PMT™ – End of Year Newsletter 2024

Reflecting on 2024: Looking Inward to Scale Upward!

As the year comes to a close, it’s a perfect opportunity to reflect on our journey throughout 2024. We started this year with a focus on growth and expanding our reach.

Over the years, our services have consistently exceeded expectations, and we’ve achieved significant milestones that allow us to extend our presence internationally and enhance our strategic services footprint.

The Executive Management team acknowledges that our remarkable employees have been instrumental in these successes. Guided by the vision and leadership of our CEO, Markus Schorn, PMT™ adopted a People First management philosophy early on, a concept that is now gaining momentum in the industry.

Looking back on our coaching journey that began in 2022, combined with updates shared at the end of 2023, we recognised the need for a solid internal foundation to support scalable growth. To that end, we shifted our operational approach from an Agile delivery methodology to a Scrumban delivery methodology. We believe the positive outcomes reflect our aim to enhance the efficiency of our service delivery to you, our valued Clients.

As we move forward, we continue to excel in remote service delivery while many companies return to physical offices to navigate challenging traffic conditions. We applaud our team’s dedication to a remote work culture, which positions us for success and investment in innovative strategic remote working models (such as a 4-day work week) in 2025.

In alignment with emerging industry trends, PMT™ is excited to introduce our internal AI research and development project, designed to enhance service monitoring and explore other AI applications-rest assured, there will be no “SkyNet” here!

As a company, we are honoured to continue our partnership with Family Africa, supporting the EaziTeach™ initiative to empower teachers in building better communities through education.

Looking ahead to 2025, we are eager to share even more successes with you as we carry the momentum from 2024 into the new year! Over the last 15 years, I have had the privilege of experiencing many of the Executive Management strategic initiatives put in motion come to light. There have been great successes and many opportunities to learn, adapt, and improve. We are deeply grateful for the immense support from our Clients and Partners and the trust you have placed in us as your preferred Solution Provider. Your success as our Customer is what drives us to do more.

I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Markus Schorn for your vision, resilience, and passion for our Staff, the Company, and our Clients. It has been a privilege to work alongside you over the past 15 years.

To all our Clients, Colleagues, industry Friends, and especially to the incredible PMT™ Team, may your holiday season be filled with safety, love, and respect for all those you impact.

In Pedi there is a saying “madume ga a fele”, meaning you can greet as many times as you want because, unlike money or food, you can never run out of greetings. We wish you a lifetime of greetings that never end with a return in 2025 with renewed energy, a sense of challenge, and a commitment to mindful, applied growth! Please stay safe if you are travelling on our roads.

You’ll find more details of our great successes and contributions as you read on…

Managing Director, Henning Viljoen

In 2024 PMT™ has had many exciting key highlights that we have been proud of being a part of and achieving throughout the year!

Below we have summarised some of our key highlights of 2024!

As we approach the conclusion of another year, it is imperative to reflect on the significant milestones achieved by Pattern Matched Technologies™. This year has been transformative, particularly with the successful implementation of additional cloud solutions and enhancements to our infrastructure. These advancements have not only improved our operational efficiency and scalability but have also provided us with the flexibility necessary to innovate in an ever-evolving technological landscape.

Key Achievements

Transition to Hybrid Cloud Solutions
A major accomplishment this year has been our strategic transition from traditional on-premises hardware to a hybrid cloud model. This shift represents a pivotal change in our operational strategy, enabling us to dynamically adjust resources in real-time based on demand. By leveraging cloud solutions and various partners, we can concentrate more effectively on our core business functions while simultaneously driving innovation and growth.

Decommissioning Legacy Hardware
Another notable achievement has been the decommissioning of outdated hardware. This strategic initiative allowed us to retire legacy systems that were not only costly to maintain but also posed significant security and reliability risks. The meticulous planning and execution involved in this process ensured a seamless transition, optimising our resources while enhancing overall security and performance. This transition also facilitated integration with cloud providers, further augmenting our capabilities.

Future Outlook

As PMT™ strengthen our approach to Cloud and Hybrid Cloud Solutions, this not only supports our existing systems but also opens opportunities for future enhancements such as containerisation and microservices. Allowing us to deliver additional value to our clients more swiftly. In conclusion, the progress made this year underscores the dedication and hard work of our team. As we continue to embrace technological advancements, I am excited about the future possibilities that lie ahead for PMT™ and our market-leading clients.

