The Northern Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism (DEDaT), hereby invites Northern Cape based ICT SMMEs, to submit their qualification criteria, for consideration to be selected for participation in the Microsoft (MS) Black Partner Programme (BPP). ONLY FIVE (5) ICT SMMES WILL BE SELECTED.

The MS BPP is an initiative that forms part of the greater Microsoft Enterprise and Supplier Development programme. It is a programme that is geared toward accelerating the journey of black ICT SMMEs to Gold Partner Status. To this end, Microsoft will fund the certification (technical training and exams) of two trainees per SMME.

The qualification criteria and /requirements to be submitted to be considered for the program are:

• Company Profile (must be an ICT business)
• CIPC confirmation (not older than 3 months)
• Valid Tax Clearance certificate
• Valid BBBEE Certificate/Affidavit
• NC based IT / ICT company

Furthermore, the following technical competencies are required to be considered for short-listing:

• Understanding of on-premises virtualization technologies, including: VMs, virtual networking, and virtual hard disks.
• Understanding of network configuration, including TCP/IP, Domain Name System (DNS), virtual private networks (VPNs), firewalls, and encryption technologies.
• Understanding of Active Directory concepts, including domains, forests, domain controllers, replication, Kerberos protocol, and Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP).
• Understanding of resilience and disaster recovery, including backup and restore operations.

NB: Only short-listed SMMEs will be contacted for pre-qualification assessment.

Selected ICT SMMEs will be trained towards meeting the criteria required for MS Gold competence status. Successful trainees who acquire MS Silver competence status, will be introduced to clients and the broader partner ecosystem.

Submit your qualification criteria and evidence of required technical competencies to:

Northern Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism                       

Atten: Mr R. Grewan
Knowledge Economy & Innovation
Khaya La Bantu House
2 Cecil Sussman Street
Kimberley   
8301

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

CLOSING DATE FOR SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS: 02 March 2022