Internet Solutions & Continuity East Africa rebrands to Dimension Data

Dimension Data is rebranding and merging Internet Solutions (IS) and Continuity East Africa (CEA), into one brand, Dimension Data East Africa by the end of this year.

The realignment has also seen Internet Solutions Managing Director Richard Hechle appointed to head the group’s consolidated business in East and West Africa.

Seven years ago, Dimension Data acquired AccessKenya for Ksh3 billion to take over 100% of the shares of AccessKenya. Before the acquisition, Dimension Data already operated in Kenya through subsidiaries Dimension Data Kenya, Internet Solutions Kenya and Plessey Kenya and merged its Internet Solutions Kenya business with AccessKenya.

 Internet Solutions is a network service provider in sub-Saharan Africa with investments in South Africa, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria and Ghana. The company has a network presence in a further 10 sub-Saharan African countries. Leveraging its 1,500 employees, Internet Solutions focuses on providing managed network and cloud-based services to a predominately corporate and multinational client base.

Internet Solutions is part the Dimension Data Group founded in 1983 and operating in 51 countries across five continents including Asia, Australia, the Americas, Europe and Middle East & Africa. With over 15,000 employees and a 30-year track record, Dimension Data applies its expertise in networking, converged communications, security, data centre solutions, Microsoft and contact centre technologies.

Continuity East Africa is owned by Internet Solution Kenya. Based at USIU, CEA serves the whole of East Africa on three main tasks, Data Recovery solutions, Advisory and Business Continuation.

The company also offers advisory services to businesses. You simply walk into their offices and tell them what business you are in; from there they will advise you on ways to best secure its continuity. They will dissect various aspects of your business and determine what is recoverable in the occurrence of a disaster; this is called a business continuity plan. Each business is different and unique in its own way, for instance, some business have in-house servers with technical teams to operate them, others outsource these technical aspects and simply focus on their core business. Continuity East Africa understands these differences exists and they tackle them by tailor-making a continuity plan based on the unique attributes of your business, not a one-fits-all kind of solution.

Business Continuity services offered make sure one is protected and will not need to do data recovery in the first place.  These activities include cooperate email services, anti-phishing solutions, website reputation systems and many more.

In 2010, Dimension Data was acquired by the Japanese-based NTT Group, one of the largest global telecommunications operators in the world with annual revenues in excess of US$100 billion. Following the completion of the acquisition, Dimension Data plc was delisted from the London and Johannesburg Stock Exchanges.

According to Dimension Data Managing Director East and West Africa, Richard Hechle, bringing the companies together will help the firm unlock opportunities for greater innovation, as well as giving clients the power to build their futures using game changing technology.

“Bringing all our people and operating companies together will allow us to effectively and efficiently execute our go-to market strategy and enable our clients’ success in a digital-first world. This digital-first world is characterised by technologies that are converging to deliver unified, hybrid and holistic solutions for real business impact,” he said.

The consolidation move across East Africa is expected to enhance efficiency, deliver better client experiences and provide for the changing technology needs of its clients.

The Dimension Data Group of companies is also effecting similar changes in the Middle East and the rest of Africa where it has operations. 

The company is reorganising its business around five go-to-market areas to deliver Intelligent technology and services that are aligned to our clients’ journeys, including Intelligent Infrastructure, Intelligent Workplace & Customer Experience, Intelligent Business Applications, Intelligent Innovation and Intelligent Security. 

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