In today’s digital world, data centres are becoming an essential part of life and as Uganda embraces the tech revolution, there is an urgent need for businesses in Uganda to have handlers of their data, so they concentrate on their businesses.
Data centres are where the cloud lives (cloud computing refers to data centres available to many users over the internet) and where all our data, photographs and music are stored. They are a vital component of the global economy, whether you are an individual, a business, a city or a country and in Uganda, Raxio Data Centre is so far the only certified company in Uganda to handle data.
Speaking with Watchdog Uganda during the workshop on Wednesday at Outbox headquarters in Kampala, Abdul-Rahman Ahmed Baguma, Raxio Data Centre’s vice president in charge of tech and operations said everything done these days, generates data and this is the building block of the fourth industrial revolution. He noted that if Uganda is to have a digitalized economy, data centres are a must.
Baguma said a data centre facility enables an organization to collect its resources and infrastructure for data processing, storage and communications, including following systems for storing, sharing, accessing and processing data across the organization, physical infrastructure for supporting data processing and data communications; and utilities such as cooling, electricity, network security access and uninterruptible power supplies.
He added that Gathering all these resources in a data centre enables the organization to protect proprietary systems and data, apply information security controls to proprietary systems and data; and realize economies of scale by consolidating sensitive systems in one place.
According to Baguma, just as cities thrived in the earliest days of the industrial revolution when they had ready access to coal and steel, the successful cities of the future will be the ones with the best access to data centres.
“Data centres, require a lot of investments but why try to invest in software so that you can be able to meet your digital challenges? Small businesses like startups and big thriving businesses come to Raxio, we will make your life easier and you concentrate on what you do best and from a financial perspective you move from a Capex-intensive kind of business to an Opex kind of model, rather than struggling to buy savers, generators, cooling systems, these things are not cheap, Data Center handlers like Raxio take away that stress so businesses can concentrate on what they do best,” he said.
He added that for businesses especially start-ups to be able to innovate, be able to deal with physical cyber security and business intelligence, they must embrace the advantages Raxio has put in place. And in order to support data storage facilities for businesses with small data storage needs, Raxio Data Centre launched a new sales promotion campaign that offers businesses a FREE cross-connect when one buys a 1/2 rack (1KW) or 1/4 rack (500W).
Baguma also noted that with this promotion, Raxio will be supporting the growth of corporate and MSMEs businesses in Uganda that appreciate the need for 99.999 per cent uptime to support critical operations for their enterprise, commercial and corporate businesses.
Allen Najjuuko, Raxio Data Centre’s Sales Manager also added; “Since we launched Raxio Data Centre in May 2022, we have engaged strategic players in the industry to get insights about their data storage needs. From our research, there has been huge demand from MSMEs who have smaller data storage needs but require the infrastructure and support that a carrier-neutral data centre like ours provides”, she said.
Richard Zulu the team lead, of Outbox Hub, also alluded that their partnership with Raxio aims at helping tech start-ups cut back on the operation costs incurred to maintain cloud services and big data storage.
“Much as many businesses are well-structured, Raxio offers an opportunity for both their data and cyber security. With Raxio, we believe that startups at outbox will have an opportunity to lower their costs but most importantly receive the support they need.”
Meanwhile, the promotion which started from 1st November to 31st December 2022, targets critical sectors such as Research and Innovation firms, microfinance, insurance, and professional services mainly drawn from the Uganda Network Operators Group (UGNOG) and the Financial Technologies Services Providers’ Association (FITSPA), the umbrella body for fintechs in Uganda with 189 members to-date.
These key sectors are at the heart of driving critical business operations in Uganda and contributing to the country’s economic prosperity.
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