Company Overview
Knowledge Focus is an information asset management solution provider and was established in August 2000, following a management buy-out of Excalibur Technologies Africa from Grintek Electronics.
Based in Pretoria, Gauteng, the company markets a range of products that help medium-sized and large organisations manage their information assets efficiently and cost-effectively. Focusing specifically on the retrieval and preservation sectors, Knowledge Focus serves and supports companies with the requirement to retrieve information quickly and accurately and interpret the results through intuitive, professional and contextually navigable customer interfaces. The company has extensive experience in Web Harvesting, Enterprise Search solutions and Media Asset Management solutions.
Vision
To deliver intelligent information (knowledge) retrieval solutions that enable organisations to compete effectively in local and global markets or for government departments to deliver on their service delivery mandate.
Mission
To provide products, services and the expertise to enable government, industry and the financial sector in South Africa to gain timely access to important information through intelligent information (knowledge) retrieval solutions. Knowledge Focus solutions are geared towards giving the customer the freedom of choice in selecting a solution which is tailored to their needs both in function and in cost, as well as offering scalability to allow for future growth.
Knowledge Focus aims to generate sufficient profit to allow for sustainable resources which in turn leads to prosperity and growth. Additionally, it strives to bridge the gap in knowledge between traditionally advantaged and disadvantaged areas of business and education through the effective use of business partners and training schemes.
Management
Management team
Knowledge Focus is managed by Piet Dempsey, Graham Melvill-Smith and Douglas Moll. All three have extensive experience in enterprise search, media asset management and integration to corporate information assets.
Managing Director, Piet Dempsey, MSc (Computer Science), has held key positions in the Grintek Group for over 11 years, first as IT Manager and then moving on to serve as a director, managing the Excalibur business unit. Piet also headed the Information Retrieval Business unit in the Grintek group.
Piet completed an ABM (Advanced Business Management) certificate at Rand Afrikaans University in 1993. He holds a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Pretoria and has specialised in high-speed networks, knowledge retrieval and message dissemination.
Graham Melvill-Smith, BSc (Computer Science), serves as a Director at Knowledge Focus. Graham worked at Grintek for over six years, provided all the technical and integration support for the retrieval products. Graham was involved in pre-sales support and has managed numerous projects on large sites, including the system design, implementation, documentation and training at all levels. Graham has a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Pretoria.
Douglas Moll is a Director at Knowledge Focus and is responsible for the Enterprise Search business. He has been involved with the design and implementation of search and related solutions for the last 8 years and has worked on large government and private sector projects both nationally and abroad.