Looking ahead to 2025, we have some thrilling projects on the horizon! Our focus will be on enhancing cybersecurity measures, migrating systems from Solaris to Linux, and diving into emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and automation. These initiatives will empower us to deliver even better services across the organisation and who doesn’t love a little tech magic? I encourage everyone to stay engaged and share their ideas on how we can leverage these technologies to drive our mission forward. As we enter the festive season, take some time to relax, recharge, and enjoy precious moments with your loved ones. Let’s return in the new year with renewed energy and enthusiasm for the exciting opportunities that lie ahead!

Remember, if you can’t fix it with a reboot, you might just need a coffee—or a miracle! Cheers to a tech-tastic new year!

Head of IT, Warren Clarke

PMT™ Celebrates Our AWS Public Sector Achievement!

This year, PMT™ reached an exciting milestone in our AWS journey by becoming part of the AWS Public Sector Partner Programme. This is a significant achievement that underscores our commitment to delivering value in the cloud. Joining this prestigious program recognises PMT™ as a trusted partner in serving critical sectors such as education and nonprofits, with two key clients leveraging our Obsidian™ Reverse Billing Gateway to provide zero-rated access to their online learning platforms.  🎉

The AWS Public Sector team shared their enthusiasm for our accomplishment, highlighting the importance of partners like PMT™ in driving innovation and impact across these industries. Public sector clients represent fast-growing areas and we are thrilled to bring our expertise to customers who rely on AWS for transformative solutions.

As a Select Tier AWS Partner in the services category, this achievement reinforces our dedication to leveraging AWS to address complex challenges and enable success for our clients. Combined with our ongoing certification efforts and the robust systems we’ve built for scalability and reliability, PMT™ is well-positioned to expand our footprint in the public sector and beyond.

This milestone is just the beginning. With major systems poised to go live for international clients next year and continued investments in AWS expertise, we are excited to deliver even greater value as we grow our relationship with AWS and our customers across industries.

Chief Technical Officer, Pieter Janse van Rensburg 

End-of-Year Reflections: Strengthening Quality, Collaboration, and Innovation
From the Desk of the CTO

As we close out another year of growth and progress at PMT™, I want to take a moment to reflect on some key themes that have shaped our journey in 2024 and will guide us into an even brighter 2025. This year, the Development Department has made significant strides in quality, cross-team collaboration, and AWS advancements—all underpinned by a shared commitment to innovation and excellence.

Raising the Bar on Quality
Quality has been a major focus of our development efforts this year. We recognised that as we scale and take on increasingly complex projects, we needed to enforce stricter checks and adopt best practices that support the team in delivering robust, reliable systems. To achieve this, we’ve implemented a suite of tools and processes designed to reduce the margin for error. From automated code reviews to enhanced CI/CD pipelines, these improvements ensure that our teams have the support needed to succeed without being overwhelmed by manual tasks.

One notable development was the establishment of our Change Advisory Board (CAB), a cross-departmental forum that has become instrumental in maintaining quality. By jointly reviewing and approving major changes, CAB has fostered a culture of accountability and alignment. This process not only standardises how we approach changes but also ensures that delivery and operational teams are fully supported from inception to execution. CAB has quickly proven to be a valuable asset, aligning teams and reducing friction across the organisation.

Building Bridges Across Departments
Another area where we’ve made exceptional progress is in cross-departmental integration. This year, we saw major projects begin to harness components and sub-systems from different teams, particularly between our Erlang and Obsidian teams. This integration reflects the deepening collaboration across disciplines and the realisation of our vision for a unified approach to development.

These projects have highlighted the immense value of shared expertise and have encouraged teams to think beyond their immediate scopes. As we move into the new year, this cross-pollination of skills will remain a priority, as it drives innovation and ensures that we leverage the full spectrum of talent within PMT™.

Advancing Our AWS Expertise
In the AWS space, 2024 has been a year of investment and growth. Our team achieved multiple AWS certifications, a testament to their dedication and expertise. With several teammates already pursuing professional and speciality certifications, we’re positioning ourselves to lead in building in and for AWS.

This investment is not just about individual achievements; it’s about preparing PMT™ to take major systems live for international clients in AWS. These certifications bolster our capability to deliver scalable, secure, and efficient solutions on a global stage.

