With 2014 being the year of Big Data it is essential to stay up to date with all the developments, challenges and laws of big data as well as how to analyse and manage big data. Attending the Big Data Analytics & Management Conference on 30 September is the best way to gain knowledge on all of this. The conference will be held at Emperors Palace, Kempton Park, Johannesburg.  

Data experts to address the conference:         

Gary Allemann - Master Data Management
Steven Burnstone - Eighty20 Consulting
Salome Coetsee - Ernst & Young Advisory Services
Stuart Cheverton - Hitachi Data Systems
Werner Coetzee - Hitachi Data Systems
Willem Conradie - PBT Group
Ashleigh Van Kerckhoven - KPMG
Dave Ives - Karabina Solutions  

Gert Botes, Conference Organiser at Alpha Omega Events said: “Professionals dealing with data analytics, business intelligence, customer insights, risk management, fraud & security, data management, marketing, customer relations, strategy development & implementation, operations, product innovation & management, risk & compliance, data engineering and ICT services will benefit greatly from attending this conference.”  

Experts will present on 10 big data myths busted – practical suggestions for starting big data analytics, data analytics: building a competitive culture, explosion of data and how to cope, data protection & POPI, using big data for fraud detection and prevention, cloud computing – an effective big data enabler, social media and big data and more…  

Delegates registration are open and seats are limited so book your asap to avoid disappointment.

Registration form can be downloaded on www.aoevents.co.za and emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Registration fee is R2199.00 per delegate and includes full access to conference and free parking, conference material, speaker presentations, coffee/tea and refreshment, 3 course buffet lunch as well as free shuttle from and to OR Tambo.

Group bookings of 3 or more will receive 15% discount on registration fee.

Esquire Technologies, an international award winning company and one of the leading distributors in southern Africa of IT, mobility, digital and consumer lifestyle products from international vendors,  has announced it has reached a milestone of 30 000 online orders place on its website to date.

This was confirmed by Mahomed Cassim, CEO of Esquire Technologies, who said the company commenced  online sales four years ago. “In the first two years of starting this online drive we notched up only 5000 sales –but this figure has now jumped to 30 000, which is a 600% growth in two years. We are expecting this figure to rise significantly in the next few years. because many of our clients are now seeing the value of placing orders 24 x 7,” he said

Esquire is currently one of only a few distributors in South Africa which offers an online ordering facility for all the products they distribute.

“We are extremely bullish with our six-fold increase in online sales. All the hard work and sleepless nights THAT IT took to populate the website with content and information relevant for each product is starting to bear fruit with the growing amount of orders being placed online.

”Esquire has also developed and  pioneered the world’s first Virtual Reseller Network (VRN), with its own subsidiary, ImproWeb, an e-commerce solutions company.
Currently over 500 resellers are plugged into the Esquire backend, which allows them to trade with their own e-commerce web-sites, using Esquire’s Infrastructure. Earlier this year the company’s VRN won an international award – the EMEA Channel Academy Multichannel Initiative of the Year Award for 2014. The EMEA Channel Academy 2014 Awards took place in Monaco in February- in conjunction with the regional event, DISTREE EMEA. Distributors, retailers and vendors operating in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region submitted application packs to enter the Multichannel Initiative award.

A VIP Jury of international channel experts met in Monaco to assess the submitted entries. The VIP Jury selected Esquire’s world first Virtual Reseller Network (VRN) as the winner of the 2014 Multichannel Initiative Award. “We are definitely seeing that people and companies are feeling much more comfortable – and eager – to buy online. Revenue from online sales is already sitting at 10% of our total revenue, with this expected to rise to 20% by 2016.”  Commenting further,  Cassim said that by joining the Esquire VRN resellers were provided with immediate access to the company’s entire stock holding without having to invest in stock.
“This is a totally different way of conducting business in the  distribution channel.  Our VRN resellers don’t have to  HOLD any stock. They have immediate access to our stock – which is updated every few minutes. As we update our stock our resellers are given immediate access to this new stock as well. “This is going to make a significant impact on the e-commerce space in South Africa,” he said.

{pp}In May 2009 Google reported 239-million searches per day. How can you ensure that some of that traffic reaches your website? The answer lies in search engine marketing (SEM).

{pp}If you need qualified traffic fast, Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising is still the easiest and most efficient way to target the right audience. PPC goes hand in hand with Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) as the foundation of search engine marketing (SEM).

{pp}Social media has been around for a number of years although we’ve only recently seen an increase in the number of South African social media campaigns. With South African Internet usage escalating and consumer behaviour changing, more and more brands are starting to see the array of possibilities presented by social media.

{pp}PPC and SEO are the elements that comprise search marketing, and if the correct synergy is achieved, the two prove to be powerful marketing tools.

{pp}Free Golf Day Service proving a hit with golfers, charities and golf event planners

Planning and Hosting a Golf Day is a big job no matter how large or small your event or your event management team may be. GolfPulse.Net launched in August last year is finally giving some welcome relief for those involved with Golf Days.