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Global Launch in New Generic Domains Widens Online Business Potential Michèle Scanlon SHAKESPEARE’S Juliet famously questioned what is in a name, stating that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”. So one wonders what Shakespeare would think of the land grab of coveted Top Level Domains (TLD) in the 1990s to secure a .com address for your business. A .com meant the global stamp of approval for your business. However in 2014, the world of domain names is undergoing its biggest change since first devised in the 1980s. The focus is more on individual business focus and regionalism providing further granular level of the traditional two letter country code specific domain such as .co.zw. The road to today’s new generic TLD naming was initiated in 2008 by ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the Los Angeles-based non-profit organization that coordinates the Internet’s global domain name system. This was driven by the increasing shortage of domain names. There were 15,000 .com domains registered by 1992, and 192 million TLD within 17 years. In 2012 ICANN authorized the creation of new generic TLD (gTLD) domain extensions .bike, .clothing .ski, .bio and .photography among others. Following a further selection phase, a total of 184 new domain name extensions are being launched in 2014 with commercial availability from Q3 2014. These new domains have already generated a 10% growth in the global domain market. ICANN projects that a further new 1,300 gTLDs could become available over a further few years. This is a significant development after years of just 22 gTLDs and 250 country specific domains.
The majority of .com domains are registered by US entities, thus .com whilst being a generic TLD often inferred being of US origin. When ICANN was established, the USA accounted for 90% of all global internet users, whereas today, the USA only accounts for 15% of global internet users, so it is only appropriate that the US Government is relinquishing control over the management of ICANN helping to ensure that the internet truly becomes globalised and ICANN a central global governing body. Regionalism, cultural identity and sector specific names are the focus of the new TLD releases. Among the first of the new domains to launch was dot shabaka, an Arabic extension, written in Arabic meaning web. Similarly .africa was officially launched at end of March 2014 aimed at African and Pan-African communities. South Africa’s ZA Central Registry (ZACR) is responsible for the management of this domain name as its official registry operator. Over 600 pre-reserved names have already been approved with over 17 African countries having applied for domains. In line with the dotAfrica launch, three cities in South Africa will launch their own TLDs:- dotCapeTown, dotDurban and dotJoburg - before the end of the year. This follows the trend set by other global cities to establish their own brand for tourism, event hosting and other services including Berlin, London, Paris, San Francisco, Sydney and Toyko. 41,000 .berlin domains have been sold since the end of January 2014 since its commercial release.
However for many being identified as a local service provider or company is better, underlining local support, delivery and knowledge, as well as an element of being patriotic. ZISPA, the Zimbabwean Internet Services Provider Association, who is responsible for managing the registry of .co.zw domains indicates that over 16,500 .co.zw domain names have been issued or reserved with an average of 100 new domains per month being registered. Many more have been warehoused for protection of global patents which prevents any potential lucrative cybersquatting of international copyrighted names with a local domain. Many organisations buy multiple domains to protect themselves from cybersquatters or potential competitive imitators. The launch of the new global domain extensions is likely to trigger a landrush in new domain names with existing companies looking to protect their online presence. Resale of already registered domains by cybersquatters is a big business globally; however the true value is unknown as many deals are concluded privately. Some of the biggest known domain transactions include: 1. Insure.com for $16 million in 2009 2. Fund.com for £9.99 million in 2008 3. Sex.com for $14 million in October 2010 4. Porn.com for $9.5 million in 2007 5. Fb.com for $8.5 million in November 2010 Not all global names are protected though. As recently as April 2014, Amazon, the US-based online retailer with an extensive glob-
al reach tried once again to buy amazon.se to establish a Swedish domain in line with its expansion across the Nordic region. The domain has been owned since 1997 by the owner of a local advertising company which also trades as Amazon. Despite numerous attempts to purchase the Swedish domain, the local Swedish company has refused on every occasion. So what makes a great domain name? Spell it correctly! Think of how your customer will be searching for your company or brand. Not every new start up is going to be successful with dropped letters in the Tumblr or Flickr tradition. Keep it Short & Relevant! Shorter names are easier to remember, and names can be better than acronyms depending on how your business is known to your audience. The domain name should be intuitive and relevant with the registered company name, brand or product subset. Longer names or multiple words can be used in conjunction with hyphens, but are still more
difficult to recall or get right on first time entry than shorter names. Don’t forget to renew it! Domain names are only leased to a company, individual or entity for a fixed period, usually on an annual basis. If you do not renew on time with your service provider or registrant, the domain could lapse and is in danger of being purchased by someone else while you renew, or worse being earmarked for purchase as soon as your lease expires. Finally choose a domain extension that matches your business and brand message to your audience. Whether you opt to keep it local, be generic or utilise one of the new more industry sector or location specific TLDs, there is a domain name suitable for you. Get your business online and leverage off the increasing number of connected Zimbabweans surfing the web for new products, services, ideas and resources.-Michèle Scanlon is CEO of Dandemutande, a licensed IAP operating the Utande and uMAX brands. She can be reached at michele.scanlon@ dandemutande.co.zw
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The Internet of everything: Is Zimbabwe ready? THE Internet of Everything (IoE) has become a catch-all phrase to describe adding connectivity and intelligence to just about every device in order to give them special functions and this includes smart cars, smart phones wearable technology and all sorts of Internet connected house appliances. According to Gartner there will be nearly 26 billion devices on the Internet of Things by 2020. In another research by ABI Research, more than 30 billion devices will be wirelessly connected to the Internet of Things (Internet of Everything) by 2020. Such growth is being fuelled by new technologies like IPV6. IPV6 is a new IP address system which eliminates limits on available IP addresses creating enough address capacity for every star in the known universe to have 4.8 trillion addresses. IoE is changing our world, but its effect on daily life will be most profound. We will move through our days and nights surrounded by connectivity that intelligently responds to what we need and want, something that’s called the Digital Sixth Sense. Dynamic and intuitive, this experience will feel like a natural extension of our own abilities. We will be able to discover, accomplish and enjoy more. The Internet of Everything (IoE) will create $14.4
trillion which is the combination of increased revenues and lower costs that are created or will migrate among companies and industries from 2013 to 2022. According to John Chambers, CEO of Cisco, IoE will have an impact of $4.6 trillion in the public sector alone. He believes it will have a dramatic impact on everything from city planning, first responders, military, health and dozens of other environments. Currently, 99.4% of physical objects that may one day be part of the Internet of Everything are still unconnected. About 10 billion of the 1.5 trillion things globally are connected. At a more personal level, there are approximately 200 connectable things per person in the world today. Even so, the growth of the Internet has been unprecedented; Cisco estimates that there were about 200 million things connected to the Internet in the year 2000. The Company behind the Sleep Number beds even announced a smart bed that monitors sleep patterns with 500 sensors built into the mattress, sending the results to an app on your smartphone or tablet. Driven by advances in mobile technology and the “bring your own device”(BYOD) trend, among others, this number has increased to approximately 10
64.5Mbps has the fastest Internet in the world.
