Microsoft has been involved in a lot of activities in the country as it aims to bolster its internet-based solutions for its clients. We observed what the internet giant, in partnership with Mawingu Networks, has done in taking advantage of underutilized TV whitespaces to offer affordable internet plans in Nanyuki and its neighbouring towns – which are areas that are traditionally disadvantaged from robust connections as seen in other major towns.
Today’s development is another partnership with data service provider, SEACOM. Dubbed Azure ExpressRoute, the product targets businesses that are yet to adopt the efficiencies of cloud services.
“We are excited about the added value that this will bring to our customers – particularly over a secured and reliable connection provided through SEACOM”, says Sebuh Haileleul, East Africa Country Manager at Microsoft. “We know that organizations are moving towards space where they are dealing with a lot of data that requires secure movement. This service addresses these issues by providing a private, secure and high bandwidth connection to the cloud.”
The Product
In essence, businesses are in charge of their internal networks, which encompasses the connection between them and their Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The same ISPs hand over the traffic to other providers until the service being used is accessed. Businesses can, therefore, claim control of these procedures with direct access to Azure via SEACOM services (eliminates the need to rely on other service providers).
Low Latency
Perhaps the most critical gain of this collaboration is that businesses will have high levels of service of up to 99.9 percent uptime/availability. SEACOM prides itself on low latency connections to allow excellent network experience for users upgrading their systems to cloud-based solutions.
“SEACOM is giving a low latency connection with guaranteed throughput and uptime. Data movement between the user and the cloud resources of Azure will be seamless, similar to working within your office local network,” said Tonny Tugee SEACOM General Manager East North East Africa region.
“This partnership is based on the strengths and capabilities of both parties to provide support not only to M-KOPA, but also to further customers. The move to the cloud and the increase in data management needs means that an offering like this could not come at a more perfect time. We are confident that Azure ExpressRoute will bring great benefits to our current and potential customers.” says Haileleul.
