Inq Digital

INQ.DIGITAL

FUTUREPROOFING AFRICA inq. Digital drives digital transformation with a global perspective, offering future-pertinent solutions that pioneer the sustained growth of Africa’s ICT Sector. We discuss operations with Group CEO, Christian Wirtz Writer: Phoebe Harper | Project Manager: Lewis Bush

“inq.Digital offers the unique combination of the dynamics of a start-up, combined with the stability of a mature company - both of which contribute to the prevailing, learning and dominant culture we have.”

So states Dr. Christian Wirtz, Group CEO behind leading pan-African digital service provider, inq.Digital (inq.).

Since the company’s inception in Mauritius in 2013, inq. has championed a value proposition of leveraging digital solutions to re-image a better future. inq. was conceived as a Convergence Partners company; a segment of the private equity investment firm that specialises in Africa’s Technology, Media, Telecom (TMT) sector.

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INQ.DIGITAL Alongside the current 16 African cities where inq. operates, this footprint is set to expand over the coming year, with Johannesburg, Cape Town, Nairobi and Accra next on the agenda.

Despite the breadth of locations, and indeed services, that inq. offer, the company advocates a customised approach varying in alignment

A CONTINENTAL FOOTPRINT Championing sustained growth across the continent’s ICT sector, inq.Digital count operations in 16 cities of nine African Countries: • South Africa • Botswana • Zambia • Zambia • Malawi • Nigeria • Cote d’Ivoire • Cameroon • Mauritius We are also able to provide services in: • Niger • Burkina Faso • Mali • Kazakhstan • Benin • Guinea • Senegal MAJOR SERVICE CATEGORIES • Edge-AI Solutions and Video Analytics • SDN/NFV Solutions • Cloud-Based Solutions • Digital Solutions • Intelligent Connectivity

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with local customs in the individual cities where it operates. Whilst demonstrating this attention to varying local market conditions, the overriding quality standard of global best practice, is universal.

As with all ICT advances, smart solutions represent transformational drivers for both economic and social progress. All inq. solutions are targeted towards universal business challenges, aimed at specific services catering to businesses spanning a wide range of sectors – whether it be banking, oil and gas, FMCG, mining, health, real estate, logistics, public sector, or of course within IT itself.

For a diverse array of businesses, inq. is geared to act as the digital transformation partner of choice.

The company’s cutting-edge, innovative solutions comprise Edge-Artificial Intelligence (AI) Video Analytics, Software Defined Networking (SDN)/ Network Function Virtualisation (NFV) solutions and cloud solutions.

ADVANCED VIDEO ANALYTICS A true African trailblazer as the first service provider of its kind, inq. has recently ventured into video analytics.

A powerful new area of focus, the company has designed advanced software leveraging the possibilities of video analytics to effectively recognise and identify temporal and spatial events in footage. Comprising the automated processing of data using software, real-time event monitoring and alerts, Video Analytics deliver actionable insights to help in decision making, proactive responses to business issues, and elimination of working hours wasted when reviewing surveillance recordings. “inq. Video AI leverages artificial intelligence by using software to automatically review videos, helping customers to get the most use of their video surveillance systems. They can gain valuable insights from data which can be used to drive business, safety

Trinet Sub-Saharan african countries, still experience difficulties providing connectivity especially in semi-urban and rural areas. Connectivity is a basic ressource to promote social and standard services toward the uncovered.

At TRINET our aim is to have an impact by unlocking the millions of possibilities for development through enhanced connectivity in these regions.

With top tier carriers like INQ and governments we extend the reach of connectivity down to remote locations. Hence both local, regional and international partners are more than welcome to join in moving Africa to a better digital era.

www.trinet.africa

and compliance decisions within their organisations,” Wirtz explains.

This represents a key step in further diversifying and expanding the company’s extensive service portfolio, which encompasses three core areas of expertise; digital transformation, managed services, and technical services. Across all three areas, the customer is held at the very nexus, as agile methodology is implemented to drive their intended transformation.

“We engage with our customers and go on the digital transformation journey with them as they transform their business. We do this by leveraging the skills of our development team based in India to create business relevant solutions to give our customers competitive edge in their markets.”

In terms of managed services, the company offers a select range of solutions designed to enable its customers to optimise network

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Trinet

With over a decade of presence in french West africa, TRINET provides digital connectivity services to major players in all industry segments.

