technology – AfricanCloud

[Kenya] Twiga Foods Taps Google Cloud to Improve Food Security and Reduce Waste Production

Twiga Foods has partnered with Google to leverage Google Cloud technologies in increasing accessibility and easier distribution of farm produce.

Through this partnership, Twiga Foods will leverage Google Cloud technologies in running an efficient food value chain that connects farmers directly with vendors to bring high-quality, locally harvested fresh produce to people every day—increasing accessibility to food items in Kenya. The collaboration will also allow for more accurate ordering of food items, which will lead to the reduction of waste of perishable goods during the distribution process.

Twiga Foods decided to establish its core IT infrastructure on Google Cloud when its customer base began growing exponentially in 2015, and the need to scale operations digitally became more critical. Twiga first began to store all of its business and operational data securely on Google Cloud using the Big Query data warehousing product. This, in turn, led to the transformation from a manually driven company to a technology-enabled business that relies on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) tools—applied on top of the data warehouse—to make smart business decisions in real time.

Today, approximately 1,000 farmers in Kenya benefit from Twiga’s dynamic pricing capability, ensuring they are paid fairly for their products. The capability is powered by Big Query and Data Studio, Google Cloud’s data analytics solutions, and factors in local dynamics that impact pricing. This functionality enables Twiga to make the correct decision on the price it gives to each of its customers.

The digital transformation of Twiga Foods on Google Cloud also empowers the 140,000 vendors who rely on the company to receive fresh produce for their shops every day. Today, vendors can purchase products on credit based on their credit score. Twiga relies on the analysis of vendor data on Big Query, which leverages insights such as vendor metrics and modes-of-ordering to create a credit score for each customer.

With the help of Google Cloud technologies, Twiga Foods also introduced waste minimization efforts in its value chain for perishable goods. Through analyzing historical data of product purchases and quantities on Big Query and Data Studio, Twiga Foods determines the types and quantities of produce that need to be purchased for each day of the week based on demand and creates a weekly plan accordingly. The ability to plan one week in advance ensures that products are not wasted due to ripening and during distribution.

Niral Patel, Director, of Google Cloud Africa said “The work we are doing with Twiga Foods is not just about an e-commerce platform choosing a cloud provider to run its systems and store data. It also is about showing how technology and the power of AI and machine learning can help a nation address sustainability challenges head on such as waste reduction and food security. Twiga Foods is a pioneering company that is looking at some of the most pressing issues we have in Africa and bringing in technology to come up with viable, long-term sustainable solutions that can make a difference in people’s lives.”

Caine Wanjau, Chief Technology Officer, Twiga Foods said “Today, Twiga foods enables households in Kenya to have access to higher quality fresh produce that is farmed locally at affordable prices. Shop owners can now dedicate their time to growing their business and spending time with their families, rather than spend hours every day procuring and stocking up products. Farmers get a fair chance at earning decent incomes and being paid adequately for their products. This is all being enabled by bringing in technology to help us look at our business and customers in a profound manner, relying on data in real-time to make the best and smartest decisions for our people and the country.”

In addition to using data and AI/ML to price products and assign credit scores, Twiga Foods also established its warehouse management system on Google Cloud that enables the automation of all the logistical processes and optimization of space at its 20,000-square-meter warehouse that manages an average of 2,000 tons of produce daily. The end-to-end process—when an order is placed to when it is dispatched—is now automated with Google Cloud.

The team at Twiga Foods was also able to reduce 40% of the cost of deliveries with the help of Google Cloud’s route optimization tools. The company’s fleet routing algorithm for deliveries is built on Google Cloud and provides dynamic routing capabilities that schedule an average of 12,000 deliveries based on prioritization and proximity daily. This has also meant that all vendors across 12 cities in Kenya receive their orders before 1 p.m. every day.

twiga.com

cloud.google.com

[Column] Andrew Cruise: How cloud technology can boost economic development in Africa

The African continent represents 60 percent of the world’s arable lands and 30 percent of the earth’s mineral reserves – making it a rich continent in many ways. Yet it contributes only 2 percent of the world’s research output and lags behind in several key technological sectors. For the continent to achieve its potential and escape the unsustainable colonial development model of resource extraction, investment in digital competencies is crucial. In certain areas, the continent is faring reasonably well in this regard. Mobile penetration, for example, is skyrocketing – 615 million users in sub-Saharan Africa are expected to subscribe to mobile services by 2025.

But the bigger picture remains disconcerting. According to the World Economic Forum, African Union member countries pledged to contribute 1 percent of their gross domestic product to research and development (R&D) in 2006, yet only four countries reach this figure in their annual budgets. The continent holds just 0.1 percent of the world’s patents, produces 2 percent of the world’s research output, and there are around 198 researchers per million people in Africa – compared to over 4000 in the United Kingdom and United States.

