Argility announces latest acquisition

ajustus Feb 16, 2018

Leading innovator of enterprise software solutions – Argility – has announced its latest acquisition following on the heels of its formation of the Argility Technology Group late last year.

The acquisition of Indaba Mobile from Capital Eye Investments, concluded at the end of January 2018, brings the number of companies in the newly formed group to four, with holding company Argility, Cquential Solutions and Fleet Domain.

Indaba Mobile is a social mobile commerce platform which delivers content, chat and transacting capabilities via a social network. Argility CEO, Marko Salic, says that Indaba Mobile leverages social commerce in a way that enables people to use the platform on various levels. “For example businesses can engage in chat with their customer base and also deliver digital content whilst enabling the distribution of vouchers and coupons to facilitate transactions. Any organisation – large enterprise or SME – can use this platform to connect with customers but most importantly in a secure, private, closed loop in which to deliver information and transact.”

Salic notes that this is the latest step in the group’s acquisition drive.

“We are actively seeking to invest in companies capable of adding to the already rich portfolio of products, services and IP that exists in the group. This is part of our drive to position the Argility group as a leader in disruptive software technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI); prescriptive analytics, Internet of things (IOT) and blockchain. This move is another step in the execution of our broader strategy aimed at establishing the Argility group as a formidable and uniquely positioned industry player. This will ultimately make the group an even more attractive investment proposition,” says Salic.

Argility Group COO and CEO of Cquential, Steve Mallaby explains that the companies in the group are operating in various markets, including the expansive retail sector. “We empower our clients to deliver consistent quality customer experiences through innovative technologies that enable digital transformation and omni-channel capabilities,” says Mallaby.

He adds that the group is also a leading force in warehouse management; supply chain and fleet management sectors. “We are actively driving our strategy to expand our investment in the development of disruptive technologies in these areas. The businesses within the newly formed group will retain their brand and identity, with existing management structures remaining intact,” he says.

Salic concludes that this acquisition will aid the group’s ability to diversify, target new markets and significantly enhance its existing solutions portfolio.

“This latest acquisition offers further benefits for our customers as we continue to broaden their exposure to the latest global technology trends,” Salic concludes.

Source: ITWeb

Pay Attention to Everything

ajustus Feb 14, 2018

https://www.argility.com/blog/pay-attention-to-everything/

By Tanya Long, Human Capital Executive, Argility.

9 out of 10 businesses fail. What’s the formula then for success?

In our first article on this topic, I spoke about the surprisingly high statistics for business failures and the top item for success being the right product for the right market.

The #2 key success factor is: Pay Attention to Everything

You may have a fantastic product and a willing market, but if your underlying processes do not support sustainable actions then failure may creep up on you. Small issues suddenly turn into large issues.

Boring but necessary business processes, business models and scalability should always be top of mind. Make time to work ‘on’ your business, not always ‘in’ your business and ensure that you have effective solutions to give you the time to do so.

Let’s do a quick health check on the state of your business:

What business processes do you have in place to effectively manage the different areas of your business?
- In buying and stock merchandising
- In stock ordering, receiving and despatch
- In stock takes and stock control
- In cash management
- In debtors management
- In staff management….. to name just a few

Are these supported by constantly updated and documented SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures)?
- With details not only on physical processes but authority levels and also software system processes
- Is time made to ensure that these are kept up to date with changes so that any person can walk into your business and be fast tracked to productivity

Do you have the controls and measurements in place? And are the results reviewed frequently for active and quick decision making?
Do your employees have clear job descriptions and a process of monthly measurement of results? Is someone providing monthly feedback to them and the stakeholders to make sure you have the right people performing at their optimum levels and servicing your customers with excellence?
Is up-skilling and training of staff a priority? As the impact of this ultimately is felt by you and your customers.

How do you fare on the above? If you can tick the boxes and say yes, then give yourself a pat on the back and start delving for more… If not, then it’s never too late, this is one of those things that you will be saying “What in one years’ time will I wish I had started today?”

