Weco’s ongoing investments in developing skills, competencies and practice around Cisco solutions, from TelePresence and Enterprise Networking to Unified Computing System (UCS), Collaboration technologies, Security Solutions, Mobility Solutions and so on underpinned by cost-effective industrialized services, enabled the company to attain its leadership position in the African continent – hence Cisco recognizing this great work in this year Global partner summit.

Obinna Ekwonwa, Chief Operating Officer at Weco Systems who received this award in San Diego, commented: “As one of Africa’s leading Cisco 1-Tier Gold partners, we help organizations empower their businesses, control Operational Costs, drive business Agility and unleash high Productivity through the provision of the Right Technology ARCHITECTURE, Appropriate PROFESSIONAL SERVICES and ongoing OPERATIONS that ultimately sets their business ready for Competitive Advantage, Profitability and Value return to shareholders.

Speaking further, we also wish to use this opportunity to thank our customers who have stood by us and trusted us with their business. We want to re-assure you of our commitment to be a Systems Integration company of choice year after year. This can only happen when we provide premium services to you.

Cisco Partner Summit awards are presented at three levels: regional, theater and global. We are excited about winning Cisco Enterprise partner award for Africa at the global level. This award no doubt has proved that Nigeria and Nigerians can hold their own on Global Stage.

About Weco Systems International Limited

At Weco, we are committed to helping our customers succeed. As a certified System Integrator with specialization on various solutions, technologies and a leading provider of Internet Protocol(IP) and Communication Systems, we provide business enabling ICT Infrastructure and platforms, leveraging on best breed range of products from hardware to software and business applications to help deliver on customer’s objectives. Weco systems integration services help clients envision, implement, integrate, operate and support ICT-enabled business solutions that achieve their overall business objectives. For us, its technology aligned with business.

What is ERP?

Most of the time, when folks think Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems they think “manufacturing”, but “ERP” systems have many facets which can include:

• Financial Systems: Corporate financial systems including general ledger, asset management, budgeting and receivables.

• HR Systems: Human resources management systems covering payroll, recruiting, personnel and benefits tracking.

• Supply Chain Systems: The business systems for managing parts and logistics.

• Manufacturing Systems: Servers and software that govern the complexities of the manufacturing process. These systems include work orders, scheduling, bills of materials, costing, and managing the manufacturing systems.

• Project Management: These also fall under the label of enterprise project management (EPM) systems.

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM): CRM systems drive the sales machine in a company. In addition to managing tracking customers and sales opportunities, they can also cover marketing and commissions programs.

These systems are often stovepipes — isolated islands of data and functionality. Your company may have problems integrating their ERP systems with each other, or with other systems. Another common problem is enabling access to the systems for employees in a global workforce.

Solving the ERP Problem:

In the past, ERP systems have always been viewed as large, bulky operations that must reside onsite with the enterprise. Today many companies are moving some or all of their ERP operations to the cloud. Putting your enterprise resource systems in the cloud is not a decision to be taken lightly, but it is an option which can solve many problems.

Moving a business system to the cloud immediately makes it more accessible to those employees and users who need access to it. A secure cloud deployment doesn’t increase the vulnerability of your business data, but now any authenticated user that has access to the internet can access the system. For geographically distributed companies, this can be a boon to operations, enabling remote sites to integrate their data with the primary site. Now roll-up reporting is much easier, and overseeing global operations becomes a matter of implementing a dashboard instead of worrying about setting up and maintaining a wide area network (WAN).

In addition, once an ERP system is in the cloud, it becomes a lot easier to integrate other systems with it. Cloud systems are designed for interoperability and access. Connecting one ERP system to another, or to an auxiliary system, becomes a lot more straightforward. In the same way, reporting and business intelligence systems can connect to your ERP system, or multiple systems.

If you’re interested in migrating one or more facets of your existing ERP systems to the cloud, or you have business processes that you want to formalize into an enterprise scale ERP system, Oracle JD Edwards services from syntax will provide any ERP service you need. Syntax can also help your company review your needs, migrate your data, and build out the solution.  – Desmond Omovie

“When it comes to IT Management, Software and Integration of Business Services, Weco Systems has excelled both in the quality of its consultancy and in its competence in creating solutions. In terms of the authorization process to achieve Gold Partner status, our joint customers have received advice of the highest standards not only in the areas of data storage and data management, but also in meeting their general infrastructure requirements,” confirmed Nnamdi Onyebuchi, Head, Presales and Architecture at Weco Systems International Limited.

