The pandemic has shown us that opportunities are not bound by your physical location. People are more than ever open to engaging with companies like OQLIS offering beneficial software products and services that can make a difference in their business from anywhere.

“When you start a technology business, you have moments of dreaming about your solutions benefiting many customers locally or even better, globally in the distant future,” says OQLIS Co-Owner and CEO, Shawn Winterburn. “These moments set the path of what you believe is possible for your efforts. So, last year, we made the decision to put ourselves out there and explore these opportunities in New Zealand and the Australasian region. Very exciting times!”

A NEW (ZEALAND) MARKET

The data analytics software market in New Zealand is a growing, dynamic space, with a wide range of products and services available to businesses of all sizes. A growing demand for data-driven decision-making and insights across a variety of industries drives the market. It is also supported by a strong technology ecosystem and a high level of adoption of digital technologies. “We are excited that OQLIS was registered in December 2022 and is open for business in the Australasian region. This opens up a massive opportunity to expand and have a footprint in these countries,” says Winterburn.

The OQLIS vision has always been to become the preferred embedded data analytics and artificial intelligence standard for business applications. “We can’t meet this objective by remaining in the Southern tip of Africa,” Winterburn continues. “We have always wanted to expand the company globally and this is a golden opportunity to stretch our wings and experience the uniqueness of other English-speaking regions.”

CONSTRAINT: THE MOTHER OF INVENTION

The data analytics industry in South Africa is growing rapidly in a challenging economic landscape. The country has a large pool of talented and skilled professionals, as well as a growing number of companies that are investing in data analytics solutions. Yet, there are also many challenges facing the industry, including a lack of funding, a lack of access to data, and a lack of understanding of the value of data analytics among some businesses. Despite these challenges, the potential for growth in the data analytics market in South Africa is significant, and there is a high demand for data analytics professionals with the right skills and experience. 

What OQLIS, like many other South African tech companies bring to a global playing field, is grit and intuitive problem-solving. Power cuts, harsh weather, and a high unemployment rate to name a few, forces this adventurous nation to think outside the box, which translates very well into the software industry. African innovation can and does add tremendous value to the global world of business. “I personally feel that we have learned many lessons in South Africa that can benefit customers globally,” the CEO reiterates.

THE CHALLENGES OF CHANGE

Like with all change, there have been speedbumps. OQLIS clients and colleagues have expressed concern about the risks of such a bold expansion. But, after doing their homework it became clear to the OQLIS leadership that there are a plethora of opportunities outside of South Africa. “We will reduce risk in terms of a single location and support a larger diverse customer base. I think there is only an upside to our business and our customers,” says Shawn.

The time zone difference, naturally, has been a bit of an obstacle to overcome — New Zealand being 11 hours ahead of South Africa. This was quickly overcome by employees and leaders alike being willing to attend the occasional early morning or evening meeting.

Shawn does come clean about the fact that he misses the camaraderie of the OQLIS team. “We have a very strong culture and this is due to the interactions as a team and the productive time we spend together.”

LOOKING TO A GLOBAL FUTURE

Whilst the OQLIS technical, sales, and marketing teams will remain in South Africa, New Zealand will be a satellite office specialising in generating new global customers, supported out of South Africa. “The Australasian region is filled with many opportunities for OQLIS, I am looking forward to the new chapter in our colourful OQLIS’ history”, Winterburn concludes.

Services in the OQLIS offering portfolio include: 

• Machine Learning (ML)

• Artificial Intelligence (AI) 

• Report writing

• Extract, transform, load (ETL)

• Data base administration (DBA)

• Data Analyst Services

• Business Intelligence (BI)

• Data Warehousing

• Data Intensive Application Development

If you are in the Australasian region and ready to move your business into the age of digitalisation with intelligent data analytics, reach out to Shawn for a coffee:

[email protected]

+64 21 273 4100

The Crate, 28 Constellation Dr, Auckland, NZ

OQLIS, the data insights people, offers data analysis software that is fast to deploy, intuitive to use, and flexible to change to specific business needs. This South African-born company has created a new kind of business intelligence answer to business data problems, allowing everybody to explore and interact with their data and discover insights. They have an easy-to-integrate data Intelligence interface that plugs into most business applications. Its solution is at the forefront of leading technologies, built into a single platform, allowing businesses to ingest, store, visualise, analyse, and predict trends, an all-in-one intuitive and integrated interface.