Whilst manual processes are still a fall back, look towards technology that will enable you to get access to information quickly and with as little effort as possible.

Flash Figures gives your business users key performance data, as mobile business intelligence, at their fingertips, enabling them to make informed decisions on the go.

For more information, you can either contact Sales on 011 712 1300, email info@argility.com or visit the Argility website.

Article contributions taken from Neil Patel, Forbes Magazine.

Previous: Right Product for the Right Market – Success Factor #2

Biography – Tanya Long, Human Capital Executive, Argility

Tanya Long is a Qualified Performance and Business coach, with over 25 years’ experience in Software Development for Retailers. The fusion of her retail, software and coaching knowledge is used by many to uplift businesses, entrepreneurs and individuals in achieving the results that they desire. She currently serves as Human Capital Executive for Argility plus works with various organisations to design and implement their Culture Strategy aligned to enhancing their Employee Engagement to drive business results.

Right Product for the Right Market

ajustus Feb 6, 2018

Right Product for the Right Market

By Tanya Long, Human Capital Executive, Argility.

9 out of 10 businesses fail. What’s the formula then for success?

A frightening statistic popped out at me when I was reading Forbes Magazine the other day, which said that 90% of start-ups fail. Now, I’m not sharing this to discourage you but rather to get you thinking that it’s imperative to work not only harder but smarter too.

Success Factor 1: Right Product for the Right Market

The top reason for success (as gained from research across many successful businesses) is having the right product for the right market. Even the most innovative, cost-effective, sexy products won’t sell if there is a lack of market need. Do the research. Now this is not a once off exercise but rather something that should be evaluated continuously. So what are the questions you should be asking regarding your products?

1. Who are our customers and how do we reach and market to them?

Does our target market also include businesses or only individual customers?
What do our customer profiles look like? What are the characteristics of our customers and how can we use this data to assist us with our marketing strategy development. An example would be: what are their demographic/expenditure/lifestyle/media preferences?
What does our customer segmentation look like? What are the similarities/differences in our customer base (potential and current) and how can we use this information for cost-effective and accurate targeting in our direct marketing?
What are our customer demographics? Where do our prospective customers live? What is their Socio-Economic Measure? How frequently will they buy? What is their average age group and gender

2. Determine your competition

What would make a customer choose the one over the other? Is it price-variety-quality?
Does the competitor offer superior customer service?

3. Know your products

Ensure that you understand and know your products features and benefits, as the pricing determines if it is bargain value or luxury.

4. Request customer feedback

Constantly ask your customers about their experiences

I’m sure there are more questions you could ask, but I’m hoping that this will kick start the process and the answers to these are at least a bare minimum of information needed.

Ongoing research could be cumbersome and time-consuming, so look for software systems which can fulfil your data needs. Information taken from Point of Sale on product sales plus customers’ sales trends and segmentation should be mined continuously to ensure that your product and marketing strategies are still on point.

With the buzzwords of AI (Artificial Intelligence) flying around these days it is imperative to select a technology partner who can provide you with solutions that allows you to analyse the under-utilised wealth of information at your fingertips. And to raise the bar of not only having the data to view (referred to as Descriptive Analytics), but systems which allow you to predict and plan your stock levels and promotions (just to name a few) referred to as Predictive Analytics.

Article contributions taken from Neil Patel, Forbes Magazine.

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For more information contact Sales on 011 712 1300, visit the Argility website or email info@argility.com

Also read: Data Science & IoT

Biography – Tanya Long, Human Capital Executive, Argility

Tanya Long is a Qualified Performance and Business Coach, with over 25 years’ experience in Software Development for Retailers. The fusion of her retail, software and coaching knowledge is used by many to uplift businesses, entrepreneurs and individuals in achieving the results that they desire. She currently serves as Human Capital Executive for Argility and works with various organisations to design and implement their Culture Strategy aligned to enhancing their Employee Engagement to drive business results.

