Cloud computing vendors target SMEs, individuals

While small and medium-sized firms stand to cut operating costs from using virtual servers, only so few understand the these benefits, writes MACHARIA KAMAUCloud computing has largely remained an unknown concept among many business entities in the country.So far only a few large enterprises with dedicated IT departments have embraced the technology to back up their data.Cloud computing as a service thus remains largely unexplored in Kenya. This is despite the amount of savings that small and medium businesses firms could save as they using the platform.Companies offering cloud-computing services have found it a hard sell.One local ICT firm, however, is pushing SMEs in the country to back up their data on its cloud rather than invest on storage infrastructure for backing up their data. File It Africa is also targeting individuals to take up these storage services, arguing that it is becoming an essential tool for people to back up scanned copies of personal documents like school certificates, land title deeds, passports and ID documents.Cloud computing lays emphasis on using shared resources, where many users pay small amounts to use resources like storage and software. This way, an individual does not purchase particular software whose capacity they would ordinarily not exhaust but instead pay for what they use. This would ideally bring down the operational costs for an SME down."A lot of things that matter today are digital. Unfortunately, not many have a proper grasp of the importance of this form of storage and hence people have stuck to burning CDs or external hard drives which are just as vulnerable as computers," File It Africa Operations Director Kadri Humal, said."Large corporations understand this and look after their data well. It is the small and medium enterprises and the individuals who are yet to warm up to cloud services... this is the segment that we believe that offers us an opportunity."She noted that at the personal level, the scanned copies of personal documents might not act in the place of original documents but establish a framework for replacing the original documents in case they are lost."Many people spend significant amounts of time on their computers... much work gets done on computers but few people have time to back up every detail of what they have been working on to a physical device," she said.Internet connectionCharges for the cloud services differ depending on storage needs but a basic package of three gigabytes for an individual attracts a fee of Sh2,500. A 10-gigabyte package for small business attracts an annual fee of Sh6,800. On signing up, one gets a username and password to access backed up files from anywhere as long as they have Internet connection."Back up is automatic every time there is new data on your computer and you do not have to worry about storage space," she said.She added that the firm has three servers, two of them based in Europe and one in North America with local customer support.@While it may not yet be a popular ICT concept in Kenya, Humal believes it is going to be a buzzword in the years to come. It is an industry that generates billions of dollars in some markets. It is expected to generate 14 million jobs across the world.Cloud computing is starting to gain popularity in Kenya and soon, it is going to be as normal as a USB flash disk given the manner in which the ICT industry is growing and the needs that will result from this growth. In developed markets, it is a huge business.Only a handful of people have adequate information about the concept of cloud computing."If more people understood cloud computing like they understand other ICT aspects, we would more of them and firms sign up," she said.Cloud computing is particularly critical in environments and markets with erratic power supply, frequent power surges and theft of property.Data insurance"If your computer gets fried today in case of a power surge or you lose it to mugging and you have backed up your work on a cloud, you will come to work tomorrow morning and can work as easily on a different machine as long as there is connectivity,""You will not have to worry about a report that is almost due, you will just download it and carry on from where you left yesterday. Data is the most aspect of your computer and backing it up is the most cost effective way to ensure business continuity."

Cloud computing vendors target SMEs, individuals

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