NetApp, the NASDAQ listed fortune 100 company, launched their Zimbabwe presence today through Frolgate Technology, a local ICT solutions company. The launch was done at a hotel in Harare.
NetApp is a storage and data management solutions company competing with the likes of EMC, HP, IBM, Imation, Quantum, Seagate and Western Digital. The Zimbabwe launch and new partnership will see NetApp solutions sold and supported locally by Frolgate.
The launch was attended by the Principal Director in the Ministry of ICT, Mr Cosmas Chigwamba who delivered a keynote address on behalf of the Minister of ICT, Hon. Nelson Chamisa. In the address, the minister explained that Zimbabwe has made significant leaps in the telecommunications industry and companies like NetApp make strategic partners in achieving economic transformation.
Speaking at a press conference held between sessions at the event, Frolgate managing director Mr. Tongesai Chingwena said that Frolgate is constantly looking for growth opportunities and becoming the official NetApp Value Added Reseller in Zimbabwe “is a good opportunity to invest in our people and customers.
“This will give us a compelling proposition to our customers as it will help the significantly reduce costs” explained Chingwena.
Present at the launch was NetApp strategic advisor for the EMEA region, Mr. Matt Watts who explained that NetApp was launching in Zimbabwe now to share its technology and experience in a time that Zimbabwe is starting to experience economic growth. Watts further explained that NetApp’s objective is to help Zimbabwean companies reduce data management costs so they can invest in their people.
Zimbabwe is attracting the attention of big Internal ICT companies and investors. Other global ICT giants like HP are lined up to present ICT infrastructure solutions in Zim before the end of this year.
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3 comments
That’s exciting news. It will help bring down some prices and boost competition. However, I am still worried that these firms will come but not help in payment methods: for instance I remember contacting PayPal asking when they would open here but they seemed to be not so sure. If international IT companies come here, that is the only way to help locals be interested in technology. We take this as a positive step, and if matters are helped by political stability in the next few years, I trust even giants like Microsoft and Apple will venture on our local soil without reservations.
i have also gone through the pay pal process and at the last stage of opening my account they informed me, that i cannot join their system coz i live in a sanctioned country, the funny thing is most of these “big companies” operate in war torn/ warzone countries which are much worse off and they will not operate anywhere were their political interests are not covered, which is very disheartening