Business and technology solutions provider, EOH, recently established a new division called Mercury Africa, and has appointed Johan Cloete as its MD to put the division on the map, and to gain new business.

Mercury Africa was created after EOH signed a partnership deal with Mercury to act as master reseller for its products in sub-Saharan Africa, and was officially launched on 26 May this year. The division effectively started trading from April.

Mercury is a provider of business technology optimization (BTO) solutions that aim to help customers optimize the business value of IT. Its BTO software and services enable customers to optimize the governance, delivery, and management of IT-delivered applications, while managing costs, risks, and compliance, it claims.

Cloete took up his position full-time on 1 June, and, he says: ?Things are still brand new. Although I tried to spread my time between responsibilities in my outgoing position and the new position over the past few weeks, I am still adjusting. We are still in the process of assessing what we have acquired with this business partnership, and are only now starting to realize the enormous opportunities that have been presented to us.?

Cloete says that the transition has caused some uncertainty and pain with customers, as any change does, and that he and the rest of the company are in the process of trying to put customers? minds at ease, and win back their trust. ?We are currently talking to customers, informing them that the creation of the new division will not change things for them. Things will be the same and even better,? he says.

?We are now more closely aligned with Mercury and its products, and have a greater global backing,? Cloete adds.

Says Keith Fairhurst, a director at EOH: ?The Mercury Interactive appointment makes strategic sense to EOH - it fits perfectly with our business model - supplying and implementing solutions that extend beyond the application layer. Mercury?s BTO solutions are focused on the end-user experience, and not only the back-end technology.?

According to Cloete, there are no major changes expected for the division, as its business model is based on Mercury?s already established company model and policies. Cloete says that organizations and customers should be reminded that the division is committed to local businesses and their needs, and that the quality of service will not diminish.

Although the company has a customer base within the financial services sector - banks and investment companies - as well as in the telecoms arena, Cloete states that more focus will now be placed on gaining new business in the manufacturing and the mining sectors.

Cloete says that Mercury Africa is slowly but surely sifting through some teething problems, and he is adamant that the opportunities presented so far will see the business grow from strength to strength.