January 2012 Tackling the issues that matter - brought to you by WIOCC

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Werner LindermannIBM Sub-Saharan Africa

Vice President ofGlobal Technology Services

Across Africa, mobile broadbandand computing are feeding offeach other in a virtuous cycle:the roll out of broadbandtechnology is spurring theadoption of cloudso lutions and the adoption ofcloud computing was stimulatinggrowth in mobile broadbandbandwidth.

And as you start deliveringcom puting services to lots ofpeople, they figure out newapplications that can be used onthat platform and they’re able to

solve problems in ways that havenever been thought of before. Theresult - new revenue streams andbusiness models for the big telcoswho can profit almost immediatelyfrom the switch to cloudcomputing. But expandingmultinationals and largecorporates, and even medium-sized companies, can gain fromboth ‘renting’ IT infrastructure andreducing time to market. Similarlygovernments could slash ITexpenditure and enable citizen-centric service delivery.

To capitalize on cloud now, youhave to combine the flexibility ofpublic cloud with the data controland resilience of private cloud.Hybrid or shared-services cloudmodels offer this win-win. With therecent launch of IBM’s SmartCloudEnterprise Solutions and IBM’sSmartCloud Datacentre inJohannesburg, businesses acrossAfrica can have access to the scaleand flexibility of hybrid cloud on autility model with all the securityparameters we use for our ownbusiness.

Werner LindermannIBM Sub-Saharan Africa

Vice President ofGlobal Technology Services

Across Africa, mobilebroadband and computingare feeding off each otherin a virtuous cycle: theroll out of broadbandtechnology is spurring theadoption of cloud so lutionsand the adoption of cloudcomputing is stimulatinggrowth in mobilebroadband bandwidth.

And as you start deliveringcom puting services to lots ofpeople, they figure out newapplications that can be usedon that platform and they’reable to solve problems in

ways that have never beenthought of before. The result- new revenue streams andbusiness models for the bigtelcos who can profit almostimmediately from the switchto cloud computing. Butexpanding multinationals andlarge corporates, and evenmedium-sized companies,can gain from both ‘renting’IT infrastructure and reducingtime to market. Similarlygovernments could slash ITexpenditure and enablecitizen-centric servicedelivery.

To capitalize on cloud now,you have to combine theflexibility of public cloud withthe data control andresilience of private cloud.Hybrid or shared-servicescloud models offer this win-win. With the recent launchof IBM’s SmartCloudEnterprise Solutions andIBM’s SmartCloud Datacentrein Johannesburg, businessesacross Africa can have accessto the scale and flexibility ofhybrid cloud on a utilitymodel with all the securityparameters we use for ourown business.

Graham StarkinsTerremark

A Verizon Company,Cloud Strategy

In theory, Africa's lack oflegacy IT infrastructureshould enable cloudcomputing to be adoptedat a far greater pace than inthose regions with moreestablished IT infrastructurein place.

However, the ultimate key tothis success will be networkaccess, and this may also bea stumbling block in themove to the cloud.

Effective cloud computing isdependent on access toreliable and reasonably high-speed networks - currently,many areas in Africa do nothave this available. Mostcommentators would say thatit is unlikely that fixed-networkrollout will become thestandard access method inAfrica - the expectation israther that the mobileoperators will scale their

networks to deliver adequatequality of data service at areasonable cost.

The key to enabling Africanbusinesses to realise the fullpotential of cloud computingis therefore close cooperationbetween cloud, fixed andmobile operators.

Cloud computing is emerging as the enabling technology for modernenterprises. Africa has the benefit of low reliance on legacy systems, socan we expect cloud computing to develop more innovatively and on a

faster scale there than in other markets?

We ask our panel of experts who they think will profitfrom the cloud in Africa and which services are poised

to develop and expand?

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Alex LavertyThe African File

Founder

(www.theafricanfile.com)and also an African Technology

Master Scholar, USA

To grasp where profitsexist for cloud computingon the African continent,understanding of the basicand more advancedindicators for cloudreadiness needs to begained. Thus a search forthe most cloud-readysectors of the economy onthe continent meansdetermining which set ofindicators relate to theservice’s success. Basicindicators that will push orpull sectors towards cloudcomputing are the businessclimate in the country, thelevel of mobile phonepenetration and broadbandaccessibility.

The business climate couldpush adoption of the cloud ifthere is a high difficulty insetting up or maintaining atraditional brick and mortarbusiness. The ability to workaround obstacles by movingto e-commerce would be anattractive solution to thoseentrepreneurs in countriesthat have high levels ofcorruption or bureaucracy.This indicator encompasses

the Ease of Doing BusinessIndex from the World Bank, aswell as the Bank’s Start UpTime indicator andTransparency Internationals’Corruption Perception Index.This push factor is relevant toforeign businesses that maysee e-commerce as aprofitable alternative todealing with the bureaucracyinvolved in creating a physicalpresence in the store.

The level of mobilepenetration will often decidehow profitable it is for acompany to offer services onthe cloud for consumers.Examining ane-commerce solution such asM-PESA in Kenya shows thatSafaricom had a large base ofpotential mobile bankingusers because of the highlevel of mobile penetration.Additionally, any e-healthservice or e-educationoffering will rely on significantusers of mobile telephony inorder to be profitable.Businesses should not assumethat their value-addedservices to mobile telephonywill be the cause of increased

adoption. Discovering if themarket has the rightconvergence of factors,including literacy, healthexpenditure per capita andenergy infrastructure, will beas critical as looking at mobilepenetration rates.

