1. >AnnualReport2011 - 2012

2. objectives
Buildingcapacityandskills
Encouraginginnovation
Supportingtransformation
Promotinginvestment
Improvingperformance
EducatingexpertstoleadAfrica’ssoftwaredevelopmentsector
Appliedresearch,technologyincubation
andIPdevelopment.
AligningwiththeobjectivesoftheICTCharter,
tocreatenewleadersandtoencouragegrowthof
SMMEsinthesector.
Establishingabusinessfriendlyenvironmentthatattracts
investmentinthelocalICTindustry.
PromotinginternationalbestpracticeinSoftware
EngineeringwithinanAfricancontext.

3. Sean McLean
IBM
Themba Khumalo
DTI
Vumani Mangali
City of Joburg
>contents
>boardmembers Mark Harris – Chairman
IBM
Barry Dwolatzky
JCSE
Barry Vlok
Vodacom
Duncan Rafthesath
Wits Enterprise
Fernando Moreira
FNB
Fazel Mayet
Psybergate
Zolani Matebese
City of Joburg
Beatrys Lacquet
Dean – Faculty of Engineering
and the Built Environment
Clifford De Wit
Microsoft
Foreword
Memo from JCSE
Message of Support
JCSE bridges the gap
Message of Support
JCSE transforms ICT industry
CoachLab@JCSE
Ziphorah finds her groove
Bright innovation
makes planetarium accessible
Continued Professional Development
Imtiaz gains greater prospects
Personal Software Process
John follows his passion thanks to PSP
CIO Programme
Unathi finds her niche
Pre-Incubation Programme
Crunchyard set for business
Financial Overview
02 10
03 12
04 13
06 14
08 16

4. 02

5. JCSEbridgesthegapFromtheJCSE
The highlight of the year was the opportunity we have had to work with senior management and
staff at the State IT Agency (SITA) to improve its service delivery capability. In September 2011,
SITA engaged the JCSE to provide training and appraisals as part of an organisation-wide process
improvement initiative. Starting in October 2011 and continuing until 2014, the JCSE will be
delivering CMMI training to thousands of SITA employees in all major centres in South Africa. This is
a huge undertaking. Most significantly, it gives the JCSE an opportunity to positively influence SITA’s
ability to service the ICT needs of all government departments.
Another key achievement is our ongoing work at Nedbank in support of its strategic decision
to adopt the Team Software Process (TSP) as its software development methodology. Nedbank’s
decision to do this was based on its success in piloting TSP adoption with support from the JCSE,
in partnership with the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie Mellon University. The
JCSE is continuing to support its ambitious TSP rollout strategy.
While these major initiatives have been important highlights, all of the Centre’s existing activities
have continued to support and transform the local ICT sector. These include CoachLab@JCSE, the
CPD Programme, the JCSE’s industry forums, the Distinguished International Visitor Series and
others.
This annual report focuses on some of the inspiring individuals we have worked with over the
past year. By telling their stories, we hope to show how the JCSE has made an impact on these
individuals and hundreds of others – each of whom is just as remarkable and inspiring as those we
have featured.
The upcoming year – 2012 to 2013 – holds out the prospect of being even more successful. The
JCSE is coming of age and our contribution to ICT in South Africa is certain to grow in size and
importance. We thank all of our partners and stakeholders for your support and look forward to
working with all of you in the year ahead.
Prof Barry Dwolatzky
Director: JCSE
The year 2011-2012 was the best year yet for the JCSE. After years of
laying foundations and developing capacity, a number of initiatives began
to bear fruit.
The programmes offered by the JCSE make an excellent contribution to developing skills required by the ICT
sector and bridging the gap between the workplace and academic world. This is one of the reasons why Wits
University was actively involved in setting up the JCSE and supports the Centre’s efforts to develop local
capabilities.
One of the JCSE’s key functions has been to highlight the importance of the ICT sector through its
work with government and the private sector. The Centre has played a pivotal role in promoting process
improvement and quality standards in software development, and in this manner it has supported the
powerful forward leap the industry has made over the past five years.
Indeed, its influence is far-reaching – the JCSE embarked on a massive process improvement initiative
with the State IT Agency (SITA) this past year. It conducts all training and process assessments for the SITA
initiative and is closing the gap between local software engineering practice and best international practice.
Within Wits the JCSE provides an interface between academic schools offering ICT-related programmes.
The Schools of Electrical and Information Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems, Wits
Business School and others are collaborating through the JCSE. These interactions are valuable as they have
led to new cutting-edge academic courses at Wits, including the Professional Certificate Programme in CIO
Practice and the Masters of Engineering in Software Engineering.
The JCSE is therefore instrumental in equipping people with skills that will help South Africa to realise
some of its developmental ambitions. In fact, its impact on industry and government is such that its model
could be followed by other industries wanting to achieve similar success.
Wits University will remain a firm supporter of the JCSE as it continues on its pioneering path in future
years and widens its influence. One of the projects I would like to see it undertake is the development of
innovative tools for learning to transform the educational experience of both school children and university
students.
Prof Loyiso Nongxa
Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Wits University
>memo >messageofsupport
Wits University has always been an institution that adeptly responds to the country’s
needs. In this light, the University has answered the call to promote the growth of
the local ICT sector through its Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE).
03