How cloud and other tech can help

Cloud computing has the potential to boost economic development. Not only does it improve mobile productivity and big data, but it allows small businesses to scale without a large capital investment – a possible boon for the SMEs that represent 98 percent of South Africa’s business force, for example.

Effective cloud applications allow smaller businesses to have the same technology at their fingertips that large corporations pay millions for – on a scale and budget that suits their needs. It significantly reduces upfront ICT infrastructure costs, diminishes the burden of IT maintenance, and allows for more efficient updates. It also provides cost-effective security and improves remote work capabilities.

Cloud essentially allows businesses to ‘rent’ infrastructure, so that the technical hardware is always of the highest standard, there’s guaranteed uptime for system availability, and scaling becomes as simple as renting more processing power and storage. Cross-border expansion is also much simpler, as it eliminates the costs and complexities of setting up new infrastructure elsewhere.

According to a paper by the International Monetary Fund, SMEs’ growth prospects can be significantly boosted by digital technologies such as cloud. “Going online enables SMEs to reach new clients and markets at low cost and to reduce communication costs. (Technology such as cloud computing) improves efficiencies, reduces capital expenditure and operational costs, and speeds up cross-border transactions – (helping) firms scale up faster, increasing employment and boosting output growth,” say the researchers.

Of course, cloud would be one aspect of a broader technological economic upliftment picture. Artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data, and the internet of things (IoT) all require major investment on the continent. And before such advanced technologies can truly be successful, more pervasive technologies first need to thrive. One Harvard study looked at the most important technological enablers of economic growth in six African countries and identified digital money, promotion of job-creating digital businesses, better technological infrastructure and fewer disruptions of such infrastructure as key elements required for technological growth across the board.

The hurdle

There is a glaring obstacle in the way of Africa’s cloud and other technological adoption and resultant potential for economic growth: expensive, unreliable, slow internet. World Data Lab’s Internet Poverty Index paints a dismal picture. It adjusts the actual cost of internet services in every country to estimate what a standard mobile internet package of 1 GB at 10 MB/second would cost in that country. It then extrapolates how many people in the country could afford such a package. If the cost of the package is above 10 percent of a person’s total spending, the person is considered internet poor.

Nigeria tops the Internet Poverty list and, of the ‘top’ 20 countries, 11 are in Africa. South Africa, the highest-ranked African country in terms of infrastructure integration, is tenth on the list and has over 38 million internet-poor citizens in its 60-odd million population. To put this in context, the country with the closest population size on the list, Italy (58 million people), has just over 800,000 internet-poor residents.

Though the World Bank hopes to help the continent achieve universal connectivity by 2030, its estimates suggest that Africa will require an investment of USD$100 billion to plug every citizen into the internet by 2030. Hafez Ghanem, the World Bank’s vice president for Eastern and Southern Africa, said on the bank’s website that “no single actor will be able to meet Africa’s 2030 target and carry the burden of a USD$100 billion investment funding requirement alone”.

And the most important condition for cloud to be successful in any country is cheap, reliable, and fast internet. This is normally provided by fibre – a norm in rich countries in Europe, for example. But in African countries where infrastructure is lacking, wireless and satellite technologies hold sway and provide expensive, slow, unreliable connectivity. Some North African countries are faring better because of their proximity to the UAE, but those in the sub-Saharan region mostly rely on cabling from Europe – an expensive endeavour.

There are other hurdles preventing even internet-rich businesses from making the switch to cloud. It’s expensive to move to the cloud initially; some businesses do still require on-premises solutions, albeit fewer; and understanding of the technology is sometimes lacking, especially when organisations opt for a complex multi-cloud environment.

But it all starts with better internet. The internet itself is commonly held to be a driver of economic prosperity. It enables sharing of information, sharing of expertise, sharing of knowledge, and education. It opens doors for people to drive new ideas and improve their business offerings. It is as important as basic services like water and electricity and should be regarded as such. ICT elements of economic growth must revolve around the internet.

What needs to change?

Currently, much of the innovation, R&D and communication in the African tech sphere is being driven by large international corporates connecting global communities – the likes of Google, AWS, Microsoft, Apple, and Netflix have an increasing foothold on the continent. Should governments get more involved, this culture could grow at a community level.

Of course, all of this requires major resources. The capital investment to purchase equipment, the time to upskill workers, and the effort to find ways to divert other resources to such endeavours. According to the World Economic Forum, three things need to happen at a state level for technology to push Africa’s economic growth.

