announced the appointment of Fikile Sibiya as its Chief Information Officer. This comes as part of e4’s continuous focus on investing in its internal infrastructure, while also strengthening its governance. Fikile will oversee the vision, leadership, development and implementation of IT initiatives for the company. First Technology Digital earns Gold Microsoft DevOps competency Sibiya said: “Central to my new role will be aligning core technology decisions and investments to the objectives of the organisation, while also ensuring we continuously deliver a stable, robust and secure platform for our clients.” Always focused on technology, Sibiya previously worked for industry leading brands such as Microsoft and Rand Merchant Bank, where she held positions extending across software consulting; business analysis, demand management and team leadership roles. She said: “I spent the last three years at Rand Merchant Bank as an IT Business Manager supporting the central IT CTO to fulfil the department’s strategic objectives. This role deepened my love for technology as a strategic business enabler.” Her appointment at e4, said Sibiya, is an opportunity to work with one of the most advanced and fast-growing leaders in business digitalisation: “I look forward to using the knowledge I have gained over the years to contribute to the successful growth of e4.” Fikile Sibiya, Chief Information Officer, e4 First Technology Digital, South Africa’s preferred partner for Digital Transformation, digital workplaces and Artificial Intelligence, has been successful in its attainment of Gold-level status for the Microsoft DevOps competency. This latest achievement sees the company adding to its existing Gold cloud platform expertise, which currently includes application development, collaboration and content, data analytics and data centre competencies. Robert Kendall, Business Unit Manager at First Technology Digital, said: “Organisations are under increasing pressure to create new products and improve existing ones at a faster pace than ever before. By using a DevOps model, they are able to circumvent lengthier traditional software development approaches, enhancing speed and efficiencies across IT functions.” According to Kendall, benefits delivered by DevOps include shortened cycle times, faster value delivery, improved quality and availability, optimised resources, the elimination of waste and greater innovation. This statement is reinforced by the findings of IT automation software company, Puppet, which released a white paper entitled the 2017 State of DevOps Report, which revealed that high performing organisations have 46 times higher software deployment frequencies, 440 times faster lead time for changes and a five times lower software change failure rate than lower performance competitors. • www.intelligentcio.com INTELLIGENTCIO 15