Advancing Africa Through ICT & Tech

Advancing Africa Through ICT & Tech

Interview with Deon Geyser, CEO at Liquid Intelligent Technologies South Africa

In October 2020, Liquid Intelligent Technologies South Africa announced the appointment of Deon Geyser as its CEO, effective from January 1st 2021. Thus far, Deon has been instrumental in overseeing the strategic repositioning of the company and the execution of its strategic direction that provides the intelligent integrated technology which enables customers to transform their businesses.

Liquid Intelligent Technologies is a pan-African technology group with a presence in 20 countries, primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa. Established in 2005, Liquid has firmly established itself as the leading pan-African digital infrastructure provider, redefining Network, Cloud and Cyber Security offerings through strategic partnerships with leading global players, innovative business applications, intelligent Cloud services and world-class Cyber Security to the African continent.

Liquid is now a full one-stop-shop technology group that provides tailor-made digital solutions to businesses in the public and private sectors across the continent.

The Group also operates state-of-theartdata centres in Johannesburg, CapeTown, Nairobi, Harare, Kigali, Togoand Nigeria with a combined potential19,000 square metres of rack spaceand 74 MW of power. Through thiscombined offering, Liquid IntelligentTechnologies is enhancing customers’experience on their digital journey.

Earlier this year, the pioneering ICTcompany attended the Africa TechWeek 2021 Summit, providing aninsightful expo booth, and playing anessential role in providing audienceswith innovative new ways to adapt todigital transformation. We sat downwith Deon for a quick chat on allthings technology.

Q: Thank you for a fascinating contribution from your team to Africa Tech Week 2021. What were some of the highlights for you, and what did your participation in the event mean for you and Liquid Intelligent Technologies?

A: What’s important for us, with AfricaTech Week, is the fact that throughparticipation in the event we aredriving our brand strategy to go beyondconnectivity. The Africa Tech weekaudience really understands where theneeds of technology are going, andthis type of dialogue always excites me- whether it be with the media or ourcustomers.

It was also great to have the opportunityto share some of what we’re doingwith the Africa Tech Week audience,and those individuals who are really

interested in tech. These online eventsare now part of an interesting seasonthat we’re all going through in terms ofCovid and whether or not we’ll go backto ‘physical events’ again… it was agreat experience in terms of our brand’stransformation process as well.

Q: You’ve been described as a veteran ICT and Telecommunications Executive. Please give us some background about your career before joining Liquid Intelligent Technologies in 2021.

A: Well, firstly, I wouldn’t call myselfa veteran just yet! I have had aninteresting journey, though, yes. Imatriculated in 1996, and at that timewhen you left school most peoplewould get into medicine, or study tobecome a CA, or go into Engineering.However, I had the opportunity toget into electrical and electronicEngineering. In my third year, I actuallystarted a degree at the University ofJohannesburg, and there you coulddo an IT degree together with yourElectrical Engineering degree. I thendid my Masters in Management andwas fortunate to have a bursary withSiemens at the time, so I started withSiemens Telecoms in 2002.

Cell C was just starting up; we built the first GPRS network for Vodacom[this was almost 20 years ago] and got involved with a number of ‘operatorstartups’ across the continent - we started with Mozambique, Tanzania and all the countries around SouthAfrica, and built our telecoms networks. This was a very exciting journey at the time because it was new technology. I also spent some time in Europe and got the opportunity to really see what the future holds in terms of being able to build this level of technology in South Africa.

At the end of 2007, I moved to Tanzania, this was during the merger between Nokia and Siemens and had the opportunity to run our business, and our transformation. The main question was: “How do we use what’s best in the world - from world market products - in order to transform?”. This was when we went through a large outsourcing programme with two of the largest operators, we brought in the latest billing and IP technology.- all of that with the idea of investing money for the future at a lower cost per bit, and building an operating model for us and our customers that would allow us to take the advantage of global management services, as well as what future technologies could bring about.

In 2014, I got the great opportunity to move back to South Africa and head up Nokia. I then moved on and started at Liquid Intelligent Technologies, and realised that I like transforming businesses! When I look at the assets that we have, the people, customers and team that we have, we are in a great position to turn this business into something really valuable for the future. It’s all about building our underlying ‘engine’ - people, capabilities and tools - and looking ahead at how we can make an impact in the future.

We took Covid as an opportunityto transform ourselves in the lastyear and are really well-placedto grab hold of all the post-Covidopportunities for growth.

Q: What would be the major changes you’ve seen in the sector?

A: There’s been a lot of talkaround ‘work from home, work fromanywhere’. Our assessment is thatcompanies will fundamentally changetheir way of work post-Covid, andthat is not only us but all businessesin the sector. So, there’s been a lot ofdiscussion about finding permanentsolutions to the ‘work from anywhere’conundrum, and being able towork seamlessly from a technologyperspective, whilst managing costs.

Right now, there is also a technologytrend where it is possible for us tochange the way that communicationswork together with Cloud services.We are witnessing a market demandwhere people are trying to get hold ofCloud services, but we’re also seeingthe large OTT players and largecompanies really considering SouthAfrica as a hub for building datacentre services and Cloud services.

Cyber Security is also a key theme right now and locally there is a lack of understanding Cyber Security just yet, although companies in certain areas, such as banks, are getting it as they’ve experienced threats. We need to get to a point where everyone, especially at mid-level, fully understands the risks and how to manage this.

Lastly, another key theme is multinationals and making services that are available in South Africa, available across Africa as homogenous services. That is why we at Liquid Intelligent Technologies have taken the opportunity in our transformation to not only be South Africa-focused, but Group-focused - providing seamless services across the continent.

Q: What excites you about ICT?

A: We get to do a lot of innovation. And as an operator we don’t only get the opportunity to sell that and provide the benefits to our customers, but we also get the chance to build innovative technologies for ourselves and witness the benefits thereof.

Technology does not exist justbecause it’s nice to ‘play with’. It’sreally about the impact it has ondelivering to the business and itscustomers.

Q: In your view, what should we be doing to encourage more young people to join the ICT sector?

That’s a very good question. Ibelieve that we need to makeICT more relevant for people whoare leaving the schooling phaseof their lives. If you decide to gointo the ICT space, you’ll see thatthere’s IT and then there’s ICT.With those young people who comefrom a space where they are usedto using computers, gaming andloving technology, there is a goodchance of understanding what thesector entails. The tech tools thatyoung people use everyday allowthem to pick up on how the industrydevelops, making it more excitingand relevant for them. Young peopleneed this: more exposure to seewhat is in store for them in terms ofcareer options.

Q: What is your opinion of the announcement by The Department of Basic Education that will be trialing coding and robotics in the classroom this year?

I think this is great. The real question regarding this is how do they execute that objective really well. There is a demand and requirement for these skills, and as an industry we need to support that.