DEEP DIVE massive investments from major cloud service providers and content delivery networks who will all need carrier neutral data centres . This is great for Uganda , which is in the heart of the ‘ Savannah Valley ’, and the African region as these investments trigger job creation , diversified services in terms of fibre carriers and in turn lower the cost of doing business in Africa .
How do you deal with stress and unwind outside the office ?
I love spending time with my family and friends , listening to music , cooking , brainstorming formally and informally . I believe that life is for living , we only have one shot at this and we need to get it right !
What do you currently identify as the major areas of investment in your industry ?
We are seeing massive investment in cybersecurity ; South Africa , Nigeria and Kenya have seen the biggest increases in cybercrime and this is slowly creeping into Uganda . Companies are taking mitigation measures to counter the ever-evolving social engineering attacks . Secondly , we are seeing investment in network connectivity to address the need for more capacity in the Edge and core networks . This has been driven by a number of factors , including the increase in digital activity driven by a young , tech-curious African population , Digital Transformation by companies large and small , the growth in online retail thanks to the fast-rising MSMEs and the push to adopt more online-based solutions thanks to the overall effects of the new normal .
These investments alone , however , will not support wider Digital Transformation in Africa – to be effective , they will require adequate supporting data centre infrastructure across
the region . Investment in this area must follow and the Raxio Group is actively developing and building this supporting infrastructure , not just in Uganda but across central and east Africa . With construction of a second Raxio data centre underway in Ethiopia , a second site planned for Uganda , and investments in progress across three to four other countries , we are well on our way , as a group , to being the leading provider of such critical services in the region .
What are the region-specific challenges you encounter in your role ?
There are several , but one that is wide-ranging is the basic knowledge of the benefits of outsourcing data centre operations by large firms and corporations . Beyond the massive CAPEX involved when setting up in-house data centre infrastructure is the OpEx associated with maintaining dedicated staff to manage its operation . We took on the challenge of educating and making the market aware of the underlying commercial benefit , as well as the reliability , scalability and support that comes with using a carrier neutral data centre such as Raxio Data Centre . Across east Africa , the element of ‘ trust ’ needs to be addressed ; we still have a huge chunk of these markets that think it is ‘ safer ’ to host data inhouse even if the facility is not up to scratch .
What changes to your job role have you seen in the last year and how do you see these developing in the coming months ?
COVID-19 came at a time when construction of Raxio Data Centre was still ongoing . So , in addition to managing a construction site , there arose the added responsibility of managing a pandemic within it . It ’ s also safe to say , when you are building a business from the ground up , everything is a moving target . At first you are doing everything and then when you recruit teams , you begin managing the people who are doing everything . The last one year has been a hair-raising rollercoaster ride ! ◊ www . intelligentdatacentres . com
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