6. The past year was marked by the ICT industry’s
realisation of the important role the JCSE plays
in this sector.
The JCSE has connected the previously
isolated industry in South Africa with the rest
of the world by importing global standards
and practices, such as the Capability Maturity
Model Integration (CMMI) framework, and by
assisting local companies and government in
its adoption.
This alignment with global practices
is essential for local companies and ICT
professionals interacting with multinationals
and customers around the world.
The CMMI model also benefits the local
industry in the sense that the skills levels of
job applicants, including business analysts and
developers, can be assessed in terms of their
CMMI knowledge and certifications. The value
thereof can be seen in the fact that some of the
most important investments the industry makes
in delivering software-related products and
services are heavily dependent on the people
it uses.
The JCSE is also influential in the ICT sector
because it has contributed to the development
of high-level skills via activities such as its
Continued Professional Development (CPD)
Programme. Availability of high-level skills
The past year was marked by the ICT industry’s realisation of the important role the JCSE plays in this sector.
encourages companies around the world to
consider outsourcing work to South Africa. Of
course this is both good for the industry and
the South African economy.
Another element of its success is its pre-
incubation programme. Business incubation is
vital in light of government’s focus on small,
medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) and
because there are many small companies
which can be guided by the JCSE. While there
are a number of business incubators around
the country supporting start-ups, a large
number of these develop applications without
adopting good software engineering practices.
The result is that their software is not saleable
as it cannot easily be “productised”.
However, if we could build the capacity
of the JCSE with the right investments from
government and business, we could achieve
a far higher rate of success in IT innovation
than what we currently have. The key is to
give prospective entrepreneurs the necessary
disciplines to become successful and this is the
role of the JCSE.
Application development initiatives stretch
across Africa, but their success is also
heavily dependent on whether governments
or individual sponsors find them interesting.
Africa lacks the type of venture capitalist in
software development that made the United
States and India successful in this sphere. In
this respect, the JCSE makes core capabilities
available to entrepreneurs, thus increasing their
chances on success dramatically.
The local ICT sector respects the work of
the JCSE as it is clear that it is a true enabler
for the industry and for our country.
Its success can mostly be attributed to its
good leaders who are experts in the field of
ICT and who act in the best interest of the
industry as a whole. Secondly, the JCSE has
shown an ability to deliver – its initiatives and
partnerships have all been very successful.
I believe the JCSE could support government
and industry even more in future. The JCSE
already has a sound financial model and with
government’s support its influence can grow.
By Mark Harris
Chairman, JCSE Board
>message
Fromtheindustry
04