Standardising Our Future
Looking ahead, we are committed to establishing a common architecture across teams, platforms, and technologies. This standardisation will enhance the quality of our deliverables and create a strong foundation for the scaling efforts we’ve been diligently preparing for.

Key leaders have already been identified to guide our Architecture Review Board (ARB), which will take shape in 2025. ARB will bring together the best minds to steer architectural decisions, ensuring consistency, innovation, and alignment with our long-term vision.

Closing Thoughts
This year, we’ve laid the groundwork for a future defined by quality, collaboration, and growth. As we reflect on 2024, I am incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished and excited about the opportunities ahead. With strengthened processes, enhanced integration, and a team equipped to lead in AWS and beyond, we are poised for a transformational 2025.

Here’s to another year of pushing boundaries, together!

Chief Technical Officer, Pieter Janse van Rensburg 

2024 in PMT included several coaching opportunities for employees. Leadership development, individual coaching, and an onboarding program will support new employees in accelerating their integration into the culture and their new journeys at the company. This year several employees participated in sharing their testimonials internally to share the impact and learning. The results speak for themselves. People have shared their experience of change that includes greater awareness; access to more productive behaviours in tough times; emotional intelligence and shifts in how they see themselves, their relationships, their role in the world and their capacity to resolve challenges and current limitations. It is always a privileged space to work with people in their development and it is with excitement that 2025 lies ahead with opportunities for the emerging future.

Coach, Will van der Walt

Overall, the coaching program has served as a strong foundation for both my personal growth and career advancement, and I feel motivated to continue applying the knowledge I’ve gained. The strategies and insights I’ve learned have already made a noticeable difference in my daily work, particularly in areas such as time management, communication, and holding others accountable. The one-on-one coaching sessions were especially valuable, offering personalised guidance and actionable steps that I was able to implement right away in my role.

Project Manager, Nthabiseng Sekowe

Being part of this journey has been an incredible experience that I will always cherish. It has given me the opportunity to reflect deeply on my career path and identify areas where I can grow and improve. Through this process, I’ve gained not only valuable insights but also practical skills that have empowered me to approach challenges with confidence.

This experience has contributed immensely to my personal and professional growth, pushing me to become a better version of myself. I’ve learned how to address my weaknesses while also building on my strengths, which has been transformative for my career trajectory. I am deeply grateful to the sponsors, Pattern Matched Technologies (PMT), and Willem for their support and dedication to this program. Their guidance and investment in my development have equipped me with skills that will have a lasting impact on my life and career.

DevOps, Thato Kekana

Delivering Excellence Beyond Expectation™!

This year PMT™ partnered with the Africa Outlook Magazine to showcase the Obsidian product! Within this article, we spoke about how our products and services have brought real value to our clients and their customers as well as highlighting our team’s fantastic work in this space.

PMT™ is committed to reaching 1 billion people across Africa on reversible data.

In case you missed this showcase article, below is a link to the Africa Outlook Magazine online article for you to read all about it:

Delivering Excellence Beyond Expectation™!

We have many exciting article and press releases to come in 2024. We know you won’t want to miss then, be sure to keep a lookout for them!

In 2024 we have had several celebrations around the people of PMT™ doing remarkable things as well as the PMT team celebrating, connecting and growing! This has been heartwarming to see as PMT™ has strived to be a people-first organization.

This year many staff members at PMT™ reached extraordinary milestones of years of service in PMT™! To start our CEO Markus Schorn celebrated 16 years in PMT™ this year, our MD Henning Viljoen also recently celebrated an incredible 15 years at PMT™ and Maro Asmaclis celebrated 14 years at PMT™, along with many other team members reaching milestones this year!

We want to thank you all for the years of great work, leadership and commitment to PMT™ we look forward to many more years with you all as well as many others in PMT™ still to come!

This year the PMT™ team saw our teams grow introducing incredible new minds to our dynamic team! We are very pleased and proud to warmly welcome our 9 new employees for 2024 to PMT™ with more positions open and being filled early next year. 🙌

Together these new team members have brought decades of collective industry experience and expertise to PMT™! We have seen how our new colleagues have also brought fresh and exciting energy to the team. We can truly say that their impacts have already been felt throughout the business and we look forward to seeing them continue to grow in PMT™!

Celebrating Women’s Day!

Every Women’s Month we like to show our appreciation for the woman of PMT™! We sent our remarkable women of PMT™ to have a relaxing Ladies’ Spa day to give them a well-deserved break as well as to thank them for everything they do every day!