First, language needs to be digitised to improve literacy, and in turn, digital literacy. Communication is at the core of development and interactions within and between communities impact the continent’s economic, social, and cultural welfare. With over 2000 languages spoken in Africa, governments must invest in indigenous languages to improve literacy rates, particularly on digital channels, to unlock critical understanding and improve communication abilities among diverse people.

Secondly, African governments should prioritise R&D investments at higher education institutions, focusing on producing and commercialising scientific knowledge. And, thirdly, Africa’s culture of innovation needs to be extended to the digital sphere. Though the continent shows creative innovation at a community level through projects such as farming cooperatives, digital innovation is not as much part of the continent’s culture – yet.

I would also add a fourth requirement: increasing labour rates. Where labour is cheap, technology doesn’t thrive. Low labour rates create a tendency to use manual labour instead of investing in the efficiencies that technology can bring. In countries where labour is more expensive, technological advances are more likely to happen. Cheap labour is not only holding the continent’s technological advances back but holding its people hostage.

When people value humans more, they’re more inclined to invest in technology. In turn, economies flourish, security grows, and communities thrive.

Andrew Cruiseis the managing director at Routed.

Monogoto partners with Workz for eSIM cloud as it gears up for IoT growth

Monogoto, the global connectivity provider, has partnered with global eSIM provider, Workz, to establish a cloud platform to manage both consumer and M2M eSIM devices for its client base across 180 countries. The agreement comes as part of the company’s continued growth strategy.

Embedded SIM (eSIM) technology, a key driver for the Internet of Things (IoT), is expected to be used in six billion devices such as smartphones, consumer electronics, health monitoring, transport, and smart energy by 2025. Monogoto uses eSIM technology to provide connectivity services for devices such as point of sales, ATMs, wearables, smart lights, fleets of cars and packages. The partnership between the two companies will allow Monogoto’s customers flexibility in changing network profiles and installing SIMs in QR code supported devices.

According to the GSMA, eSIM services have grown 500% in the last three years with more than 230 network providers in 80 countries catering for the next-generation SIM technology. Last year, Workz became the first provider to launch a cloud-based eSIM management platform for networks which is certified by the GSMA, and this May was identified as one of the top five eSIM platform providers in the world for the second year running despite a two-fold increase in market competition.

Itamar Kunik, Monogoto CEO said, “We are proud to partner with Workz and offer our customers a new platform for eSIM. Moving over to Workz’s eSIM cloud was easier and a lot quicker than expected. The move gives Monogoto the agility to address the evolving connectivity needs of our customers and partners as they arise”.

Tor Malmros, CEO of Workz said, “eSIM adoption is rising rapidly as the opportunity for operators across consumer and M2M verticals expands – developments such as the first eSIM-only iPhone launched this month will only heighten this. Our cloud-based solution is designed to enable innovative connectivity providers like Monogoto to scale up quickly in this new market allowing them to move fast, grow, and achieve a tangible return on investment.”

www.workz.com

[South Africa] Netskope further expands NewEdge Security Private Cloud in Africa

Netskope has announced its continued global expansion of the Netskope NewEdge network with an additional data centre now launched and taking traffic in South Africa.

The new Cape Town deployment complements the existing Johannesburg infrastructure to address growing customer demand and provide more in-region capacity and redundancy. NewEdge is now powered by data centres in 57 regions, with everyone providing full compute for security traffic processing, the full breadth of SSE services, and accessibility to every Netskope customer without surcharges.

Grant Reynolds, Regional Manager for South Africa at Netskope, said “Every year the threat landscape becomes larger and more complex, and regulatory requirements for data protection grow, and so it is no surprise that we are seeing strong growth across Africa. Organisations are eager to adopt an SSE approach to security so that they can embrace working practices and cloud technologies that enhance productivity while ensuring their security policies follow data wherever it goes.

“In practice, however, you cannot place your security at the ‘edge’ without powerful in-region infrastructure as part of a distributed and dedicated service edge, and that is why we are investing in NewEdge around the world. NewEdge is capable of inspecting massive amounts of data locally, with no need for complex, latency-prone backhauling or reliance on unpredictable public transport.”

Netskope has been in partnership with value-added distributor Exclusive Networks Africa, throughout the continent, since late last year. Stefan van de Giessen, Exclusive Networks Africa Country Manager: SA and SADC, explains: “We investigated multiple cloud vendors to supplement our security strategy, and were attracted by Netskope’s NewEdge Network – its globally distributed private cloud network, which serves as the network foundation for the Netskope platform, as well as an enabler for current and future Netskope capabilities. We congratulate Netskope on this new development, which will enhance its leadership in the SASE space even further.”
As the infrastructure underpinning the Netskope Security Cloud, NewEdge delivers real-time inline and out-of-band API-driven services spanning Cloud Firewall (FWaaS), Secure Web Gateway (SWG), Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), Cloud and SaaS Security Posture Management (CSPM/SSPM), and more.