billion today, putting us squarely in the age of the Internet of Everything (IoE) Number of Devices on the Internet Zimbabwe, a country which badly needs new revenue streams should try and get as much of the projected US$ 14 trillion as it can. However is it ready, or even close to ready? To answer this question we will discuss the implications brought about by IoE. Increased focus on connectivity reliability Connectivity reliability considers network coverage and consistency of service or downtime. As more of the customers’ life depends on the Internet, connectivity will become a must have making unreliable connections intolerable. Currently close to 85% of the country’s 390,580 kms² is covered by cellular data networks, however true broadband speeds can only be experienced in towns and cities making service inconsistent in most parts of the country. To ensure everyone benefits from IoE there is need for operators to invest in ensuring 100% network coverage and optimizing network speeds so that the whole country receives standardised true Broadband speeds. Demand for faster Internet speeds Secondly demand for bandwidth will grow as The Internet of everything (IoE) will mean more
devices connecting to the Internet including cars, kitchen appliances and personal belongings. This will put a lot of pressure on the countries current Internet infrastructure. Currently Zimbabwe's average Internet speed sits at 3.05Mbps which is way below the global average of 17.9Mbps and Zimbabwe is currently ranked 106 in the world interms of Internet speed. At such speeds not much can be done in the connected world thus a lot of investment needs to be done to improve the countries bandwidth capacity to make sure that everyone benefits from the Internet of Everything. Imagine your car not braking in time to avoid an accident because the Internet is too slow. Operators should take lip from Hong Kong which at
Growth in On-line Security concerns Lastly IoE will mean an individual’s personal life is available online; sleeping habits, driving route to work, health records, everything will be out there. This will lead to a growth in on-line security concerns as more and more of people’s lives move to the cloud. Zimbabwe's on-line security track record however leaves much to be desired. With a lot of hack attacks on critical National websites happening in 2013 and 2014 you wonder how robust the countries on-line security system is. Based on this track record, it is evident that there is need to educate the populace on online security, its importance and also investment in robust firewalls and appropriate security systems by local cloud hosting companies. My verdict is Zimbabwe’s infrastructure is still far from the required standard to ensure successful implementation of the Internet of Everything, however far does not mean never. Article by Ngonidzashe Katsamba Dandemutande Marketing Executive Ngonidzashe.Katsamba@ dandemutande.co.zw Tel: 791675-8
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Zimbabwe’s Demand for Data Grows Telecoms networks move to the cloud
Drivers leading to growth in demand for data in Zimbabwe
Whilst every other sector in economy ThisZimbabwe’s is the week of the year has that been shrinking, the telecomthe entire global telecoms inmunications sector continues dustry descends on the the highest Spanish to exhibit some of coastal city of Barcelona for the growth rates in the economy. Mobile With The firstWorld phaseCongress. of the indusover growth 70,000 attendees and try’s was fuelled by1,400 the exhibitors,for this is thewhich week for all demand voice was delivered via first generation the high profile launches of new GSM networks whichand laterapps. on tablets, smartphones evolved into theseen 3G networks Already we have the launch we have today. The industry of the new Samsung Galaxy is S5 however changing of with smartphone, Huawei’s late ultra-thin aX1new growth phase based on Media Tab tablet weighing the demand for data. As more just 239 grams and MarkappliZuckdata communication erberg ofare Facebook cations being announcing developed that a voice service will be added and cheaper data-enabled to Facebook’s new acquisition, devices are being produced, WhatsApp a matter of the demandwithin for data in Zimbabwe grown beyondtechexmonths.has Other prominent pectations. Recent statistics nological developments are ofby state that Zimbaten POTRAZ overshadowed by the device bwe has reached 40%the Internet launches dominating headpenetration compared to 0.4% lines. in 2000 whilst in the same In the telecoms world where period the country’s mobile technology is always evolving, the penetration rate has grown industry is focusing on how cloud from 2.5% to 103.5%. Whilst services can evolve the rollout of industry commentators have wireless networks. There will be focused on the rapid take-up new hype the around 5G services, in voice, growth in data has often been true ignored. Howyet only limited 4G networks ever every service have launched globally.provider In Zim– mobile, is babwe, wefixed have and seenother some–LTE focusing on data for new revtrials, but nothing is fully comenue growth. So Limitations what are the mercialised yet. of major drivers leading this the traditional wireless network change? What implications architecture arefor contributing to does this have service prothis slow roll out. opportunities viders? What The traditional architecture has 4 might arise from this? major limitations. First, each base Techzim reported in July 2013 theretowere milstationthat is costly build1.1 and oplion Zimbabweans on erate,active every cell site hosts enorFacebook and capabilities this number mous processing run had increased by hardware 62% four on highly optimized in months to that. The rapid order to prior convert analogue radio adoption in social media and fuzz into the ones and zeros our community messaging inIP networks understand. Seccluding FaceBook, WhatsApp, ondly, when stations Skype, Vibermore and base others has are added to the system to usimdriven first-time Internet prove if the same freage incapacity, many markets as well quency resource and is reused, the as in Zimbabwe, often this
Main
is on the mobile device. These free to download interference amongapplications base stations often compete with tradiis severe. Thirdly, because tional revenue streams mobile from users areservice movingproviders, from one place mobile but to another, theservice traffic ofproviders each base these same station is fluctuating veryusage, much also want to drive data from time time. As them a result, thus oftento leaving inthe a quandary on how to position utilization of each individual base themselves. station is pretty low. Lastly, these A leadingresources driver ofcannot data usprocessing be age is video Youshared with applications. other base stations Tube is clearly the leader is so all the base stations must be this sphere with over 6 billion designed to handle the maximum hours of video watched every traffic expected. month by 1 billion unique usTo counter ers, and 100these hoursshortcomings of content Cloud Radio Access Network is uploaded every minute. (C-RAN), referred to as 60% of thisalso content is watched Centralised-RAN is beingVideo conon non-mobile devices. on demand and IPTV services sidered. It was first deployed by will further drivemobile data operdethe world’s largest mand. Netflix is rumoured to ator, China Mobile in April 2010. make its with first China launchMobile, in Africa Together Alin 2014. catel-Lucent and Intel are repAnother factor driving delicating their Chinese trial at the mand for data is the wide Barcelona show by of virtualising spread availability cheaper an LTE networkdevices on a server. data-enabled as opWhat does mean to the posed to it pricing ofmove smartwireless network into other the cloud? phones, tablets and InBy virtualising the in a ternet-devices fivenetwork years ago. This has inthe part been data centre, cloud willaided elimby import inatethe a lotparallel of costs grey and complexmarket. ities associated with deploying With the cheapest Internetbase stations. enabled now retailing Infoasaid phone reported in 2013 that at $50, this lowers the baronly 40% of Zimbabwe’s land rier of entry of affordability area was an covered by telecoms to having Internet-enabled networks, thus there certainly is device. Chinese and Indian room for expansion all wiremanufacturers are for seeking to less networks. Otherto than limitalower this further sub-$50 tions on coverage, are in 2014. Access todata thespeeds Internet however remains relatively still considered very slow in areexpensive for access viatowns. moas outside main cities and bile devicesthe in cost Zimbabwe Addressing of new dedespite recent ployments is competitive critical in thewars conon bundles. textdata of the current Zimbabwean Globally a trend has also economy. emerged in tablet usage By centralising the of processing whereby only 20% all data power on of tablets individual sites usage is oncell cellular into a data which centre, indicates a service that pronetworks, vider of cantablet reduce requirements 80% users are opting for WiFi access home, in at each location andatdynamical-
the office and while away from both locations. Consumers are ly alter capacity requirements opting for cheaper access and as patterns change over lessuser congested traffic by opting time or geography. For example for WiFi access. higher capacity is often systems required Growth in operating in areasand during the likeresidential iOS, Android associevening than it is during day ated apps promote cloudthe usage by encouraging data syncing when CBD and industrial areas across devices, frequent are at their peak. This should upalso dates andinto online translate fasterdata datastorage. speeds Dropbox is one example ofwill an for the consumer, as capacity everyday cloud application. dynamically follow the user. Dropbox recently reported Although the 25 concept of virtualsigning up million users isation not6 new, virtualisation in the is last months of 2013. of radio components opposed Whilst not countryasspecific, to the traditional software and it does indicate that the globnetwork core components of al community of data users is moving more and to voice and messaging is more new, but the reality cloud, of and as the number the implementation is of cloud adopters goes so still some way off with firstup, comdoes their data requirements. mercial launches expected from Pyramid Research predicts 2016. Intel has been working on that in 2014, one in four people the concept for several years with will have a personal cloud acChina andsuch Alcatel-Lucent count Mobile and that accounts has 20 trials globally, fowill become strategicmostly for cuscusing on applications like voice tomer ownership.
