According to Zakhe Khuzwayo, co-founder and CFO of InnoVent, “CIOs and CFOs are under pressure to cut costs, but at the same time, they need modern equipment to drive productivity, progress, and transformation. The answer - is to equip staff with leased IT equipment.”

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In the face of uncertainty, challenging traditional procurement methods could see businesses cut up to 30% off the cost of their IT equipment.

Cashflow – available cash to cover short-term obligations – has never been more important for businesses, particularly as inflation and interest rates rise and the unexpected becomes the norm. Leasing equipment goes a long way towards alleviating working capital shortfalls and providing a buffer against unexpected expenses, says Zakhe Khuzwayo, co-founder and CFO of InnoVent.

In an increasingly digital world, the acquisition, use and disposal of IT assets is a critically important consideration in environmental sustainability.

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This is according to Zakhe Khuzwayo, co-founder of InnoVent, who notes that global e-waste volumes alone are soaring, and expected to top 74 million metric tonnes by 2030. In South Africa, only around 5% of e-waste is collected to go back into the circular economy.

For over a decade, the Nigerian leasing industry has consecutively and consistently recorded growth in business transactions. After recording a sharp decline in growth from 14.5% in 2019 to 4.3% in 2020, the industry recovered with a 28.65% growth in 2021, this is according to research by the Equipment Leasing Association of Nigeria (ELAN).

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However, looking at the distribution of the lease volume by asset type, when it comes to IT, Nigerians seem reluctant to buy into this trend. 

Leasing instead of buying capital assets that depreciate is increasingly making more and more sense. In the US, according to the Equipment Leasing Association of America, more than 80% of American companies lease some equipment rather than purchase it.

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South Africa is behind the curve when it comes to such trends, although leasing computing devices is something that is growing in popularity, says Zakhe Khuzwayo, co-founder and CFO of InnoVent Rental and Asset Management Solutions.

The global chip shortage stemming from COVID-19 might not be in major headlines anymore, but the problem hasn’t disappeared. There’s still a delay in the release of new IT products.

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Keeping up with demand has been a growing struggle that has seen more and more companies turning to refurbished IT equipment to alleviate the pain.

As one of the fastest growing economies in sub-Saharan Africa, with a flourishing digital economy, Kenya has been dubbed the Silicon Savannah, a hub of financial, communication and ICT services with a US$1-billion tech ecosystem.

This innovative environment is inspiring a proliferation of digital businesses, including hundreds of FinTech and Consumer Digital companies.

As environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance moves up the corporate priority list, IT’s place in a circular economy has become more relevant than ever before.

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This is according to Zakhe Khuzwayo, CFO of InnoVent, who says circularity in the IT sector is long overdue, but changing global ESG regulations are now helping to make it a priority in South African businesses.

More than 60 CFOs from leading global organisations. including Absa, BASF, Danone, and Unilever, joined the UN Global Compact CFO Taskforce and committed $500 billion over five years to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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Aware that Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance is becoming a critical metric for investors and stakeholders alike, these and other like-minded CFOs are driving the ESG agenda within their organisations to ensure secure, ongoing sustainable investments.

CFOs and CIOs, collaborating to drive the accelerated digital transformation necessitated by rapid technology advances and COVID-19, now have a smart alternative to traditional financing and management of IT assets that boosts business efficiencies and competitiveness.

Rapid technology advances driving the 4IR (Fourth Industrial Revolution), as well as the impact of COVID-19, has accelerated digital transformation in organisations, transforming IT overnight from a back-end support function into an essential enabler for all business operations.

Today our lives are surrounded by electronic equipment that we replace every few years, and this insatiable desire to have multiple devices is killing the environment. We often don’t think about the consequences of production or our consumption models and, because of this, the world is now facing a growing e-waste problem. 

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What if we could prevent that colossal waste by holding onto our devices for much longer?

Driven by cost-efficiency and the necessity to acquire ICT equipment such as computers, which are now highly priced, a trend that has emerged out of the pandemic is replacing traditional technology spending practices and capital allocation with leasing.

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This upswing in the number of businesses leasing ICT equipment instead of purchasing it, is due to the financial benefits of leasing, and to computers and other tech products becoming obsolete and outdated at a faster rate than ever before

InnoVent Group has secured a licensing agreement with Microsoft, making it the official Microsoft Authorised Refurbisher (MAR) in South Africa. This allows the company to create market differentiation through the sale and rental of refurbished PCs with genuine Windows licences, backed by in-country solutions and support.

With shrinking budgets, it can be challenging for businesses to keep up with hardware refresh cycles, which is particularly frustrating at the fast rate that new technology, with important new features, enter the market. This is according to Eric Ekobia, Business Development Manager at InnoVent, who says the old model of investing capital in new business equipment every two to three years is no longer sustainable, particularly as organisations tighten their belts post-COVID.

Fintech and leasing solutions provider InnoVent has opened an InnoVent Zambia office in Lusaka, as Africa’s appetite grows for cost-effective IT asset acquisition and management solutions. The opening of the new branch expands the company’s presence in Zambia, where its refurbished technology business, Qrent, has been present for the past eight years.