7. >partnersPlatinum Gold Silver Bronze
Gijima
Opsi Systems
05

8. CoachLab@JCSE
Programme
The CoachLab Programme
is a nine month leadership
programme offered to
postgraduates in the applied
sciences and technology
fields while they complete
a postgraduate degree. A
partnership between the
Innovation Hub, the JCSE,
local ICT sector, UJ and Wits
University, the programme
bridges the gap between
university studies and
employment.
Students participate in
real life projects, including
a shared project for a client
and individual project for
industry sponsors, and
complete short courses of ICT
technical training. In addition,
they have the opportunity to
develop emotional intelligence
through soft skills training and
coaching. They are mentored
by their industry sponsors
who help to instil business
principles and the value of
innovative and entrepreneurial
thinking throughout the
programme.
Participants earn an
allowance for working a
25-hour week at CoachLab
and graduate from the course
with business and leadership
skills, several best practice
certifications, work experience
and references.
Ziphorah Mosimane, a 2011 graduate of the JCSE’s
CoachLab Programme wears bright pink lipstick.
It speaks of the bright and optimistic manner in
which she has started her career at Standard Bank
in downtown Johannesburg.
“When I walk into work in the morning, I am
wearing a smile. Getting out of bed is not even a
problem,” says the upbeat 23-year-old.
“CoachLab helped me to adapt to the work routine.
Students had to arrive and leave the programme on
time and make up for lost hours if their studies got in
the way,” she explains enthusiastically where she sits
in Standard Bank’s meeting room.
Now a confident systems analyst at the bank,
Ziphorah admits she found CoachLab a “bit scary”
when she started the programme. She not only faced
the high demands of CoachLab last year, but also
completed an Honours degree in IT Management for
which she attended night classes.
“It was not an easy year as my family experienced
some financial difficulties after my dad was retrenched.
But CoachLab’s training courses in soft skills and its
support mechanisms helped me to see it through.
“The programme was very worthwhile in that it
helped me to find a work-life-study balance. Time
management was central to what we did. Our training
CoachLab, which involved the design of a “real-life”
reporting system for the Legal Resources Centre in
Johannesburg. Ziphorah fulfilled the role of business
analyst (BA) on the job, which is similar to her current
systems analyst role.
Full of character, the young woman elaborates
that she enjoys documenting, working with detail and
reading: “In business analysis you do the process
flow for systems and the design and functional
specifications. You elicit the requirements from
customers and document them. When the development
starts you have to do the system testing, integration
testing and invite the client to do user acceptance
testing.”
She recalls fondly that the students were quite
nervous when they piled into each other’s cars to go to
their first meeting with the client. “We didn’t know how
to drive the session. But Annlize, the CoachLab project
manager, led the way. She showed us, ‘this is how
you interact with clients’ and made us understand ‘it is
their project, too’.”
Ziphorah continues to enthuse about the benefits
of the programme: “It taught me the pure basics of
business analysis. Fresh from varsity, I really didn’t
know what a requirements document should look like
and what you should put in it.
in this area started immediately after CoachLab kicked
off with a teambuilding session in Pretoria,” she
recounts.
Leaning forward on the table in the centre of the
room, she smiles: “We were thinking, like really, time
management? But the training showed us that if you
managed your time well, you would have enough time
to study, go to ‘work’ for CoachLab, do assignments,
attend classes, and to sleep and relax.”
Ziphorah’s time management plan saw her attending
the programme from 8am until 1pm, taking a two-hour
break of sleeping and watching TV, and starting class
at 5pm. A true night owl, she took another short break
after class and then studied from 10pm until 2am in the
morning.
She says the most valuable thing she learnt in the
time management training, was not to get stuck on one
subject, but to divide her time between her various
courses: “I learnt to stop after studying Informatics
for three hours, and then to ‘push’ something like IT
management as well. Multi-tasking is very important.”
Ziphorah has been with Standard Bank for only a
few months now, but is already certain that her role as
a systems analyst is a perfect fit.
Her confidence stems from the Shared Project
the students did during their first months in
ZiphorahfindshergroovewithCoachLab
Ziphorah Mosimane (23), is unstoppable when she tells how CoachLab@JCSE has equipped her for the workplace with business
and personal skills.
06

9. “Our draft requirements document was really bad since
it had a lot of things missing. But Annlize told us ‘you guys
need to do this and this and this’. We had to get it up to a
professional standard, before it could go to the real client;
it was not play-play,” she adds.
The project also imparted wisdom. Ziphorah says
she learnt that people dynamics will always be a part
of team work. She and the project manager had a small
disagreement at the start of the project, after which she
avoided the other student. “However, she approached me
and we talked things through privately, which was a good
way to handle the situation on her part.”
Ziphorah now prefers talking about differences that
may come up in the workplace. “Last year’s incident taught
me not to run away from conflict, as it is likely to crop up
again,” she says.
By mid-year, the programme took an interesting turn
when she discovered it was “pretty cool to develop a
mobile application” during her work experience stint at
sponsor company Microsoft.
“I learnt about Windows Phone 7, the software is simply
unbelievable. Mobile applications are big; this is where
technology is moving to. You can do almost anything on
your phone if you have the application.”
Smiling mischievously, she adds the work experience
is coming in handy as it allows her to sound intelligent in
conversation with developers at Standard Bank.
Her mentor here has also noticed that she is fitting in
well and has asked her to influence other first jobbers.
She inspires easily: “When I woke up in the UJ res this
morning – I am still living there because I am furthering
my studies – one of the girls told me ‘Ah, you are going to
work; we are going to relax the whole day’. I thought, that’s
nice for you, but I am going to work.
“I am glad I am doing it now. I gained the experience last
year and got my head around the fact that I can’t live off my
parents forever. That girl will remember how she laughed
at me one day when she goes to work.”
07