OUR SERVICES • Internet access • Data connectivity via fiber, microwave and satellite solution • Data hosting and collocation services in our data center facilities

Benin – Togo Cote d’ivoire - BurkinaFaso – Nigeria – Niger

BENIN T: +229 21381860

COTE D’IVOIRE T: +225 27 22 51 94 46

info@trinet.africa info@trinet-layers.com

www.trinet.africa www.trinet-layers.com

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INQ.DIGITAL

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS ENEA - The uCPE architecture with Enea NFV Access gives inq. the flexibility to offer a choice of VNFs and the possibility to add functionality on-demand to already deployed uCPE devices. It is orchestrated centrally through the inq. control platform, which provides a single management console for an entire network.

Enea NFV Access provides the inq. universal CPE platform with a compact and open virtualisation layer with end-to-end management of platform and VNFs. It enables full automation including Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) through the inq. Control Platform.

ELASTIC – A partnership aimed at meeting the increasing need for cybersecurity solutions in Africa and provide customers with security for connectivity and application tools to minimise their risk. inq’s partnership with Elastic has evolved to support new use cases and a subsequent managed security service provider partnership (MSSP).

FORTINET - Another inq. MSSP partner, Fortinet is a global leader in broad, integrated, and automated cybersecurity solutions. They specialise in high-performance, integrated security solutions for global organisations and various providers. The partnership crucially enables inq. to deliver SDWAN to route applications to the most efficient WAN connection at any given moment.

HUBBLE IQ - With the explosion in employees working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, inq.’s partnership with HubbleIQ delivers AI-enabled remote services, which can quickly detect where the issue is arising, thereby providing quick resolution to employees automatically without reaching out to IT support. This is delivered through an experience management solution that surveys performance across various network links, including WiFi, to pre-emptively and proactively measure a remote user’s ability to consume web- and cloud-based services.

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performance and data centres to facilitate applications and data.

Essentially, inq. is able to consult, execute, manage, and outsource across the entire IT infrastructure environment, relinquishing time on behalf of its customers and thereby granting them more time to focus on what truly adds value to their business.

Finally, in the field of technical services, Wirtz highlights the diverse and wide-reaching range of technical and project management skills across operations that inq. design, implement, and support to optimise customer IT assets, improve operations and reduce costs.

“Our aim is always to please customers by providing simpler, seamless solutions. We do this by partnering with the best in the market.”

AN INQ.UISITIVE APPROACH Continuing on the note of diversity, this emphasis is paralleled in the team behind the operations, which for Wirtz translates to a competitive edge on behalf of the customer.

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DID YOU KNOW? inq.Digital was awarded Emerging Smart Solutions Enabler Company of the Year and Enterprise Broadband Services Provider of the Year at the 12th edition of Beacon of ICT (BoICT) Awards, one of the most esteemed annual events in Nigeria’s ICT industry.

The company was also nominated for Best ISP Firm 2021, in the International ICT Awards in Malawi.

“INQ.DIGITAL HAS DEEP DOMAIN KNOWLEDGE IN THREE AREAS, NAMELY AI-BASED DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION, SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT WITH OWN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (IP) AND INTELLIGENT, SOFTWARE-DRIVEN CONNECTIVITY” - DR. CHRISTIAN WIRTZ, GROUP CEO, INQ.DIGITAL “The diverse demographics we have at inq. makes us a great company, and this is exemplified by the excellent service we give to our customers,” he comments.

As with all technological ventures, innovation begins with people, and the question of how best to serve the humans behind the technology. At inq., this begins with the workforce.

“We put a lot of emphasis on our people. Our talented employees are the backbone of our business.

We keep working towards creating a culture of inclusivity, high performance and high impact,” Wirtz expands. “inq. continually strives to create a workplace that is diverse and

inclusive, ensuring that all employees are excited to be part of this business.

There is a big focus on driving the diversity agenda within the business with an emphasis on women in tech.”

This empowering and encompassing ethos is channelled through various company-wide strategies, communicated through regular performance reviews and annual KPI’s enforced across the inq.

Group.

At the centre of the inq. workplace culture is the prioritisation of education and learning expressed in Wirtz’s opening sentiment. This is best embodied by the company’s digital learning academy, whereby all employees undergo the same levels

of training in products, solutions and offerings, but entirely at their own pace. This is instrumental in fostering a spirit of confidence, and collaboration.

“We have created Virtual Centres of Excellence throughout the organisations in all different functions to ensure cross-collaboration, up-skilling and learning across multi-disciplines in the business. This also ensures that our employees in various locations speak to each other and solve problems together,” Wirtz surmises.

Spreading this vision in waves across the continent, inq.Digital are equipping Africa’s businesses to thrive in the technological future.

INQ.DIGITAL Tel: +267 72145052 sales@inq.inc www.inq.inc

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INQ.DIGITAL 3rd Floor, 30 Jellicoe Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg, 2196 South Africa Tel: +267 72145052 sales@inq.inc www.inq.inc

PRODUCED BY AFRICA OUTLOOK MAGAZINE