• BCX is shifting focus from legacy infrastructure to platform-based digital services and AI-led security solutions.
• The South African ICT sector is evolving, but capacity gaps and regulatory tensions remain key hurdles.
BCX’s Strategic Reset: Context-Driven Tech, Not Imported Templates
It’s not every day that a legacy IT company manages to reinvent itself without losing sight of its original purpose. Business Connexion (PTY) LTD, better known as BCX, is attempting exactly that. Headquartered in Centurion and backed by Telkom, BCX has made a quiet but firm shift over the past five years—from traditional systems integration to more agile, platform-driven digital partnerships. This isn’t a brand talking buzzwords. It’s responding to the very real needs of African businesses: secure data sovereignty, cost-effective hybrid cloud solutions, and homegrown digital talent.
The local angle is important. In a market still grappling with inconsistent fibre rollout and constrained electricity supply, BCX hasn’t followed the hyperscaler route blindly. Instead, its offering has leaned into customisation. When it says “reimagine evolution,” it’s not posturing—it’s addressing the fact that African enterprises don’t want plug-and-play models imported from Silicon Valley. They want infrastructure that works under African conditions. They want solutions in isiZulu, not just English. That’s what BCX is trying to build.
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Skills, Cybersecurity and the Politics of Infrastructure
The broader South African ICT industry is caught in a contradictory moment: the hunger for digital tools is rising, but the foundations remain shaky. Public and private sectors alike complain of talent shortages, especially in areas like data engineering and cybersecurity. BCX, for its part, hasn’t sat idle. It’s funded internships, invested in early-career training, and partnered with technical institutions. But even with that, the needle moves slowly.
Security is another point of concern. With rising ransomware incidents and increasingly complex regulatory frameworks, BCX has doubled down on AI-driven threat detection, especially in its offerings to banks and healthcare providers. Its latest managed security service rollout includes predictive analytics built for compliance-heavy environments. But scaling this securely—without pricing out smaller clients—remains a balancing act. That’s the tension at the core of BCX’s new direction: how to grow fast, while still staying relevant to the local businesses that built it.
