American Businessman rates Nigerian IT market high

Senior Vice President and Chief Sales Officer for Aviat Networks, Michael Pangia has rated the Nigerian Market as one of the company’s most important markets outside the USA. Speaking at a media forum in Lagos, Pangia, who was on a working visit to Nigeria disclosed that the country’s position as a very important market for the network solution company was viewed based on its growth opportunities, prospects and financial bottom-line.He further stated that whereas in most other countries, the company faces pressure, its Nigeria operation presents opportunities to do end-to-end services. The company which recently rebranded from its former identity as Harris Stratex Networks, changed its management team in Nigeria with Olawale Osimosu as its new Country Manager and Sales Director, was also recognized by Voice&Data magazine as India’s leading WiMAX equipment provider with an estimated 70 percent market share, thereby maintaining its leadership position from the previous year. With the present combination of a new identity as well as new management, the company is convinced that the new brand will serve more as an advantage than challenge in an ever-competitive market like Nigeria.According to Pangia, the new name represents the company’s new vision as well as its focus area, which includes working with the customer to improve their business. He noted that since the name change, the company has evolved from being just a microwave equipment supplier to going into end-to-end solution provision for WIMAX infrastructure. He further affirmed that the management change will further strengthen the company’s market and continued focus on improved service delivery.While noting that the entire management team in Nigeria is local, he disclosed that Aviat has been embarking on aggressive training for its local staff to enable them meet international standards and pilot the affairs of its Nigerian operations without expatriate interference. In describing the current expertise of Aviat Networks in Nigeria at the moment, Olawale Osimosu said the company has partnered with not only GSM service providers, but also CDMA operators to deliver quality services, and has different forms of contractual agreement with all mobile operators in Nigeria.“We are not just selling boxes in Nigeria, we advice customers and show them which way to go. We work with OEMs to give the operators good service,” Osimosu said. This is based on the realization that a lot of operators still make the mistake of wrong decisions in the industry. Unfortunately, many operators still run the risk of “one size fits all” solutions that are often expensive and inflexible in the long run, leading to an inability to grow the existing network footprint and keep up with new service requirements. This approach also often includes “hidden cost” components due to discounted bundling provided by larger systems integrators.It was disclosed that the Aviat Networks’ 4G network solution includes best-of-breed elements such as re-validated tightly integrated components, a future-proof architecture and a powerful network management system, including field-proven and highly efficient IP backhaul. “We help our customers at every stage of their network deployment – from business planning, alignment and network design and optimization to deployment to network maintenance and end-to-end managed services. Our 4G network solution delivers an integrated and customized wireless network that allows you to quickly and economically seize new market opportunities” he concluded.