10. makesplanetariumaccessible
Brightinnovation
08

11. Standing in the auditorium, under the thousands of twinkling
stars, director of the planetarium Dr Claire Flanagan explains
how a new captioning system - designed by the CoachLab@
JCSE students as their 2012 Shared Project - has the
potential to make this sight more accessible.
“Live planetarium shows worldwide share a specific challenge:
visitors can’t see the presenter in the dark. A deaf visitor,
therefore, can’t lip-read,” explains Claire. South Africa has the
additional challenge of children not understanding English well
because it is not the first language of the majority.
She notes that the planetarium has tried different systems
over the years to accommodate deaf and English second-language
visitors. “We have learnt that visitors don’t want to read the
presentation transcribed on notes, they want to see the visuals
and keep up with the show. We have thought about using notes on
mobile devices, but to look down and read, then refocus your eyes
in the distance to see the stars, is difficult too.”
The planetarium believes the CoachLab students have provided
them with the right solution. The system designed by the group
displays captions, triggered by keywords, on a LED screen.
At the moment, one test screen is mounted behind the
planetarium control desk, but the planetarium eventually wants
multiple screens installed around the auditorium, just below the
dome: “We don’t want the captions to be projected on the dome,
because we want the sky to look as real as possible. The real sky
doesn’t have writing on it,” comments Claire.
She explains that if the captions are crafted carefully, other
visitors won’t be irritated by them. “The captions will add to what
is being said and complement it, rather than repeat it. Anything
we can do to get across what we’re saying in a different way
makes our work more accessible,” she explains.
Claire emphasises that the students’ task was not a simple
one: “We do live shows because they are more affordable.
Our brief to the students was that we weren’t going to have a
fixed script, or a particular order for the captions. We wanted a
system capable of handling a situation where the presenter will
sometimes talk about Mercury first, then Venus, and at other
times talk about Venus and then Mercury.”
“This is what makes the CoachLab students’ system
innovative,” she adds.
The students designed the captioning system around a
Microsoft PowerPoint plug-in, along with the Microsoft speech
recognition engine and database with a dictionary full of
keywords. The speech recognition engine and database picks up
certain keywords or phrases in the presenter’s speech, such as
‘star’ or ‘galaxy’, and releases a caption.
“What is really clever is that the captions themselves are
PowerPoint slides. Because it’s PowerPoint, we can be very
creative with the slides and play around with different types
of captioning. We can put pictures in, or add a video clip with
sign language, without interfering with the software at all,” she
explains.
The CoachLab project ran from 12 March to 12 May 2012.
According to Claire, there are still a few technical glitches to
address, mostly the fact that the speech recognition isn’t reliable
enough yet. Although the correction isn’t within the scope of
the CoachLab project, the students completed a comprehensive
report on speech recognition packages, which was very useful.
“It has helped us define the way forward,” says Claire.
She describes her interaction with the students during the
project as constructive: “They were efficient with answering
emails and on time for every meeting.”
The fact that the project was an ideal one for students is
underlined by the CoachLab members. “The Shared Project is
a perfect platform for students to experience how it feels to
work on a dynamic project with a broad variety of people from
different backgrounds. It helps one develop technical, social
and leadership skills in a short space of time,” says CoachLab
student Thabo Mphuthi.
Other students emphasise the value of the teamwork during
the Shared Project. They also agree that they learnt by making
mistakes and that they have gained good experience.
CoachLab student Neeleshan Thanthony echoes the
sentiments of the group when he says: “Every experience was
astronomical.”
The white domed roof of the Johannesburg Planetarium at the University of the Witwatersrand looks
prosaic in the early morning light. But when a few switches are pulled, it quickly transforms into a
realistic replica of the night sky.
09

