Former Altech executive Wayne de Nobrega has quietly taken the reins at Sithabile Technology Services, a systems integration company that specialises in data storage, recovery and backup.
De Nobrega, who sold his business, Internet service provider Technology Concepts, to JSE-listed Altech in 2009, has taken over as CEO of Sithabile, replacing founder Peter Blaauw, who has moved into the role of chief sales officer.
He quit Altech last year because he found the environment “too corporate” to his liking. “I said I would help them integrate the business and help them build a new network. I finished that and my time was up. I need freedom to operate.”
Sithabile was founded in 2004 and represents high-performance storage specialist Xiotech, tape libraries vendor Quantum, backup software provider Symantec and, since this year, the giant US-headquartered company EMC, which specialises in data storage, security, virtualisation and cloud computing.
De Nobrega says he decided to get involved in the storage business because, unlike in traditional computing or even telecommunications, the space is still expected to enjoy strong growth for years to come as companies struggle to store and serve fast-growing oceans of data.
“When I left Technology Concepts, I decided I wasn’t getting back into the Internet business or into cellular,” he says. “I wanted to get into something that is in a rising curve.”
Shareholders in the privately held Sithabile, which was founded in 2004, include Blaauw, De Nobrega, former Seagate worldwide sales and market vice-president Bernie Carballo and Jerry Mashinini, who heads Sithabile’s empowerment partner, Odirile IT Holdings. — (c) 2013 NewsCentral Media