In addition to accelerating the adoption of a Zero Trust approach, the performance-focused NewEdge architecture ensures there are no performance trade-offs when security is implemented. This approach reduces the risk of users working around security controls, productivity being negatively affected, or business processes being slowed down or impeded.

Placing data-centric security as close to the user as possible is a key requirement of a SASE-ready architecture and the delivery of world-class Security Service Edge (SSE) capabilities. NewEdge’s expanding global coverage also addresses unique enterprise business requirements and compliance objectives, such as having a data centre in-region for content localisation or to ensure customer traffic stays within intent-based zones.

In addition, every NewEdge data centre is extensively peered with the most commonly used web/CDN, cloud, and SaaS providers to deliver fast, optimised access to the content, apps, and data enterprises most care about. For example, every NewEdge data centre is directly connected with Microsoft and Google, plus other peering relationships in key regions with Amazon, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Box, and Dropbox, among many others.

Funzani Madi, Executive: Information Security (Chief Information Security Officer) for Netskope customer Telkom South Africa noted that “It is important for us that data processing occurs within our home jurisdiction, providing tangible improvements to user experience. The new Cape Town NewEdge facility further demonstrates Netskope’s commitment to the African continent.”

Danie Burger, Information Security Specialist at impact.com, a leading partnership management platform and Netskope customer, added “As a Cape Town-based organisation, having local cloud infrastructure for our security makes a material difference to our users’ experience. With offices and clients around the world, it’s imperative that we don’t create unduly lengthy data flows for security. With infrastructure located in Cape Town, and peered connections to all our main cloud services, we can introduce in-line security controls, speeding up access to cloud services.”

With more than 1,500 customers, Netskope serves some of the world’s largest and most technically demanding organisations.

www.netskope.com

[Column] Nick Durrant: New app trends that will help businesses succeed in 2020

Mobile apps are reshaping all industries and business leaders need to quickly adopt the latest mobile app trends in order to succeed in 2020. It is also critical for businesses to integrate the latest mobile app development technologies in order to reach a wider target audience and more importantly, to gain growth.

The innovations in mobile app development will impact all the online digital business products globally. According to Gartner, by 2023 more than 25% of the mobile apps, progressive web apps and conversational apps at large enterprises will be built or run through a multi-experience development platform.

Bluegrass Digital CEO Nick Durrant says by merely implementing the right strategy will not necessarily ensure a higher success rate because the mobile app industry is changing rapidly. “So, to keep abreast with the ever-increasing customer demands, it is crucial for businesses to incorporate the latest mobile app trends.”

He says new technologies are gaining popularity making it more efficient to build and maintain apps such as the growing popularity of Facebook’s React Native and Google’s Flutter.

Here is a list of some key mobile app development trends to consider:

Application Performance Management (APM)

APM helps boost the overall app performance and has become a preferred tool of quality assurance testers for the app testing process.

Enterprise Mobile Management (EMM)

EMM helps streamline the mobile computing business processes, it’s a platform that enables businesses to securely authorise mobile devices that are being used by employees on the company network. It not only strengthens the security structure but also helps staff to be more productive by enabling the exchange of applications and data over mobile devices.

Beacon technology

Beacon technology is one of the biggest mobile app trends, it is being embraced by many industries for its location technology and proximity marketing functionality. Beacons are wireless transmitters that make use of Bluetooth technology to send signals.

5G technology

With speeds nearly 100 times faster than 4G, 5G technology will most likely be one of the top trends in mobile app development in 2020. Mobile companies like Samsung and Verizon are already launching their dedicated 5G-capable chips and LG is also planning to fuse 5G services into its devices. With such an array 5G services, mobile app developers need to design apps to take advantage of faster network speeds with enhanced performance.

Wearable devices

Wearable devices such as smartwatches, fitness bands and trackers have been around for some time already. They are changing the way people interact with smart devices. In a report by Statista, it claims a staggering revenue of $33 billion generated by wearable devices by 2019. Surprisingly, many apps still don’t integrate with wearable devices.

Mobile app developers must keep an option to integrate apps with wearable devices. They require a set platform to run e.g. Apple Watch requires WatchOS and Android smartwatches sync with WearOS. Wearable devices will also be less dependent on the smartphone, currently, it still needs to be kept close to the smartphone to function.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI has seen a significant breakthrough in new technology in mobile application development. AI has not only made the mobile apps smarter, but it saves the mobile app development company a huge amount of time, effort and money. According to International Data Corporation (IDC), the AI market will experience revenue growth of more than $47 billion by 2020.

