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Giles Calenborne takes the helm at Impro Technologies

Well-known access control company Impro Technologies has welcomed a new managing director, Giles Calenborne, to the fold.

Giles Calenborne.

Calenborne brings a wealth of experience in the IT sector, having worked for Microsoft in the UK before returning to South Africa in 2007 to head up a division of Sithabile Technology. More recently, Calenborne was the sales and marketing director for the electronic security company IDS, also based on the east coast of South Africa.

In addition to his industry experience, Calenborne brings strong knowledge of the channel business both in South Africa and globally. “Impro Technologies has a strong network of distribution partners and a key focus will be on unlocking the existing networks and building new opportunities to further grow our market presence,” said Calenborne.

A key area of this growth will be in international markets. “South Africa will always remain our core base and is a solid testing ground for our solutions. At the end of the day, if a product works in South Africa, it will exceed expectations in the global market from a security perspective.

“In addition, as a member of the global ASSA ABLOY group, we are able to rapidly adopt new technologies for our own application, such as cloud solutions, encryption and virtual applications. This ensures we continue to be relevant in international markets where technology and convenience must seamlessly converge,” said Calenborne.

Calenborne explained another area for strong growth is within the African continent. “Impro has already established a base in both Kenya and Nigeria, and we’ll be looking to expand throughout the region in 2020. Africa has an enormous untapped potential, but it requires an unique approach both from a business perspective, as well as product. Some countries face infrastructure challenges, such as power dips or outages, and our products need to accommodate that.

“I also think cellular technology provides an opportunity for leap-frog technologies in our industry – we’re accustomed to biometrics on our phone, downloading an app for almost any need and having our device with us 24/7. That provides great opportunities for disrupting the traditional way of doing things – much as we’ve seen with financial products like M-Pesa and Migo, or ride-hailing products like CanGo and the like, or the Kenyan e-commerce group Copia Global that targets low-income and unbanked citizens in rural areas – all addressing a mass market often excluded from traditional services.”

Calenborne will also drive a customer-centric approach to all areas of the operation, whereby the focus must be on “how does this improve the lives of customers” by either being quicker, easier or better than alternative solutions. “And it’s a full circle process – every division within our business must be looking at how we can improve things for our customers – whether that’s reducing the number of forms, responding quicker to enquiries, or making our products easier to use – my goal is that the overall experience for our customers should be exceptional,” said Calenborne.

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