Operator calls for in-country hosting of cloud services

An operator in the data centre sub-sector of Nigeria’s information and communications technology sector, Africa Data Centres, has called for in-country hosting of cloud services across Nigeria and other parts of Africa.

Chief Technology Officer of Africa Data Centres, Dr. Krish Ranganath, made the call at a Zoom Webinar with the theme ‘Bringing you to the Future: The Journey Towards a Cloud Lifestyle’, which was organised by CWG in partnership with Africa Data Centres and Zadara.

He highlighted the benefits of in-house cloud services to include optimal service performance, improved network, data localisation, payment in local currency, in-country support and proximity to data.

“Many companies worry about losing control over their data when it moves to the cloud, but when your company’s data is stored at a local cloud data center, you always know where your data is and how it is being protected,” he said.

He maintained that localisation of data must be a priority when considering the adoption of cloud computing, as scalable cloud computing resources located within the region mean that companies can take advantage of the cloud without the drawbacks of moving workloads to data centers that are farther away.

While he explained that some industries have regulatory and compliance requirements that mandate data to be maintained locally, Ranganath stated that Nigeria and other African countries need to start trusting their business which is locally grown. Such a gesture, according to him, will provide numerous employment opportunities for the young talents and improve the economy.

“If your cloud provider is close by, you can even visit the cloud data center. Taking a tour will allow you to see what security resources are in place and to better understand the people and processes that exist to keep your cloud workloads secure and running smoothly,” he added.

He reminded that Africa Data Centres is a business of Cassava Technologies Limited and a trusted partner to local and global enterprises for rapid and secure data centre services and interconnections in Africa.