Article over LTE using C-RAN. By the time networks are ready expoto miLastly, consumers’ sure to developed world in grate to the C-RAN, we’ll be talking terms real of data pricing and about 5G apps, launches. Though speedanis emerging changing technology, local user still expectations on data services. Maravedis Rethink, projects that The Internet of Everything operators will invest $2.63bn in (IoE) is an emerging theme in Cloud Radio Access Networks by the developed world where 2018. literally everything is conSo what to does mean for Zimnected thethis Internet includbabwe’s service providers? ing your television, fridge, Vircar tualising components the and any the other householdofdecell into data centre envivicesites such asayour toothbrush (yes, really!) can emphaimage. ronment meansyou greater Theon emergence Smart TVs is sis software of defined archithe first in this new era of contecture and reliance on highly nected household that skilled data centre devices technicians. has already seen increased Investment in Zimbabwe’s techdata demands on service pronical skills including data centre viders. Wearable technolomanagement required now to gies emergedisfrom the annual ensure our market moves forConsumer Electronics Show in ward in linethis withJanuary global telecoms Las Vegas as the trends. Secondly, centreout retechnology trenddata to watch liant for innetworks 2014. will entail a greater emphasis on reliable backhaul
Implications and opportunities This new demand will drive service provider strategies to meet this demand for data including the need to invest in increased data capacity on their networks, providing network redundancy, data security and privacy systems as consumers want and are demanding more reliable, affordable, fast and secure connections with 100% and fronthaul links to and from uptime. Zimbabwean service the data centre. Investment in providers must now meet the robust is thus esnew backhaul customerlinks expectation. Not every service provider sential. will have the financial means Lastly, C-RAN networks will or capability do so which in greatly reducetonetwork upgrade turn could lead to consolidaand maintenance costs, and intion in the crease datamarket. speeds, something At only 40% penetration, Zimbabwe’s service providers Zimbabwe still has an unneed to catch-up as Zimbatapped potentialonmarket of bwe ranked number 60%isofcurrently its 13m population yet 103 in the world in terms Interto be connected to theofInter-
net. The time is now for service providers to build Internet packages which are relevant, affordable and reach the remaining 60% so that the growth trend is maintained for the good of the industry and of the country. As documented by the World Bank, for every 10% increase in broadband penetration, the underlying net connectivity speeds. All this GDP could grow as much as should lead that’s to an improvement in 2.5% now good news for service pricing for data services all Zimbabweans. by the Zimbabwean service provider and an by overall better cusArticle Ngonidzashe Katsamba tomer experience.
Dandemutande Marketing
Ngonidzashe.Katsamba@ Article by dandemutande.co.zw Ngonidzashe Katsamba Tel: 791675-8Marketing Dandemutande Ngonidzashe.Katsamba@dandemutande.co.zw
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Demystifying the Cloud CLOUD Services remain among the most over-hyped terms in the industry, but potentially under-hyped by its early adopters who enjoy the benefits of shifting to public or hybrid cloud services. The hype can often overshadow the true business benefits of cloud. Google’s Eric Schmidt called the adoption of cloud ‘inevitable’, yet cloud computing or cloud services remain a mystery to many enterprises. So what are the main concerns or mysteries surrounding cloud? Security remains among the top cloud concerns for IT managers. However recent research from RightScale published in April 2014 (“State of the Cloud Report 2014”) reveals that the longer an enterprise is exposed to cloud as measured by its Cloud Maturity Model, the less its concern on security issues with compliance, cost and performance ranking ahead of security by “Cloud Focused” enterprises. In its annual global cloud survey, KPMG highlighted current specific security concerns was on data loss and intellectual property theft, rather than a generic concern on security in the cloud. However that does not mean that the enterprise should relax its own investments in data security; rather the onus on ensuring adequate security remains with the enterprise where security is becoming increasingly more important to the extent that some enterprises are seeing a new role of Chief Security Officer emerging as executive custodian and visionary for an enterprise’s physical and digital assets, often reporting direct to the CEO. Similarly a key myth to dispel with regard to cloud services is that the role of the IT Manager or CIO will diminish. Conversely IT management is becoming more integral to the ongoing performance of an enterprise. Yet a disconnect continues to exist between IT and the Business in terms of the role IT should play in the deployment of cloud. The RightScale survey clearly highlights this where central IT envisages a broad role in cloud decision making, whereas business units see a much narrower role. Successful cloud implementations should be based on an underlying
business rationale for deploying cloud in the first place, which is not necessarily just about cutting IT budgets, but improving business efficiencies and reducing lead time for service provisioning. Overall cloud deployment is more than IT, but rather on improving all aspects of the enterprise. Thus it is essential to ensure that the focus of IT and CEO are aligned. Lessons from markets like the USA where there are high levels of adoption show that despite cloud deployment, many enterprises have yet to define many aspects of strategy or governance. Understanding what benefit or value the enterprise wishes to derive from cloud services will help ensure a cloud implementation is not treated as an internal IT experiment, and shape the roadmap on which applications should be migrated when. Implementation of cloud services is relatively easy from a technology perspective where installation time, new provisioning and upgrades can almost be zero. However there is a growing realisation of the complexity of implementation within the business in terms of working practices and business processes. Once again underlying the requirement is to ensure business units engage with IT to get full buy-in from the start. Whilst Gartner’s Total Cost of Ownership model reveals that cloud computing can save an enterprise 50% of associated IT costs of an on-premises ERP system for 100 users over four years, the reality exists that cloud computing may not always be cheaper, especially in the long term. However the shift from a CAPEX to an OPEX environment with predictability of costs and scalability under the true cloud Pay As You Grow model is attractive to the financial management of an enterprise, especially in challenging economic times like those currently being seen in Zimbabwe. IT remains a skills gap in Africa. An IDC survey of African IT managers citing key trends for 2014 identified the number one concern of 52% African IT managers was staffing. The increasing prominence of the IT department in a cloud environment
means that more focused recruitment, training and retention is required on new and existing IT skills by the enterprise. These costs are often left out of a cloud business model. As with any service, the enterprise should insist on a Service Level Agreement upfront for its cloud services, especially with regard uptime. Whilst no system can ever truly say it runs at 100%, the nature of cloud service providers are that their networks are designed with redundancy and high availability in mind, often at a reduced cost than if done in-house. An SLA will help the enterprise understand and quantify what their exposure is. Access to stable and reliable connectivity is essential for successful cloud services, whilst the nature of the cloud service may determine what connectivity speed is required. With the increasing expectation
of customers – retail or enterprise - to be connected ANYTIME ANYWHERE accompanied by a proliferation of connected devices and thus increasing volumes of data, speed will become more of a common base requirement. Pamoja, the wholly SEACOM owned cloud services distributor focusing on cloud services in Eastern and Southern Africa, sees the highest demand for public cloud in Africa for storage services. Reviewing key African hubs of Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, cloud adoption ranges from a third to half of all enterprises. No matter your perception on cloud, the fact is that cloud services are a reality in Africa today, but noted the challenges that IT and the Business must work on together to ensure a successful deployment will bring more than just immediate cost benefits to the enterprise.
