Software and solutions specialist DVT has appointed Kim Sarkin to head up its new data & analytics division in Gauteng.
Sarkin joins the company with more than 15 years’ experience in the IT industry, most recently as an enterprise architect for Nedbank, and as a partner in a business intelligence consulting firm specialising in Oracle.
“Despite being a large, national organisation, DVT retains the attitude of a hands-on company with its clients, which is what attracted me most to this role,” says Sarkin.
“There’s a strong focus on Agile and agility in general throughout the company, which dovetails with my philosophy on how to approach the data & analytics domain,” he says. “The industry is crying out for a practical yet agile approach to analytics, and my main goal is to help clients achieve their objectives more quickly and transparently. Working with DVT we can also offer them a far broader service and solutions base than most of our competitors in the market.”
Sarkin says that while DVT already has a well-established and successful presence in the data analytics market, particularly across the Western Cape, his role is to grow the team to become the industry leader in solving complex data-related problems.
“The only way we can deliver to business in the data domain is through a holistic approach across a range of different disciplines, which DVT is primed to deliver,” he says. “In addition, through my previous exposure to the banking world, we’re developing unique solutions to assist the banks in their journeys to deal with the avalanche of regulations that they need to comply with such as BCBS 239.”
DVT CEO Jaco van der Merwe says Sarkin is a welcome addition to DVT’s family of domain experts, particularly in the fight to manage the deluge of data that clients are increasingly struggling to control.
“There is so much inherent value in the data our clients generate every day, through their business systems and throughout their organisations, that finding better solutions to harvest this data is among our top priorities in the coming months and years,” says van der Merwe. “With his extensive experience in the field and proven track record for finding creative solutions to complex data problems, Kim is the perfect fit to lead our analytics team in Gauteng and cement our domain expertise in this dynamic sector.”
Sarkin, a busy father of three and dedicated endurance runner in his spare time, says companies need to take a long term view on how the Internet of Things will disrupt their business in the coming years, and make a commitment to finding solutions to embrace it.
“There’s no sense in hiding from the inevitable,” he says. “We want our clients to relish the challenges of dealing with the data deluge because therein lie the opportunities for positive business transformation. “We also need to urgently look at cultivating new skills to support our clients through the transition, and I’m already looking at DVT’s progressive graduate and internship programs as rich resources for South Africa’s future data scientists. Now more than ever, with companies starting to attach tangible value to their data, they need the skills in place to treat their data as they would any other asset, which is something we’re in a strong position to provide them with.”
