f ou n d ation b u ild ing
Joint CEOs Lance Fanaroff (left)
and Rob Sussman
A DECADE
OF SUCCESS
LAUNCHING A TECHNOLOGY COMPANY IN THE PEAK OF THE DOT COM
CRASH MIGHT BE CONSIDERED A RISKY STRATEGY, BUT FOR INTEGR8 IT
WAS A GAMBLE WORTH TAKING.
G
REAT ideas are one thing. Turning them into a nationwide
business with continental aspirations is quite another. That’s
what the founders of Integr8 have achieved: from the smallest of
beginnings, principles that are not bound by scale have seen the company
go from a bedroom operation to the largest privately owned ICT company
in Africa.
The men behind the company are Lance Fanaroff and Rob Sussman,
today joint CEOs of a South African founded success story with a significant
national footprint and delivery mechanism across the continent. They
are ably supported by partners and an experienced executive team that
includes managing director Jan Roux, sales director Bennie Strydom,
HR and marketing director Tami Sussman, and CFO and legal director
Bradley Riback.
4 Integr8 - special focus
Words Donovan Jackson
THE NERVE CENTRE®
In order to create a scalable and global business,
allowing the export of intellectual property while
retaining its structural property on local soil,
Integr8 pioneered and developed the Nerve
Centre ®. Today, Integr8 owns and operates this
digital hub of people, innovative technology
and processes that manage and regulates
the complete ICT environment of many of the
country’s leading organisations. Rob Sussman,
joint CEO, Integr8 says: “Multi-billion rands of ICT
assets are managed from the Nerve Centre®.”
“Multi-billion rands of ICT
assets are managed from the
Nerve Centre .” ROB SUSSMAN
Fanaroff sheds some light on those principles:
“When we founded the company in 2001,
technical excellence was really our core
principle. That, and a commitment to delivering
technical excellence together with an equally
strong focus on delivering exemplary service
and attention to detail.”
Back in 2001, launching an ICT company was
possibly among the most risky of initiatives;
after all, the Y2K bug had just failed to bite and
the first wave of e-business had amounted to
very little. But that wasn’t what Fanaroff and
Sussman were offering; rather, they wanted
to identify, understand and apply technology
for business benefit. Says Fanaroff : “We saw
an opportunity to build a world-class ICT
services business, leveraging and specialising
in Microsoft-based technology, as well as with
other industry technology leaders.”
That’s something that has worked out
really well for the company. In fact, it has
received industry recognition not only from
global giants such as Microsoft, but also from
customers, industry watchers and academic
institutions. A peek into the trophy cabinet is
revealing: among the accolades are The Most
Innovative ICT Company on the continent;
National Business Awards for Entrepreneur of
the Year & Technology Through Innovation,
an Absa Entrepreneur of the Year Award, CIO
of the Year for South Africa and Africa; Best
Customer Experience of the Year; Networking
Infrastructure Solution of the Year; Security
Solution of the Year (Middle East, Africa, &
Eastern Europe); and Global Business Partner
of the Year (Worldwide Winner), as well as
Technology Top 100 Companies award. And
that’s just the top shelf.
Throughout almost a decade of operations,
a constant that has come in combination with
technical excellence and customer service is
innovation. That’s essential for a company that
seeks to put the dizzying speed of technological
® Even as other ICT companies endeavour to
development to work for its customers. Says
Sussman: “Innovation creates opportunities. As
recession gives way to growth, we are ready to
demonstrate to decision-makers our increased
capacity and service levels, ever-broader portfolio
and expertise, and solid credentials. Right now,
investment in information, communication
and telecommunication continues to escalate
as leading organisations seek ways to enhance
operations and stabilise bottom lines.”
In that comment, Sussman announces the
company’s intentions to continue building on
the solid foundations and extensive infrastructure
it has laid down. But, perhaps drawing on the
early experience of launching a company into
a post-2000 world fraught with risk, he says
caution and care remain the watchword. “We’ll
continue to follow a compounded growth
strategy and a carefully constructed business
plan underpinned by our strong financial
business model. Even as we become larger and
more complex, we will ensure that we retain the
capacity for flexibility and the ability to quickly
adapt to change.”
Fanaroff believes the express commitment to
flexibility combined with ‘the basics’ and a clear
plan of action have helped to reinforce key
areas of operation within the group. “Yes, the
world has been through a recession, but as a
result of our business model and inbred culture
and strategy, we have continued to flourish
and remain on course to grow and entrench
service levels and technical innovation to the
developing marketplace. “And from a technical
point of view, our model benefits immensely
from fresh global trends. From a system and
business process standpoint, we believe that
every existing and new development within
resource application is covered and we believe
the benefit of our expertise, experience
and entrepreneurial spirit continues to be
transferred to our growing client base,” he
concludes.
TURNING PRODUCTS
INTO SERVICES
distance themselves from ‘productising’ in
an industry where ‘services’ is where the
money is to be made, Integr8 continues to
advance the case for packaging technology,
labelling it, and providing it thus to its
customers...yes, as a service. As a result,
the company has many off-the-shelf
solutions that are combined with its ability to
understand customer needs and customise
delivery appropriately. A technology service-
centric business, Integr8 offers diverse skills
in the other technology disciplines too. It
includes technology offerings from global
technology leaders which complement its
core capabilities. In line with the hosted
shared service and utility-based computing
model, these technologies are offered as a
service to customers. Integr8 managed ICT
services include:
• Advanced infrastructure management
• Professional service
• Software asset management
• Procurement
• Outsourcing
• Project management
• Virtualisation
• Converged communications
• Enterprise messaging
• Storage
• Telecommunications
• Managed services
• Disaster recovery, remote backup
• Compliance and e-mail archive
and retention
• Security
• Asset rental
• Fax to e-mail
• International calling
• Cloud collaboration and compliance
• SaaS
• Web 2.0 services
• Private and public cloud services
• Connectivity and hosting solutions
• Nerve Centre®
AUGUST 2010 5