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Is Bring Your Own Device just a passing phase? BRING Your Own Device (or better known by its acronym BYOD) meaning the IT policy whereby the employee is permitted to use their own choice of device albeit laptop, tablet or mobile phone across a raft of operating systems, is firmly taking its hold in the workplace, and forcing companies who have not yet considered a BYOD policy to accelerate their own policy making. In its 2014 projections on ICT Trends in Africa, IDC sets out that the four pillars of technology driving growth and innovation are cloud, Big Data, mobility and social media. Mobility is often the first area that enterprises have typically embraced of these pillars in that the enterprise is seeking to bring a mobile application to market, either for its customers or employees thus mobilising the workforce more than ever before. Mobility will often then trigger a shift to cloud services providing the employee access to key operational tools while outside the core office environment. Another rather more negative projection from IDC is that Africa will also see an increase in cybercrime driven by proliferation of devices and BYOD policies that could expose enterprises to higher risk profiles. As a continent, Africa is embracing tablets and the Middle East & Africa region bucked the global trend seeing a 77.3% year-on-year increase in tablet shipments in Q1 2014. 7-8 inch tablets are dominating sales in 2014, but with more educational e-learning initiatives planned, a larger proportion of 10-inch tablets are expected. The availability of more devices at
affordable prices is enabling African workforces to want to use their own devices alongside or in place of any company issued devices. According to a Citrix survey from February 2014, 27% of the workforce in BRICS markets is already bringing their own devices to the workplace and 81% of BRICS employers have established a BYOD policy. Increased bandwidth utilisation is often an unwanted side effect of implementing BYOD. In a separate global survey undertaken by software security firm Kaspersky Lab, South African companies were identified as having greater fears on BYOD than many other parts of the world with 75% of SA companies having concerns on BYOD versus
62% in Europe or 57% in Russia. These concerns have also translated into more SA companies looking to restrict employees’ own devices being used on enterprise networks. 75% of BRICS employers who accept BYOD confirm seeing over 100 unidentified devices on their networks every day. So is BYOD a growing threat or just a passing phase? SA companies have highlighted that their main concern over BYOD is that 20% of the survey respondents had suffered from leaks of confidential company information via various channels on employee devices. So how many companies are using anti-virus solutions on employee mobile devices that are on the enterprise network? Less than
half. So BYOD is not just about authenticating employee devices and supporting their various operating systems, but enterprise security should be first and foremost the cornerstone of any BYOD policy including OS updates and version control. An alarming statistic from Gartner reveals that only 27% of employees who experienced a security issue on their BYOD personal device used in the work environment felt compelled to tell their IT department about the problem. Employee appreciation of the flexible benefit of an employer accepting BYOD should also go hand in hand with security awareness. A key premise of BYOD is that the employee pays for their device and then brings it into the workplace. However a whole new trend is emerging whereby the employer is taking back control over devices running on its network. CYOD or Choose Your Own Device provides employees with a menu of devices to choose from that the company owns and supports. Device choice may be driven by hierarchy structure in terms of budget available or function. Typically the enterprise then is able to simplify its IT policies and associated costs in terms of operating system support. Whilst the IT department may now have greater control over security and device usage, the em-
ployee may feel less overall satisfaction as he is seeking a single device of his choice for business and personal, so a third policy option may emerge offering a combination of the two:- BYOD for that portion of the workforce that many only require limited network access, but ensure employee mobility and CYOD for those that require secure access to enterprise applications. Best practice would dictate that both approaches should focus on security and ensure the implementation of mobile device management. Blackberry recently termed this approach COPE meaning company-owned, personally-enabled such that the employee is permitted to use the company device for personal purposes including Facebook access and game or app downloads. US companies have been among the largest geographical adopters of BYOD, whilst Europeans have more openly veered towards BYOD in 2014, so which policy will Zimbabwean companies adopt? Will they accept the cost implication and greater control of CYOD? Or offer employees a flexible model and ensure that enterprise data is securely protected in a BYOD environment? No matter which approach is adopted it is clear that companies need to consider the use of devices on their networks to manage security, retain control yet offer flexibility and mobility to its workforce. Michèle Scanlon is CEO of Dandemutande, a licensed IAP operating the Utande and uMAX brands. She can be reached at michele.scanlon@dandemutande.co.zw
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Sharing in order to accumulate
of losing an aspect of competitive advantage resulted in network operators being shy to than five years later, which is higher than One eye-catching development at the proactively seek out and engage in such ar- the market capitalisations of a number of the network operators who had signed up Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this rangements early on. The boom in mobile broadband demand to the network sharing MoU. year, was the announcement that a total of What the valuation of WhatsApp signifies eight network operator groups from across experienced across the region in recent the Middle East and Africa region had en- years, correlated to the rise in smartphone is that value in the telecom sector is shifttered into a memorandum of understanding and tablet penetration and the growing in- ing from network operators to social media, (MoU) to facilitate an initiative to proactive- fluence of over-the-top (OTT) players has messaging, and Internet players that are efly explore greater cooperation with respect represented both a profound threat and fectively forging stronger, more financially opportunity to network operators. As rev- rewarding relationships with