Weco System’s implementation and comprehensive support of such end-to-end solutions enables enterprises to accelerate their business processes, manage their data centres more effectively and prevent loss of efficiency. It also helps achieve significant cost reductions. Weco Systems not only supports organizations in the implementation of their (virtualized) data centres but also provides a comprehensive support service, working with the leading equipment vendors.

“The close partnership between Weco Systems and NetApp is an important step for us,” explains Director, Infrastructure Solutions; Mr. Obinna Ekwonwa. “It allows us to complement our already extensive portfolio of storage and data management expertise. This expertise will be used above all in the data centre environment and will help us to support organizations and make them more efficient and competitive. Gold partnership with NetApp is a reward for our efforts in building this area of expertise and at the same time provides an incentive for us to continue developing in the data centre field.”

Weco System’s appointment as a NetApp Gold Partner recognizes its investment in NetApp technologies and solutions and gives trained staff access to NetApp’s Sales Tools, Collateral, Online Free Training, Sales and Technical Training and Specialization Programs. As one of the requirements for attaining Gold Certified Status, Weco Systems had to declare a NETAPP Competency. NETAPP Competencies are designed to help differentiate a partner’s capabilities with specific NETAPP technologies to customers looking for a particular type of solution. Each competency has a unique set of requirements and benefits, formulated to accurately represent the specific skills and services that partners bring to the technology industry.

The Cisco TelePresence Video Express ATP Program is focused on providing a new way of working, in which everyone everywhere can be more productive through face-to-face collaboration with TelePresence Video solutions. The Express-level program’s goal is to enable partners to market Cisco TelePresence Video endpoints, offer targeted infrastructure solutions, and differentiate themselves based on their breadth of unique audiovisual integration skills.

Director, Infrastructure Solutions; Mr. Obinna Ekwonwa – “For us in WECO, Business Video is the next big thing redefining how businesses Connect, Communicate and Collaborate!  Provisioning this requires the right architecture and appropriate professional services and that is what this certification is about for us, aligning with our strategic vision as a systems integrator to lead with architecture, lead with professional services and play a role in the Cloud! It’s aligning technology with business of our customers”

“The Cisco TelePresence Video Express ATP Program is designed to enable partners to take advantage of the tremendous market opportunities ahead—not only in the TelePresence space but also in the overall collaboration market,” said Richard McLeod, senior director of collaboration for worldwide channels at Cisco. “As a Cisco TelePresence Video Express ATP Partner, Weco Systems has made an investment in the sales, technical and life cycle services capabilities to deliver the industry’s most comprehensive and interoperable Cisco TelePresence Video portfolio.” 

The Cisco Authorized Technology Provider (ATP) Program is part of the Cisco go-to-market strategy for emerging technologies. The program helps Cisco to define the knowledge, skills and services that channel partners need to successfully sell, deploy and support an emerging technology. As the market changes, an ATP designation may be discontinued or may evolve into a Cisco specialization.

About Cisco TelePresence and Video Collaboration Solutions

Cisco TelePresence® and Video collaboration solutions provide life-like, high-definition, conferencing facilities with superior audio and video, allowing participants to meet their colleagues, customers and business partners across a virtual table. Participants can enjoy a same-room meeting experience, even if they are located in different locations around the world. Participants can also meet more often and enjoy more productive sessions, helping to improve business interactions while potentially building stronger customer relationships, accelerating sales cycles, improving project management and forming tighter integration with remote offices.

Technology security experts noted that Physical Security and Building Management System have grown beyond just having someone stationed at an entrance of a building complex. It has gone beyond reactionary responses, to preventive measures. That is why organizations and public sectors across the globe are migrating from manual processes and geographically dispersed facilities and personnel to an Internet Protocol based video solution that provides clear video footage to detect threats or criminal activities.

Laurence Summers, National Sales Manager, (High Security, Banking and Commercial Sectors) Quadrant Security Group, United Kingdom, set the tone for the workshop when he noted that an Internet Protocol based video solution that provides clear video footage to detect threats would easily allow users to access, search and review footages from anywhere instantly. This he added is the new direction the management of Physical Security is headed.

He went further by saying; “Adequate deployment of Internet Protocol based Closed Circuit Television System (CCTV), Electronic Access Control System (ACS), Intruder Alarm System (IDS) and Perimeter Detection System (PIDS) are some very important technological innovations that can help in the area of Physical Security and Building Management System. An organization or government agency that currently operates the analogue CCTV for instance can upgrade to the IP based cameras for effective and real time recording. This is because unlike the legacy CCTV, the IP based cameras have video analytic capabilities which mean they can automatically analyze videos or images to detect and determine criminal events not just based on a single but multiple images and can also drill down to chain of events monitored.”