Tanya Long, COO Argility -retail concepts and resources

The World of Retail – Concepts and Resources

ajustus Jan 29, 2018

The World of Retail – Concepts and Resources

Tanya Long, Human Capital Executive, Argility

Delve into the retail resources and concepts

There is no doubt that the world of a retailer is a highly complex one. It doesn’t matter what vertical you are playing in, there are so many elements to get right that only the brave of heart and sharpest of minds take on the challenge.

With the advent of the digital age, customer expectations have evolved at an astounding pace. The early days of walking to the local farmer, bartering for products or paying with coins are memories retained only in fairy tales (remember Jack and the Beanstalk?).

Customers of today are spoiled for choice, highly informed and expect nothing less than exceptional pricing and speedy service. The result of which demands that any business owner or manager is at the top of their game, using the most appropriate resources and fitting the puzzle pieces together to create the success that is needed to sustain and grow their business.

Now the term ‘resources’ can be used to cover a wide spectrum of things. This can be anything from stock to cash, processes to systems to people, knowledge to the availability of information.

Over the next set of articles, we will delve into retail concepts and resources options with our Retail Coach to allow you to have the knowledge needed to excel and take you to the next level.

Whether you are just starting in your business or are an experienced retailer, the concept of always making time to work ‘on’ your business and not just focussing on working ‘in’ your business is one that should be made a priority. And a secret of working ‘on’ your business is to ensure that you partner with others whose own priority is to ensure your success. At Argility, our commitment to our customers is to utilise our wealth of experience, our varied and rich product suite and our drive for solutions/service to allow you to be at the top of your game. Whether you are an existing Argility customer or just wanting to know more about us, contact us today to meet with one of our experts.

For more information contact Sales on 011 712 1300, email info@argility.com or visit our website on https://www.argility.com/

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Tanya Long, Human Capital Executive, Argility

SkyData IOT platform to fast-track SA business IOT optimisation – Argility

ajustus Oct 6, 2017

South African businesses can now integrate the broad spectrum of their IOT devices into a single management platform to support advanced workflow, compliance, analytics and reporting.

South African technology innovator, Argility, has officially launched its comprehensive IOT framework, SkyData, to enable local enterprises to integrate, manage and optimise their growing IOT ecosystems.

Already successfully implemented in local enterprises of major pharmacy/retail chains and Coltempo Salami production facilities, the Argility SkyData platform forms the foundation of Argility’s IOT portfolio, which was developed in partnership with SkyData Communications and various sensor hardware providers.

Argility CEO, Marko Salic, says the SkyData IOT platform was developed to meet growing local demand: “As the infrastructure in South Africa has developed, so has the need to collect huge amounts of data while digitising and optimising processes. As the price of sensors and devices drops and machine to machine communication standards such as MQTT are developed, everything around us will exchange data, becoming one big Internet of things,” he says.

Salic notes that IOT is delivering significant efficiency, risk management and compliance returns for industries across all sectors, in areas such as predictive maintenance, logistics, security, smart metering, asset tracking and connected operational intelligence.

“However, traditionally, enterprises seeking to harness IOT typically had to roll out multiple platforms to manage each suite of IOT endpoints. SkyData simplifies the ecosystem,” says Salic.

Neil Michelson, CEO of SkyData Communications, notes: “Enterprises are fast recognising the value IOT delivers. In businesses where cold chain management is mission critical, for example, IOT systems are being introduced to replace manual temperature measurement; giving companies ongoing, accurate temperature controls, alerts and reporting. But if a producer wanted the temperature probe system integrated with motion detectors, flow meters, and door open and close monitoring, they would have needed multiple IOT platforms. SkyData is an open platform that allows all IOT systems to be integrated and monitored.”

