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AfroCentric INTEGRATED ANNUAL REPORT 2016
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OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
Helios operates at the intersection of healthcare and ICT and
the Company is well positioned to take advantage of the
opportunities that arise, responding to challenges without
undue disruption to the business.
KEY OPPORTUNITIES:
•
Fusion
– the enhancement of the current core IT
platform, Fusion is expected to be implemented in 2019
and will provide the Group with scalability across large
membership bases and the stability to provide solutions to
a changing healthcare market.
•
Licensing
– offers IT solutions to external clients, in the
international market and domestically, and currently has
a pan-African customer base for its platforms. Fusion
offers further opportunities to increase revenue through
licensing of the integrated system as well as individual
modules.
•
Infrastructure support
– as the developers of the Fusion
platform, Helios can offer an ongoing maintenance
and support package to licensees. There are added
opportunities to sell other platforms and continue to
provide a maintenance service to those customers.
•
Integration platforms and skills
– Helios purchased
an established integration solution that, combined with
strong technical skills capability, provides quick and
flexible integration enablement solutions to the market.
AfroCentric’s partnership with Sanlam and the WAD
acquisition creates opportunities to realise synergies and
efficiencies across the Group, using technology as an
enabler.
•
Switching services
– Helios’s 51% holding in Allegra
allows the Company to sell switching capabilities and
pharmacy management software to multiple providers,
particularly within the pharmacy sector.
It is difficult to quantify the opportunities that may
emerge from the NHI in the ICT environment. Helios is,
however, optimistic that as the government’s strategy is
codified and tenders start to be issued, the Company is
in a strong position to provide a competitively priced and
technologically superior offering to the industry. As such, we
are working collaboratively with key role players to provide
tailored solutions in order to secure a successful tender for
ICT services.
RESPONDING TO CHALLENGES:
•
Employee retention
– there is a market demand for
skilled technical employees and Helios is vigilant in
efforts to retain skilled employees through above average
levels of remuneration. The Company aims to create a
compelling and engaging environment where employees
feel valued and are able to experience career progression.
•
Cybersecurity
– one of the greatest areas of concern
for all businesses globally, particularly for the IT sector.
Cyber penetration and malicious intent (“hacking”) as
well as data theft represent substantial risks to companies
such as Helios. A cybersecurity audit was performed by
KPMG which highlighted further areas of improvement,
which Helios will focus on going forward. To mitigate this
risk, the Company regularly updates software and has
improved physical and logical security measures.
•
Stability of platforms
– Helios has a dedicated team of
professionals to overcome matters as they arise, to ensure
prompt query resolution and to achieve the strategic
objective of 100% systems uptime.
PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW AND OUTLOOK
The integration of the Sanlam and the WAD acquisition
and the on-boarding of the Polmed scheme increased the
demands on Helios in 2016. The stability of core systems,
however, was a critical enabler in the smooth implementation
of the new businesses. A number of infrastructure platforms
were also refreshed with minimal disruption to the business
and an unannounced disaster recovery exercise was
successfully executed.
Average response time was two and a half seconds per real
time claim submitted, and remained this efficient in 2016.
Helios also successfully completed a number of other
projects such as the integration of the Sanlam Reality
member rewards programme into the administration of
several client schemes.
There have been significant investments in technology and
employees over the past three years. This trend will continue
for the foreseeable future, as Helios builds the systems and
foundation to support the consolidation that is currently
being seen in the market.
Strategic diversification within the Group involves ensuring
access to diverse revenue streams to facilitate growth. Helios
is well positioned to provide the technological platforms and
specialist resources necessary to support the new products
and services that current and future partnerships and
acquisitions may generate.
HELIOS IT SOLUTIONS (continued)