Cisco, worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate has announced that The Source Computer Limited, a Lagos based IT firm specialising in sales, repairs, maintenance and support of DELL computer systems has won the Nigerian Cisco Extreme Makeover Contest.
The contest, launched in January 2008, was targeted at the small and medium business segment of the Nigerian economy. Representatives from Cisco Nigeria marked this win with a courtesy visit to the offices of the winner to congratulate them. Cisco’s experts will analyse the winning company’s needs and instigate a renewal of its technological platform with Cisco integrated solutions including a brand new fully integrated Cisco network with Voice, Video, Wireless Communication and Desktop Applications.
The Cisco Extreme Business Makeover competition was open to all businesses in Nigeria, employing between 8 and 250 people, which had been trading for 3 or more years. To take part and qualify for this contest, participating businesses had to answer the questions that appeared on the Extreme Makeover website at www.nigeria.ciscomakeover.com on or before 16th of March, 2008. A panel of judges comprising ICT and SMB industry experts adjudicated the entrants to determine the winner.
According to Owen Nwelih, Cisco’s marketing manager for English speaking West Africa, "The opportunity to enjoy world class communications, a robust network that will increase competitiveness, enhance productivity and serve customers better was highly irresistible to small and medium businesses throughout Nigeria. The response we received in terms of entries – over a thousand companies registered for entry into the contest- far exceeded our expectations and this revealed to us the extent of passion and readiness Nigerians have for IT and improved service delivery with IT as a leveraging partner". Eligible entries were evaluated in a 3-stage process after which a shortlist of 15 contestants emerged. The 15 finalists were notified by email and were further evaluated via another set of technical and business related questions. This last phase of evaluation produced the winner.
Speaking on behalf of the judges, Ego Boyo, Managing Director, Temple Productions said, "This was not an easy contest to judge especially at the final round, but The Source Computers Limited demonstrated excellent business ethics, creativity and ability to do business in Nigeria and also a willingness to develop critical aspects of their business. We are delighted with our choice."
"I was not even aware of the contest or that the firm had been entered", said Victor Onyejiuwa, Chief Executive Officer of the winning firm. "It was one of my employees who informed me of a notification he had received via e-mail on winning the Cisco Extreme Business Makeover contest he entered on behalf of the firm with a grand prize of $40,000 worth of Cisco equipment and solutions". He added that "I was exhilarated and at the same time skeptical because it sounded too good to be true. However, today I have had Cisco executives come over and their strategic partners Signal Alliance have surveyed my business equipment and IT infrastructure – my skepticism has now been replaced with anticipation!"
The Extreme Business Makeover Contest was initiated to help enhance awareness by the small and medium business segment of the availability of cutting edge ICT tools and equipment with which they can enhance business productivity. According to Vincent Entonu, Territory Market Manager for English Speaking West Africa, "Cisco understands the unique issues facing small and medium business and provides the solutions that can help you keep pace with today’s competitors. We recognize that they need a simple yet sophisticated solution to enhance the way employees communicate with customers, partners, and one another to help in staying ahead when facing fierce competition from both large from international corporations and small, technology-enabled companies".
After a thorough survey by Cisco’s strategic partner Signal Alliance who would be working closely with Cisco on the deployment of the winning firm’s solution, The Source Computers has won $40,000 worth of Cisco Solutions including security and VPN solutions as well as Cisco’s recently launched SMB solution, Smart Business Communications System which will be deployed over the next few weeks.