12. we end up learning on the job.”
“But you get to a stage in life when you realise
experiential learning is only going to get you so far – if
you have aspirations, you also want to get the academic
side behind your name, so you can move forward.”
He adds that the JCSE is important in helping one
to realise your aspirations. The Centre’s Continued
Professional Development (CPD) Programme provided
him with the bridge to do a Masters degree in
Engineering without having to do a Bachelor’s degree
first, saving him years of study in the process.
Having planned to further his education for some
time, he received the final push to enrol in the CPD
Programme when his project manager at Standard
Bank pointed out that he had a strong technical
background, but needed to develop his business and
managerial skills to continue advancing in his career.
Reflecting on the programme, Imtiaz says one of
the aspects that got him hooked was the fact that it
enhanced his technical skills, but most importantly,
improved his business and management abilities.
“I liked the fact that the programme offers electives,
including management subjects. I chose Management
of Technology and Principles of Management, which
taught me how to bridge the gap between Information
Continued
Professional
Development
Programme
in Software
Engineering
The Continued Professional
Development (CPD) Programme
offers advanced courses
in software engineering to
ICT professionals who lack
formal qualifications in related
disciplines. The programme
is open to people who have at
least five years of practical work
experience and who aspire to
become software architects,
designers, senior developers or
project managers.
It introduces students to
key aspects of the software
development lifecycle, giving
them the tools to understand
and apply key concepts
and principles in software
engineering and software project
management.
Taught from a modern
perspective by experienced
university lecturers and
industry experts, it could serve
as a stepping stone to Wits
University’s Master of Science
in Engineering degree focusing
on Software Engineering.
Through the CPD Programme,
this sought-after degree can be
obtained within three years.
gainsgreaterprospects
Imtiaz
Imtiaz Abdul Kazer enrolled for the CPD programme after he realised that work experience only limited his opportunities.
Imtiaz Abdul Kader is one of many South Africans
who did not have the financial means to go to
university straight after school.
The senior manager at Standard Bank comes
from a disadvantaged community near Durban and
had to support his family when he finished matric,
as his dad was the victim of a hit-and-run accident
that left him unfit to work at the time.
His first job was an internship in the Umhlanga
Rocks Hotel’s maintenance department where
his dad had been the handyman. During this time,
Imtiaz pursued a diploma in heavy-current electrical
engineering through the former Technikon SA,
before moving over to Telkom where he worked in
telecommunications and electronics.
This experience led to an opportunity to work
on a voice technology project at FNB and RMB in
Johannesburg where he did voice biometrics, thus
broadening his work experience. He subsequently
joined Standard Bank as a business analyst.
A few years later he sits in Standard Bank’s coffee
shop in downtown Johannesburg and says in his
friendly manner: “People like me have to get into the
work market immediately after school out of necessity
– we have to earn a salary to put food on the table. So
Technology, business and management.”
He is passionate when he talks about the
Management of Technology: “it introduced a completely
new way of thinking that says technology can be used
as a profit centre as opposed to a cost centre that only
enables business.”
“The approach demands that one has to understand
the technology and all its technical aspects: its
maturity and how it ages, why the technology has to be
changed at certain times, the reasons behind licensing,
the reasons behind protocols related to legal and
compliance aspects. If you don’t understand technology
and only manage by numbers in this space, you lose a
great amount of value.”
The training Imtiaz received at the JCSE, as well as
his hard-working nature, led him to make big jumps at
Standard Bank. He moved from business analyst to lead
analyst on his completion of the CPD Programme and
became portfolio manager just before he completed his
Masters degree in August 2009.
He recently made another great leap to become head
of the project management office for core banking at
Standard Bank, which came about because he has both
the practical experience and academic perspective
needed to bring different methodologies together.
10

13. “The management skills the programme imparted to me,
helped a great deal – I could land on my feet every time I made
a jump,” says Imtiaz. “What the programme helped me to do is
build confidence. It allows you to interact with various people
and to make many presentations, building your communication
skills as well.”
It appears that the CPD Programme has been very successful
in this, as it is hard to picture Imtiaz as the introvert he describes
himself to be at home, when he talks confidently and warmly
about his experiences of the programme and his career.
Currently working towards a doctoral degree at Wits
University, he believes his academic studies have put him on
a different footing in both his professional and personal life: “I
have become more marketable and people have come to see me
as a trusted advisor, because they know I am equipped for the
job.”
He illustrates the point by saying he has been reporting to
executive managers for the past 2,5 years who do not only listen
to his opinions, but also implement his recommendations.
Contemplative for a moment, Imtiaz reveals: “One of the
things I have realised is that whatever you do in life, people will
always see you the way they saw you before – until you have
actually showed them you have improved. One of the ways to
show them that you have bettered yourself is by getting that
academic background.”
Then on a personal note: “My aspirations have always been
driven by the thought that if I have a family, I would want to
give them the chances I didn’t have. I do have a wife and baby
daughter (1) now and I feel that our prospects have improved
dramatically.”
11