communito infrastructure sharing. The signatories to the MoU – Zain Group, enues from traditional voice and SMS de- cation consumers, and thereby assuming Etisalat Group, Bharti Airtel, MTN Group, cline, the rise in mobile digital services is a larger proportion of incremental mobile Ooredoo Group, STC Group, Orange, and a much needed source of incremental rev- digital services revenues. Such a developWhilst Group every– other is on theenues, mobile device. office and while away ment flies from in the face of the massive upfront though theThese portion the of the windfall Vodafone accountsector for the majority in Zimbabwe’s economy hasregion, free to download applications locations. areoperators have had to incur costs network that is required to be sharedboth amongst third- Consumers of mobile subscribers across the and been shrinking, the telecomoften compete with tradi-is higher opting forwhat cheaper access and of spectrum and the capital in the purchase party content providers than the players have pledged to actively explore munications continues tional congested traffic by opting expenditure on state-of-the-art network network streams operators from ever hadless to contemplate commercially sector negotiated agreements on revenue to exhibit some of the highestand mobile providers, but for WiFi access. infrastructure. in the past. passive infrastructure sharing, where service growth ratesboth in the economy. these same service providers Growth in operating systemsoperators have begun to apSo network What the sharing MoU signifi es is a move feasible from technical and regulatory The first phase of infrastructure the indus- sharing. also want drive data usage, like and associthat they need to rely more on byto network operators to shore upiOS, theirAndroid own preciate perspectives, active try’s was fuelled by the thus leaving in a changing ated apps promote cloud usage their peers and forge their own counter positions in them the rapidly telecom Thisgrowth agreement represents a huge stepoften demand for voice which was quandary on how to position by encouraging data syncing in the attitude of network operators to one sector of today, and appreciate that by ral- measures to the new entrants to the teledelivered via first generation themselves. across devices, frequent upanother, as well as in respect to their per- lying together, they stand a better chance of com ecosystem. The Middle East and Africa GSM networks which later on A leading driver of data us- dates and online data storage. spective to the changing paradigms of the remaining relevant participants in the value region is a phenomenal market in which evolved into the 3G networks age is video applications. You- Dropbox is one example of an industry in which they remain the central chain rather than relics overtaken by social to explore and expand this new paradigm we have today. The industry is Tube is clearly the leader is everyday cloud application. that the mobile subscriber penetramedia and messaging suchrecently as given reported figure. Forchanging now. Historically, network however of late with thisopsphere with over 6 billioncompanies Dropbox tion rate WhatsApp and Viber. It may also prove to erators have preferred to directly control as a new growth phase based on hours of video watched every signing up 25 million across usersthis combined region stands at just of 40%, which remains lower than the be1the first credible thethe direction much of theirfor businesses possible, and by the demand data. As as more month billion unique step us- in in last 6ofmonths 2013. global average services based competition, and away from this has also extended to their infrastrucdata communication appli- ers, and 100 hours of content Whilst not country specific, of 47%, and far below the hyper-saturation infrastructure structures. ture. However, in the past decade is or so, cations are being developed uploaded every based minute. it does indicate that the glob- found in many developed markets. Th e announcement of the acquisition of this viewpoint has been modifi ed in the reand cheaper data-enabled 60% of this content is watched al community of data users The more rampant WhatsApp by Facebook sucked gion through uptake of outsourcing devices are the being produced, onand non-mobile devices. Video effectively is moving more and to appetite for mobile broadband access and content in the emerging the air out of the room at Mobile World managed services arrangements. the demand for data in Zim- on demand and IPTV services the cloud, and as the number markets of the Congress 2014data as this became overridNetwork is a concept babwe has sharing grown beyond ex- that willhasfurther drive deof the cloud adopters goes up, so Middle East and Africa are set to drive growth in telecom services for ing topic the event. And pertinent existed in the Recent industry for some timemand. now, Netflix pectations. statistics isofrumoured to what doesa their data requirements. many years to come, and the network sharwas – how a company only founded gaining momentum through the introducby POTRAZ state that Zimbamake itstopic firstitlaunch in Africa Pyramid Research predicts ing agreement in 2009 and employing fewer than 60 peotion of the fi rst 3G networks at the end of bwe has reached 40% Internet in 2014. that in 2014, one in four peopleamongst the region’s largest network operators could be valueddeat US$19 the 1990s andcompared early 2000s, though theAnother fear ple factor penetration to 0.4% driving will billion have aless personal cloud ac- should be applauded not TAWANDA CHIHOTA
Zimbabwe’s Demand for Data Grows
Drivers leading to growth in demand for data in Zimbabwe
Main
Article
just for its recognition that network operators need to view themselves and their environments differently, but also for the efficiencies that such arrangements are likely to bring. In Zimbabwe, infrastructure sharing has met with mixed success to date. Most network operators share some towers on a bilateral basis, that is a like for like swap. However despite the regulator, POTRAZ, seeking to establish infrastructure sharing regulations in 2011 and 2012, no regulation has yet been established, and more importantly, in light of the new regional MoU that excludes any Zimbabwean company, the lack of co-operation among network operators is also cited as a key reason for lack of further infrastructure sharing in Zimbabwe. Imagine if only a portion of the level of investment in multiple fibres in the same streets of Harare had been extended to shared infrastructure in other cities? Total cost of ownership in the telecom space continues to fall and in order to be successful into the future, network operators need to make bold moves in the current environment to ensure they remain relevant in this dynamic and rapidly altering landscape–Tawanda Chihota is the Executive director of Pursuit Mode Initiatives FZE.