Africa-focused IT financing and leasing specialist, InnoVent, has announced the opening of its third African office in Lagos, Nigeria. The move gives Nigeria’s fast-growing digital-first enterprises an accessible IT expansion model that also allows them to take a concrete step into the circular economy.

In today’s tough economic climate, agile CIOs are turning to professionally-refurbished computing devices as a cost-effective option that can help keep jobs safe. CIOs are fast adopting refurbished devices for their mainstream users to great effect. Typically, these mainstream users constitute the majority of the workforce; therefore, adopting refurbished equipment for these users has resulted in significant savings.

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Fintech and leasing solutions provider InnoVent has opened an office in Nairobi to service the growing East African market.

InnoVent is targeting CIOs and CFOs with the intention to help them adopt an integrated, life cycle approach to IT procurement.

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As companies and government entities speed up digital transformation initiatives in the wake of COVID-19, many are looking to adopt new ownership models for their IT.

Businesses are now focused on preserving cashflow and optimising IT spend. One of the ways to do this efficiently is through improved IT asset management. A high-quality asset tracking solution is of critical importance if you wish to ensure that your assets are managed optimally.

One of the most difficult things to do as a large company is to keep track of the technology used by staff. When your devices reach the tens or hundreds, tracking and reporting on these devices becomes an incredibly laborious task.

Seven majority black-owned small businesses have been selected as winners of the CEO Circle Entrepreneurs Award for being deemed high-potential enterprises "with the ability to grow into a significant company of R500m-plus in value".

It’s safe to say that many African countries have a certain fascination with owning their technology. In Europe and America, however, 80% of businesses have abandoned ownership models for more flexibility and agility.

Year in and year out we are faced with new technological innovations changing the world around us.

While this is great for business, companies face the challenge of constantly needing to update their technology with brand new equipment every few years in order to stay at the top and ahead of competitors.

Running a business effectively can be challenging. Businesses are under pressure to ensure that investments and resource allocation put in place yield profitable results. Now more than ever, to compete and remain ahead of the curve, organisations need to be innovative and find areas where they can cut down costs to increase growth and profitability.

The technology sector is now reinventing itself at an unprecedented rate and has literally changed every aspect of the way any business operates Organisations are now faced with a complex balancing act that demands they remain invested in technology and employees to maintain a competitive edge, while still remaining cognisant of how the market and economic climate impact financial decisions.

Performing IT equipment is vital to effective business operations in every industry. A PC’s performance deteriorates with time and eventually reaches a point where it needs to be replaced.

For those enterprises that have been sweating their assets, carrying the popular Windows 7 from system to system thanks to its ubiquity and quality, the time has come to draw a line and move upwards towards Windows 10.

For many companies, investing in new technologies isn't a priority. Why fix things if they aren't broken? The thing is, responding quickly to advancements in technology ensures that an organisation has the competitive edge and the agility to pivot. Those that don't respond are left behind. 

Power is currently shifting to whoever can provide experiences and services conveniently and with less effort on the part of the consumer. These disruptive technologies are transforming consumption models in the consumer market, but in recent years, we've seen business follow suit with the rise of the as-a-service (AAS) economy.

Everything as-a-service (Xaas) is transforming the business world, and it seems as though anything and everything will soon become available via an “as-a-service” model.

New technologies are advancing at an ever-increasing rate from the new developments in artificial intelligence, to wearable technology and self-driving cars. We cannot deny how the world is changing rapidly. How quickly you respond to these advancements in technology could make or break your industry. Does anybody remember Kodak?

During an economic downturn, technology budgets, among other expenses, are often the first to get cut as companies look for ways to save on costs. The challenge now rests with the CIO or CTO to find ways to introduce advanced technologies without breaking the bank.

There is a growing trend towards consumption-based business models such as leasing or subscription services. Attitudes and behaviours surrounding renting, borrowing, and leasing items versus ownership, are shifting.

“Technology will be embedded in everything in the digital business of the future,” David Cearley, vice president and Gartner Fellow told delegates at the Gartner 2017 Symposium/ITxpo. He added that organisations which are equipped with state-of-the-art technology will enjoy competitive advantages, better productivity and cost savings.

Some of the greatest disruptors of our age do not own any assets, think Uber, Airbnb and Amazon. Now why would you want to own your IT equipment? Lease it instead. A lease uses a pay-per-use model where you get access to the equipment you need, for the time period you need it for and you can return it to the leasing company at the end of the contract.

“Technology will be embedded in everything in the digital business of the future,” David Cearley, vice president and Gartner Fellow told delegates at the Gartner 2017 Symposium/ITxpo. He added that organisations which are equipped with state-of-the-art technology will enjoy competitive advantages, better productivity and cost savings.

Globally, a shift is occurring in which people prefer temporary to permanent ownership, and this is challenging the way traditional businesses operate today. If you look at the technology space right now, the quick adoption of cloud services and The Internet of things is providing businesses with an opportunity to create products and services that will give customers access to their offerings without being constrained by the inability to own these products outright.

Windows 7 is undoubtedly Microsoft’s most widely used computing operating system but it will eventually reach the end of its lifecycle and technical support will no longer be available, making an upgrade an absolute essential task for the safety of your PC.