By Oluwole Alao

TECHDIGEST – Cloud Computing has been referred as the as the essential way of delivering services especially in database, networking, artificial intelligence and analytics over the internet, to offer faster innovations, flexible resources, reduced IT costs and better security.

This was according to the statement by the Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), while making his keynote address at a Webinar organised by Galaxy Backbone, in collaboration with Zadara, a cloud computing company base in California, United States of America.
Mallam Abdullahi expressed his excitement at the theme of the event; ‘Cloud Services and the Journey Towards a Digital Economy’.

He averred that the COVID-19 pandemic has globally accelerated digital transformation.

He said, “According to McKinsey’s survey, the pandemic has accelerated the digitization of customer interactions by several years, with a global adoption acceleration of three years.”

Abdullahi stated that in March 2020, the virus took the world off the streets and forced everyone to make use of their phones and other devices for work, education, entertainment and socialization.

The NITDA boss added that demand for online services during this period skyrocketed and cloud computing played a crucial role in migrating processes online quickly, easily, efficiently and conveniently.
He opined that it was at this point that working remotely, adopting technological innovation ecosystem strategies to contain the virus, protect jobs and observing virtual engagements in government circles has become the new normal.

He further explained that, according to data from Gartner, in 2020, the combined end-user spending on cloud services was about $270 billion and is expected to increase by 23.1 percent this year to reach $332.3 billion and $397.5 billion by next year, 2022. “With respect to this, it is therefore necessary for the adoption and implementation of cloud computing in enhancing existing business models and deploying new innovative procedures”, he added.

The Director General further expressed his pleasure at the efforts of Galaxy Backbone in providing reliable, efficient, and robust cloud services to Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), as well as the private sector in Nigeria. This effort, he said, will accelerate the Nation’s journey to the digital economy and create opportunities for growth in the digital economy.

He asserted that, in Nigeria, private and public sectors have made tremendous progress in cloud computing adoption.
He also expressed his delight at the partnership between Galaxy Backbone and Zadara which was borne out of the implementation of the National Digital Economic Policy and Strategy by NITDA under the exemplary stewardship of the Honorable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami.

“At the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), we will align the implementation of the Nigeria Cloud Computing Policy (NCCP) and the Guidelines for Nigerian Content Development in ICT to support this partnership”, the DG disclosed.

The Policy will encourage a cloud-first strategy in government with goals which are set to ensure a significant increase in the adoption of Cloud Computing among Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) by 2024, Kashifu asserted.

He also urged both Galaxy Backbone and Zadara to explore more opportunities while laying emphasis that many promising trends to watch this year include hybrid cloud, distributed cloud, serverless computing, cloud-based disaster recovery, platform as a service, and edge computing.
“Also, don’t forget that the golden rule in business is customer-centricity; your service quality and customer loyalty are critical to your success. As a regulator, we must protect you and your customers. Therefore, I will advise you to constantly meet your Service Level Agreements (SLA) with your customers and by so doing, earn their loyalty”, the DG concluded.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Galaxy Backbone, Professor Muhammad Bello Abubakar in his earlier remark stated that Galaxy Backbone over the years have invested a lot in building a digital technology service infrastructure adaptable to the changes around. He said they have evolved and re-engineered their operation to deliver a more efficient service in terms of connecting all the 36 states of the country.

The MD stated that the partnership is mainly on cloud computing with infrastructure and storage as services which are leveraging on data domestication and sovereignty. He gave assurance that through the partnership with Zadara, they will deliver on cloud service needs.

The post Cloud Computing: Important In Fostering Digital Economy Growth – DG NITDA appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECH DIGEST – Galaxy Backbone (GBB) Limited has assured customers across public and private sectors of adequate cloud computing services through its partnership with Zadara.

Zadara is a cloud computing company founded in 2011, with headquarters in Irvine, California.

Professor Muhammad Bello Abubakar, managing director/CEO of Galaxy Backbone, made the remark in his speech during Galaxy Backbone and ZADARA Cloud Services Webinar for businesses held on Tuesday, July 27, 2021.

Speaking at the Webinar with the theme; “Cloud Services & the Journey Towards a Digital Economy: Opportunities for Business Growth” he said that the partnership with ZADARA would strengthen GBB’s presence in delivering world class Cloud services that will be beneficial to the unique needs of public and private sector organizations across Nigeria.

Abubakar said:“Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic that drastically changed our lives; we would never have thought that we would be inviting you to an event where we will not have the pleasure of meeting physically with you, offering handshakes and engaging at close range.

“However the events of the last almost eighteen months have intensified that great saying that ‘change is the only constant thing in life’.