14. Capability Maturity
Model Integration
Programme/CMMI
Programme
The JCSE has facilitated and supported the
adoption of Capability Maturity Model Integration
(CMMI) in South Africa since 2006, by training
and certifying local trainers, consultants and
appraisers.
CMMI is a process improvement model
at the heart of the international software
quality movement, overseen by the Software
Engineering Institute of Carnegie Mellon
University in the United States. It measures the
maturity and capability of a software development
organisation on a scale of one to five. Companies
that have been successful in the international
software market use CMMI to benchmark
themselves against best software engineering
and project management practices.
The JCSE has presented official CMMI training
to over 1 000 South Africans and has conducted
numerous CMMI appraisals. In the past year,
it started working on a three year contract to
support a major process improvement drive at
the State IT Agency (SITA).
What is more, the Centre has developed
capacity to support Team Software
Process(TSP)- and Personal Software
Process(PSP)-related training. TSP and PSP
are bottom-up methods which accelerate CMMI
adoption and improve the performance of
software teams. The JCSE has supported the
roll-out of a TSP pilot project at Nedbank, which
has led the bank to run over 20 TSP projects. It
has also trained over 400 developers in PSP.
The JCSE first brought CMMI to South Africa
in 2005 by entering into a partnership with
Carnegie Mellon University. The Department of
Trade and Industry (dti) gave financial support to
the project.
Johnfollowshispassion
thankstoPSP
John Goble (39), didn’t know what to expect when
he and 29 other developers were sent on a Personal
Software Process (PSP) Fundamentals training
course in August 2009 at Nedbank’ s offices in
Sandton. But the humorous and relaxed man, who
is also driven to excel, soon found that the course
opened new avenues for him.
After immersing himself in the PSP course, John
embarked on a Team Software Process pilot project
at the bank, which enabled him to start working on
two individual projects, namely Extended Trading
Branch (ETB) and Realtime Clearing (RTC). The TSP
pilot project was part of the JCSE’s training course
and was presented by the Software Engineering
Institute (SEI) on its behalf.
“I really didn’t know what it was about when the
training pilot was launched, but I was inquisitive – I
like to find out what’s going on, it’s my nature,” jokes
The Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (JSCE) may be revolutionising the local
ICT sector with its introduction of Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) and
the Team Software Process (TSP), but it is also changing lives.
John, who started working at Nedbank in 2007, as a
software developer in Group Technology.
Subsequent to a promotion within Nedbank, John
worked as an analyst programmer, but he did not
know that his next career move would emerge from
the TSP training pilot.
“I enjoyed the training and I quickly saw the
benefit of the pilot – so much so that I asked to go
on the advanced PSP course when I completed the
initial PSP training,” he recalls. I acquired both the
PSP Certified Developer and TSP Certified Coach
certificates, so I gained specialist status,” he says.
John says he learnt how to analyse his data and
plan tasks more efficiently; he also learnt how to
use proxy-based estimation (PROBE) to better his
estimates. “I discovered that it’s crucial to back up
any decision you make with data,” he reveals.
He went on the courses with the idea of
becoming a part-time consultant in later years. But
unexpectedly, he found himself in a unique position
– he enjoyed the process so much that when an
employee who had signed up to be a TSP coach was
no longer able to fulfill the duty, he decided to step in.
“It seemed to be the logical next step for me,”
he chuckles. “I really enjoy training people. I have
always been the kind of person who cares for my
fellow colleagues, so becoming a coach has given me
the opportunity to help them grow and develop.”
John says that he learnt to identify focus points
in his personal growth to gain maximum benefit for
himself and the team. So the courses were fulfilling
on a more personal level, too.
He is quick to add that TSP is not a ‘top-down,
process-driven’ methodology. Developers are given
the tools they need to work with and they can come
up with their own ‘plans’.
“This was a big selling point for me, because
designers like to ‘own’ the development process,”
he says. “Afterwards, we go back to the project and
assess what did and didn’t work and we develop
continuously from there.”
The entrepreneur in him enjoys the implicit
mentorship: “Seeing people grow to the point at
which they are more self-assured, and standing up
for themselves, using data to back up their theories,
makes it all worthwhile,” he asserts.
John is very grateful to have had the opportunity
to gain this unique skill set: “I’d like to go on to make
South African Software development houses world-
class and sought-after companies.”
12