SkyData has multiple integration levels, allowing organisations to collect and process data from any machine or sensor, merge it with transactional data and unstructured information, and set up rules to trigger alarms and notifications to manage the device or machine. The platform also supports the addition of capabilities such as predictive analytics, machine learning and data visualisation and reporting. Designed to serve as the foundation of the IOT ecosystem, the Argility SkyData IOT platform is highly scalable and configurable.

Salic notes that this robust cloud platform uses a web-based administration and configuration dashboard, and offers multiple two-way communications/integration methods including REST, JMS, MQTT and socket based. IOS and Android mobile applications provide insight and notifications in real-time, and multiple pre-existing ICASA certified devices and sensors are integrated and available for use to solve real world challenges.

The scalable, low latency SkyData platform is capable of sending and receiving messages from millions of connected sensors and devices, within a secure and resilient environment.

“Businesses need to have real-time visibility of their operations and assets for quick and informed decision making. With IOT, it is now possible to connect machines and devices to achieve this, and with SkyData, it becomes possible to manage and enhance the value of the IOT environment,” concludes Salic.

Argility announces new technology group, company acquisition

ajustus Oct 6, 2017

Argility announces new technology group, company acquisition

Argility Technology Group (ATG)

Enterprise retail software solutions company, Argility, has formed the Argility Technology Group and announced the acquisition Cquential Solutions and Fleet Domain, from Capital Eye Investments.

According to Argility CEO, Marko Salic, reveals the acquisitions form part of the execution of a broader strategy aimed at building an innovative technology group with specialised experience and expertise across multiple industry verticals.

“These markets are comprised of the expansive retail sector which is inclusive of digital transformation; omni-channel; prescriptive analytics; customer experience, and more. They also include warehousing, supply chain and fleet management,” says Salic.

“One of the most important outcomes is the combination of expertise within these businesses and consequently the associated extended value proposition this will bring to our customers.

“Moreover, it will enable the Argility group to be recognised as a formidable player in the industry, uniquely positioned with a rich portfolio to capture a larger market share with improved investor attractiveness.”

In terms of operating structures – Salic confirms he will head up the new group in the capacity of chief executive officer whilst continuing as CEO of Argility.

“Each business in the newly formed group will retain its individual brand and identity, with the existing management structures remaining intact. Therefore, Steve Mallaby will continue as CEO of Cquential but has also been appointed COO of the group and Colin Steyn will remain CEO of Fleet Domain.”

Positioning as leader in disruptive software technologies

Salic says the vision behind the formation of the new group is to position it as a leader in disruptive software technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT) and blockchain.

“In line with this, we are already engaged in plans to increase our investment in the development of game-changing solutions in these areas. Embedding these new technologies into our current offerings will enable us to diversify, target new markets, and significantly enhance our existing solutions portfolio.”

For more information contact Sales on 011 712 1300, email info@argility.com or visit the Argility Website.

Digital Transformation in the insurance sector SCV

Why SCV is important to the success of digital transformation in the insurance sector

ajustus Aug 7, 2017

Single customer view (SCV) is a ‘holistic’ representation of an organisation’s key assets

These assets can be customer, product, account, policy, supplier, inventory, equipment etc. For B2C industries such as insurance, retail and banking, SCV is crucial to understanding their market. For B2B industries such as manufacturing, SCV can help create a ‘golden record’ of machines and equipment to inform lifecycle management and operations. In essence, irrespective of the asset it talks to, SCV enables businesses to understand their assets better, manage them efficiently and leverage them effectively for driving growth and profitability.

Few organisations appear to have been able to implement SCV successfully, let alone leverage its maximum potential. Further, as businesses and technologies have rapidly evolved, the context of SCV has been reshaped to take on new meaning and purpose in the age of digital transformation and omni-channel customer experiences.

Today’s digital savvy, time starved and information hungry customers are demanding experiences and not just goods and services. They are asking businesses to support their self-directed purchasing journey with tools for evaluation and comparison. At the same time, they expect businesses to understand their context and personalise service delivery.

