12 October 2012
Emerson Network Power, a business of New York-listed Emerson and a global leader in protecting and optimizing IT and telecoms infrastructure, opened a new regional configuration centre in Johannesburg this week, to serve as the base for the company’s expansion into the enterprise space throughout Africa.
The facility, staffed by nearly 110 employees, consolidates the company’s sales, marketing, engineering and operations “in one state-of-the-art location to enhance customer support, improve communications and increase efficiency”, Emerson Network Power said in a statement on Wednesday.
Speaking at an opening ceremony in Johannesburg, Scott Barbour, executive vice-president of Emerson and business leader for Emerson Network Power, Barbour said the investment showed the company’s commitment to providing “reliable voice, data and IT infrastructure solutions and services to Africa.
“We are excited to officially open this new facility in Johannesburg, which has been custom designed to meet regional production needs.”
Speaking after the opening, Barbour told Business Day that Emerson Network Power saw South Africa as the foundation of its African business. “From there we will look at the other countries to see which ones have telecoms roll-out. We think those countries will follow the cycle of investment – telecoms build-up followed by data centre build-up.”
Emerson Network Power said that the new regional configuration centre marked the company’s expansion “beyond its expertise as an energy specialist for the telecommunications market into the data center and industrial markets in South Africa, broadening its product portfolio to also include AC power, surge protection, precision cooling, rack solutions and infrastructure management and monitoring”.
SAinfo reporter
