Real-time business and service assurance software provider, Micromuse, has officially announced the appointment of Peter Willemse to the newly created position of technical director for SA.

The company, says Willemse, former Internet Solutions (IS) senior technical engineer and network management systems architect, wants to bring a customer perspective to the operations of the organization, something that was lacking in the company previously.

Willemse will provide technical support to Micromuse?s base of service provider and enterprise customers in SA. He started working for the company in March, and has since been finding his feet and focusing on presales and some technical work, to prove to possible customers that the Micromuse Netcool solution works.

?As I am responsible for new opportunities within Africa, I have spent the past four months skilling myself and channel partners on what our offering brings to the customer. It was a time of transition and a time of bedding down what needs to be done for the fourth quarter of the year,? he adds.

He says that business service management (BSM) is still a new field for many companies, and that he will be assisting existing and potential customers to define service areas, and to find ways to better manage these areas, pinpoint in real time where problems are, and enable the merger of business and IT.

Willemse says his focus for the company in the next three months is on finalizing some nine existing deals that are currently on the cards, and ensuring that reseller partners receive training and certification by September. ?This will also take a lot of pressure off myself, so that I can focus on other tasks, like looking for new business,? he adds. He also says that, in support of the company?s channel strategy locally, he will be working closely with partners, such as Dimension Data and Cisco Systems, to ensure that the Netcool solution delivers optimal value to local network-centric organizations.

Willemse, based in Johannesburg, is currently the only locally-based representative. He says that there are plans to increase the number of local staff soon.