Internet of Things (IoT)

By the end of 2019, global Internet of Things (IoT) sales were expected to reach $1.71 trillion and by 2020, the total number of IoT devices should reach 20 billion. This convenience has already become a mobile app requirement, developers need to make apps IoT friendly.

Augmented reality (AR)

In 2020, AR integration will be an essential step for the mobile app development industry. Google and Apple used AR platforms for adding AR capabilities to their apps. There are many apps like Ikea that are already using the technology to enhance the user experience. Snapchat and Instagram have already been using AR for some time already, the stickers and animations are only possible through the AR technology.

Blockchain technology

Blockchain technology is already been used by many payment apps for providing trustable and uncompromised safety during transactions. Blockchain has surprisingly entered the mobile payment market and is offering a more secured money transaction option for mobile users. Online banking and eCommerce has evolved enormously, but with the advent of Apple Pay and Google Wallet, customers are gradually shifting to m-commerce.

Payment gateways

Businesses need to integrate a payment gateway into their apps. Mobile giants like Samsung are working on enhanced scan and pay techniques to make mobile payments more convenient. Apple is also working on a peer-to-peer money payment system called Apple Pay.

Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)

Developed by Google in collaboration with Twitter, AMP is a lean version of HTML to accelerate the speed of mobile pages. AMP enables mobile app developers to create complex websites with fast loading speeds and high performance across all mobile devices.

Google has integrated AMP listings into its mobile search results, it has helped developers reduce web page loading time. With a good AMP score, businesses can now achieve a better conversion rate, reduce the bounce rate and increase user retention. It will also boost the user experience. Google will also soon be providing a mobile search box that will help users find mobile-friendly websites.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is a key aspect of all mobile app developments and will continue to dominate this space. Business leaders should explore deception technologies to catch the staff that have defiled the company’s network. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) has also increased the risk of mobile apps being attacked. It means mobile app developers need to work on the app security from the beginning and use a different approach.

Also, with more apps including a payment or money transaction feature, means a more robust security infrastructure. Developers now need to embed code encryptions, secure backend and API, and also include trusted payment gateways to ensure user safety over the app.

Chatbots

With nearly 5 million apps available, there are very few that have incorporated chatbots to facilitate better user experience. Businesses need to integrate this trend in their apps to ensure future growth, chatbots are crucial and welcomed by the users. Mobile apps that offer online shopping and food delivery services are integrating chatbots to help consumers get common queries answered without having to contact customer support.

According to Gartner, chatbots will be saving $8 billion for companies between 2018 and 2020. Apple’s Siri and Google Assistant are already much smarter and have many new features that help simplify people’s lives by assisting them in their day to day tasks.

Cloud technologies

To make the app function seamlessly across multiple platforms, businesses need to ensure that their apps integrate cloud technology in their app development strategy. Cloud technology will also ensure streamlined operations, reduced hosting and equipment costs and enhanced storage capacity.

Cloud computing integration also helps mobile apps store large amounts of data more efficiently to carry out complex tasks. Cloud storage platforms like AWS, Dropbox and SlideRocket have made it possible to run an app directly in the cloud, they help in increasing the reliability, speed, processing power and security of the apps and enable apps to deal with large amounts of data.

Predictive analytics

Predictive analytics can be used to make future predictions by analysing existing data, it uses techniques from data mining, machine learning, AI, statistics and modelling. Tech giants like Google, Apple and Facebook have already enhanced the customer experience by integrating AI to use predictive analytics.

“The mobile app industry will continue to expand at a rapid pace and the competition will grow exponentially, especially amongst mobile app developers. It is therefore critical to understand the trends before developing a new app. One also needs to understand the benefits and limitations of every new technology in mobile app development,” he concludes.

Nick Durrant is the CEO of Bluegrass Digital, South Africa.

Cloud offers 20% saving on IT spend

Cloud migration is typically driven by business demand, cost-savings and IT efficiency. However, to realise the full benefit of cloud migration, business leaders must understand the real business benefits for moving an application to the cloud.

One Channel CEO Bernard Ford says companies that have already migrated the majority of their business systems to the cloud save on average more than 20 percent in IT spending as a percentage of revenue and the benefits of Cloud will continue to increase.

According to a new report from Gartner, public cloud-services technology revenues are projected to grow by more than 50 percent worldwide in the next three years, to about $355-billion in 2022.

It predicts that the global public cloud services market is set to reach $266.4 billion, representing a growth of 17%, up from $227.8-billion in 2019. Software as a service (SaaS) will remain the largest market segment, which is forecast to grow to $116-billion next year due to the scalability of subscription-based software.

The second-largest market segment is cloud system infrastructure services, or infrastructure as a service (IaaS), which will reach $50-billion in 2020. IaaS is forecast to grow 24% year over year, which is the highest growth rate across all market segments.