in 2000 whilst in the same mand for data is the wide count and that such accounts period the country’s mobile spread availability of cheaper will become strategic for cuspenetration rate has grown data-enabled devices as op- tomer ownership. from 2.5% to 103.5%. Whilst posed to pricing of smartwho subscribe to an investors’ line my economics professor loved to say; “woe is me, the markets industry commentators have phones, tablets and other InLastly, consumers’ expoare down…………………………………..good thing we are buying”. focused on the rapid take-up ternet-devices five years ago. sure to the developed world in Figure 3 From page E1the growth in data changing ofThis some of the region’s new demand will drive net. The time is now for serin voice, This hasFigure in2 part been aided terms of data apps, pricingfortunes and Returns vs. Beta Risk (YTD) equity markets that are slowly reversing vice providers to build Interhas often been ignored. How- by the parallel grey import speed is changing local user service provider strategies to Sectorial Zimbabwe in Context (YTD) (B) initial negative start. stocks regionevery as well.service provider meet thisKenyan demand for data in- net packages which are relever market. expectations on their data services. SOUTH cluding need to invest evant, affordable and reach – mobile, and negative other – is Internet- AFRICA TheZIMBABWE Internet of Everything were tainted by the capitalthe flight that fol- in inThe fact fixed that the trends With that the cheapest EGYPT MOROCCO MAURITIUS KENYA NIGERIA 30% data capacity the remaining 60% so that the focusing onyear data for new revenabled now retailing (IoE) is an emerging in creased lowedtheme the concerns over Emerging Markets on their opened the are starting to change may phone 25% networks, providing growth trend is maintained for enue growth. So whatthe areviews the ofatMark $50, this lowers the bar- the developed but world where to are beginning rally as investors startnetwork be starting to vindicate 20% security and the good of the industry and of major drivers leading thispointed rier to of entry of affordability literally everything is conto identify bargainsredundancy, in the marketdata as otherMobius and Warren Buffet who 15% 10% privacy systems themas consumers the country. As documented change? implications to having an Internet-enabled nected to the Internet includwise sound stocks are now revealing the cyclicalWhat nature of the equity market and 5% Beta Bank, for every does have device. and Indian ing your television, fridge, car want and are demanding more by the World selves to be under-priced. their this belief thatfor theservice market proalways off ered Chinese 0% -5% affordable, 10% increase in broadband viders? manufacturers are seeking to and any other household deLast year’s globalreliable, bull market in equitiesfast and good valueWhat to thoseopportunities who invested according -10% connections with 100% penetration, the underlying might arise from this? lower further to sub-$50 vice such as your toothbrush may have allowedsecure markets to record unto the fundamentals of the company’s they this -15% uptime. Zimbabwean GDP could grow as much as Techzim in July temperain 2014. Access to the Internet (yes, really!) you can image. -20% Figure 4 expectedly high levels of return but simply service bought ratherreported than the changing providers mustthe now 2.5% now that’s good news for 2013 that were 1.1 milremains Annualised relatively The emergence of Smart TVsthat is bull Volatility YTD Performance contrasting market with cur-meet theSectorial ment of thethere market’s collective mind.however GlobReturns vs. Annualised Volatility (YTD) expectation. all Zimbabweans. lion Zimbabweans on down expensive for access via mo- the first in this new of conrentera slide in local new equitiescustomer may lead to an al andactive regional markets may be but Source: G3in Analytics, MSCI and ZSE Not that every service Facebook and this are number devices Zimbabwe de- nected household devices that erroneous conclusion all local equi-provider not all equity markets down. Asbile many will havethe the financial Article by Ngonidzashe had increased bychanging 62% four spite competitive wars hasare still already seen increased While Figure 1 shows that global and regional markets down for the year, Figure 2are showson the slide ties or that slide in the means investors curse the tide, some in-recent or Th capability to start do sotowhich in Katsamba months prior that. positive The rapid data bundles. data demands onmarket prothat theremarket still remain pockets in our region. Followers of thisstill article will seeservice that Egypt,will tive andof resistance its sectorial indices persist. e negative vestors are stillto seeing gains on showMorocco, Kenyahas Southalso Africa are higher (YTD) than they were at the end of February. turn could lead to consolidaDandemutande Marketing adoption in social and a Mauritius, trend viders. technoloYTD (seeandFigures 3 and 4).wasTh eWearable ma- the year may yet prove to be an opportuing that while not allmedia boats are on the Globally rise, down Quite in notably since the end of January (when only Egypt emerged up YTD) the markets have slowlyannual tion inwho the market. Ngonidzashe.Katsamba@ community messaging inemerged tablet usage gies from the sector remains the most volatile nity for shrewd investors subscribe to but some, as Figure 2 shows, are quite de- terials started to recover suggesting a potential improvement going forward for not only the markets that At only 40% penetration, dandemutande.co.zw cluding FaceBook, WhatsApp, wherebywhile only 20% of all data Consumer Electronics Show in consumer staples is the most stable. an investors’ line my economics professor cidedly so. are now up for the year, but potentially others in the region as well. Annualised volatility still has Tel: 791675-8 Skype, andfront, others has usage tablets isdespite on cellular Las Vegas this January as the the poorthestart tostarting thetoyear loved to say; “woeZimbabwe is me, the markets are an unOn theViber domestic Zimbabwean eq- onHowever, The fact that the negative trends that opened year are change may be starting to tapped potential driven first-time Internet us-the collecnetworks, which indicates that be technology trend to watch out thing there may a lesson learntpointed fromto the we are buying”. market of uities are still on the slide with the views be of Mark Mobius andto Warren Buffet the cyclicaldown……………good nature of the 60% of its 13m population yet age in many markets as well 80% of vindicate tablet users are optfor who in 2014. equity market and their belief that the market always offered good value to those who invested to be connected to the Interas in Zimbabwe, and often this ing for WiFi access at home, incompany’s they bought rather than the changing according to the fundamentals of the
Implications Are these exciting times for fundamental investors? and opportunities 1.00
-9%0.80
1.20
YTD performance
-11%
G3 Consumer Discretionay Index
-13% -15% -17%
1.40 G3 Financials Index
1.60
G3 Consumer Staples Index
G3 Industrials Index
G3 Materials Index
-19% -21%
Source: G3 Analytics, MSCI and ZSE
0%
0%
YTD Performance
-5%
20%
40% G3 Consumer Staples Index
-15%
-30%
Source: G3 Analytics, MSCI and ZSE
On the domestic front, Zimbabwean equities are still on the slide with the collective market and its sectorial indices still down YTD (see Figures 3 and 4). The materials sector remains the most volatile while consumer staples is the most stable. However, despite the poor start to the year there may be a lesson to be learnt from the changing fortunes of some of the region’s equity markets that are slowly reversing their initial negative start. Kenyan stocks were tainted by the capital flight that followed the concerns over Emerging Markets but are beginning to rally as investors start to identify bargains in the market as otherwise sound stocks are now revealing themselves to be under-priced. Last year’s global bull market in equities may have allowed markets to record unexpectedly high levels of return but simply contrasting that bull market with the current slide in local equities may lead to an erroneous conclusion that all local equities are on the slide or that the slide in the market will persist. The negative start to the year may yet prove to be an opportunity for shrewd investors
80%
100%
120%
G3 Industrials Index
-20% -25%
temperament of the market’s collective mind. Global and regional markets may be down but not all equity markets are down. As many investors curse the changing tide, some investors are still seeing positive gains showing that while not all boats are on the rise, but some, as Figure 2 shows, are quite decidedly so.
