Four years ago, TechFinancials anticipated that EOH, the scandal-tainted IT group, would undergo a major rebrand, emerging as iOCO.
EOH believes it has largely restored its reputation after facing allegations of involvement in state capture corruption and is now refocusing on government contracts, with ambitions to double its revenue from these engagements, according to a report in the Sunday Times’ Business Times.
The company, identified by the Zondo Commission as a key player in state capture, began its reform journey in 2018 with the appointment of Stephen van Coller as CEO. Chief Justice Raymond Zondo commended EOH in his initial report for its proactive cooperation with the commission.
“But I think we’ve demonstrated well to organisations about our cleanup of the past. The government spend is so large that we don’t need to go where we were having issues before. There’s lots of other work. My succinct summary of it is that they’re less suspicious now than before,” interim CEO Marius de la Rey, told Business Times.
As part of its new brand imagine EOH is in the process of changing its name to iOCO.
In April 2020, TechFinancials posed the question in a column: Is EOH Slowly Evolving to be Renamed iOCO?”
Techfinancials further stated that EOH continues to be an undisputed market leader in its core ICT businesses, which operate principally under the iOCO brand name.
The company’s services are key to its 5 000 clients, which include banks in South Africa and the rest of Africa, telecommunication companies, Eskom, municipalities and government agencies.
The group listed on the JSE in 1988 and is active in 20 markets globally.
However, the brand’s name has been tainted by several scandals.
In a revised strategy under Stephen van Coller, who was appointed as its chief executive in 2018, EOH has managed to stabilise its customer base and core revenues.
The company is 12 months into an anticipated two-year turnaround plan, following the reputational crisis of the last financial year.
The company is now focusing on rebuilding credibility by establishing robust governance.
It also seems that the company’s executives are quietly preparing to rebrand EOH into iOCO.
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Troubled JSE-Listed technology group EOH has re-launched the ICT business, which has been renamed iOCO, and the company seeks to improve its balance sheet efficiency.
The group said in an update to shareholders on Thursday that re-launched the ICT business represents a key milestone in the internal reorganisation process.
The process is aimed at simplifying the ICT business, integrating client offerings under one brand, driving governance imperatives and aligning the service delivery model and offerings for the cloud economy and fourth industrial revolution.
The company added that work on the NEXTEC strategy continues, including how iOCO, NEXTEC, and the IP businesses will work together to optimise value for EOH shareholders, with umbrella shared services being provided by EOH.
In April 2019, EOH outlined a strategy to focus the business on three key pillars, namely ICT, NEXTEC.
The company also announced that CEO Stephen van Coller and Group Financial Director, Megan Pydigadu, have assumed a caretaking leadership role for ICT and NEXTEC business units on an interim basis following the resignations of Rob Godlonton and Zunaid Mayet.
Last month, EOH provided an interim update on the detailed forensic investigation being undertaken by ENSafrica.