Finally, with many cloudservices requiring largeamounts of data to beexchange between theterminal device and thecloud, those countriesoffering cheap broadbandaccess will be most attractivefor those solutions.Conversely, if a cloud servicesbusiness can offer access totheir services with lowamounts of data usage suchas RIM’s data compressiontechnology, they can succeedin markets with lessdeveloped broadbandinfrastructure. Near-termprofits for Internet ServiceProviders and privatecompanies will likely occur inthose countries that are ableto quickly turn the increasedbandwidth gained fromundersea cables into lowerprices for consumers.

Raymond DeftereosGijima

Chief Client Officer forCommercial Business

Information CommunicationTechnology (ICT) is a majorfactor in economic growth,which means that moredeveloping countries willpursue policies that open uptheir country to mobile,internet, and broadbandpenetration. Africa has seensignificant growth in mobiletechnology. Three broadbandsubmarine fibre-optic cablespromise to bring increasedconnectivity, capacity andbandwidth to the region.

The ten largest internet usingpopulations on the Africancontinent - Nigeria, SouthAfrica, Sudan, Kenya, Uganda,Zimbabwe, Ghana, Coted’Ivoire, Senegal and Zambia -are obvious targets for cloudcomputing market share and

growth potential. Rwanda isadded as number 11 due to itsgovernment focus on ICTs as adriver of economic growth. Asto the cloud’s potential in thedeveloping world, the firstobservation is that cloudcomputing reducesinfrastructure costs and levelsthe playing field for small andmedium-sized enterprises.Unlike client-based computing,which requires installation andconfiguration of software andupdate with each new release,as well as revisions of otherprograms with every update,software on the cloud wouldbe easier to install, maintainand update. This benefit isespecially important for therural users who have less ITtraining.

For development agenciessuch as the World Bank, andthe InternationalTelecommunications Union, itwas inevitable that thefunctions of cloud computingwould be applied towards ICTdevelopment. These functionsare usually listed ase-education, e-health,e-governance andtelecommuting. These areas ofinterest are functions thatgovernments and aid agenciescan devote projects andresources to in order toimprove a target socio-economic statistic, thuscreating other areas of growthpotential. However, these areasare still in their infancy stage,just like cloud computing as awhole in Africa.

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Mike LastWIOCC

Director, Marketing &International Business Development

Cloud computing is alreadybeginning to transform howmany businesses in Africaoperate, whilst uptake ofsmartphones and tabletdevices is increasingconsumer use of the cloud toaccess a rapidly expandingmix of applications in socialmedia, entertainment andmany others areas.

A symbiotic relationship existsbetween cloud computingand bandwidth - eachsupporting growth of theother. Cost-effective access toreliable, high-capacitybandwidth is vital to theevolution of cloud computingin Africa, which is itself adriver for the continuingdeployment and activation ofterrestrial and submarinefibre-optic network capacity.

The biggest potential

beneficiaries of theemergence of cloudcomputing are the telcos andISPs selling connectivity andservices to consumers. AsAfrica’s carriers’ carrier,WIOCC is ideally placed toobserve the changingbandwidth requirements ofsuch organisations. We seeour customers’ capacitydemands growing at atremendous rate, much of itdriven by smartphone uptakeand increasing mobilebroadband usage asconnectivity improves andcosts come down.

Businesses of all sizes andoperating in many sectors arealso beginning to takeadvantage of theopportunities offered by thecloud - including mobility,increased flexibility andscalability, and the ability to

move capex to opex. SMEs inparticular are attracted by theability to take advantage ofcloud-based IT solutionsquickly and economically.Meanwhile softwaredevelopers in Africa havefound a whole newenvironment wherebusinesses and individualscan access their applications,games and solutions.

Development of the cloudservices market in Africadepends heavily uponcontinued service providerinvestment in networkinfrastructure to maintainreliable, high-quality service.WIOCC’s ability to delivercost-effective, reliable, high-bandwidth internationalconnectivity to carriers inAfrica, marks it out as anotherbeneficiary of the cloud.

Chris WardBusiness Cloud News

Editor

If Cloud Computing candeliver on its promise oflow-cost, flexible IT, thenthe African cloud marketcould be set to explode in2012 and beyond. That’sbeen our verdict since westarted research into thecontinent’s cloud industryearlier this year, inconjunction with an eventwe’re running inJohannesburg next year –the Cloud Computing WorldForum Africa.

One of the major barriers tomarket expansion isbroadband availability, whichis fundamental to being ableto deliver software as aservice (SaaS), and publiccloud storage - two of thebiggest advantages of cloudcomputing adoption.However, recent figures have

reported major increases inbroadband subscriptionacross the continent and,perhaps just as vital, a 61%increase in mobilesubscriptions. One in fivehandsets now sold is asmartphone – a key devicefor utilising cloud computingand making Africanbusinesses mobile andglobally connected.

We expect SMEs to be thebiggest beneficiaries fromincreased cloud availability.As with other emergingglobal markets, the pay-as-you-go opportunities cloudcomputingoffers will give smallbusinesses throughout Africathe chance to blossom, anddip in and out of ITas and when their budgetsand expansion plans allow.

And while all of this is, ofcourse, dependent on havingthe right IT infrastructure inplace to ensure thosebusinesses get the cloudcomputing options theyneed – it’s interesting to seea number of big NorthAmerican, European andAsian IT providers taking aninterest in developing theircloud computing presencethroughout Africa this year.They’ll have some seriouschallenges to overcome, butwill ultimately enhanceAfrica’s IT potential bybuilding cloud infrastructureacross the continent, andcould get a huge slice of apotential $25bn payout as aresult – that’s if the ITindustry booms in Africa tothe tune of one globalanalyst’s 2012 prediction.