On 08 November, Shashi Hansjee, CEO, Entelect Software, was awarded the coveted 2017 IT Personality of the Year title at the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa awards dinner, held at Urban Tree in Sandton.

This year, The Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa celebrated its 60th anniversary as well as the 39th anniversary of the IT Personality of the Year Award. The award was presented by IITPSA in association with ITWeb, the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) and Gartner Africa.

The IT personality accolade recognises a person who has made an outstanding impact on the SA ICT industry over the past year and a significant contribution to the IT profession.

Upon winning this award, Hansjee joins a long list of game-changing leaders in the IT industry including Mteto Nyati, Microsoft SA MD, Sbu Shabalala, CEO of Adapt IT, Niel Schoeman, founder and CEO of Vumatel, and Gian Visser, CEO of Afrihost.

As a body mandated to promote the IT industry and drive professionalism, community engagement and growth, this IITPSA award holds special honor for Hansjee, “Our entire philosophy over the last seven years has been around training and development because we are passionate about our people, and creating an environment where SA's top software talent can be nurtured and developed.”

During his time at Entelect, Hansjee has grown the organisation from 70 employees to 450 full-time staff over the past seven years, and has increased its presence from Johannesburg only, to Cape Town and Pretoria too.

“At Entelect we are lucky to work with so many businesses and it’s hard not to be inspired by what we see,” says Hansjee. “There are people creating jobs, training in IT skills, using technology to improve healthcare, education, financial literacy. Our industry really has a part to play in improving this country, and that’s an exciting thing to be part of”.

Characteristically, Hansjee believes this award wouldn’t be possible without the work of the extended team around him. “The work we do at Entelect is thanks to the exciting opportunities presented to us by our customers, and the team that deliver above and beyond every day.

“Organisations like IITPSA have also done incredible work over the years to grow the industry and nurture professionalism in IT. Thanks to this, the South African IT industry is world-class.”