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About Us

“Symphony delivers IT solutions to the government, corporate and private sectors with ICT Consultancy, Training, Education, Business Solutions, Infrastructure, (hardware, software & Networking, UPSs etc), and Maintenance Services.”

Our Mission
To deliver great value to customers by developing high calibre professional skills in identified core competence areas and by representing world-class hardware, software and service brands

Our Vision
To be the finest skills-based IT solution provider in Eastern Africa, delighting our customers.

Our Values
Service to customer, Trust, Teamwork, Quality & operational efficiency, Focused, Creative & innovative, Respect for the individual Core Competencies, Developing customer value, Delivering value–add to customer’s businesses, Account & project management, Quality management.

Our History

Symphony’s history goes back to 1979, when The Da Gama Rose Group launched Computer Applications Ltd (CAL). CAL was Wang’s exclusive business partner for numerous countries in Eastern Africa. In 1982 CAL introduced the first portable PC to East Africa, the ‘luggable’

Osborne. By 1984, an independent study carried out by Price Waterhouse showed that CAL had already become the IT market leader in Kenya. In Tanzania and later in Uganda too, the company took the market by storm. Then in 1982 CAL opened up in Rwanda, Burundi and Somalia, soon reaching leadership positions there.

In 1993 CAL acquired Business Computer Systems Ltd, IBM’s then principle Kenya IBM business partner, launching a major relationship with IBM, the world’s largest technology company.

In 1991 Legend Technologies was set up in the Export Processing Zone to assemble its own Legend-branded PCs. The company also took on the East African representation for Sun Microsystems, which also led to undisputed leadership across the EA Region in bringing The DGR Group into high-end Enterprise Resource Planning Systems, through its partnership with BaaN.

It was also in 1991 that the Institute of Advanced Technology -IAT was established, introducing a completely new quality of IT training in Kenya. IAT has grown in leaps and bounds, quickly becoming by far the largest training institution in the Africa, and the ongoing standards set the pace for excellence in the training industry. IAT is now a separate entity.

MagnetiCAL had been the first of CAL’s sisters. It brought in computer media, UPSs, structured cabling and other products to support the computer environment. MagnetiCAL was later renamed Technology Strategies Limited, to better reflect its functions.

Systems Reliability Ltd – SRL specialized in communications needs, representing Racal among others. And as the emphasis on software and associated consultancy grew, Impact Consultants took on all the Group’s activity in this area, including that in the ERP domain.

Action Plus – which specialised in military and National ID card solutions.

Each of the group companies established itself in its area of focus, and each had pioneered major breakthroughs in technology. Over time it became increasingly apparent that there should be more synergy between them. The process was taken to its logical conclusion when they were all fused into a single entity, “Symphony”. Everyone moved to one building, Symphony Place, under a unified management team and with common support services.

Over the 31 years of IT activity in Africa, the IT division of The DGR Group has been constantly reinventing itself to adjust to the dramatic changes in technology and market expectations that have occurred. New products and services require new skills, both technical and managerial. They bring forth new partnerships, both locally and internationally, while others fade. If survival of the fittest is the way of life for this industry, then Symphony has proved it is among the leaders.

Business Approach

When the client needs exceed our capabilities, we know how to identify, motivate and partner with high quality complementary principals. We and our partners support multiple technologies and products

This enables us to assemble and support the right customer/problem centred solutions, rather than just selling what we have. Our approach towards our customers encompasses our values:

  • Service to customers
  • Trust
  • Teamwork
  • Quality & operational efficiency
  • Focused
  • Creative & innovative
  • Respect for the individual

“Our approach towards our
customers encompasses our Values”

We understand that our job is to help our clients get value from investing in ICT, so they can be more successful in their core business. We realize that our clients do not look at ICT as merely necessary expenditure and in our approach to providing solutions we work with clients to foster close long-term relationships – rather than expecting one-off, arms length deals.

Our Service Scope

Our customers are spread all over Eastern Africa. To serve them well, we continue to strengthen our service presence:

Nationally, through our other branch in Mombasa, we cater for our coastal clients. Our service personnel are deployed throughout all the other main towns of Kenya. Regionally, through our own regional branch subsidiaries in Uganda, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi and Ethiopia.

Our Strengths

The solutions
Widest array of applications, including Business Solutions, Infrastructure Solutions (Data Center hardware & software, networking, and cooling solutions, among others), Power Solutions, Business Software Solutions, Maintenance Services and Cloud technologies.

The partners
IBM, GE – Power Division, Lenovo, Oracle CISCO, Fortinet, Lexmark, Perceptive Software, SAGE, Newgen, Dell/EMC, APC, VMware, Symantec, Veeam, Nutanix. In addition we partner with numerous brand names for industry solutions.

The brands
The strongest software, services and hardware partners in the world, including IBM, General Electric (GE), Lenovo, Oracle, CISCO, Fortinet, Lexmark, Perceptive Software, SAGE, Newgen, Dell/EMC, APC, VMware, Symantec, Veeam, Nutanix.

The methodologies
Understanding how to use cost-effective, appropriate methodologies in a flexible way

The backing
Part of the large, well-capitalised The Da Gama Rose Group

The people
70 staff, including many highly skilled IT professionals who undergo ongoing intensive development

The services
From strategic IT consulting to IT literacy training; from infrastructure support to systems audit.

The spread
Offices in Mombasa and in Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, and Ethiopia.

The experience
The most experienced in large, complex state-of-the-art projects, often with major international partners

Our Service Delivery Capacity

We continue to refine our service delivery capacity by focusing on the three pillars of our service delivery model:

Our objective is to meet the highest competency requirements, so as to maintain complex systems in the most efficient and cost effective way.

The brands
The strongest software, services and hardware partners in the world, including IBM, General Electric (GE), Lenovo, Oracle, CISCO, Fortinet, Lexmark, Perceptive Software, SAGE, Newgen, Dell/EMC, APC, VMware, Symantec, Veeam, Nutanix.

Our Core Product Skills

  • Servers infrastructure – SUN, IBM
  • Pcs, Notebooks – Lenovo, Legend
  • System and database software – AIX, Solaris, Windows, Oracle, Informix, SQL Server
  • Printers – Lexmark, HP
  • UPS Back-up Systems – General Electric, APC, Tripplite
  • LAN and WAN devices – CISCO, BICC, Siemon, Panduit Cabling Standard,Huawei
  • Enterprise products and cloud – Security software encryption
  • Business software – Lotus Domino, Websphere, Cognos, iLogi, Tivoli
  • Document Management Systems