Data is the lifeblood of any organisation and is the key component driving digital transformation.
Recognising its importance, Corex devotes much of its technical expertise and efforts to the transmission, storage and processing of enterprise data through its Broadband and Data Centre business unit.
In terms of broadband, Corex focuses on enabling wide bandwidth data transmission.
“We term it wide because there are numerous ways to transmit data, and solutions need to encompass all kinds of data,” explains Derek de Jager, broadband and data centre business unit manager at Corex. “Not only do we offer a wide array of solutions, but there is little or no restriction on what customers are able to do.”
The fabrics underlying this connectivity could be wired using either copper or optical cables, or wireless with radio frequency, microwave, mobile or WiFi.
Corex carries a vast product range, but De Jager believes the value it offers is in providing solutions to particular customer problems.
Corex’s broadband product line-up consists of the following:
- Ubiquiti – wireless and switching solutions. The wireless products are typically used in vertical market areas like backhaul class wireless and can scale down to home networking. Ubiquiti also offers security solutions for business and home users.
- Ruckus – business and enterprise class switching, access points (APs) and management solutions.
- Mikrotik – router board and operating system (OS). Mikrotik offers fully customisable and programmable networking hardware, providing software-defined networking along with wireless, APs, mobile networking and switches.
- Altai – carrier grade WiFi. Smart antenna technology which can deliver WiFi network solutions in places hostile to traditional WiFi, like its key industries of ports, industrial manufacturing and mines. Altai is also used both indoors and outdoors for carriers, wireless Internet service providers (WISPs) and enterprises, as well as industries coping with harsh conditions.
Corex also offers a range of IP telephony solutions (with Yea-Link and Fanvil product lines), and carries a range of PBXs.
On the infrastructure side, the distributor carries a full range of fibre and copper cabling solutions that span the market from home installations to massive data centres and includes optical infrastructure.
Security is a key concern for customers. Corex carries the Hikvision range of cameras, DVRs, NVRs, switching, personal intercoms and more.
Impressive as the product line-up is, De Jager prefers to focus on the total solution. “We pride ourselves on the fact that the broadband team has the most technically-minded people in the company.
In fact, the team is so confident about its skills and its product range – which is growing by the month – that it has set itself the goal of becoming the top networking distributor in the country.
“We’ve got a lot of traditional run-rate products, but we are also able to provide solutions that go beyond the traditional, that resolve an issue for the customer. We provide expertise on the product, and can install and configure on behalf of the reseller. We’ll also train them and offer a wealth of other support.”
There have been massive changes in the way the world connects, and this is only going to become more pronounced going forward, with new fibre rollouts driving demand.
5G is receiving a lot of attention around the world, and this will certainly drive trends. “5G is going to require spectrum and, once that has been figured out in the South African context, we’ll see it starting to take off.”
Corex believes 5G will be significant on three fronts: millimetre wave for short reach and minimal penetration, mid-band for urban areas requiring penetration but less speed, and low-band 5G for the widest coverage.
Another trend that South Africa can expect in 2020 is greater fibre penetration, especially in currently-underserved areas.
The data centre is popular again
The data centre is still the backbone of any IT organisation, covering servers, storage, networking, and security.
“The data centre was quite unsexy for a while and not really front of mind for people not directly involved in it,” De Jager says. “For a long time, it was all in the background, but it is in the foreground again now, for a number of reasons.”
One of the issues that brought data centres out of the shadows is that of data sovereignty and the need to retain some data within national borders. This made people start questioning where their data was being held, and who had access to it.
Even as companies move their networks to the edge, they have to extend their data centre there as well. “Servers, storage and networking are becoming synonymous with everything we do.”
Reports of the data centre’s demise have been greatly exaggerated, De Jager adds. “Everyone needs a data centre. The opportunity is not getting smaller; instead, the requirement is growing exponentially.
“At Corex we don’t just offer one particular solution, we can quite objectively make sure the customer gets the best possible solution for his needs. We identify what they want to do with the system and can then tailor it to his actual needs.”
This process covers the IT system and the operations technology (OT) to fits in with it.
The solutions available from Corex’s data centre business unit cover a wide spectrum:
- AMD and Intel – server processors.
- Supermicro – the full range of servers, including full component or barebone, and networking.
- Western Digital (previously HGST) – hard drives that boast the lowest failure rate in the market.
- Dell solutions – Corex is a partner for the range of data centre products.
- Sangfor – security and virtualisation as well as hyperconverged infrastructure and networking.
The company is also engaging with H3C, which offers a vast product range across a number of product verticals.
Importantly, the data centre team at Corex offers much more than just its impressive product range.
“We offer advice, from people with a depth of server experience, on how to do consultation, pre-sales, configuration and post sales,” De Jager says. “Our people are very skilled, and we spend a lot of time getting involved with the client so we can make sure we provide the best possible solution for a specific project.”
At the end of the day, the team at Corex aims to deliver a solution that improves the end customer’s life.
This level of service is going to be vital for customers in the year ahead: De Jager believes we are going to see an upsurge in cyber-security issues that will catch many businesses on the back foot.
“Security will undoubtedly be a big factor going forward, and a lot of businesses are simply not ready. In fact, many of them won’t survive a direct attack.
“We think security should be a major trend in 2020 since it’s a core focus that needs to be addressed.”