Alan Davis, Head of Systems Engineering, Quadrant Security Group, United Kingdom spoke extensively on Electronic Access Control. He stressed the need for organizations and agencies to implement what he called CREDENTIALS technology. This is a means of personal identification which could be a card, a key held in the persons memory (such as a PIN number), or a unique physical human attribute like a fingerprint known as biometrics… or it could be a combination of all three. All of these however require a device to read the information. These can be card readers, PIN pads and biometric readers. The readers’ in-turn should be connected to a barrier or some form of gateway.

Dafe Oroghi, Senior Pre-Sales Engineer, WECO Systems, spoke on the importance of Single Sign-on Solution as a way of reducing crime and criminal activities in an organization. Speaking on the topic “Leveraging on convergence of Physical and Logical Access security,” he emphasised the need for organizations to ensure identities of employees are protected from theft, cannot be shared, is unique and if stolen or lost, cannot be used by the person who stole it. This he said is possible if organizations can employ what he called the AUTHENTICATION process. This process just involves the migration from the regular username and password to a third factor or an object which cannot be defined by the administrator. These could be any of the following or a combination of PIN CODES, FINGER PRINTS, IRIS SCAN and FACIAL RECOGNITION.

“To achieve this, companies or government agencies must utilise NETWORK and APPLICATION SECURITY to Confirm an employee’s identity, verify if the system he/she is accessing is authorised and approved by the organisation and meets basic security level for antivirus, malware, anti-spyware, OS patch level and necessary services. This would also ensure registry keys and applications are installed and running. Once all of these are established, NETWORK ADMISSION CONTROL can be said to have be achieved” he concluded.

In his closing remarks, Obinna Ekwonwa, Director of Infrastructure Solutions, WECO Systems charged participants to return to their various organizations with a security consciousness that goes beyond dedicated Architecture for Hardware, Applications, and Storage to Virtualized Architecture for Security, Applications, and Storage. “Let us transit from Local storage to Local Data center and Cloud storage. Most importantly, we must develop Centralized security management via IP to deal with the present security challenges in our organizations, agencies and communities.”

WECO Systems is a wholly Nigerian Company built around professional service delivery, customer satisfaction and excellence. We are a full Systems Integration Company with skills cutting across Infrastructure Solutions, Software and Enterprise Applications, Managed Services, Consulting and Advisory Services.

For further information please contact;

Head, Corporate Services

WECO Systems International Limited

MOBILE: +234 703 132 3600

Email: marketing@wecosysgroup.com

WECO Systems International Ltd in conjunction with Cisco Systems Inc. USA, a world leader in networking solutions, security and collaboration technologies, is organizing a workshop titled; “Leveraging on your existing investment to implement Physical Security and Building Management System.”

Scheduled to hold on the 5^th of July, 2011 at the Lagos Oriental Hotel in Lekki, the workshop is focused on taking a deeper look at how IP video surveillance and building/energy management systems can help organizations and governmental agencies protect people and assets as well as facilitate energy management for buildings, organizations and the community.

Speaking at the press conference to announce the event, Obinna Ekwonwa, Director of Infrastructural Services, WECO Systems International Limited, said it is the organizers believe that at the end of this workshop, invited guest who are drawn mainly from the Country’s leading Banks and the Oil & Gas sector would gain wide knowledge on how IP video surveillance and building/energy management systems can help their organizations protect its people and assets as well as facilitate energy management for their buildings, organizations and their operating communities at large.

He added that “in partnering with Cisco Systems, we shall be exploring how Cisco’s network-centric and open-architecture Physical Security solutions can help our invited guests leverage on their existing infrastructure to enhance security of lives and assets in their respective organizations.”

He continued by saying, “we are also bringing in Laurence Summers, a seasoned professional in the area of Physical Security and Building Management System from Quadrant Security group in the United Kingdom. He shall be leading the discussion on how IP Convergence utilizes Physical Security and Energy Management as a tool for organizational growth and development. Quadrant Security’s long term experience in the creation of innovative electronic solutions to security threats has benefited all areas of the Oil and Gas industry. This is the experience the workshop would tap into.”