60%
G3 Financials Index
-10%
G3 Consumer Discretionary Index
G3 Materials Index
E8
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FINANCIAL MATTERS FRIDAY MAY 30, 2014
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Promotion of ICT and Investing in the Digital Economy can be an Economic Stimulus Michèle Scanlon Coinciding with World Telecommunications and Information Society Day 2014, the industry saw government support and recognition across Africa for investing in ICT for a wider economic benefit. Rwandan President Paul Kagame was named “Number One in ICT” by the StarTimes Group for his “visionary leadership and commitment towards meeting the set objectives of Vision 2020 in promoting ICT and communications”. In Ghana, Minister for Communications, Dr Kofi Omane Boamah, commented that “the digital economy presents huge opportunities for development, creating global markets for applications and services, reducing the cost of doing business and unleashing creativity and innovation” citing that the Services sector increased by 9.3% against its 2013 budget, of which ICT services contributed just under 25% to the sector’s impressive growth. Similarly in Zimbabwe, ICTPS Minister Hon. Webster Shamu supported the digitalisation of existing government services to provide more efficient service delivery to Zimbabweans, and noted future plans for a technology centre to be deployed in every province. Access to Broadband Connectivity is often quoted as a key foundation for boosting the Digital Economy. Various industry reports including those backed by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), GSM Association and supported by leading ICT players indicate that for every 10% increase in Broadband penetration, the underlying GDP impact can be as much as 1.38% increase in low/ middle income countries. However the actual GDP impact is only felt after increasing productivity
through organisation structural and process changes and in sectors that become more IT-focused. Transactional-based sectors such as financial services or labour-intensive sectors such as hospitality often see the most benefit from a productivity perspective. The ITU concludes that economic growth via Broadband adoption is however not automatic and indicates that supporting Public Policy is critical. In addition, the private sector should incubate and promote digital innovation. In Zimbabwe, four tech innovation hubs have come to the fore in 2014 with Start-up as the new catch phrase trending on social media across the country with investors looking out for the latest app or service to invest in. Muzinda-Umuzi, Hypercube Hub and Emerging Ideas are all Harare-based and predominantly privately or NGO backed with each hosting their own hackathon or start-up weekends. Bulawayo-based Ski Hub, commenced existence as a private innovation hub which then received resource support from the Vice Chancellor of NUST. So with both public and private sectors focusing on digital services and incubating tech start-ups now what? How does one ensure success? What makes for a successful tech start-up? Jim Kim, President of the World Bank, recently shared some thoughts on what he learnt from Bill Gates who is globally recognised as
building an innovative institutional culture across his business and philanthropic work. Kim identifies three key focus areas highlighted by the founder of Microsoft: 1. Innovation comes from collaboration 2. The importance of grit 3. Bringing innovations to scale The first point underlines the role to be played by the newly emerged
innovation hubs which themselves are a collaboration point for digitally skilled, like-minded individuals, some of whom will succeed as entrepreneurs, who in turn will most likely end up hiring the other “failed” (or more favourably named in India as “former”) entrepreneurs for their own start-ups. Collaboration will also come from public private partnerships to provide digital services to a wider reach. Dogged determination, discipline and persistence are what Kim refers to as “grit”. They are underlining qualities typically found in the individual that will translate into the emerging cultural ethos of the new start-up.
Great ideas are one thing, but if they are not scalable then they are unlikely to be executed or brought to fruition, and subsequently lack funding opportunities. This is where the start-up ecosystem requires mentorship and financial backing from development funds and private financiers, an emerging sector in Zimbabwe. If you are more of the Steve Jobs than Bill Gates school of thought; the founder of Apple outlined three of his key approaches to business in an oft-quoted speech to Stanford University graduates in 2005: • “You can’t connect the dots looking forward – You can only connect them looking backwards” – with technology changing our lives and evolving daily, no-one can quite predict the future, so don’t plan too far into the future, as the rules are bound to change • “You’ve gotta find what you love: Keep looking – Don’t settle” – as noted above, finding the right talented people that love what they do can be a competitive advantage to any company, let alone a new tech start-up • “Stay hungry – Stay foolish” – the message here is to not stagnate; but rather continue to innovate and push boundaries With so many events, competitions, tech hubs and private backers (including Africa’s largest pan-regional mobile operators such as MTN and Orange), focusing on identifying winning tech start-ups,
that hunger is definitely out there waiting to be channelled, mentored, funded and launched. Finalists in the recent Hypercube Hub Start-Up Weekend focused on among other things, aggregating informational services in agricultural, educational and medical aid sectors or providing services that save the consumer time by reducing the time between intent to conduct and concluding the transaction, whether it is in betting or queuing for a service. Local start-ups can also participate in regional and global searches. The ITU is now hosting its fourth global competition in its search for young thinkers and so-called “social technopreneurs”. Five African tech SMEs competed for title of ‘World’s Best Start-Up’ in Milan in May as final pitches were made by regional finalists from Europe, South America, Russia and Africa in the world’s first global pitch-off where South Africa’s social photography app ‘Over’ for iPhone and iPad was declared the overall winner. Kenya’s GSM market leader, Safaricom is contemplating setting up its own angel venture capital fund. The search is on, and the enablement tools are ready. With public and private objectives seemingly both aligned on incubating technology skills and services, Zimbabwe is poised to seize the opportunity to channel young innovative wannabe Bill Gates or Steve Jobs to unleash their inner creativity for digital opportunities for all. Michèle Scanlon is CEO of Dandemutande, a licensed IAP operating the Utande and uMAX brands. She can be reached at michele. scanlon@dandemutande.co.zw
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WiFi is key to Deliver a Great Guest Experience Zimbabwe recently hosted its annual Sanganai tourism and hospitality expo in Harare. With workshop presentations by Expedia, Utande, Fuzzy Electronics and Jovango.com, the focus was on how connectivity is critical to the overall travel industry from guest WiFi to improving energy efficiencies in managing hotel properties. Connectivity is integral to the whole travel process from pretrip planning and booking, to check-in processes and online access at the departing airport, and even during the flight as more airlines are beginning to offer WiFi mid-air, to connectivity requirements at the hotel destination and of course the post-holiday experience of sharing holiday snaps with friends and family; although the postholiday sharing is happening more often at the actual holiday destination thus increasing connectivity requirements at hotel destinations for photo sharing, video Skype calls and more. Expedia, the world’s largest online travel company in the world, reported a 75% year on year increase in online bookings to 10,500 room nights for Zimbabwe via Expedia in the first nine months of 2014 at an average room night spend of $201 and an average stay of 2.2 days. Key countries of origin for these tourists are the USA and UK, accounting for 45% of Expedia bookings to Zimbabwe. These tourists have high expectations on connectivity in terms of service speed, quality, overall experience and most of all for it to be free at their hotel. TripAdvisor’s annual travel survey ranked free in-room WiFi as the number one hotel amenity most important to travellers. 89% of US travellers rated this most important versus only 42% for free poolside WiFi, thus highlighting that WiFi location
is also key. Other surveys such as Forrester’s Business Traveller Survey showed similar feedback on requests for in-room WiFi. Hotels can no longer just provide WiFi in common areas like the hotel lobby or restaurant. Guests would like access in the privacy of their room. Just like the choice of hotel, LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION is key for guest WiFi. This means hotels and the hospitality industry need to invest in more in ICT to match the guest expectation. Hotels in Victoria Falls are currently investing $0.50-$2.00 per room night on bandwidth capacity; however this may not necessarily be sufficient bandwidth capacity to service the usage requirements of its guests and excludes any investment in wireless infrastructure to reach all of its guests, as well as dedicated IT management to support its guests. Hotels need to undertake a cost benefit analysis on providing a better quality service to improve the guest experience, or providing a standard service that may not meet guest requirements which could impact their overall experience. The key lies in understand the guest segment being served and what amenities they most value and expect from the chosen hotel. Forrester’s survey also showed that the most guest complaints are about the guest’s Internet experience including inability to log-in with multiple devices, having a difficult log-in experience and erratic service with poor user experience. So how can a hotel go about improving the overall guest WiFi experience? The first area is to focus on WiFi as a valued guest amenity rather than an extension of a hotel’s IT operation. With this change, the hotel may need to invest in IT support staff for out of hours troubleshooting and extending or improving its coverage to