Gartner says this growth is attributed to the demands of modern applications and workloads, which require infrastructure that traditional data centres cannot meet.

“Some people have a perception that the Cloud means a single Cloud. However, to really take advantage of the Cloud, you need to understand that there isn’t going to be just one Cloud, but many of them,” he explains.

As the world of Cloud evolves, it’s important to distinguish between siloed Cloud environments versus a multi-cloud approach. When people say they are moving all their business systems to the Cloud, they are essentially referring to the Internet where information will be accessible anytime, anywhere.

“However, with the concept of a multi-cloud world, it goes a step further. Although Cloud services all run on the Internet, they are often siloed. Cloud environments such as Microsoft Office 365, SalesForce and Zenefits provide critical services to businesses, but they don’t easily interact with one another,” he says.

This leaves companies trying to piece together various Cloud environments, and essentially creating a version of the former on-premises world, but in the Cloud. In the former on-premises world, businesses would purchase a range of applications and then be faced with getting them to talk to each other.

Integration was the misery of many an IT department’s existence, as was customisability and adaptability. While the Cloud could make it easier, organisations may still wind up in the same silos as before in the on-premises world.

Ford says one of the exciting things that happened early on in the Cloud computing era was that a set of open standards were defined. “These standards dictate the way pieces work for an individual application, but they also dictate how one application talks to another. This is what is known as cloud interoperability and is critical for businesses to not end up in a siloed Cloud environment.”

Choose the right platform for the future. Businesses that have moved their systems to the Cloud often use a wide range of applications. This is now starting to create real challenges with regards to scale, interoperability, cost-effectiveness, and integration.

For businesses that want to be strategic and mitigate these issues, one of these applications needs to be selected to be at the centre of this multi-cloud world. It would make sense to anchor this in one that’s the most critical for business namely ERP.

“You might call this a tiny bit self-serving, but I would offer up that an ERP system truly is the system of record for a business. If other systems stop or break, the business can generally move on. If the ERP system breaks, you can’t order or ship products or bill your customers. Things stop so thinking about your ERP Cloud strategy as the centre point of this multi-cloud hub is something I would strongly recommend,” he adds.

Ford says companies that embrace the multi-cloud world are set up for success, they are light years ahead of their competitors, because they have chosen to centre their entire business around one main ERP platform that easily integrates into other Cloud environments.

The IT department doesn’t stress when the CIO recommends a new Cloud application that the ERP system must integrate into. The CFO has one less major headache to deal with, as the cost effectiveness of the ERP platform enables the business to put their money where it matters most.

“Finally, their customers are happy because they can count on a business that is always taking orders, shipping on time and making their buying experience the best in the industry, creating customer loyalty like never before,” he concludes.

www.onechannel.cloud

[Column] Christine Ambetsa: Data Security; embracing autonomy and intelligent machines

CIOs are operating in a state of heightened awareness. Their mission-critical systems are increasingly under threat from constantly evolving viruses and hacks, making it tougher than ever to defend the lifeblood of their business – data.

The National Cybersecurity Centre (NCC) detected over 3.8 million cyber threats between July and September 2018 according to the Communications Authority of Kenya’s first quarter sector statistics report for 2018/19. The cyber threats detected varied from denial-of-service (DOS) including botnet and brute-force attacks that led to denial of computer services and illegal access to computer systems, online impersonation via social media accounts and domain names, malware including phishing attacks and online abuse including online fraud to name a few.

Unsurprisingly, nearly a third of Kenyan CIOs state that their key focus area is advanced security solutions, the second highest priority listed after disaster recovery and business continuity.¹

Security is hard

Simply put, security is hard. Much of it comes down to the way IT has evolved – as an open environment. For years, people and businesses have purchased disparate products, disparate servers, disparate operating systems and disparate databases and then connected them all together. The unintended and unfortunate result is that lots and lots of individual pathways have been opened up in the corporate system.

As a result, what’s sprung up around these corporate systems is a cyberspace battlefield, in which nobody is safe. Even IT professionals are combatants on that battlefield, tasked to make the right security choice every day, because if you don’t, you’re putting the future of the business at risk.

Adding even greater significance to the security mandate today is the advanced and persistent nature of today’s threats. Malicious actors are seemingly always one-step ahead and in order for enterprise security forces to do their job, they must exercise constant vigilance and innovation.

So how can businesses move forward with confidence and continue to build their data assets, while at the same time facing up to the barrage of security threats?

A new kind of defence

The answer is a new kind of defence; one that pits machine against machine so that organisations have a nearly impenetrable barrier to protect their data and their cloud.

Hackers are already wise to the power of letting machines do the work. Right now, for many organisations this battle takes the form of their malicious bots versus your people trying to defend from inside the business. But in this scenario of machine versus man, which do you think is faster? Who do you think will win?

