TSTT’s General Manager Enterprise Services, Ian Galt – with 40 plus years of experience in the ICT and telecommunications industry and a clear understanding of the benefits Cloud technology brings to business – chats about Cloud in the following Q&A. Galt provides insight on the role Cloud can play as Trinidad and Tobago’s business sector finds its footing in a vastly changed and uncertain world.
In addition to leveraging technology to transform operations, Dookeran encourages business owners to focus on the opportunities that lie ahead, “The toughest times are likely behind you, when everything was closed, and your income was completely halted – that time, hopefully, will not return and now it’s time to look forward. My major piece of advice for MSMEs is don’t just focus on getting back to how things were. If you do that, you’re going to miss out on a lot of opportunities that many other companies are taking advantage of.
Dr. Ronald Walcott, Chief Executive Officer at TSTT, noted that there was no hesitation on the part of the company to step up and assist when asked. “The COVID-19 pandemic is far more than a health crisis. The impact on our economy and society is more widespread and immediate than crises in the past. We understand and empathize with our fellow citizens affected by this pandemic and so bmobile is pleased to be able to do its part to support them, however we can.”
Over 150 families throughout the nation who were negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic received hampers which were donated by TSTT staff. Families in Laventille, San Juan, Tunapuna, Chaguanas, San Fernando, Siparia, Penal, Morne Diablo, Mayaro and areas in between were provided with the donated hampers packed full of food and other basic necessities. The nationwide hamper donation was the result of a voluntary relief effort organized by the employees themselves.
General Manager Enterprise Services Ian Galt Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (TSTT)
BATTLE READY BUSINESSES EMERGE FROM COVID -19 BETTER THAN EVER
From a public health standpoint, the Business sector and Government will also have to take a serious look at how they operate from both a staffing perspective (physical distancing) and also how they interact with their customers, clients and the public. Online services will become critical success factors for the “new norm”, and the ability for businesses to connect, transact and engage digitally with their clients will ultimately drive how successful adopters become.
Tsunami Marine is quite interesting as it’s the only Naval Architectural and Marine Surveying Company of its type in the Caribbean. We deal with the certification of anything that floats – boats, ships, mobile and fixed offshore structures – and we act on behalf of governments and oil and energy majors throughout the region. Our primary focus is ensuring the safety of the people that serve on board ships and offshore marine installations, as well as the protection of the marine environment from a legislative and international convention perspective.
The EXIMBANK is here to support exporters and increase the business sector’s ability to earn foreign exchange, which is much needed in our country. Sometimes people call us the manufacturers’ bank, but the key for us is that you are exporting or you have plans to export. We then try to support exporters to get into new markets and to be able to increase exports and foreign exchange earnings. We do this by providing financial resources, be it credit, trade finance, or even prioritizing foreign exchange allocations, which are sometimes tough to get through the normal banking sector, especially for Micro, Small and Medium sized Enterprises (MSMEs).