A few months ago, following the resignations of execs such as Thibault Duisson, Dave McMurdo and Martin Meltz, Deep Throat posed the question about whether HP Inc and HP Enterprise could afford to continue letting experienced staffers go in a market as tight as it now is.
Seems they can – and not just locally, but also internationally. This month we were pretty much taken aback when it was announced by HPE South Africa that Pieter Bensch, who had been MD of the company since late 2015, is the latest to hand in his notice at the firm.
Bensch is replacing Sage Group founding member Anton van Heerden as executive VP for Africa and the Middle East from November.
We were even more surprised when, a week or so after the Bensch statement, we read about the departure of Pete Ryan who was only recently promoted as HPE’s chief sales officer globally.
Through the years, Deep Throat has had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Ryan at various conferences, mainly when he ran the group’s EMEA operations. He always had a soft spot for South Africa – and South African HPers and partners alike – and often sang the praises of the local office.
We’ll miss him, but apparently the commute between the UK and the US became a burden he could no longer carry.
Pieter, Pete, Deep Throat swallows … a good few beers … and wishes you both well in your future endeavours.
… as Altron adds to theirs
If ever there was apt saying about the local IT industry it is that it is a small community where everyone knows everyone else, and old acquaintances never vanish.
With that in mind, it was great, after a good couple of years, to once again see Mteto Nyati – ex-IBM, ex-Microsoft – back in the saddle in a sector where he belongs: IT … not that morass which poses as the telecoms industry in South Africa.
For those not in the know, Nyati recently resigned from MTN to take up the position of CEO of Altron, tasked with turning the fortunes of the near-legendary company around. And it’s a task that he’s taken on with relish if a recent press update is anything to go by.
Not only is he cutting some of the bloat from the once family-run business. With careful consolidation of head office alone, he reckons the company will save R60-million per annum; the selling off of non-core assets will add to this.
But he stresses that the new strategy for Altron it is not just about savings, it’s about focus and realignment too. Already there are alliances in the pipeline with the likes of Microsoft and Huawei; and there are changes afoot at the likes of Bytes.
Sad to say, Rob Griggs will be leaving the Bytes group in November. Mandatory retirement, we hear.
But Nyati is already injecting fresh, new blood in appointing Chad Baker as MD of Bytes Managed Solutions and Leslie Moodley as MD of Bytes System Integration (which now incorporates Bytes Universal Systems).
Funnily enough, both new candidates have spent some of their careers at IBM. It is going to be interesting to watch how the future transformation of the group unfolds.
Tim … we grovel … lowly
It is the cardinal sin for any half-decent hack: getting a person’s name wrong. And Esteemed Editor, old-school as he is, had to be physically restrained when it came to light that in last month’s issue sub-editor and proof-reader alike both got the name,
Tim Humphreys-Davies, CEO of Pinnacle, wrong.
After helping two other colleagues manhandle him back to his cushioned chair in the man-cave that is his office, Deep Throat mouthed a silent prayer of thanks that we had actually got Tim’s name right
in our column in the same issue.
Needless to say, we are not too popular with said sub and proof-reader.
Anyway, Tim, EE has asked us to apologise profusely on his behalf … he’s still speechless … and he promises to buy you a beer or three to try and make up for the gross negligence.
Pic of the month: Fruit loopy …
Colleague Kathy G was a little confused, to say the least, when she arrived at the Cape Town Convention Centre for Lenovo’s MEA Innovation Summit recently only to be met by these two life-sized fruits.
What was going on? She wondered. Was Lenovo announcing new brand mascots? Had the computer giant suddenly realised that there are probably better margins on fruit and veg versus PCs? Or was there a hidden camera somewhere?
It turned out, though, that she had simply taken a wrong turn: There was a fruit and veg conference on at the same time, but it was at the opposite side of the conference centre.
We’re pleased to report that she was finally pointed in the right direction to the Lenovo keynotes by the banana.