To give your business a fighting chance in protecting its data, you need a defence system that’s completely automated, and even autonomous. With autonomous data management, database threats can be discovered automatically and then repaired. No human beings are involved. Patches are immediately applied while the database is running, which means you don’t need to wait around to find a window of downtime. This is essential for protecting your data on-premise and in the cloud.

Security in the cloud

The current state of cloud defence, in many cases, is just not good enough – not even close. The smartest technology companies are routinely penetrated, as we’ve seen in the unending stream of media stories about businesses having vast quantities of their data stolen. Even the most security-conscious government agencies are also vulnerable.

And because organisations don’t exist in isolation protection is needed both within the company and without. So, the cloud/s they run on also need robust cyber defences using the latest artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies; to find threats and kill them; to search and destroy. Again, the only way to win is to make the battle robots versus robots. It’s the only way to protect the cloud infrastructure without having both hands tied behind your back.

The good news is that the government intends to focus on emerging technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud solutions and data analytics; this pronounced focus will be a key driver for the local ICT market according to the IDC’s Kenya Enterprise ICT Market Outlook for 2018 and 2019.

Time to let machines take the lead

We’re already seeing some companies turning to use systems like the autonomous database for better protection – and without the additional overheads.

Take National Pharmacies, an Australian pharmacy chain, for instance. The company has to be able to move its data at speed for life-saving insights, but needs autonomous capabilities to keep protecting its database without human intervention; as it can’t risk loosening any security or privacy practices at any point.

So, with attacks becoming more frequent, and attackers getting smarter and businesses data more vulnerable, it’s time to let machines take the lead on the cybersecurity battlefield. In doing so, companies will then have at their disposal, the most advanced tools in order to fight – and win – against the most advanced threats.

Christine Ambetsa is the Regional Applications Sales Leader – East Africa at Oracle

[Uganda] Raxio signs Hamilton Cloud Services as first customer

Hamilton Cloud Services (HCS), Uganda’s first local cloud service provider and a subsidiary of Hamilton Telecom, has finalized an agreement to colocate their servers in Raxio Data Centre’s state-of-the-art, always-on data centre at the Kampala Industrial and Business Park, Namanve.

Raxio announced its plans to construct Uganda’s first tier 3, carrier-neutral and cloud-neutral data centre in July 2018. Since the announcement, Raxio has completed feasibility studies, land acquisition and design works and is now in the process of finalizing earthworks, contractor procurements and the relevant regulatory approvals.

With the announcement HCS becomes Raxio’s first officially signed customer for service when Raxio opens its doors in October 2019.

Construction is set to start later this quarter. Raxio’s General Manager James Byaruhanga and Paul Nalikka, Director, Hamilton Telecom, flanked by Ahura Vianne Allan the CFO, signed for their respective organisations, at Raxio’s offices at Rwenzori Towers, Nakasero, Kampala.

“Today is an exciting day for Raxio. Not only are we proud to announce Hamilton as our first officially signed customer- but Hamilton is also a uniquely strategic kind of partner that will give other Raxio customers and opportunity to enjoy a seamlessly integrated data centre and local cloud service experience under one roof,” said Byaruhanga.

“HCS will now operate their infrastructure in a failsafe, always-on environment provided by Raxio, protecting their business and that of their customers and supporting their growth ambitions. Among other services, the HCS cloud computing and backup service model uses cloud resources to protect applications and data from disruption caused by disasters on a payas-you-grow model that allows customers to stay ahead with access to cutting-edge hardware and/or software solutions.,” said Byaruhanga.

He added that the agreement with Hamilton, is proof of a “win-win model” that “enables especially start-ups, SMES and mid-sized businesses to overcome the obstacle of upfront capital investments and to reduce total cost of ownership on software, storage and backup infrastructure, into manageable monthly operational expenses that are scalable and on demand, thus avoiding costs associated with over-capacity.

“This is very exciting for us and the market and we couldn’t be any happier to have Hamilton on board,” he said. Local cloud service in a tier 3 data centre environment.

Commenting about the deal, Derrick Sebbaale, Chief Operating Officer, Hamilton Cloud Services, said the deal will make HCS, “pioneers in providing the biggest local cloud service in a tier 3 data centre environment in Uganda.”

“Our vision is to revolutionize businesses in Uganda by providing affordable cutting-edge technology solutions, which enable them to thrive and prosper in a globally competitive economy. Our services are delivered via hyper-converged cloud infrastructure; delivered, sold, and supported by DELL EMC, which will enable customers to run and host applications across private, public, dedicated and hybrid cloud environments. By hosting our equipment in Raxio’s data centre, we will be able to quickly scale up our services, without the high capex costs on infrastructure; which savings will be passed on to our customers,” he said.

