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Local providers ease access to cloud computing, says Mukasa
Mr Michael Mukasa, the chief executive officer of Liquid Intelligent Technologies Uganda during the interview. PHOTO/Michael Kakumirizi
What you need to know:
- With the need to connect with the world, cut back on operational costs regarding storage and software costs, cloud computing is crucial, now more than ever.
- To answer these, Liquid Intelligent Technologies – Uganda is deploying Microsoft Azure Stack in Uganda. Prosper Magazine’s Joan Salmon spoke to Mr Michael Mukasa, the chief executive officer of Liquid Intelligent Technologies Uganda about this development.
- Azure, also known as Microsoft Azure, is a cloud computing platform and a suite of cloud services offered by Microsoft.
- While it has been in existence since February 2010, the cloud computing service was only accessible as per its global standards. That meant that one purchased these services with minimal customisation, because Microsoft, the mother company, offered it based on preset standards.
Now that Microsoft Azure is here, what will that mean to the local person?
Microsoft Azure Stack is a hybrid cloud solution, meaning it brings both worlds (local and cloud storage) to users. With data stored locally (on a server within Uganda), you gain advantages of easy access, even with Internet outages. Even when a company has latency sensitive applications, it can run them on this device. On the other hand, with the public cloud, the company will have features of backup, and updates.
Having access to such as cloud provider in Uganda means that where there have been currency issues, they can now pay in the local currency into our bank account and this can make life easier for them. For developers with applications that need a very fast response time, latency will no longer be an issue. That is further helped because the servers will be located in a tier 3 data certified centre in Namanve. Therefore, whether they are using our internet or not, they should have good access to the server. That means issues such as power redundancy, cooling redundancy, and connectivity options are covered.
What digital transformations will it bring?
It brings about several kinds of transformation such as localising the public cloud. That means that if someone has a small business and wants to experiment, they can use this kind of solution to have a virtual server hosted in Uganda.
In the event that things are working out well, they can quickly scale up to a big capacity while still be dealing with a local company.
By investing in the first Azure Stack hub in Uganda, Liquid is not only demonstrating its commitment to the country’s digital transformation but also supporting the Uganda Digital Transformation Roadmap which aims at connecting 90 percent of Ugandan households to the internet by 2040.
Who is your target audience and what are you offering?
There are several targets and include industries, financial services and banks, insurance companies, regulated healthcare providers, government, entities with security sensitive applications.
We offer them several perks such as data sovereignty, which has become a very big issue to these persons as they desire to have total control over where their data is stored. That aligns with the Data Protection Act of 2021, which says some data is private and can only be stored locally rather than in the public cloud.
We also cater to start-ups, even those that do not have capital to invest in something that will give them these features because this is an easy pay-as-you-go solution whereby one doesn’t have to have all the money upfront, yet we can create an appropriate sized application for their business.
At a very basic level, we are offering all our clients all Microsoft Azure features, only locally hosted. That includes virtual machines as one of the features a highly secure cloud storage solution, and Microsoft applications such as Teams.
How do you plan to grow your target audience?
Liquid Intelligent Technologies is a pan-African provider in 13 African countries and has deployed Microsoft Azure in four in East African countries (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda). We also have a very solid partnership with Microsoft, being the premier Microsoft partner within Africa.
Several developments come with this partnership for Ugandans. That is to say that with every development from Microsoft, whoever is subscribed to this cloud storage system will get them in real time.
Do you think the Ugandan market is ready for Microsoft Azure?
I actually think this is a long overdue investment for Uganda because Uganda has a very dynamic information technology industry. Moreover, technology is now everywhere and it is very important that Uganda has all the capabilities to all facilities and infrastructure to take advantage of new technology
Recently, I interacted with developers in Uganda at the Uganda Developers Summit and they have fantastic ideas and products they are working on. This new development in the market will be a big facilitator to enable them achieve their ambitions and goals.
Furthermore, there is no one-size-fits-all. Therefore, we are tailoring the Microsoft Azure services to the client needs.
What are the prospects of the Liquid-Microsoft partnership?
They are very big. Liquid is a solid partner with Microsoft in Africa, not forgetting Google, Amazon, and other cloud providers. Therefore, we are one of the main channels by which these companies enter into the African market in different countries.
We are looking to grow our relationship with Microsoft significantly, on cloud services, software licensing, and even consultancy services.
What are your parting shots?
Apart from availing Ugandans a global service they can pay for in the local currency, this also reduces the tax burden involved when dealing with foreign companies.
The other advantage is with a local provider, you will get services that suit your needs. This also means that consultancy is close by and does not come at a hefty charge.
