A&A Computers celebrate 10 years of IT excellence

The Arusha Times - Staff Reporter

When in 1995 Alex and Agnes Righolt formed an IT company, backed by only one technician, little did they know that in 10 years time it would be one of the leading IT companies in the sprawling Arusha municipality.

With more than ten technical staff, six sales and administrative staff, A&A Computers is now a household name in Arusha for individuals, companies and organizations seeking quality service, comprehensive training or reliable hard and software. The company's mission of providing professional computer training, reliable computer repair services and backing up of sales of quality brand hardware seems to have been realized within a few years.

"During the first year, our training centre was full of students, at times we even had 50 students a day. In the whole of 1996 we had 220 job cards, and now we have that volume easily a month", sums Mr. Righolt, a seasoned information technology expert who is also the company's Technical Director.

A&A Computers embarked into the Arusha's IT scene by first creating their own market through training. Now they are putting equal weight on technical services and sales. "These three departments allow us to offer our clients a compete range of computer services", said Righolt who realizes that the secret to the success of an IT company, such as his, is service. "We found that service is the key word in computer business".

But service is more than a smile and a cup of coffee to the customer. "It starts at assisting clients to select a system and to install it. Then we make sure it keeps running", he added. To him the actual sales is just a minor step in his process. Such protracted and dedicated attitude toward a business has given A&A Computers an edge over the others. It has been able to attract and keep about 25 corporate clients, most of them large companies and organizations. The success registered in Arusha drove the company to open a branch in Moshi which within a year has also attracted a wide range of customers.

Apparently, customers who have demanded still a better service from A&A helped propel it to top-notch position. They assisted the staff become more knowledgeable, more service oriented, and select better products for all. As A&A Computers celebrates its 10^th anniversary, it is fully aware of where the success evolves from: its dedicated staff members. "At A&A we realize that staff is the single most important ingredient needed for successful business. We invest a lot in staff development by in-house training programmes and we try to make employees as all-round as possible.