Black-owned IT SME PCS`s star is on the rise, all thanks to its newfound status as a preferred supplier to government A small black-owned ICT company which has got its foot in the door to delivering IT hardware, software and professional services to government and parastatals, is now eyeing corporate SA`s doorway.

Earlier this year, Professional Computer Services (PCS) was selected as a black-empowered small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) supplier to government via the State Information Technology Agency SMS 285/1 contract for the next three years.

This contract is essentially a preferred suppliers list of about 20 SMEs which government deals with on ICT tenders.

PCS has partnered with computing vendor HP and its IT infrastructure and solutions provider, Datacentrix, for the purposes of this government small-business preferred supplier list.

"We are not making our presence felt just yet, as we are just starting out, but we are getting stiffly into the six-digit revenue numbers on a monthly basis," says PCS executive director Francois de Wet.

"We`ve done brisk business with various government departments, while at some others we`re still cultivating the relationship," is all the elaboration he offers.

Although PCS was registered in 1990, De Wet and his partner, PCS MD Patrick Mabasa, have been driving the business in earnest for the past two years.

"It`s been slow going," admits De Wet. "Small businesses always struggle to get ahead, as we need infrastructure to be seen to be able to compete with the big boys," he observes.

This infrastructure need was recently met, somewhat fortuitously, following an encounter at this year`s Futurex IT conference in May. De Wet and Mabasa happened upon the stand of the Softstart Software Business Incubator (an initiative of the Godisa Trust and supported with funding from the European Union) and cemented a partnership.

In June, PCS started off with a virtual presence at the business incubator, and today it has an office and a handful of staff members.

By July, the company was also beginning to get large government orders it simply was not geared up to process, and formed a joint venture with Introstat and Synthesis.

In terms of the JV, Introstat (a national supplier of desktop and IT solutions, hardware, maintenance and consumables) and Synthesis have taken over its operational processes, such as warehousing, invoicing and so forth, with PCS dedicating its resources to sales and marketing.

This deal also immediately extends PCS`s footprint to Cape Town, Durban and areas of the Northern Province. "We have had to seriously re-evaluate our business processes, in particular how we serve our customers, which has led to even further growth," says De Wet.

"We have also combined our efforts with other Softstart tenants, most of whom are software developers and some of whom are lacking in terms of marketing skills," he explains.

Announcements regarding partnerships with ERP software developers and training providers are imminent, he claims.

The company has also been offered an international opportunity, and will be announcing the formation of yet another venture in the coming weeks. "We need to make hay while the sun shines," maintains De Wet.

For now, the company is to remain a software and hardware solutions provider, but within the next two years or so, is aiming at IT outsourcing for government and parastatals.

"The private sector still represents an opportunity for us, as the rules for giving SMEs opportunities are coming into play in this sector as well," notes Mabasa.

When queried as to their experience of what is effectively the business`s biggest gripe in dealing with government: the delayed payment process, De Wet is optimistic, "We just remind the various government departments that we`re an SME, and can`t afford late payment, and generally the departments we`ve been dealing with have been paying us promptly."

"It all boils down to customer service. In fact, the first couple of clients who gave us the opportunity to prove ourselves made all the difference to our business. And now, in an industry where pricing is often the lowest common denominator, service levels have become all the more essential," he concludes.