15. Unathi Mtya, (35), is one of the dynamic women at the
cutting edge of ICT in South Africa.
Vivacious, elegant and confident, the General
Manager of Functional & Application Support Services
(acting) at SITA represents a new breed of leader.
It is therefore not surprising that she enrolled in the
Professional Certificate in CIO Practice course offered
by the JCSE, which she completed in 2010.
The Chief Information Officer course prepares
senior executives for some of the challenges brought
about by rapid growth in ICT in South Africa. These
executives find themselves at the forefront of this
dynamic knowledge economy – part of their job is to
ensure that best practice and its benefits make an
impact on our shores.
“I chose to go on the course as it supported
my passion of translating business strategy into
operational delivery,” Unathi says, citing the
programme’s emphasis on business re-engineering,
as well as how to access and manage information that
affects an organisation’s supply chain.
Responsible for managing IT solutions for
government with regard to various service-level
agreements in the areas of Functional Application
Support and LAN & Desktop services, Unathi had
been working at SITA for three years, as Senior
Management: Advanced Specialist Network Operations
(Strategy), when she went on the course.
“It is not the kind of course one would want to do
online – the value of interacting with people from
different disciplines cannot be overestimated. You
find the way you’ve always approached things will be
challenged; you learn a great amount by dissecting
Unathifindsherniche
ideas and processes,” she recounts. “I found it useful
to compare structural and agile methodologies; I learnt
a lot focusing on flexible processes, which influences
how I strategise.”
Speaking thoughtfully but decisively, she says she
has always been keen to further her education. She
graduated with a BSc majoring in Computer Science
and Geographical Information Systems and has
completed an Executive Development Programme at
the University of Pretoria Gordon Institute of Business
Science (GIBS).
Working in the IT industry for well over a decade
now, she initially focused on her technical knowledge
and skills and then went on to work on the sales side
of business at Business Connexion (BCX).
“In hindsight, I was trying to find my niche – which
was complemented by participating and completing
the CIO programme,” she says. “I enjoy finding
Unath Mtiya (35), has been equipped to take a holistic approach.
solutions for clients, whether I am managing budgets,
adhering to delivery specifics or assisting my teams
with problem-solving. Over time, I have come to have
a deep appreciation and understanding of the crucial
enabling role IT plays in support of business.”
Unathi points out that the course brought her
technical, business and leadership skills together to
enable her to perform all these tasks. The challenge of
managing IT solutions for government is significant,
but she feels that the CIO programme “gave me depth
and the ability to make decisions differently”.
She says she refers to the knowledge she gained on
the course often, even though the new ways of looking
at problems “have now become second nature”.
“I like to think I have gained wisdom,” she smiles.
“I certainly learnt a lot from the course; I can stand
back and look at things holistically, which makes a big
difference to how one does business.”
Professional Certificate
in CIO Practice
Wits University’s “Professional Certificate in CIO
Practice” is the only educational programme
offered in South Africa which aims to equip
aspiring chief information officers with the
complex combination of technical, business and
leadership skills they require. The JCSE, working
in partnership with the Wits School of Electrical
and Information Engineering, the School of
Economics and Business Sciences and the LINK
Centre, has run this prestigious multi-disciplinary
programme since 2005.
13

16. Pre-Incubation
Programme
The Pre-Incubation Programme
of the JCSE assists
entrepreneurs in developing
professional-quality software
and business plans.
Aimed at entrepreneurs who
want to take their solutions to
the market in 12 to 18 months
from starting the programme,
it provides access to hardware
and software infrastructure for
development and testing. The
JCSE also conducts detailed
assessments of software
architecture and design, quality
of code, test plans, and process
capabilities. Based on these
assessments gaps are identified
and improvement plans are
produced. Technology-related
coaching is also provided on an
on-going basis.
Incubator companies gain
access to experts within the
JCSE, Wits and the JCSE partner
network, who help them to
develop their business plans.
The JCSE has piloted a company
named Crunchyard through
its pre-incubation process.
Crunchyard has attracted
venture capital investment and
has entered a formal incubator
programme.
14

