Who we are

Our website address is: http://real-dc.org.

What personal data we collect and why we collect it

Comments

When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.

An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

Media

If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.

Contact forms

Cookies

If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.

If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.

When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.

If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.

Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

Analytics

Who we share your data with

How long we retain your data

If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.

What rights you have over your data

If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

Where we send your data

Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.

Marike du Plooy

Skills

Qualifications

  • BA MBW, BA Hons.

Microsoft:

  • Technology Specialist – Specialist Web developer
  • Technology Specialist – Professional Web developer.
  • SQL Server 2005 – Designing a BI Solution Architecture for the Enterprise.
  • SQL Server 2008 – Integrated Services.

SAP / Other:

  • Business Objects Xcelsius.
  • Business Objects Data Services Solution Consultant.
  • Business Objects Web Intelligence Solution Consultant.
  • Business Objects Edge – Level 1 Solution Consultant.
  • Business Objects Crystal.
  • Lumira (Discovery and Designer).
  • ARIS business process modelling.
  • Lean Six Sigma business process training – Yellow belt.

Designation

Office: Director.
Professional Role: Project Manager, Analyst, Business Intelligence Specialist.

Experience

25+ years’ experience combining Business Intelligence, Business Analysis, Systems Analysis, Marketing, and Management, including extensive implementations, migrations, and support projects in SAP solutions, across the manufacturing, transport, retail, transport, construction, banking, financial, consulting, tertiary education, government, petro-chemical, and communications sectors.

Personal Observation

In my view – whatever the strategy – the leadership of an organization essentially has to decide what present and future upside risks (opportunities) they find worthy to pursue in the face of their accompanying downside risks (threats).

I believe there should NOT be a preoccupation with downside risk; instead: realistic management of both upside and downside risk is at the heart of business growth and wealth creation.

Gervacques de Kock

Skills

Qualifications

  • B.Com (Law)
  • B.Com-Hons (Economics)
  • Intelligence Analysis Expert Certification (Level III)

SAP Certifications:

  • Business Intelligence: Solution Consultant.
  • E2E Solution Operations: Route Cause Analysis Expert.
  • E2E Solution Operations: Change Control Management Expert.
  • E2E Solution Operations: Business Process Integration
  • Automation Optimization Expert.
  • BI Clients and Applications on SAP HANA.
  • BW powered by HANA.
  • Digital Transformation and its impact.
  • SAP Fiori Applications in the Cloud.
  • S-4HANA – Deep Dive.

Other:

  • ITIL – Foundations.

Designation

Office: Director.
Professional Role: Project Manager, Analyst, Business Intelligence Specialist, General Management Consultant.

Experience

25+ years’ experience combining Business Intelligence, Business Analysis, Market Analysis, Intelligence Analysis and Management, including extensive implementations, migrations, and support projects in SAP solutions, across the manufacturing, distribution, retail, ports, state insurance, and media and entertainment sectors.

Personal Observation

I advocate that risk is the essence of economic activity, and consequently any behaviour that attempts to escape downside risk altogether will lead to the least realistic behaviour of all: doing nothing.

Taking and managing risk is the essence of success for any enterprise.

While having a keen interest in information science, technology and methodology, I maintain that Intelligence is more than a mere complexity of algorithms; presupposing a living soul.