The skills gap in South Africa is a well-known phenomenon, and is a hindrance to the economic development of the country. While outsourcers may wish to protect their interests by maintaining their skills in-house, the reality is that if the necessary skills are not created within South Africa, the country will become entirely dependent on international competency centres. This in turn will negatively impact the local economy.

A CoE represents a collaboration between an ICT outsourcer and the public or private entity they are servicing, aimed at ensuring skills transfer so that after an outsourcing contract has expired, the organisation is able to sustain the integral and peripheral process including first level of support and user training themselves. This also enables the development of skills that can be added to the local skills pool, increasing knowledge and reducing reliance on international organisations.

Corporates, including ICT outsourcers, need to play their part in promoting sustainable economic development. CoEs are a mutually beneficial investment that will create a mechanism for training people, not only in ICT skills, but also basic life and business skills, enabling them to become productive members of society. This also helps to create skills retention, both for the organisation and the outsourcer, adding value to all areas of the South African economy.

The reality is, given the high levels of churn within the ICT sector, relying on any individual or even group of individuals can introduce an element of risk. For example, when they leave an organisation, whether this is the outsourcer or the organisation itself, ensuring business continuity takes time and can lead to business disruption. Processes and standards need to drive all ICT practices in order to address this challenge and create greater efficiency, and a CoE offers the ideal platform to achieve this. A CoE helps to implement best practice standards and frameworks, for example ITIL and CoBIT, and ensures that all processes are standardised and repeatable. A process-driven architecture is key to the operation of a CoE, and also critical in reducing people-related risk and creating a sustainable pool of skills in the local economy.

The skills shortage in South Africa is an unfortunate reality, and corporate South Africa needs to find a mechanism to address this challenge. Without a sustainable economy local businesses will no longer have a market to operate within. Ultimately, CoEs are about creating competency in various areas, and can be applied to any industry, not just ICT. They provide a stable environment for training in a variety of skills, as well as mentorship and practical skills for trainees, creating a pool of experienced professionals that will greatly benefit the entire South African market.

By Collin Govender, VP Systems Integration at T-Systems in South Africa
03 October 2013
t-systems.co.za

About Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom is one of the world’s leading integrated telecommunications companies with 144 million mobile customers, 32 million fixed-network lines and more than 17 million broadband lines (as of June 30, 2013). The Group provides products and services for the fixed network, mobile communications, the Internet and IPTV for consumers, and ICT solutions for business customers and corporate customers. Deutsche Telekom is present in around 50 countries and has over 231,000 employees worldwide. The Group generated revenues of EUR 58.2 billion in the 2012 financial year – more than half of it outside Germany (as of December 31, 2012).

About T-Systems
Drawing on a global infrastructure of data centers and networks, T-Systems operates information and communication technology (ICT) systems for multinational corporations and public sector institutions. T-Systems provides integrated solutions for the networked future of business and society. The company's some 52,700 employees combine industry expertise and ICT innovations to add significant value to customers’ core business all over the world.
T-Systems generated revenue of around EUR 10 billion in the 2012 financial year.

Since the inception of T-Systems in South Africa in 1997, the company has cemented its position as one of the most successful T-Systems companies outside of Europe. A leading ICT outsourcing service provider locally, T-Systems offers end-to-end ICT solutions in both the ICT Operations and Systems Integration markets. Their extensive portfolio of services covers the vertical, horizontal, IT and TC space. T-Systems South Africa’s head office is located in Midrand with another major office in Cape Town, and 20 further representative offices in locations throughout southern Africa.