Author: Editor
By Michael Shapiro, Synthesis Managing Director The word of the year in 1999 was “Y2K.”In 2007 it was “subprime.” And then in 2016 it was “Brexit.” 2017 saw the emergence of “Fake news,” and in 2019 it was “Climate emergency.” And then the world changed. In 2020 the word of the year was “Pandemic” and this year, 2021, according to the Oxford English dictionary the word of the year is “Vax.” The Collin English Dictionary took a slightly different angle. Their word of the year was NFT. The abbreviation for non-fungible tokens, or as Collins defines it: “unique digital certificate, registered in a blockchain, that is used to…
Following a tumultuous two years, the upcoming holiday shopping season will be a crucial one for local retailers trying to regain some much-needed momentum. But customers are still managing their budgets very carefully to mitigate against the current economic uncertainty. This has contributed to 61% of consumers globally joining a loyalty programme to get discounts for their holiday shopping. South African retailers must capitalise on this trend and ensure their loyalty strategies are ready if they are to maximise the opportunities to be had for the expected shopping spike during December. “Even though saving money has always been important for…
Digital software specialist demonstrates the fine art of digital e-commerce for Latitudes Online. Africa-focused online art website Latitudes Online has over the past year-and-a-half secured a firm foothold in the online art space. Now, thanks to the expertise of Syncrony Digital, Latitudes has successfully entered the world of online art sales and auctions. Syncrony describes the new website as a one-of-a-kind evolution of the standard Magento 2 platform designed to provide art-centric product visualisations and enable online art sales. ‘Selling art online is hard,’ says Howard Rybko, CEO of Syncrony Digital. ‘Shipping is the major headache because artworks vary so…
By Ralph Berndt, Sales and Marketing Director at Syrex South African organisations have been looking at deploying hybrid or multi-cloud environments as one of the ways to digitally transform operations and provide an enabling environment for their distributed workforce to remain productive. And even though more employees are returning to the office, a mindset shift has occurred with cloud-based systems here to stay. However, ensuring the relevant data gets migrated securely and stays protected in this new landscape form part of the new strategic imperatives that must be in place. Central to embracing a hybrid or multi-cloud operating model, is…
Are your employees working longer hours and taking on more work now that they’re working from home? There are two risks inherent in the work from home (WFH) era and they are two sides of the same coin – lack of productivity and excessive productivity. Many people fall into the latter category, working long hours into the night without proper compensation, and well outside the boundaries of their employment contracts. As Nicol Myburgh, Head: HCM Business Unit as CRS Technologies points out, this is a very fine line that companies need to walk very carefully. “There are certain rights and…
By Hennie Moodie, New Business Lead at Remote Metering Solutions The COVID-19 pandemic notwithstanding, this has been a disruptive year for many South Africans. Load shedding has made an unwelcome, albeit sporadic, return. The violent protests in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng added distress to an already burdened society. Job losses and other economic challenges increased the pressure many companies and individuals have already been experiencing. And yet, despite all of this, there are positive changes to be thankful for. In June, President Cyril Ramaphosa authorised a series of amendments to the Electricity Regulation Act allowing Independent Power Producers (IPPs)…
Construction industry knowledge hub Databuild has welcomed recent announcements by National Treasury and the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) regarding locally produced products and materials. “National Treasury’s decision to prohibit the use of imported cement on government-funded projects from 4 November will give the beleaguered South African construction industry a much-needed boost and hopefully stimulate the creation of new jobs while ensuring that existing ones are sustained,” says CEO Morag Evans. Local cement manufacturers have been particularly hard hit over the past few years by cheap imports from countries such as Vietnam and Pakistan. Research done by data company…
By Tjaard du Plessis, Head of Digital and Emerging Technology at Synthesis As the world adapts to the realities of COVID-19, industries and businesses need to have a firm grasp on digital transformation to compete. Not only does it exist to solve business problems, eliminating complexity through technology, but it also reduces unnecessary manual work, saving time and money. The term digital transformation is often misused. In a nutshell, it is an organisation’s capacity to embrace emerging technology. It is not only about new tech such as transforming existing infrastructure and software. Digital transformation also encompasses customer experiences, products, and…
GolfLeader just launched in South Africa to provide subscribers with a live golf tournament leaderboard app for their next social golf tour or social golfing event. Subscription is free to individuals and social groups. The app provides up to date scoring to golfers and non-golfers conveniently from any internet-connected device, including smartphones. “Most golfing groups enjoy social golf tours or social golf events amongst friends. There is normally a competitive side to these which means scoring needs to be carefully checked and collated end of day or end of tour. However, this is a time-consuming process. The individuals responsible for…
The global manufacturing industry has experienced significant disruption over the last two years. This has seen many manufacturers reconsider how they leverage technology, especially their mission-critical manufacturing systems. For them, it is about becoming more responsive to the changes needed to drive business growth in 2022 and beyond. DAC Systems and First Distribution will be discussing the challenges of this environment as well as the opportunities to address them using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. They are hosting a one-hour webinar at 10:00 on 24 November. “Regardless the size of their manufacturing operations, decision-makers need to have confidence in their…