Thank you ladies of PMT™ you are all remarkable and highly valued women!

Our team were also involved in multiple team socials this year to connect outside the office as well as doing team building

Something that has been close to the heart of PMT™ Human Upliftment, especially amongst our youth. PMT™ has a deep passion for making a change in people’s lives through Technology and Education for Future Generations. We understand the immense impact this has in creating a positive change for the future of our country and its people.

This passion for PMTs led to us partnering with an NGO called The Family Africa Organisation, with this collaboration stretching over a decade now. The Family Africa team works hard to support local communities through various initiatives, including ECD centres, youth education programmes, health & safety awareness and food parcel distributions amongst others.

PMT™ has had the honour and privilege of being able to support various impactful initiatives that have brought real aspiration as well as change to the lives of many in South Africa.

The EaziTeach™ Programme!

These aspirations drive PMT™ CEO Markus Schorn to partner with the Family Africas team to build the EaziTeach™ programme. Which has been making a positive impact on the lives of children and teachers in South Africa for many years now.

This programme continues to grow each year. The EaziTeach™ programme has a focus on making an impact and a better future through education in South Africa. In 2024 PMT™ supported The Family Africa team in the rolling out of The EaziTeach™ learning programmes, to multiple Early Childhood Development centres (ECD) across the country.

PMT™ has continued to support the education of teachers too, with teachers being sent on computer literacy courses as part of our EaziTeach™ programme. This year PMT™  has also sponsored the higher education of 10s of our teachers who completed the computer literacy course to go on and do their ECD centre training levels 1 and 2 which is an NQF level 4 and 5!

This creates a major change within these schools as teachers with higher qualifications and skills are able to transfer knowledge to young minds, help and support children in learning fundamental skills. Providing digital resource kits, character-building kits and books to schools also falls part of the EaziTeach™ programme initiative.

PMT™ knows that with each year we collaborate with Family Africa it is building a better future for future generations of South Africans through education and technology. We are inspired to see this programme and the impact it will have in the coming years!

Christmas party:

Over the last few years, PMT™ has also taken part in sponsoring the Family Africa Christmas parties! This ensures that the day is full of fun, laughter and joy for the children within disadvantaged communities.

Every year the Family Africa team organises a Christmas Party for grassroots creches! The Family Africa team hosts this party in the local Youth Centre which can accommodate up to 1500 children from 60 creches in the area.

A variety of different activities are provided for the children to be well entertained with from juggling, magic, jumping castles, learning a dance, meeting Mother and Father Christmas and a wonderful setup dining area to enjoy juice and hot dogs and their lucky packets.

To top it off each creche receives a hamper with toys and books with each child receiving a storybook with colouring as well as puzzle pages.

This Christmas party is for many these children the only way they can experience Christmas every year. PMT™ values being of this event every year and making a difference in the lives of children, especially during the festive season.

PMT Blanket drive:

This year was no different to previous years as our incredible PMT™ team came together to donate hundreds of blankets to people and children in need this winter as part of our Mandela Day donations! Making sure families were kept warm throughout the winter.

It is always heart-warming for our team to be a part of this initiative and to make a positive impact on people’s and children’s lives. This is why the Blanket Drive has become a tradition for PMT™ to be involved in every year. We will be back at it again in 2025!
If would you like to get involved with supporting the Famly Africa team and their effects, visit the EaziTeach™ website or the Family Africa website.

The PMT™ Team will be taking a break to get some well-deserved rest, we will be closed from the 14th of December 2024 until the 5th of January 2025. This break will help us all get back to work feeling rejuvenated and motivated to continue providing our clients with excellence without exception in 2025! During this time of rest, our support team will continue to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to assist you with any support inquiries during this period.

Thank you!

In closing, thank you for another exciting year of growth and development within PMT™ with all our clients. We are grateful for the opportunity to work with all our clients, and we are excited and motivated to continue collaborating with our clients on projects in 2025 and long into the future!

We truly believe that our success as a company is based on the relationships we have built over the many years with all our clients, we wouldn’t be where we are today without all your support. PMT™ remains committed and driven to delivering a service of Excellence Beyond Expectations™ into 2025 and beyond!

We wish you all a happy, joyous and safe festive season ahead with your friends and families!

This Newsletter was proudly created by PMT’s Lead Brand Manager Joshua Adair!