PHAKISA

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PHAKISA ITA Small and Medium Enterprise
Development Programme ? 2007/08
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PHAKISA What it means

• Phakisa A Sesotho word meaning accelerate
• aims at enhancing managerial and business
  skills and
• hopes to cover subjects of strategic importance
  to ensure economic and social development in this
  sector.

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Programme Aims and Objectives

• The specific objectives of Phakisa are to
• Improve the profitability and competitiveness of
  SMEs in the ICT industry
• Improve the management capability of SMEs by
  increasing participants awareness and
  application of modern business principles
• Develop the ability of SME managers to access and
  improve business performance as part of the
  continuous learning process
• Facilitate the use of existing networks as a
  business development tool
• Facilitate the use of business management tools
  for diagnosing and early warning and
• Assist SME managers in the preparation of
  business plans.

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Programme Content

• The programme is divided into six main areas,
  each addressing one or more of the programme
  objectives, namely
• Mentorship
• Networking
• Training
• Technical Support
• Consultancy
• Recognition.

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Mentorship
Various mentors from both our industry partners
as well as public partners have been identified.
Besides giving guidance on developing a
sustainable business plan, mentors will meet with
SMEs on a quarterly basis to address specific
business development needs.
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Networking

• SMEs will be encouraged to actively participate
  in
• various networking events,
• industry initiatives and
• special interest groups run by the ITA where
  they will be afforded the opportunity to forge
  new business relationships.
• Participants in the programme will receive
  exposure on all existing ITA marketing platforms
  (i.e.. ITA Website).

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Training

• SMEs will firstly be educated on how to make
  use of existing structures such as DTI, NAFCOC
  and SEDA to the benefit of their business.
• Secondly, focused training sessions addressing
  the various aspects of managing a profitable
  business will be presented on a monthly basis.
• Experts in the field of business management will
  present these sessions ensuring that participants
  gain maximum benefit from each event.
• Themes to be covered include
• Enterprise management in a changing business
  environment.
• Improvement of competitiveness through customer
  orientation and quality management.
• Production management.
• Financial management.
• Business planning and performance monitoring.
• Marketing management market analysis and sales
  planning.
• Human resource management.
• Management of technology.
• SME support institutions.

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Recognition
All participants of Phakisa will be automatically
entered into the ITA ICT Awards and recipients
will be announced at the ITA ICT Awards evening
covered by various media partners.
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Public Partners

• There are several initiatives designed to support
  small businesses.
• Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) has a vision
  to promote and facilitate the development of
  business in South Africa.
• The Information Systems, Electronics and
  Telecommunications Technologies SETA (ISETT SETA)
  seeks to develop South Africa into an ICT
  knowledge based society by encouraging more
  people to develop skills in this sector and
  thereby contributing to the economic growth of
  South Africa.
• Other interventions are supported by the Small
  Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) based at the
  DTI.
• Through our close relationship with the ISETT
  SETA, NAFCOC and SEDA we are able to bring these
  initiatives to SMEs in the ICT industry.

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Industry Partners

• The ITA comprises a body of members including all
  the top names concerned with the supply of IT
  equipment, systems, software and services
  nationwide. This initiative is supported by all
  ITA members, and the ITA Executive Council (EXCO)
  is committed to actively participate in, and
  support the programme. The ITA EXCO comprises
  representatives from the following companies
• Accsys
• Axiz
• Bateleur Holdings
• Business Connexion
• Comztek
• Global E-waste Solutions
• GOL Telecoms
• IBM SA
• KTS
• Laragh Skills
• Microsoft SA
• Paracon SA
• SAP Africa
• Siemens Business Services
• Softline VIP
• Swicon SA
• Torque IT

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South Africas ranking in Doing Business 2008
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Ten Reasons why Businesses Fail

• Inadequate business planning
• Insufficient Capital
• Lack of Management Experience
• Poor Location
• Poor Inventory and Cash Flow Management
• Over-investment in Fixed Assets
• Poor Credit Arrangements
• Personal Use of Business Funds
• Competition or Lack of Market Knowledge
• Low Sales/not Pricing Properly