He added the agreement with Raxio will not only reduce on the high costs as well as risks of hosting and storing data overseas but, it will also provide a 24/7 secure, accessible and dedicated platform to HCS clients.

Pay as you grow model is a game changer Sebbaale, called upon business owners, government decision makers and regulators to support the shift to cloud computing as “it is a game-changer with real and proven return on investment, manifested through new efficiencies, enhanced customer experiences and new business models, leading to accelerated revenue and productivity growth.”

Quoting a 2017/18 study by the National Informational Technology Authority (NITA), Sebbaale said that while 86.4% of government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) had reported that cloud computing significantly reduces ICT related costs, to date, only 28.6% of all MDAs reported using cloud computing services.

The study also reported that 80.5% of MDAs and 66.7% of Local Governments relied on local in-house capacity to host their applications and databases- only 48.1% of MDAs and 38.1% of Local Government reported keeping backups offsite.

“This landmark agreement between Raxio and Hamilton is a paradigm shift and answers all these issues- we are giving businesses in Uganda a reliable and secure pay-as-you-grow local cloud service, housed in a world-class tier 3 data centre under local laws, with local customerservice,” said Sebbaale. 25% discounts on early-bird offer Byaruhanga said that Raxio was offering an early-bird offer that offers up to 40% discount on core co-location fees to customers who sign between now and the end of February 2019.

“Any customer signing up between now and the end of February is entitled to a 25% discount and they will be able to carry this price on for the duration of their contract. For customers that take up more than 5 racks, they will be eligible for an additional 15% discount, meaning that customers can save up to 40% on the price they will have to pay when we open for business in September 2019,” he said.

www.raxio.co.ug

www.hamiltoniot.com

[Column] Karl Reed: The customer’s journey to the cloud

Migrating to the cloud is no longer the complex process it once was. Thanks to the evolution of technology, moving from an on-premises environment can be done much more efficiently than before.

Migrating to the cloud is no longer the complex process it once was. Thanks to the evolution of technology, moving from an on-premises environment can be done much more efficiently than before. Even attitudes towards this strategic shift have changed, says Karl Reed, Chief Solutions Officer at Elingo.

Going the cloud route does not require a big bang approach. Instead, organisations can phase it in over several months (or years even) as their budget and business processes allow.

In the past few years, accessibility to the cloud from an Internet and capability perspective, as well as the speed to deployment, has changed for the better. In fact, Elingo’s recent experience shows customers are approaching the company wanting to migrate instead of needing the hard sell.

Mindset shift

Contributing to this enabling environment is the upcoming arrival of several multinational data centres in the country. Granted, it might only account for approximately 20% of the reason businesses are considering migrating. But, combined with more user-friendly technology, the market is ripe to start benefiting from this natural technology progression.

Perhaps, most importantly, the business mindset is changing. A year ago, decision-makers were still apprehensive about the cloud. Fast forward to the present and they are less resistant about moving. Now, they are much more open towards cloud discussions reflecting trends elsewhere in the world.

The country is basically there; we are fast approaching a time where every organisation will be connected to cloud in some form or another. Just consider how all your personal information is already stored in the cloud. It is only natural that this will start extending to business data as well.

Regulatory needs

Furthermore, the regulatory environment is also playing its part in getting companies to migrate. The likes of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) create complex environments. Fortunately, the cloud fully supports it and provides local businesses with a significantly more secure environment than if they had to build it themselves.

Given how the compliance requirements for cloud service providers are significantly more complicated than for ‘standard’ businesses, they do everything in their power to ensure the safety, reliability, availability, and accessibility of cloud-based offerings, systems and data.

Unique approach

With every customer environment and requirement unique when it comes to the cloud, service providers must be able to adapt their processes to accommodate. For example, expectations from an insurance company will be different to that from a courier business in terms of cloud migration and offerings. So, even though there is still complexity involved in making the transition, it is not insurmountable.

One of the most appealing things for any business when it comes to the cloud is the return on investment that is on offer. For one, the cloud enables the company to manage spend on a monthly basis instead of a massive upfront payment.

Secondly, there are the savings that companies do not even realise they are getting. Just like every computer in the business needs power, software licences, access to the Internet, and so on, so too do on-premises servers. Furthermore, these servers need to be maintained and upgraded every few years. Even the air-conditioning units in the server room need power, maintenance, and so on, continually adding to the cost of on-premises solutions. With the cloud, there is none of that.

Given the ease of use and speed of deployment, the cloud will soon become the default approach for many local organisations. The cloud is already everywhere. Now is the time to capitalise on it.

Karl Reed is the Chief Solutions Officer at Elingo.