Bennie Bester . . . ‘we have developed a super-highway maintained by a highly skilled technical team.’ Julian Liebenberg . . . tailor-made network solution for the whole logistics chain. DRIVING A Porsche along a gravel road is unlikely to deliver the turbo-charged performance for which the vehicle was built. Similarly, in the shipping environment systems have become a lot more hi tech, says I fusion sales and marketing director Bennie Bester. “People have invested a lot of money in new systems but their networks haven’t kept track. It’s like a first world system running on a dirt track rather than a highway. “At I fusion we have developed a super-highway maintained by a highly skilled technical team, that removes all worries about security and support.” The company offers an outsourced networking solution that enables the customer to stick to his core business in the knowledge that his network will run at 99.5% efficiency year-round, says executive director responsible for the network services, Julian Liebenberg. “Servers and the data residing on them are exposed to many risks. Our clients have indicated that they require an availability of at least 98% or more, and our network has therefore been designed to achieve uptime in excess of 99.5% a year. This translates into 40 hours of business downtime, but obviously we try to minimise that to an even greater degree.” One of the Bidvest-owned company’s major clients is Fedex. “Their business is as much about data as about moving parcels,” says Bester. “They are good at managing the parcels and we’re good at managing the data for them.” The network was built around two years ago using Cisco technology. The first focus was to get the Bidvest customers on board - the likes of Safcor Panalpina, Manica, Rennies Ships Agency, Rennies Cargo Terminals and SACD. “We now have a tailor-made network solution for the whole logistics chain,” says Bester, with links to several key players like Customs, ports and the like. “Teething problems have been sorted out, the system is well bedded down, and I fusion is now ready to take on the rest of the industry,” says Bester. In terms of cost, he believes that the I fusion system is ultimately 30% cheaper for the customer than managing his own network. “We buy bandwidth in bulk and therefore have the economies of scale to offer a cost effective solution,” says Bester. The last word comes from I fusion managing director Gareth Griffiths: “Our aim is to deliver a business solution that goes beyond the network to enhance the productivity of the organisation.”
