Stanton Pillay, iTMaster’s newly appointed CEO, is a man of integrity, dedication and unwavering faith – the very traits that have catapulted him from driver to CEO in a matter of 15 years.

Before joining iTMaster as a company driver, Pillay worked various temporary jobs in KwaZulu-Natal. These included working in a plug manufacturing company; pot, lighting, clothing and furniture manufacturing; and even being a labourer cutting grass on the side of the road.

Regardless of the job he was employed in, he always excelled. Pillay has always been focused on understanding his clients, finding ways of optimising his time, productivity and problem solving.

In doing so, he cultivated a good work ethic that would later prove to be one of his best assets.

“While working, I started taking part-time courses in IT, but no doors were opening for me. I then came across Joshua 1:9, which says: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

“I took that as a sign and decided to move to Johannesburg,” said Pillay.

New beginnings in Polokwane

He didn’t have any money, and lived off the support from family and friends, but then Johannesburg didn’t work out, and through a friend moved to Polokwane to search for opportunities there.

It was there, in 2004, where he finally got an interview with the then-CEO and founding member of ITMaster, Ina Venter, where he stated his desire to be in IT, regardless of the position.

He was then offered pocket money and proceeded to do all-round jobs such as driving and deliveries and later became a junior technician. The first three months were tough for Pillay, as he often went without eating all day due to the little money he earned. After three months, he was given an increase of R1 000 and began to buy bread and peanut butter, which became his staple daily lunch.

After just six months at iTMaster, Pillay spent a lot of time with clients, who were so impacted by Pillay that he brought in more sales than the sales team combined. “I made a commitment to God that of everything He blessed me with, I will give and also help the less fortunate,” he said. Within three years, Pillay was 5% owner of ITMaster and contributing 90% of the company’s turnover.

By 2010, he had become an equal shareholder, and in 2011 decided to move back to Johannesburg with the aim of opening another iTMaster branch which would later become iTMaster’s head office. By the end of 2011, iTMaster had won their first contract helping schools set up computer labs across the country.

Since then, iTMaster has grown to have a national presence, with its head office in Centurion.

iTMaster focuses on providing innovative education, enterprise and consulting services and solutions.

The challenges that iTMaster addresses in the ICT space

According to Pillay, one of the biggest challenges in ICT is connectivity. “To address this challenge, we’ve been working closely with telcos to bring connectivity to rural areas in South Africa. We are passionate about education and are working toward enabling connectivity for learners – helping them work both offline and online – while we work to get them online.”

iTMaster also makes a point of investing in collaboration and has created an ecosystem to work with EME and QSE companies in all nine provinces.

“We bring them in, train them and inject the iTMaster DNA, which focuses on providing quality services, with speed and agility at scale, and in doing that promote true transformation,” said Pillay.

“We believe in the empowerment of other companies, and we’ve spent a lot of money on EME and QSE companies, in developing them. Our mantra is speed, agility, scale, prayer and generosity – and in everything that we do, this is how we measure it.

“These elements have been one of our success factors. We’ve tried to make sure that no matter what we do within the business, no matter how big we become, that we keep those elements at the core of everything we do. Our vision for the future is also to be involved in building the infrastructure of the future through digitisation, data-driven decisions and investments into cryptocurrencies,” said Pillay.

HP’s role in iTMaster’s success

“HP is one of our significant partners and has been involved in our development for years,” said Pillay. Today, iTMaster is a gold partner of HP’s and one of its leading partners in education.

“We’re busy digitising to impact society, because we want to take everything the world has to offer to the communities, to the people, and our partnership with HP plays a huge part in this.”

“HP is the leading brand in our devices business. We have a close alliance and good relationships with them on all levels and we’re very impressed with their current leadership. Our core values are very similar – ‘People, planet, and community’, and this is perfectly aligned with what we believe in and strive for,” said Pillay.

“All the strategies that we work on are generally discussed with HP to ensure that we are aligned. Education is a big focus in the country – from the president’s inauguration there’s been talk about making an impact in education, so I think we are on the right track. We are also aiming to become a leader in the industry with a global footprint, so watch this space,” said Pillay.

About Stanton Pillay

In September 2019, Pillay was appointed as CEO at iTMaster.
He is energised and ready to take the company to new heights, and we look forward to watching this new chapter of iTMaster unfold.

Q&A with Stanton Pillay

What was your first job and what was your salary? Quality controller at a plug factory and earned R250/week.

How did you get into the tech field? As a teenager, computers fascinated me. Ever since, I always wanted to do something in IT, which is why I took a few IT courses, and then became a junior technician at iTMaster.

What laptop do you currently use? HP Elitebook X2.

What is the best gadget you have ever bought? My wireless headphones.

What is the worst gadget you have ever bought? A Garmin GPS

What was your best ever investment? My study Bible

What was your worst ever investment? My Garmin GPS

What is the best business advice you have ever received? “Fear not for I am with you.”