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Why do Businesses Fail? (External)

• Changes in Market Demand
• Competition
• Adverse Movement in Commodity Prices

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Why do Businesses Fail? (Internal)

• Poor Management
• Inadequate Financial Control
• Poor Working Capital Management
• High Cost
• Lack of Market Effort
• Overtrading
• Big Projects
• Acquisition
• Financial policy
• Organisational Inertia and Confusion

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Why do SME business fail?
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Seven Elements in Achieving Success

• Crisis Stabilisation
• Leadership
• Stakeholder Support
• Strategic Focus
• Organisational Change
• Critical Process Improvement
• Financial Restructuring

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Business and IT-setting the Scene
IT and business alignment is a highly complex
issue Increasingly more companies are using core
financial metrics to measure the benefits of
effective IT When IT and business goals are not
aligned IT projects are more likely to
fail Finally, technology and business units are
learning to work together
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Agility Quotient
Sensing What system do you have in place for
every employee, at every level, to spot new
market or product needs and get that information
fast to the decision makers who can make it
happen? Strategising How effective are your
problem-solving and planning methods? Are they
fast (within 48hours), practical and used daily
at every meeting? Deciding Is there a formal
process in place for making good decision? Does
every manager use it consistently? Can decisions
be made at several levels without having check
with a committee or getting group
approval? Communicating Does everyone involved
with a change, decision or new strategy know
about it (within 24 hours)? Is everyone in the
company treated as a key partner in
change? Acting How fast can you bring a new
product, service or idea to market? And, how can
you do it even faster?
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YOUR WORLD TODAY
Sales
Marketing
Orders
Service
Supply Chain
Contracts
HR
Financials
Fragmented IT management. No timely information
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YOUR AVAILIABLE FUTURE
projects
financial
HR
maintain
service
develop
Single Information source
fulfill
market
make
sell
procure
plan
source
Unified, open platform. Complete Information
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A plan for aligning Business and IT
Understanding value chains is key as these
represent the relationships between the business
functions and the IT estate You need to identify
what potential pressures will shape and influence
your business in the future Successful alignment
of IT and business strategy depends on
communication, collaboration, mutual trust and
understanding The real value of planning is the
ability to manage changing circumstances
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The goals of an e-Business System
An integrated e-Business System will reduce
costs, enables revenue growth and provides
valuable management information It will also
deliver easier and cheaper communications, both
within the company and with external partners and
suppliers Daily business intelligence is
available as a standard part of the system, with
no additional effort or cost to obtain it
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Business Software Applications
The more effective the integration, the more
valuable the information the system will
deliver The right system will automate and
simplify the whole sales cycle and help to cut
overall costs An integrated approach needs to
support the collaboration between internal units
and between the business and external parties
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Essential Resources of Information
There are various government bodies whose Web
sites offer support and guidance on IT for
business Free advice and information is
available from a number of independent
sources The quality of advice from major vendors
has greatly improved
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Information is Key to retaining Smaller Business
Agility
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is widely
accepted among large organisations Small and
mid-sized businesses are investigating how ERP
can support greater efficiency through
integrating business flows. Providing critical
information that can increase competitiveness and
improve productivity Helping growing businesses
retain the agility that won them their market
share
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Application Process

• As per the definitions above, the ITA invites all
  SMEs with a turnover of between R150 000 and R5
  million per annum operating in the ICT industry
  to apply for participation in Phakisa.
• All applications will be reviewed by the ITA EXCO
  to determine eligibility for participation in the
  programme. Application forms can be requested
  from the ITA Office as per the contact details on
  this letter.
• We look forward to welcoming all SMEs to Phakisa
  and believe that by coming together, keeping
  together and working together we will be able to
  ensure the sustainable growth of the ICT sector!

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Phakisa
Platinum Sponsor for this event Bytes
Technology Group!
Gold Sponsor
Other Partners