Why SMEs need four strategic IT leaders

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Mark Geschke, CEO of the digital transformation company Xuviate, says the panel will share their experiences and answer questions relating to their roles. "The idea is to not only to better define the four Value Propositions of IT but to also understand why different leaders are needed and, perhaps more importantly, why all business IT leaders have to work together to make IT part of the fabric of the future business."

The four panellists include Eric Edelstein (CEO, Daddy's Deals), James Godwin (CTO, Jumo.world), Ruhan Neethling (CFO, Montagu Dried Fruit & Nuts) and Glenn Hurlow (former Head of IT at Mazars).

Making use of technology to transform business models

Edelstein co-founded many of South Africa's largest internet marketing and product companies such as global search marketing agency Click2Customers. He will be representing the value proposition 'Making use of technology to transform business models'. He has particular strength in performance marketing, conversion optimisation, product design and development, scaling startup's and raising funding.

Differentiating within a market using technology

Godwin will be representing the value proposition 'Differentiating within a market using technology'. He has extensive knowledge of the fin-tech industry as the founder and CTO of two mobile wallet companies. He also created the first online debit order processing service that was then adopted by SMEs to manage their debit orders.

Automating and optimising business processes using technology

Neethling enjoys driving change and resolving difficult problems, relating not only to the financial environment but business operations in general. He has a special affinity for working with data, from investigation and discovery through to visualisation and presentation. He will represent the value proposition 'Automating and optimising business processes using technology'.

Making the IT platform hum so others can do their magic

Hurlow has been devising and implementing IT strategy for the business and managed all operational aspects of their business technology systems. He recently joined UCT as a senior manager in the Systems Division of ICTS and he will represent the value proposition ‘Making the IT platform hum so others can do their magic’.