In its Fourth Quarter report on the state of ICT in Kenya, the Communications Authority of Kenya stated that Kenya has 29.6 million internet users representing 69% of the population. The increased internet penetration has seen both businesses and government continually adopt technology solutions to meet the expectations of consumers. Cloud computing has been one such solution. Cloud is seen as a driver of efficiency in operations, a cost reduction measure besides offering business the competitive edge.
Growth of Cloud in Kenya
In Kenya, the expansion of bandwidth capabilities with the laying of fiber optic led to increase in the number of data centers which served as platforms for deployment of cloud computing services. Another catalyst for the uptake of cloud computing services has been businesses continually outsourcing and embracing managed services with the view of saving costs and accruing technology benefits from cloud computing. The main inhibitor towards the adoption of cloud is lack of awareness as well as security concerns.
Infrastructure as a Service
Cloud Computing services are deployed under 3 main models, Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). With IaaS, a third-party service provider hosts hardware, software, servers and storage components on behalf of its users. IaaS providers also host users’ applications and handle tasks including system maintenance, backup and contingency planning. The beauty of IaaS means the solution are adjustable on demand if need be.
DataBank Cloud Solution
DataBank is a cloud computing solution developed by Compfix Data Limited. The solution is developed and deployed under the Iaas model offering users desktop virtualization, automation of services, backup solutions, data recovery services and end-to-end data security. DataBank supports a whole range of applications including Oracle, VMware, My-SQL besides covering all major operating systems. DataBank users are charged on a pay-as-you-go basis with subscriptions starting on a monthly basis. This model eliminates the expense business would incur in deployment of in-house hardware and software solutions.
How does DataBank align with my cloud needs?
Typically, a cloud solution is supposed to guarantee scalability, location independence, cost reduction and back-up solutions. DataBank offers these guarantees through an on-demand self service, where a customer seeking computing resources such as network storage or software is able to access them conveniently. A client is presented with different packages during sign up with a wide array of software solutions and storage capacity which they can access on the fly without necessarily deploying hardware solutions.
Broad network access is another guarantee offered by DataBank, where customers are able to access computing resources over a network regardless of their location. The computing resources can further be used by different applications hosted by the client. In addition, the solution offers resource pooling for clients. How exactly? DataBank assigns and re-assigns available computing resources such as storage, network bandwidth and memory to different users. This also acts as a measure service for the amounts to pay based on demand for resources. Head over to the site here and sign up for a free trial.
