Simplified IT Services, looking back at 2016

Firstly to wish everyone from our clients to business partners and services providers a joyous and safe festive season. May you all be celebrating another year of growth whether it be personal or business, while looking forward to seeing the final day of this year out and towards 2017 and what it may bring.

 From our side at Simplified IT Services we would like to formally thank all who have been in full support of our business in all regards. We show gratitude not only those who are in support of us by virtue in being clients or being in business together, but we also show gratitude to all those who do not do any business with us yet advocate us at every opportunity. Everyone in support of Simplified IT Services in any way or form is instrumental to our growth, what we have achieved thus far, and to what we may achieve in the future.

 Upon reflection of 2016 on a macro view looking at the industries we are involved with, it has certainly been a year of unpredictability. We have had more meetings this year than any other year with a larger variety of clients over a larger spectrum of industries, yet a commonality through these various engagements has been towards 2016 being a year of challenge or change. There have been client acquisitions, diversification of portfolios, review of long term strategies and realignment thereof, as well as a multitude of items that required our clients to review their use of Information Technology platforms/services/systems/et al. We have not envisioned the amount of engagement that has been experienced this year that we now sit back and reflect upon. Yet on a micro level upon review of our business as a point of engagement within the macro view of things, we too have fundamentally changed. The change of our business however is due to us being pre-emptive towards the shift we had foreseen coming over the past few years.

 Unlike most IT as in Information Technology providers, we during 2015 had geared up to review the notion around Information Technology and being a provider thereof. It is evident that there are so many IT providers with almost nothing setting them apart, while it also being quite evident that the concept of an IT company no longer exists as all business these days are IT companies in some way or form. Therefore through 2015 we had formulated a strategy that we had tasked towards starting off this year, in full awareness that a shift within various industries were eminent. Perhaps it was just serendipitous or fate; the change in the market we had envisioned had actually decided to culminate on a grand scale during 2016, the same time that our business was about to endeavour on a dynamic shift of its own: Upon review of IT as Information Technology in direct comparison on the industry and its demands around IT, in 2015 we had reinvented our strategy for 2016 and beyond while still being an IT company, yet something that will fundamentally set us apart. Born from this review and our strategy moving forward in our own words, we have reinvented ourselves as IT2.0 providers. IT now entailing Innovation Technology and no longer Information Technology. Therefore we are now Simplified IT2.0 (Innovation Technology) Services, entailing that there is a fundamental difference to us in comparison to the general IT (Information Technology) providers in the industry – we understand Innovation and Information Technology which is where all businesses are going.

 With the above as context, we were essentially ready through preparation in 2015 for all items that 2016 would bring. We had segmented our business into multiple silos, invested in up-skilling, capacitation and resourced to provide a multitude of offerings. The general notion around being an Information Technology business was at large structured around our Technical Department, with a few additions towards other departmental offerings. Without divulging too much IP around structure, we will state that our two primary departments for 2016 has been around establishing a ICT & Business Strategy unit, as well as an Innovation & ICT Alignment unit. Specifically through these two silos we now able to delineate upon client engagements to precisely and adequately address both their Business and ICT requirements and/or objectives. We were now able to engage clients through providing all required in the horizontal plane being departmental, while adding value through the vertical plane as well to ensure full Benefits Realization across the entire Business. It is critical that businesses are able to engage all types of service providers on a business level whereby a provider can explain how value is derived from IT as an investment, instead of the legacy notion of IT being seen as an expense. As a business owner or someone on a management level, you need to ensure your IT provider no longer discusses the proverbial Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) model, as it is a term describing what value used to be a decade ago in the industry, yet the industry has changed while IT providers are using the same metrics to measure value. Your IT provider needs to be equipped to discuss business value and no longer IT value. There needs to be TCO coupled with Return on Investment (ROI) as well as leveraged services, and where possible, monetization and auxiliary revenue generation platforms/services/systems/solutions. Companies are ultimately able to add value to their bottom line through diversification of Innovation Technology offerings, while having minimal impact on their existing business – there is additional income opportunities if you partner with the correct provider.

 In review of the changes within our business and the demands in the industry, there has been a few noteworthy undertakings this year spread across our newly formulated business silos. We will however make mention of two flaghship projects coming out of our respective Innovation and Strategy silos, as there are too many to mention if we look at all projects completed this year. Towards Innovation Technology; we have completed a project for one of South Africa’s premier sports stadiums. We are unable to go into the detail around what we’ve designed and implemented as it has not officially been launched yet, but are able to state that key people in the industry are eagerly awaiting a public press release for a platform that will disrupt the industry and set a new standard. Around ICT Strategy; we have been selected by Government to draft the official ICT Strategy and Implementation Plans for a multitude of Municipalities. Due to certain agreements we cannot divulge too much while still undertaking of this project, but can state that the strategy we are drafting will define the standard that Municipalities will need to conform to around anything and/or everything related to ICT. Through the projects awarded to our business this year, we are fully confident that moving into the Innovation Technology space has been a long awaited and refreshing shift needed that businesses have been waiting for.

 What 2017 has in store we may not know. We are however positioned to ensure that we are agile enough to respond adequately at the speed required by these changes in the market, while being malleable enough to react and create alignment caused by the changes in the market. We would like to wish all our clients, partners and advocates a prosperous 2017 and that it is rewarding in all regards. And as we started off this article, we would like to end it off with a thank you once again to all whom have made it possible and has been part of the journey of Simplified IT Services.