Southtechreviews

2020 has changed everything. Company goals and objectives were upended by COVID-19, and the tech industry has been forever shifted. All sectors have faced enormous challenges over the past year. It’s important to take some time to reflect on the impact that local and global events have had on our  business   our industry and our customers.   While brick and mortar stores took a hit, the pandemic led to unparalleled growth of e-commerce businesses. South Africa saw an enormous surge in online activity during the national lockdown with B2C and B2B organisations scrambling to meet the immediate needs of their customers. The implications will last well into the decade.  Nine key observations in our business in 2020 were:- WFH needs technology Tens of thousands of people now work from home (WFH) and rapid digital transformation has meant that cloud technologies, tech infrastructure, cyber and data security, and mobile devices are more in demand than ever as people need to...

  How SME’s can seize an opportunity - despite Covid-19 SME’s across South Africa are counting the costs of the pandemic and its devastating impact on business. The fact is, according to a McKinsey study:   ‘How South African SMEs can survive and thrive post COVID-19'   SMEs represent more than 98% of businesses, employ between 50-  60% of the country’s workforce across all sectors, and are responsible for a quarter of job growth in the private sector. In addition, the same study says that ‘b usiness confidence has fallen too’. In a flash survey, conducted in April 2020, just over a third of businesses surveyed expressed that they are pessimistic about the economy and economic outlook and more than 30 percent indicated that they expected revenues to fall by between 5 and 50 percent over the next six to 12 months leading to negative profits in excess of –5 percent.  The consequences of Covid-19 on the economy are undeniably severe. Business owners ...

    Across South Africa, SMEs are undoubtedly the driving force of the economy. They represent more than 98% of businesses, employ between 50% to 60% of the nation’s workforce and are responsible for a quarter of job growth in the private sector 1 . However, many of these organisations continually face the challenge of limited resources, expertise, and technology to operate and grow efficiently. New online platforms, such as  BuzzApex,  are transforming the way businesses operate in every industry.    Legacy systems, such as spreadsheets, that have previously been offline are now proving to be unreliable, expensive, time-consuming, and far from user-friendly.  The future lies in online platforms that transform productivity and output, positively impacting the day-to-day running of the business, its growth and ultimately the economy.  BuzzApex , a free-to-access online platform designed for real-time control of all organisational activities, is fir...