By Chinenye Anuforo
Africa Data Centres, one of the foremost centre service providers in Africa that boasts of the continent’s first network of interconnected, carrier and cloud-neutral data centre facilities, has called for in-country hosting of cloud services across Africa.
Dr. Krish Ranganath, chief technology officer of Africa Data Centres, 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 centre, 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 centres that are farther away.
Explained that some industries have regulatory and compliance requirements that mandate that data is maintained locally, the Africa Data Centres CTO 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 young talents and improve the economy.
“If your cloud provider is close by, you can even visit the cloud data centre. 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.
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.