Corroborating what Obinna Ekwonwa said, Olukayode Olabanji, Manager Network Solutions also of WECO Systems added that; “In today’s Nigeria, Physical Security and Building

Management Solutions are becoming more and more imperative due to increase in crimes (armed robbery and kidnapping) as well as subtle terrorism. This workshop would provide answers to some of these issues by addressing how Cisco-Smart can help organizations especially in the under-listed areas;”

• Transform how their buildings are built, operated, monitored, and controlled for lower costs and a better work environment
• Use Single Sign-On Solution (integration of Physical Security to Network Security) as a protective tool for its people and assets
• Reduce energy consumption across global operations with sustainable IP network solutions

Chuks MBA, Manager Enterprise Accounts in the Energy sector for Cisco Nigeria spoke about the unique technologies available from Cisco in the area of Physical Security and Building Management System. He said as a trusted advisor and networked physical security user, the company has helped forward-thinking organizations maximize the value of their systems, personnel and applications for more than twenty (20) years. He summed it up by saying Cisco Physical Security Solutions meets the uncompromising needs of many safety and security minded organizations today

When asked about the requirement for attending this workshop, Obinna Ekwonwa responded by saying; attendance is strictly by invitation and our invited guests are strategic decision makers in the areas of IT, Risk Management & Compliance, Security Units and Facility Managers drawn from Leading Banks and the Oil & Gas sector of the Nigerian economy.

WECO Systems is a wholly Nigerian Company built around professional service delivery, customer satisfaction and excellence. We are a full Systems Integration Company with skills cutting across Infrastructure Solutions, Software and Enterprise Applications, Managed Services, Consulting and Advisory Services.

For further information please contact;

Onome Okwah

Head, Corporate Services

WECO Systems International Limited

MOBILE: +234 703 132 3600

Email: ookwah@wecosysgroup.com

Business Challenge

Improve service levels and reduce costs by providing a central repository for information about the bank that customers could access easily using Cisco’s Unified IP Contact Centre solution to provide a professional platform for interaction with both existing and new customers.

Business Results

Customers now have one single number to call if they wish to contact the bank, making it much easier for them to obtain the information that they need. Customers experience fewer delays when they first call Diamond Bank, their questions are answered more efficiently, and the quality of their interactions with the bank has been greatly enhanced, resulting in increased customer satisfaction levels.

This approach has helped to optimize the branch environment, resulting in improved branch productivity because staff can concentrate on their own work, and on serving customers, instead of answering the telephone. This is particularly important during promotional campaigns, which generate an additional 525 – 900% of incoming calls.

The investment in Cisco Unified IP Contact Centre made good sense financially and from a technology perspective because Diamond Bank already uses an end-to-end Cisco network.

Network Solution

Diamond Bank was able to overlay Cisco Unified IP Contact Centre onto its existing network quickly and smoothly because the bank had already deployed a network based on the Cisco Service-Oriented Network Architecture framework. This provided a platform on which the bank could not only integrate and virtualize network services such as security, mobility, and identity but also deliver business applications to its employees securely and efficiently.

Cisco Partner Adds Value

After discussing its requirements with several potential suppliers, Diamond Bank chose Cisco Tier One Systems Integrator, Weco Systems, because of the company’s networking expertise and ability to recommend solutions that aligned with the bank’s business objectives. Weco Systems gave advice on the readiness of the bank’s existing infrastructure to support its projected growth and the associated increase in network traffic. The Cisco partner then produced an end-to-end specification that covered critical elements such as core processing requirements in the data centre, security, and branch connectivity.

Product List

Cisco Catalyst 6513 Switches (network core), Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Switches, Cisco Catalyst 2950 Switches, Cisco 7600 Series Routers, Cisco 2811 Integrated Services Routers, Security and VPN, Cisco PIX 525 Security Appliance, Cisco Intrusion Prevention System, Voice and IP Communications, Cisco Unified IP Contact Centre, Cisco Unified IP Phones 7940G and 7971G

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Project Details

Access bank Unified Contact Centre Enterprise integration with Oracle Siebel CRM.

The project was awarded in 2007 and commenced implementation, the 1st of its kind in Sub Sahara Africa.

This project included Weco, Somiracle and Accenture as the PMO.

We installed the Cisco UCCE solution with telephone banking and integration of Cisco UCCE with Siebel CRM.

There were 2 project management teams both the technical (Weco) and the global PMO (Accenture).

The project was completed in August of 2008.

Access Bank has built on the voice infrastructure of this Contact centre for an IP Telephony rollout for the entire bank. Weco’s partnership mind-set was what made us advise on “leveraging existing infrastructure”.

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