Local firms’ success lies in hybrid cloud computing

Hyper-hybrid cloud computing is the technology to watch as it holds the future for Kenya’s businesses, experts have said.

Cloud computing is a term defining the delivery and storage of data where information, and the software used to access it, is remotely hosted on external or internal servers.

Users can gain access to the data and use the software from any location as long as they have good Internet connection.

The technology is an upgrade of cloud computing. Software such as those for human resource, finance, and management that have previously been separately outsourced from the ‘‘cloud’’ can now be interlinked — enabling accessibility from one common platform.

This is referred to as hyper-hybrid cloud computing. Research and technology experts urge Kenyan companies to adopt the technology.

Last week, audit firm Deloitte launched its Tech Trends 2012: Elevate IT for Digital Business report which highlights trends in the global business environment that are expected to influence how businesses will be run over the next two years.

The trends are divided into two, with hyper-hybrid cloud computing falling in the ‘‘disruptors’’ category that comprises technologies expected to have a positive impact on IT capabilities as well as business operations.

In the report, Deloitte argues that organisations that have a sizeable cloud footprint should evaluate how well these solutions are meeting the original business intentions and consider integration as a way of improving their services.

“Organisations that can bridge hyper-hybrid clouds with their core systems will be at the forefront to elevate business performance with the next wave of digital innovation,” the report notes.

“Forward-looking organisations can initiate conversations with early-stage cloud service brokers, helping to drive the emerging market around cloud endpoint orchestration, aggregation, remediation, and billing.”

Other than enabling users to conveniently access information remotely from any part of the world, the technology has other benefits such as eliminating high costs incurred through maintenance and system upgrades.

Other benefits include cost savings, where users only incur costs when consuming data, and the ‘‘multi-tenant’’ element — where many people can access the service simultaneously.

“Hyper cloud is where Kenya will move next, that is where the biggest opportunities are and that is the next big thing for Kenyan businesses,” Mr Marthinus Van Jaarsveld, the Deloitte Partner Head of Technology, told the Business Daily, adding that the trend was as a result of evolving business needs.

Safaricom officials said that the firm was planning to launch the hyper-hybrid service to compliment its existing simpler cloud service launched in 2011.

However, despite many Kenyans making use of some sort of cloud computing technology, as is the case with email service Gmail, firms offering the technology said that uptake was slow especially among small and medium enterprises due to financial constraints.