Following the discussion of a merger between InHouse Venue Technical Management IT (IVTM IT) and Global ICS in late 2010, Gearhouse SA is celebrating the ‘ideal and complete conference and event solution, from registration to audience response systems, in the newly formed South African company, Gearhouse ICS’.
Gearhouse SA directors Ofer Lapid and Nasser Abbas, along with InHouse Venue Technical Management MD Ashraf Omar and Global ICS MD Thabiet Waggie agreed the terms of the arrangement, which gives the Gearhouse Group its tenth company.
‘I saw an opportunity within the information technology rental fields and contacted Thabiet to discuss our options,’ Ashraf Omar explains. ‘Thabiet has extensive IT rental experience and has been in the industry for a long time.’
Omar had asked Waggie to assess the available equipment to determine the project’s plausibility: ‘I suggested to Thabiet that we ensure we obtain the best technology for the project,’ he says. ‘It was a natural fit, since both companies service the conference and events industry’ says Waggie. ‘IVTM IT Rentals takes care of hardware rentals and Global ICS has developed a number of applications, including a registration system and a presentation management system for conferences.’
The new company provides IT hardware, software and project management services. Among its services are EventsCentral, an online and onsite delegate management and registration system and MediaVue, an online and onsite presentation and content management system.
Omar confesses that the initial development phase was somewhat erratic, ‘but we could see it would be profitable. We are already receiving great international interest and foresee many more potential markets. Thabiet, in my opinion, is the best person to run this as you need someone with passion and love for the business – he has both.’
Waggie, who has more than ten years’ experience in the industry, believes that these applications were developed specifically for the South Africa market: ‘We have our own team of developers who look after our product,’ he says.
Adrian de Vries is the lead software developer for both EventsCentral and MediaVue: ‘When we developed the software for EventsCentral, we really kept the end-user, our client, in mind,’ he explains. ‘We have developed it so that the front-end is very easy to use, but it has full functionality. The client should not assume that it is lacking in any functionality because it is so easy to manage. EventsCentral can be customised exactly to our client’s needs.’
de Vries also developed MediaVue, which took about a year to finalise: ‘This program eases the process for presenters who can upload their presentations at a central point,’ he says, ‘Then the presentation is delivered over the network to the relevant room, eliminating the usual running around with memory sticks. This system is unique in South Africa and it is on par with international standards. We do constant updates and modify it as we go along.’
Waggie is adamant that Gearhouse ICS is committed to improving the events industry by using efficient information technology to raise the level of professionalism in South Africa.
Gearhouse ICS operates offices in Cape Town, Gauteng and Durban.
More: www.gearhouse-ics.co.za