requested guest areas. Next the hotel needs to assess how much bandwidth capacity is required for a typical guest usage pattern of its holiday makers or business travellers taking into account that the average traveller will have 3 WiFi-enabled devices and may use all at peak periods. In this regard, Zimbabwe may wish to look at the Minimum Connectivity Guidelines issued in Botswana by the Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority (BOCRA). Issued in April 2014, the guidelines came into force in August 2014 with the hospitality industry having six months to implement. Under these guidelines, BOCRA recommends a minimum bandwidth connection of 13Mbps for a 50-99 room hotel and 26Mbps for a 100-149 room hotel which is probably ten-fold more than the reality in Zimbabwe of hotels of similar size. Although BOCRA does not specifically regulate the hospitality industry, it underlines the overall approach and attitude of the Botswana Government to better serve the international tourism market in its country. In its guidelines, BOCRA cites the economic importance of the
international tourism sector to the country and the exponential growth in demand for Internet by its tourists. (It is worth noting that the Botswana telecoms market is underpinned by a strong government-backed infrastructure player providing fibre services nationwide at highly competitive rates to service providers). Obviously increased bandwidth comes at a cost, so the hotel may consider adopting a new trend for a hybrid model of basic free WiFi for all guests to enable access to email and browsing, and a premium or tiered paying model for faster speed requirements and video downloads. This also highlights that managing and monitoring the hotel guest WiFi is a definite necessity to ensure consistency in service delivery and eliminating any potential abuse. Even basic monitoring by MAC address duration on the network will help eliminate non-guest usage where access password to a free WiFi service is being used by unauthorised users. Taking back control of the guest WiFi service will definitely improve the overall guest experi-
ence. That’s not to say that the hotel should not outsource the service, but take a stronger position over how it should look and feel, where access points should be located and what minimum speed should be available. After all it is what your guests are rating their overall hotel experience on. Hotels operate in the service industry where guest requirements need to be attended to 24/7/365; that’s the very nature of the hospitality industry. So ensuring maximum uptime and network availability with dual providers for capacity makes sense, and not just for Internet service but last mile providers too. Just like the hotel already does for power. Understanding how best to service your guests and managing that within their expectations and your budget is key to delivering a great guest experience. Michèle Scanlon is CEO of Dandemutande, a licensed IAP operating the Utande and uMAX brands. She can be reached at michele.scanlon@dandemutande.co.zw
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Broadband opening up opportunities for sustainable business Broadband refers to any Internet connection with a bandwidth of at least 1.5Mbps; of late world standards have well surpassed this minimum requirement with countries like Hong Kong leading the roost with Internet speeds as high as 63.2Mbps. In 2013 the world average was sitting at 18.4Mbps while Zimbabwe’s average was 3.05Mbps. However, despite the relatively low speeds, Zimbabwe’s Internet penetration has been growing at an encouraging rate; currently at 40%. This growth in broadband has not only made communication more convenient, but it has also created opportunities for businesses to grow their triple bottom line i.e. profits, people and the planet. If harnessed appropriately, broadband technologies can improve businesses’ sustainability through improving employee productivity, hence profitability and minimizing organisational carbon foot prints.
Profit Effective use of broadband communication alternatives like email, Instant Messaging, VoIP and video conferencing can contribute to a drop in business communications costs. Some local businesses have already started using these solutions to the detriment of local voice providers as is evidenced in a report by the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) in which it highlights a 15% drop in Mobile Network Operator (MNO) revenue in the first quarter of 2014 due to customers preferring cheaper data based services. Through a Pay as You Grow model, Cloud computing services like Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS) can also save businesses up to 50% of associated IT costs of an on-premises Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system for 100 users over four years. Instead of investing in expensive accounting, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and management software licenses and servers; with Cloud computing all one needs is an Internet connection to access a remotely hosted software package on a subscription basis. Manpower outsourcing through online applications like freelancer.com has also allowed companies to cut labour costs through allowing access to cheap, skilled global labour on a per need basis; some companies have had their logo’s designed for as little as $25 on freelancer.com. Other than just cutting costs, increased broadband access has also caused the birth of new cost effective marketing channels which are not limited by geographical boundaries like Search Engine Optimisation, Search Engine Advertising and In-App Advertising whilst data mining has made marketing efforts more targeted. Online Close Circuit Television (CCTV) monitoring and has also contributed to reduction in leakages through enhancing security and shop floor monitoring. Recent research proved that CCTV cameras led to a 35% reduction of crime in the town of Gillingham, UK. Through mobile apps which connect directly to on site CCTV cameras, business owners can now monitor their businesses from anywhere as long as one has an Internet connection, thus ensuring revenue assurance and minimizing leakages through theft and fraud. Going Green In 2013 alone $18 billion worth of goods were exported worldwide compared to $12.8 billion in 2009 whilst $19 billion were imported compared to $12.6 in 2009. This spike is evidence of a growing global market which needs to be exploited by businesses to grow; however exploiting such markets involves a lot of costly travel which also contributes to global carbon emissions. Luckily broadband technologies such video conferencing, through applications like Skype and GoTo Meeting are now allowing multiple people from different parts of the world to meet virtually, ultimately cutting traveling costs and contri-
bution to global carbon emissions. Through online file sharing and storage applications, documents can now be stored centrally and shared easily; thus reducing the need to print, ultimately saving the little trees we have left. On average more than one million files are saved to Dropbox (an online storage service) every 3 minutes whilst 500 million files are saved daily by its 50 million registered users. Imagine the number of trees we would have to cut down if all these files were to be printed and shared via conventional methods. Lastly, three dimensional (3D) printing has the potential to reduce factory carbon emissions from manufacturing plants as people will be able to download and print what they conventionally had to buy from a manufacturer. 3D printing continues to make inroads into different industries, including construction, aerospace, automotive and the medical technology industry. Its current value is sitting at $3.8 billion and is projected to be $16.2 billion in 2018; all thanks to increasing Internet speeds which now allow download of massive 3D image files. People Telecommuting made possible by video conferencing, Instant Messaging and near ubiquitous Internet access has improved productivity of staff, responsiveness of companies and made working hours more flexible for professionals trying to balance work and family life. Increasing availability of online courses and video tutorials has generally made employees more competent. According to research by US News, 6.7million students have enrolled in at least one online course and close to 62% of all colleges in the world offer online courses. This growth in workforce competence is good for organisational productivity and can all be attributed to growth in broadband connectivity. Other than making employees more productive, social media in the work place is also strengthening social ties between employees whilst satisfying employee’s social needs, remember Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs. Faced with increasing global competition and a shrinking economy, now is the time for Zimbabwean businesses to leverage off broadband connectivity for sustainable business models. However, due diligence should be exercised when selecting Internet service providers, as some applications will not work on bad connections. Factors to consider when choosing a service provider include connection speed, reliability and availability of support. Organisations should also take online security seriously through installing firewalls on networks and implementing robust Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies.
Article by Ngonidzashe Katsamba Ngonidzashe.Katsamba@dandemutande.co.zw Tel: 791675-8