CIOopinion
CIO OPINION
“
ON THE
CORPORATE
SIDE, THE
LOCKDOWN HAS
FORCED MANY
COMPANIES’
HAND IN GETTING
THEM TO
EXAMINE HOW
BEST TO USE
CLOUD-BASED
BUSINESS TOOLS.
significant digital divide in the country where
millions do not have access to the systems to
allow for this to happen.
This requires educators to think differently
and look for viable alternatives. It could very
well pave the way for SMEs to come up with
more innovative ways of educating and
working in this time of crisis.
On the corporate side, the lockdown has
forced many companies’ hand in getting
them to examine how best to use cloudbased
business tools. This is critical if remote
workers are to be empowered and help
organisations remain fully functional during
the lockdown.
Some of these tools can encompass
everything from transitioning the PBX into
the cloud that redirects company calls to
employees’ mobile phones, embracing
unified communication solutions such as
Microsoft Teams to ensure team members
are still in touch with one another and can
deliver on their project deliverables and even
using the Adobe Sign e-signature service
to send, sign, track and manage signature
electronic document processes.
But irrespective of the solutions used,
the common denominator is having a
fast, reliable connectivity infrastructure.
Therefore, fibre network operators have a
critically important role to play in the country
and must take this responsibility seriously.
Vital to adapt
Agility has become essential for survival.
Society must work together to address
the critical needs in the country. To this
end, people must collectively take
ownership of the issues faced. For example,
parents need to be more involved in their
children’s education and employees
accept the responsibilities that come
from working from home and ensure that
they are disciplined.
South Africa is already starting to see this
change. Fewer vehicles are on the road
meaning people are spending less money
on petrol, there are reduced emissions that
benefit the environment and fewer traffic
officials, who can be used to assist police
and the military with other, more essential
services. Small entrepreneurs will start
to broaden their target markets placing
pressure on large corporates to improve their
value proposition.
Once the lockdown ends, fibre would have
shown how it can create a better life for
people while still enabling many to continue
to do their work. There are lessons to be learnt
from this as the country starts accepting this
more effective way of working instead of
trying to return to how things were.
Fibre has evolved from a luxury to
becoming a utility such as electricity and
water – one that has become essential to
help grow the economy. Fibre will allow
customers to accelerate the migration to
cloud based services as it provides higher
speeds, no contention ratios and higher
reliability. As a fibre network operator, Vox
is taking its responsibility very seriously and
will use this period as an opportunity to
continue serving in the best interests of the
citizens of the country. •
40 INTELLIGENTCIO www.intelligentcio.com