Kigali — Twenty Third Century Systems
(TTCS), a Pan African business solutions provider last week introduced its
'cloud based' business management solutions to Rwanda a development that has
been applauded as 'good news' for the country's SMEs.
TTCS is a partner of SAP, a German
multinational software corporation that develops enterprise solutions to manage
business operations and customer relations.
One of those solutions is the
Cumulus, a business IT solution that enables business people to follow up on
all aspects of their enterprise, from inventory and stock management to supply
chain, human resource management and customer relations.While launching their
operations in Rwanda, Ellman Chanakira, the TTCS global chief executive officer
said his company provides solutions to stimulate SME growth as they are the
engines of economic growth.
Chanakira believes that through using
innovative and user free ICT solutions that his company provides, the informal
sector entrepreneurs can be helped to transform into formal business operations
that help government increase domestic revenue base as well as creating
employment.
"In Africa, many choose to
operate informally as the costs of going formal outweigh the benefits,"
remarked Chanakira.
TTCS's Cumulus solution is for
instance a cloud-based application developed by SAP to be a ' Business One
package' which doesn't require heavy investment in soft and hardware systems
for data control as it's accessible through the web so as long as there's
internet connection."Cumulus provides SMEs with a single business
management solution to manage critical business processes in a cloud-based
offering. Customers pay a subscription fee per user, and TTCS takes care of the
rest," explained Fred Masuku from Devoted Business Solutions (DBS) a
subsidiary of TTCS as well as SAP partner.TTCS solutions are hailed as new age
applications that are affordable enabling SMEs to pay with their operating
expenditure (OPEX) as opposed to Capital expenditure (CAPEX). Subscription for
TTCS solutions per month start from as low as $75 per user.
This is because the solutions ensure cost optimisation
and shifts in spending from traditional computing models to modern cloud based
computing solutions suitable for times when tighter capital budgets demand
leaner alternatives with businesses and organisations looking for ways to shift
from upfront capital expenditure to operating expenditure (pay as you go).
Patrick Nyirishema, the head of ICT
at the Rwanda Development board observed that Cloud based solutions such as
cumulus will help Rwandan firms have an edge over their competitors at a time
when regional integration requires business people to be at their best to
remain relevant.
Didier Nkurikiyimfura, Director
General of ICT in the Ministry of Youth and ICT remarked that TTCS business
solutions will be a hit among Rwandan SMEs considering government has invested
in internet infrastructure countrywide which enables easy access to interested
users even those based up-country. Stuart Mugabe, the CEO of TTCS Rwanda
emphasized that their solutions target low level businesses (SME's) and have
noticeable and clearly defined outcomes to the business owners.
TTCS has over 16 years’ experience
implementing and supporting SAP across Africa with a local presence in
Zimbabwe, Malawi, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and Nigeria.
Besides Cumulus which targets small
SMEs, TTCS also offers Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) which is designed for
bigger organizations and public institutions.
East African
Business Week (Kampala)