SBD Business Systems - Sponsored Digimag

Partners in revolutionizing print.

Delivering productivity and dependability to government.

“We are motivated by the desire to transform the industry, and create space for South African black entrepreneurs to play a role across the value chain of managed print services.”

- Themba Ndhlovu CEO

Born in 2015 out of a dream to establish a business solutions firm that provides access to high-end managed print services technologies to public sector clients, SBD Business Systems is an HP Managed Print Services (MPS) partner that disrupted the industry norm of only providing these facilities to private sector clients.

SBD’s Founders and Directors spent many years in the industry and government, noting the sector was dominated by a few players who kept government in a lower-level tech development space to maximise their own profits.

“This motivated us to transform the industry so that South African black entrepreneurs not only had the opportunity to work within MPS at all levels, but also achieve sole distribution rights for OEMs,” says Ndhlovu.

Bigger slice of the pie So, what does a robust young company like SBD do when stuck between a rock and a hard place? It digs in, creates partnerships like that with HP. Says Ndhlovu: “We are an HP reseller and partner, and we’ve established good relationships with finance institutions like ABSA and Ithala Development Corporation, to overcome the challenges around funding.

Commitment to advancing opportunities for the marginalized SBD’s commitment to advancing the previously disadvantaged is the cornerstone of the company.

“We are majority blackowned, with first-hand experience of the realities of doing business in a market that is not friendly to new entrants,” says Ndhlovu.

“We have thus gone to great lengths to ensure we create opportunities for black African entrepreneurs and women and in a predominantly white sector.”

“We have also taken a deliberate position to develop a strong core of senior management in our company, largely comprising black women. Seventy-five percent of the key positions in senior management are women, with 66% of middle management female. Overall, the company is around 86% black.”

Engaging Government in advancing transformation By participating in discussions that seek to identify strategic instruments of transformation, SBD continually engages in decision-making structures in government.

“Right now, we are shaping

discussions around the suitability of funding instruments used by development agencies established by the State to finance SMMEs by seeking policy resolutions,” Ndhlovu asserts.

“With the SBD dream still very much alive in the company’s culture and operations, stepping up transformation on every level is core to our culture. With likeminded partners such as HP and funding providers, SBD is a proud front-runner in the MPS sector.”

OFFICES SBD House 157 Pietermaritz Street Pietermaritzburg 3201

OFFICES Route 21 Corporate Park 5 Regency Drive Irene, Pretoria 0157