Customers are now demanding that this expectation be supported consistently and conveniently across multiple channels and touch points. They also expect businesses to enable them to switch channels whilst they progress on their journey.

The insurance industry has been struggling to move from risk-based product focus to customer focus. Also, with mergers and acquisitions and a proliferation of products, insurers have a difficult battle to win over customers selling products that are intangible with benefits that are realised in future years, if at all.

It is important for insurers to make good use of every customer engagement. It is necessary to capture, manage and analyse every interaction and index them against the customer’s ‘golden record’ for current as well as future operational needs. Changes of contact details needs must be updated on the golden record and made available to all of the touch points, channels and lines of businesses, even to the company’s extended enterprise that includes partners, agents and brokers. Details on changes to premiums, customer complaints and claims can be tagged on the golden record. All of this can help insurers to develop key customer insights, identify cross-sell and up-sell opportunities and deliver better customer service.

A single view of customers, or key organisation assets, is only the starting point of digital transformation and omni-channel customer experience initiatives. Once this fundamental building block is in place, insurance businesses can look forward to leveraging this golden record by augmenting their capabilities in various areas including:

Customer engagement and loyalty

With a single view of customers, insurers can drive certain behaviours with customers that serve to lower their risk profile. This can encourage customers to update their details, provide referrals, share positive experiences or to remain short-term insurance claim free.

Contextual engagement

In the insurance industry, context includes data generated from telematics (driving data of insured for motor vehicle insurance). The data available from both physical and digital channels enhances the value of a single view solution.

Decision support (from data to insights to actions)

Data is the new differentiator. With the Internet of Things (IoT), organisations now have access to massive amounts of data on products and customer behaviour. Businesses looking to invest in enhancing their existing business intelligence capabilities or augmenting it with predictive analytics, machine learning and AI solutions should first ensure the quality and relevance of existing data.

With most insurers’ growing through acquisitions and mergers, it is not uncommon to have multiple databases and systems that use, operate and process data on key information assets such as customers, policies and brokers. This results in data fragmentation, lack of standardised processes and complex architecture that often inhibits the transition to a digital enterprise – where personalisation and omni-channel customer experiences are key to success.

With SOA architecture-based solutions for data integration, insurers can tackle complex integration environments by allowing systems with diverse data models to talk to each other. With a common data model for key enterprise entities such as customers, policies or brokers, insurers can cater to diverse requirements of different product lines, processes and systems.

Insurers can then a run a sequence of data quality actions that processes data from multiple systems, standardising, removing duplicate copies, cleaning and merging records on a continuous basis with the goal of creating one golden record. This golden record is the master record which is fed data from all publisher application systems and which in turn feeds data back to all subscriber applications.

All of the above actions would enable insurers to improve the data quality of key information assets, enhance inter-departmental collaboration and ensure data availability across the enterprise from marketing, sales and operations, through to customer service.

In conclusion, SCV provides a central repository and one version of the truth of the key information assets. It brings structure to massive amounts of operational and unstructured data. It also ensures that information on your key assets is continuously refined and hence relevant. It is critical for insurers to drive personalisation for enhanced customer service, new product development and better customer engagement, which in turn promotes loyalty. SCV is the fundamental building block for insurers to transform to a digital enterprise and deliver high-quality omni-channel customer experiences.

Read more – Data Science & IoT

For more information contact Sales on 011 712 1300, email info@argility.com or visit the Argility Website.

Meeting the challenge of POPI

ajustus Aug 6, 2017

Meeting the challenge of POPI

Complying with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI) will mean taking a long hard look at your organisation’s applications and databases. The same kind of methodical approach that got us successfully through the Year 2000 crisis is needed.

SA technology innovator and leader in the capture and analysis of information, Argility, highlights the challenges around POPI compliance.

