EDITORIAL TECH
Jendamark, which also has a presence in Germany and the USA, signed a memorandum of understanding with Indian technology giant Tech Mahindra at the India-South Africa Business Conclave in New Delhi on 2 December 2024.
The agreement will see Tech Mahindra become a global partner for Jendamark’ s Odin Manufacturing technologies, a range of digital solutions designed to improve productivity and operational efficiencies for small to large-sized businesses.
Strategic collaboration
The two companies will explore mutually productive commercial opportunities and collaborate on developing, implementing and supporting enterprise-class solutions for identified customers across the globe.
Jendamark’ s director of innovations in South Africa, Yanesh Naidoo, said the company was proud that a successful global organisation like Tech Mahindra had chosen to partner with their Odin suite of products to help manufacturing customers become more effective in their daily operations.
“ It’ s a massive opportunity for Jendamark and Odin to gain access to a global market that is in need of human-centric productivity solutions in factories around the world,” said Naidoo.
Speaking after the official signing of the memorandum, Jendamark India CEO Himanshu Jadhav said the partnership would take Jendamark’ s digital technologies to the next level.
“ We are proud to have created our Odin software solutions in the developing economies of India and South Africa. And now we are very happy to partner with Tech Mahindra who, with their vast network, will take it to the developed economies and the rest of the world.
“ Their expertise in leveraging business and enterprise solutions gives us the opportunity to expand beyond our horizons and to grow in different business sectors, bringing many benefits to both companies and our customers.”
Tech Mahindra’ s global head of automotive consulting and solutions, Sachin Kulkarni, said the partnership with Jendamark was a strategic one.
“ At Tech Mahindra, we are focused very heavily on the factory of the future as a capability across the manufacturing sector. We are going to scale at speed using Jendamark’ s Odin Manufacturing suite.”
The business conclave also recognised 30 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries and included the official launch of the India-South Africa Chamber of Commerce( ISACC), established in August to strengthen economic ties between these emerging economies.
In his opening address, the South African High Commissioner to India, Professor Anil Sooklal, stated Africa was on the rise and ripe for international investment.
“ Africa is the last frontier of development and the gateway to the continent is naturally South Africa.”
Sooklal urged South African businesses to invest in India, saying,“ We will miss out on major opportunities if we don’ t take advantage of them and the goodwill that exists in this country towards South Africa.”
Jendamark’ s Indian success
For Jendamark, this year marked 10 years of doing business in India. While many businesses on the subcontinent had explored opportunities in South Africa, not many South African businesses had gained a foothold in India, said Jadhav.
“ One of the key reasons for the success of Jendamark in India is the trust which the South African management team has in us, and vice versa. Also very important is understanding the differences in culture and mindsets, but not losing sight of the business objectives, and making sure that the customer always gets the Jendamark quality they expect from the brand.”
Also represented at the conclave session on opportunities within the digital economy was Jendamark’ s Odin Education division, which has developed a full-stack ed-tech solution to bridge the digital divide for underprivileged schools in both countries.
Odin Education head Ajit Gopalakrishnan said tech-enabled learning and skills development were critical to the future of both, especially in building a knowledge-based economy.
" We have two shared challenges as countries. Firstly, there is no shortage of talent in underprivileged schools but it is squandered because of lack of access to resources, networks and support,” he said.
“ Secondly, we have a relevance problem. Our education systems are disconnected from the evolving needs of industry, so we need to rethink these systems. And in these shared challenges lies the opportunity to collaborate and innovate,” said Gopalakrishnan.
Naidoo added that the South African-developed solution was already having a significant impact on underprivileged pupils in India.
“ We hope that the widespread adoption and opportunities it is creating for kids in India acts as an example that allows us to expand the use of Odin Education in our own environment.” ■
SA PROFILE www. saprofilemagazine. co. za
81