C²I² Press Release

1996-01-01

Transforming swords into ploughshares is a major opportunity for the new South Africa, and one of the companies that has seized the challenge is Cape Town-based software and services house C²I² Systems.

This organisation has been a successful supplier of highly advanced systems and consulting to mainly the defence establishment for more than four years.

During this time C²I² Systems developed and deployed leading-edge systems for radar communications, radar display applications, real-time mission-critical networks and real-time shipboard management systems.

C²I² Systems believes its military customers preferred to source sophisticated technology from local rather than overseas suppliers for strategic, logistical and commercial reasons.

To meet its clients' stringent requirements, C²I² Systems amassed a formidable array of know-how and experience in key areas such as system, software and protocol engineering, real-time networking and man-machine interfaces.

C²I² Systems also invested heavily in cross-platform software development, which enabled the company to rapidly deploy its software products over diverse hardware and operating system platforms.

In addition, C²I² Systems embraced an object-oriented (OO) software design philosophy. This resulted in, among other things, the company accumulating an extensive repository of tried-and-tested software components that could be used again and again to build stable new systems – or enhance existing systems – quickly and, hence, at a lower cost.

Most of C²I² Systems' arsenal of technology was developed in-house in accordance with appropriate international standards and industry trends.

From the outset the company's policy has been to scan the globe for promising technologies with a view to refining and applying them – in conjunction with overseas partners, where relevant – for the benefit of its customers.

Prime examples include the real-time protocol XTP (Xpress Transport Protocol) and FDDI (Fibre Distributed Data Interface), which C²;I²; Systems was among the first to adopt.

Richard Young, C²I² Systems' Managing Director, says: "With then advent of the new SA, expertise acquired by our company in designing and implementing systems for the defence industry is now accessible to customers in the commercial arena.

"What this means is that any company requiring a real-time mission-critical system, whether in mining, process control, aviation, medicine or other industry sector, can obtain a ‘military-strength' solution at a competitive price.

"An added advantage is that C²I² Systems, being born and bred in South Africa, can provide the high level of support necessary to ensure maximum system availability."