How start-ups reach for the cloud to ease cost of setting up IT infrastructure

When Evans Mahero Namai was starting his company, he was faced with the challenge of giving it a professional look as well as putting in place an efficient data management system.

Using a generic email did not meet the criteria.

He opted for a cloud- based solution for his digital office needs which included email as well as document storage.

“I had heard of the cloud but I was worried about the security aspect,” he says. This was to soon be forgotten once he was taken through the security protocol of accessing private data on the cloud.

“The cloud is paperless and I can access my data from a quick click wherever I am,” he says.

He got a package for his small firm that gave him access to professional emails and a storage for all documents which he simply scans and stores on the cloud and can access with a simple search.

His story reads like that of hundreds of other small businesses which usually start off as briefcase outfits in search of a professional, efficient- looking digital presence without the extra cost of having servers and technical expertise in terms of maintenance.

The cloud allows users to pay only for what he or she uses, says Clare Mungai and Rasto Kiplangat of M2M Systems Limited, a cloud solution provider.

The initial cost of acquiring hardware and maintaining it is usually stiff. Hardware requires physical storage space and must be replaced on a regular basis due to wear and tear as well as the rapid evolution of technology.

“What cloud solutions do is allow users to pay for services like they would electricity. It would be on a usage basis without having to actually buy any servers or hire a team to ensure that everything is running smoothly,” says Mr Kiplangat.

When you are in a business on your own, you can quickly run into a range of operational challenges. From a computer hard drive that fails during tax filing season, clients that have not paid for services, to changing deadlines and the constant need to seek new business – it is not always easy to keep your head above water,” says Nikki Summers, Director, Sage One in East and West Africa.

Sage, an integrated accounting, payroll and payment systems, is offering cloud based accounting solutions.

Ms Summers states that to succeed, owners of accounting practices should be able to operate in an environment of changing technology, increasingly demanding customers, and growing economic pressure.

“With software moving to the cloud, accountants can access their clients’ and their practice’s books on any device, from anywhere using the Internet. You also do not even need to worry about installing software on your PCs or backing up your data, because you can access the data and the application from nearly every modern Web browser or from a mobile app,” she says.

“You become an SME running your business at the same level as a multinational in terms of emails, data storage—it somewhere safe and secure and you can have online meetings. Cloud services which were quite expensive in the past have become more affordable and within reach for smaller businesses,” says Ms Mungai, managing director for M2M Systems. The company was feted for offering small and midmarket cloud solutions by Microsoft.

The-pay-for-use model allows businesses to start small and increase their cloud consumption as the size of the organisation increases as well as their needs change. According to Ms Mungai, you can have a cloud solution for as little as Sh4,000 annually.

 Adoption of cloud based solutions is usually faced with a key question of data security and reliability.

“Our servers for example are in Amsterdam, but there is a replica in Ireland so if anything was to happen to one, the other is there so your data will always be available,” explains Mr Kiplangat.

According to Microsoft the user can ensure that their data is secure on the cloud in four steps. The first is to ensure that your cloud service provider gives you full ownership and control over your data. This allows you to know and control privacy and access.

Security

The second is having data encryption. “Cloud encryption is the conversion of data into another form called cipher text which cannot be understood by anyone except authorised parties,” says Microsoft.

The third is to ensure that the cloud provider has security and risk management processes in place to reduce any security incidents.

Lastly is transparency of the cloud provider to the customer about security, privacy and compliance. Microsoft, Amazon and Google are some of the largest public cloud service providers on the globe.

The public cloud allows users to set themselves up on a self-service model where they select what they need.

The private cloud is dedicated to a specific entity, says Safaricom. The hardware, storage and network for a private cloud is for use for one company, especially those with high security, compliance and performance customisation needs such as large financial institutions and governments among others. The private cloud usually comes at a higher cost.