Oracle, United States (US) based technology company says the public cloud service market is expected to reach $207 billion by 2015. The company said in spite of the broadband infrastructure bottlenecks prevalent in Nigeria, there is enormous potential for cloud computing in the country. Speaking at cloud computing conference organised by the firm, Layo Ajayi, country manager, Oracle Nigeria, said cloud computing services help businesses cut down Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) on Information Technology (IT) infrastructure and in the same stroke, improve business flexibility and hasten time to market.
She added that cloud computing promises corporates the facility to consume computing resources on a pay-as-you-go basis, without having to invest in infrastructure, IT resource and training. In view of this, Ajayi advised businesses in Nigeria to take advantage of cloud services to gain competitive edge in the market place. She drew up strategies for businesses with the intention of going not the cloud. Consolidation and standardisation, according to the Oracle country manager are the first steps to private cloud.
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Experts say cloud technology presents a new consumption model for (ICT) solutions and services wrapped in a predictable, monthly commercial model, which allows its adopters to reduce cost as cloud reduces the total cost of ownership of managing infrastructure and applications. Ajayi said while the benefits of cloud computing are very compelling, the complexity of planning, building and managing cloud infrastructure, is significant. Cloud providers, she noted need to address client concerns about security, compliance, integration, performance, capital expense requirements, deployment and operational risks.
This, according to her, allows clients accelerate their Cloud journey. Interestingly, Cloud computing is also receiving strong push from the public sector. River State government introduced the RivCloud in April 2012 with support from MTN and Globacom. The platform provides storage and application hosting to both public and private sectors, and will migrate tax filings online. Also, the Nigerian National Petroleum (NNPC)built a closed cloud in July 2012. The Tier+3 data centre is expected to save it some $5 million annually by centralising operations like its procurement platform NIPEX, SAP, its intranet, Microsoft Exchange mail service.
