Architecting the South African organisation for innovation and growth, IDC
At the 14th IDC South Africa CIO Summit 2022, Mark Walker, Associate Vice President, Sub-Saharan Africa, IDC, sat down with Niral Patel, Director Africa, Google Cloud and Michael Yolland, Head of Digital Transformation, Pepkor, to discuss how a radical shift in compute approach and collaborative technology can change how an organisation approaches growth and innovation.
“Innovation is a form of creativity,” says Patel when asked how Google approaches the environment, product development and customer engagement. “What stands out for me is that Google does things at scale. To put that into perspective, out of the thousands of products we provide, nine are consumed by more than one billion people every day.”
It is this ubiquity that framed the engagement between Google and PepKor, a company that was laser-focused on building a digital-first company capable of handling and managing its data effectively.
“We took on digitisation pre-COVID-19, but it was an enabler for us to push the business harder,” says Yolland. “We had to find a way of bringing together our 18 brands and 18 data silos from a data product perspective so we could improve the value we delivered to our customers and the company. This was the challenge we had to take on when it came to digitisation. We started with Google four years ago, and have since then seen a shift in workplace culture that has empowered employees and productivity.”
PepKor wanted to build a more innovative internal culture while also managing data more effectively. Google offered the tools, expertise and skills that PepKor required to overcome its legacy hurdles and to ensure that it was building a foundation that was both futureproof and relevant.
“Organisations are grappling with acquisition and retention,” says Patel. “They want access to their data and to drive valuable insights that will allow them to retain and acquire new clients, and to better serve the company and its people. They need access to skills and technology that will allow them to diversify and expand and disrupt markets.”
Infrastructure, integration, skills development. These are the key challenges that are impacting cloud development and growth in South Africa – and globally. The skills shortage isn’t limited to Africa but it is still taking its toll on deadlines and development. Companies need to find sustainable ways of overcoming this challenge while remaining on track with their digital innovation strategies.
“We looked for cloud solutions as commodities, at the value they would bring, and how they would give us a competitive edge,” says Yolland. “We wanted to leverage partnerships in the cloud and resolve our unique problems with smart solutions.”
Currently, Google is investing heavily into Africa intending to invest one billion dollars into the infrastructure that can make a tangible difference to the continent. One such investment is the Equiano subsea cable that is set to connect Africa with Europe – the final South African connection landing in May. The cable is introducing more capacity than has existed on the continent before and Google is collaborating with partners and manufacturers to make devices more affordable so this connectivity can become more accessible.
“We are focusing on these key areas of growth, skills development, investment and innovation to help solve and tackle challenges on the continent,” says Patel. “We are also solving African problems with African innovation – what works in the West doesn’t necessarily work here, so we have taken the approach of building products in Africa for Africa.”
It is a sentiment Walker agrees with: “It’s encouraging to see African problems solved by African people, it gives the business an edge and leverages local understanding and innovation. Research has shown that this resilience and flexibility is changing business and the workplace.”
Taking the conversation forward, growth and innovation can be embedded into the South African business as long as any approach taken is gentle. As Yolland points out, “Drive change from within, ensure that it comes from the top, and build a workspace that allows for creative thinking. Since implementing Google Workspace at PepKor, we have had our adoption hiccups, but we have also had the citizen developer who wrote 15 lines of code to create a calendar sync for auditors. It has empowered people.”