Argility CEO, Marko Salic, notes that 18 years ago, the world was in the throes of the Year 2000 (or Y2K) crisis. The IT Industry solved the problem by sheer bloody-minded persistence, creating and executing massive projects to locate and fix lines of code that used the two-digit date format, and might be compromised by the arrival of a new year using the “00” that could mean 1900 as well as 2000.

“A similar, though smaller challenge, faces South African companies as POPI comes into effect. Fundamentally, the Act requires any South African institution or juristic person to collect, process, store and share a third party’s information in line with certain requirements. The intent is to protect valuable personal information, and to ensure that individuals never lose control of information about their identity and thus, by implication, that identity itself,” says Salic.

In order to comply with POPI, organisations will need to identify where this kind of personal information is stored on their systems, and then put measures in place to protect it from hackers, and from being used improperly by the organisation itself. “As in the Y2K case, it is highly likely that this information will be found in disparate places across the organisation’s databases and applications. Most organisations have an untidy patchwork of legacy systems that have grown organically rather than been designed from scratch. Just tracking it down will be a significant task.

“Only once the location of the personal information has been ascertained can the appropriate policies be implemented.”

Salic confirms that at the practical level, organisations must first understand that POPI compliance is essentially a business issue. “The fines from non-compliance can range from a hefty fine or a goal sentence, or payment to those whose information has been compromised. There is also the question of reputational damage. The business therefore has to take ownership of POPI compliance, and ensure that a team is in place. It should not be seen as an IT issue, although IT will of course assume responsibility for the information that is stored and processed digitally – but personal information may also be stored and used outside of the IT system.”

The good news is that the date by which POPI will become effective has not yet been announced. “There will be a year’s grace period for organisations to comply, so it would appear that the earliest date would be in December 2018. But this should not be seen as an excuse for putting POPI compliance on the back burner. This is a very large elephant that will have to be eaten in small mouthfuls – best to begin now to avoid indigestion later,” Salic concludes.

For more information contact Sales on 011 712 1300, email info@argility.com or visit the Argility Website.

Innovation for a Better World

ajustus May 18, 2017

Innovation for a Better World

Argility has formed a relationship with local social change organisation (SCO), Partners for Possibility*, who bring school principals and business leaders together to develop strong leadership capacity and principal support processes in schools.

In collaboration with Partners for Possibility (PfP), Argility has embarked on a project at Enkanyezini Primary School in Phiri, Soweto. Work is well underway not only to upgrade the facilities but also to add value to the school and assist in strengthening its academic offerings.

Argility’s divisional executive, Jai Kalyan, explains that PfP coordinates courses for the nominated business leader and the relevant school principal to identify needs and develop a strategy to address them.

“To date, the Argility team has been responsible for the re-opening of the school library which had been turned into a storage room due to lack of resources. We commenced a company-wide drive that resulted in the donation of many books from staff keen to be involved in this worthy initiative. Another exciting development is that our customer, Shoprite, donated 30 computers to the school. The Argility team then configured and set up the PCs on site,” says Kalyan.

He confirms that Argility staff are visiting the school regularly to assist not only with computer skills but with mathematics, science programmes and other academics.

The team has been responsible for the upgrading of the school’s playground area and other facilities by providing solar geysers for the kitchen, and a solar heating system is planned for future installation. The students previously attended classes in unheated rooms in the midst of winter.

Kalyan notes this is an incredible project. “The Argility team has much to be proud of in their work in this initiative. We have agreed to sponsor the soccer team with a sports strip. Our work is ongoing and forms an important part of our company culture and corporate social investment policies aimed at adding value to the broader South African community as a whole,” says Kalyan.

Dr Louise van Rhyn, CEO and founder of Partners for Possibility, says Argility’s contribution to the school is a significant example of where business can elevate South African education. “Argility’s contribution will make the staff environment more comfortable and assist in the efforts to grow the leadership ability of the school principal, who leads tens of teachers, hundreds of learners and thousands of community members,” concludes Van Rhyn.

Partners for Possibility: http://www.pfp4sa.org/