He said that GBB’s activities in the last couple of months have shown that a lot more people are spending more time online today “because that’s where our world has shifted to and the internet is no longer looked at as a mere gateway but a formidable platform as you would see from our interactions today, where billions of transactions going into billions of dollars can begin and end without people having to meet physically”.

Galaxy Backbone an agency under the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy

It is also a limited Liability company set up with clear objectives to deliver state of the art and world class digital and network communications services to both public and private sector organsations in the most efficient and cost effective way.

Speaking on this, the MD said, “Our clearly outlined Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) demand that we consistently raise the bar in terms of the services we offer in other to meet up with global standards that we are measured by and which continuously make us competitive in the market.

“In other words, we are Service Providers and our teams across our organization are measured on their capacity to provide excellent service delivery because they understand if we do not, we can’t meet up with financial obligations and will not have a business to run or deliver value to.

“Over the years, we have invested a lot in building a digital technology services infrastructure that is adaptable to the changes happening around us.

“In our attempt at connecting the whole of Nigeria, we have laid high speed fibre connectivity infrastructure across 13 states of the country under the first phase of the National Information Communications Technology Infrastructure Backbone (NICTIB) project.

“In the coming two years we would have added over 19 more states to this completing our objective to connect the whole country so that we can intensify our value at providing connectivity and cloud services across board.

“Our state of the Art Tier III Datacentre, Network Management Centre and Security Operations Centre all come together as investments we have made to ensuring that as we help our growing number of clients adopt a cloud environment that is custom fit for them, they are rest assure that they are working with an organization committed to helping them deliver great services to their own customers in a safe and secure environment”.

He said that GBB has evolved greatly in the last two years.

“We have re-engineered our operations to deliver a more efficient and effective service. We are also consistently investing in our people so that they are motivated to put out their best foot forward when engaging with you.

“Above all, we are closely listening to our customers and forming partnerships and collaborations like you see here today with ZADARA in other to meet the changing needs of our clients and consistently remain relevant to you.

“Galaxy Backbone has achieved quite a lot since its inception in 2006. Providing and deploring the infrastructure for connectivity and cloud services is what we do so well.

“The learning over the years and our commitment and the visionary leadership and support we continue to enjoy from the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy has helped us record the significant improvements we have noted and our customers have testified to in our service delivery in the last few years.

“We are very confident that through the service we have put together with ZADARA today, we assure you we will deliver on your cloud services needs.

He thanked the Minister, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami for his consistent support to GBB in delivering service which “we believe will help digitally transform our country”.

In his presentation on Zadara Enterprise Cloud Edge, Tal Rotem, regional director S.EMEA & LATAM, said the company delivers enterprise-grade cloud services – compute, networking and storage – in an agile model, with 24/7 expert management — leaving the firms free to focus on their customers.

He reiterated that cloud computing enables companies to simplify their storage, increase productivity with decrease in costs.

“What we are promising you is that by adopting cloud services you avoid large investments in storage infrastructure, convert CapEx storage to OpEx, reduce storage administration costs; redeploy people to higher-value tasks, Scale up or down as needed; and never pay for unused capacity”, Rotem said.

The Regional Director also explained that Storage Virtual Private Storage Array (VPSA) can be configured – and re-configured – on the fly for any storage workload. He called it “a single storage solution for: Any data type. Any protocol. Adjust on demand”.

National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), will work assidioulsy to align the implementation of the Nigeria Cloud Computing Policy (NCCP) and the Guidelines for Nigerian Content Development in ICT to support Galaxy Backbone Limited (GBB) in its partnership with the cloud services & storage partner, Zadara.

Earlier in his keynote address, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, director general of NITDA, said the Agency will align the implementation of the Nigeria Cloud Computing Policy (NCCP) and the Guidelines for Nigerian Content Development in ICT to support Galaxy Backbone Limited (GBB) in its partnership with the cloud services & storage partner, Zadara.

The DG said that Nigeria Cloud Computing Policy encourages a cloud-first strategy in government.

“Its goals are to ensure a significant increase in the adoption of Cloud Computing among Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) by 2024.

“It will also provide digital-enabled services to the government and ignite growth in Cloud Computing investments. At the same time, the Guidelines for Nigerian Content Development in ICT offers guidelines for the hosting of all sovereign data within Nigeria.

“It aims to drive the required investments and build capacities for indigenous providers to thrive. Aligning your initiatives with these two essential regulatory instruments will enable you to create and capture tremendous value in cloud computing services.

The post Galaxy Backbone Partners with Zadara To Unveil Cloud Services appeared first on Tech Digest News.