17. Renier Dreyer, a 36-year-old with a PhD degree in
electrical engineering, emerges from behind five rows
of computer boxes stretching from floor to ceiling in
a compact server room in the Electrical Engineering
School at Wits University. He grabs a keyboard from a
small table and pretends to play it like a guitar, leaning
backwards and strutting the notes with feeling.
Clearly an inventive person, Renier explains that
the 50 dual-core computers make up the engine
of Crunchyard. Crunchyard is a number-crunching
enterprise that is getting off the ground with the help of
the JCSE’s Pre-Incubation Programme.
The programme enabled Renier to develop the
first concept of the undertaking that will offer large
simulation power over the internet on a pay-per-use
basis. It also connected him with his first big customer.
Renier started the Pre-Incubation Programme in
2009 and says the process helped him to find direction
– the first crucial step in building a meaningful
business.
It came about after the JCSE gave him the
opportunity to present his business concept to a group
of research chemists and engineers in the early stages
of prototyping. Renier made a convincing presentation
of making the simulation power available to engineers
working in various fields, and the audience indicated
the concept could go a long way to fill a significant gap
in the market.
Crunchyard
setforbusinessafterpre-incubation
“If you build something and nobody wants it, it
doesn’t help,” explains Renier. “The pre-incubator
process either confirms you are going in the right
direction, or helps you to stop milling about and go the
right way.”
After it was established that he had a viable
business idea, the JCSE allowed him to drive the
development of Crunchyard, while continuing to offer
him its full support. “The Centre put me in touch with
potential users, various experts and the industry. When
I investigated computational chemistry, they told me
who and where the computational chemist on campus
was. Further, when I needed to put business processes
in place, they referred me to Wits Enterprise.”
“It was a question of pulling in various components
and the right people to help me,” he adds.
Renier’s greatest need for advice and support was
not on the technical side of the enterprise, as he had
specialised in computational electromagnetics during
his doctoral studies. However, he did need guidance in
respect to various aspects of business management,
such as setting up the business, putting operational
systems in place and making the right contacts.
Nevertheless, the incubation programme did give
him the opportunity to test his computing cluster in its
infancy: The JCSE linked him and a group of electrical
engineering students who needed to simulate antennas
on the platforms of naval ships and helicopters. They
subjected the Crunchyard system to a stress test as
Renier gave them free rein in using the computing
cluster.
“It turned out to be a mutually beneficial exercise, as
the students achieved results and it showed me what
needed to be added to the user interface,” says Renier.
The students used an astounding 14 000 Central
Processing Unit hours over a period of two weeks,
which adds up to 1.6 (one-and-a-half) years if run on a
single computer.
One of the valuable contacts the JCSE introduced
him to was a professor emeritus in geology at Wits
University who in turn referred him to a geo-physicist
at the Anglo American group. The Anglo executive
needed simulating power for his geo-physical
exploration software, which helped Renier to define
Crunchyard’s initial focus.
“I learnt that geoscientists obtain a large number
of electromagnetic measurements from the ground
and that all that data needs to be processed on huge
computers to obtain a three-dimensional image of
the ore. This led me to focus on the geosciences. I
am currently working with Anglo American to further
develop the system’s capability,” says Renier.
Giving a sense of the scale of data processing
that takes places, he continues, “the average size
of a geoscientist’s simulations will take 10 hours
on 40 computers, but you get much, much bigger
simulations than that; one of the biggest Anglo ran
through Crunchyard took six days on 100 computers.
The size of data is typically only 10 megabytes, but the
calculations to process the data are intensive. Actual
number-crunching takes place – hence the name
Crunchyard.”
Standing outside the Electrical Engineering School,
Renier says he has walked a long road with the JCSE
to realise the business concept. “Knowing what it could
be, I sometimes became frustrated and impatient, but
the JCSE also supported me in this respect. They
talked me through the challenges and encouraged me.”
Light-heartedly, he adds: “I also learnt that it often
takes much longer to reach the set milestones than
planned.”
At this point, the Crunchyard system has completed
test simulations and a full simulation of an actual
exploration area for Anglo American. The enterprise
recently received funding from the company to expand
its simulation capacity. “Now that Anglo is happy with
the system, they want to use it for a lot more,” reveals
Renier happily.
He looks up at the historical Chamber of Mines
building in which the Electrical Engineering School is
located and reflects that without the JCSE, Crunchyard
might never have become a reality.
But now all is set for the budding business to make a
positive impact on the mining and other industries.
The Pre-Incubation programme has enabled Renier Dreyer (36) to start a business that will make a difference in the mining and engineering fields.
15

18. In 2011 the JCSE’s income was R12,3 million. R260,000 came from its partners.
The balance represents income earned from providing training and other
services to the ICT sector.
>finance
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CoachLab
16

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20. >contactdetails
Joburg Centre for Software Engineering
Tel: +27 11 717 6390 | Fax: +27 86 553 7128 | Email: info@jcse.org.za | Website: www.jcse.org.za