CIO East Africa July 2016 Edition

VOL 8 | ISSUE 5 | www.cio.co.ke

Michael

Njenga

How Subaru is espousing on technology to drive confidence in motion & LEADERSHIP: 28 ITNadeem Juma Chairman and CEO of AIM Group Tanzania

June 2016

IN TECH : 30 WOMEN Tech Dada

:

In partnership with

COMESA & GOVERNMENT OF RWANDA

Delivering international trade and investment to Africa’s most dynamic region

5-6 September 2016

Kigali Convention Centre, Rwanda

1,000 global and regional investors

Heads of state from COMESA, SADC and EAC

Regional investment opportunities

Investors managing US$200 billion

Developing trade and investment corridors in the TFTA region

Attracting investment and private sector players to enhance physical infrastructure

Creating an environment that enables harmonisation through policy and regulation

Registration now open TGAISComesaRwanda.com Exclusive US$400 rate for African delegates Under the patronage of His Excellency Paul Kagame, President, Republic of Rwanda

4

Kenya

Uganda

Tanzania

Rwanda

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Harry Hare EDITOR Davis Weddi TECHNICAL STAFF WRITERS Lillian Mutegi Baraka Jefwa Jeanette Oloo COLUMNISTS Bobby Yawe Sam Mwangi HEAD OF SALES & MARKETING Andrew Karanja BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Njambi Waruhiu ACCOUNT MANAGERS Amuyunzu Oscar Vanessa Obura SUBSCRIPTION & EVENTS Ellen Magembe Mellisa Dorsila DESIGN Jean Bedell Published By

Printed By:

Offset Printing Ltd. Contacts

eDevelopment House : 604 Limuru Road Old Muthaiga : P O Box 49475 00100 Nairobi : Kenya +254 725 855 249, Email: info@cio.co.ke

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED The content of CIO East Africa is protected by copyright law, full details of which are available from the publisher. While great care has been taken in the receipt and handling of material, production and accuracy of content in this magazine, the publisher will not accept any responsility for any errors, loss or ommisions which may occur.

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

Don’t be deceived, SaaS is now here to stay!

To some CIOs, this is the time to do a quick mid-year review for projects... Anyway, if the project was pointed at IT security or if it was a Software as a Service (SaaS) project, this still, might be a right time to pose and look up the pointers and indicators for either progress or decline.

While the new digital business environment offers huge potential for organisations to transform delivery of services and products through innovation, CIOs must remain very aware of the risks resulting from this innovation while running business aspirations. Of course, creating trust and resilience are key to seizing opportunities and reducing risks. There is a need consider and appreciate new ways of operating in order to remain relevant.

Now, at CIO.COM, it was recently reported that enterprises have an average 461 cloud apps running in their organisations where line-of-business managers hesitate to tell the CIO out of fear of being blocked. If CIOs can remove this fear, everyone, it turns out, will benefit. It is reported that a whopping 85 percent of those apps aren’t enterpriseready even though many are business critical given that the apps span everything from CRM to business intelligence to software development. Now, CIOs wanting to block these rogue cloud apps face an uphill battle. Why? Because Blocking doesn’t work, blocking breaks business process. Check for yourself. For the CIO, It Is imperative to stay on top of security concerns in today’s changing world.

In this July 2016 edition of CIO East Africa, we bring your some insightful features around SaaS and IT security in East Africa.

One of our columnists cautions on the issue of Cloud computing – he says those just planning to get into Cloud Computing, make sure you get the basics right, of course he has listed the most popular ‘levels’ of cloud computing with SaaS toping his list. Another columnist says both

large and small problems will be resolved through rapid adoption of SaaS and that the economic gains are quite tangible.

However, while we smile at the prospect of the good things that come with SaaS, there is a potential of bad news along the way – data breaches are becoming ever common and the worse news along those lines is that the cost the breaches represent for companies affected is going through the roof. The CEO of Interswitch Ltd in Kenya, knows what it means to face off with digital attackers. So, CIOs just so you know, do not blink your eyes in the face of this deadly prospect. There are millions of daily user SaaS applications in companies around the world today that empowers their people, process and production. In the end, we can believe SaaS mitigates risks, can save money for businesses, allows organisations to focus on their core value generation, and is capital efficient. Unless these advantages disappear - it is here to stay.

In this edition we have talked to an IT leader from Tanzania, we also bring you news about women who are teaching other women in slums and rural area how to write code and create online businesses in Kenya.

This time we talked to a CIO in the automotive industry. Mr. Michael Njenga has shared his vision and experiences through a journey of transformation at Subaru Kenya.

The new half of 2016 is moving fast, enjoy reading CIO East Africa and please do not forget to throw us a word!

scan for contacts

5 “When I joined Subaru Kenya we had what was termed as an IT Strategic Framework but we have transitioned this to a Digital Transformation Framework.

The Digital Transformation Framework guides us in respect to five core elements namely People, Governance, Applications, Technology Infrastructure and Business context. This gives us a holistic approach in how we adopt and integrate technology in our business. Digital transformation in our experience is largely about culture so People are truly a key ingredient in this transition.

Michael Njenga, CIO Subaru Kenya

“As a Tanzanian, we definitely face stiff competition from Kenya that has begun the process of creating a culture for innovation.

Kenya Techpreneurs are good at advertising what they do and are good at monetizing technology. It also has a much more educated working population, so you will often see Kenyans in management positions in Tanzania. On the other hand Tanzania has a lot of techpreneurs but the problem is lack of realization on how to monetize technology,”

Nadeem Juma the cofounder and Chairman of AIM Group-Tanzania.

FROM OUR ONLINE LOCATIONS Most popular read stories on the website Interactive Intelligence South Africa Sells Support Service Division UoN launches centre of excellence in media, communications Kenya ranked 69th on global cybersecurity Threat Index, it’s a good thing New United Nations study finds digital payments to Ebola response workers saved lives ICANN’s 7th Global Engagement Centre to open on Tuesday in Nairobi

Top 5: Facebook reach Most Close to 2000 Easy Taxi drivers to be absorbed in Safaricom’s partnership with Craftsillicon Draft on Kenya’s ICT Policy now ready for stakeholders validation “Is the function of enterprise architecture dead or dying as enterprises choose lean models to run their enterprises? Why would enterprises have layers of architects when they actually own no systems, data centres, physical retail stores or production plants etc? We may ask. Looking at the modelling based on the approach of business>applications->data->technology to enterprise architecture, it means three quarters of the work of an architect has been / will be shaved off the enterprise.

“To avoid disappointments with cloud computing initiatives, it’s imperative for organizations to first layout the ground work and get the basics right. The first step is to develop a Cloud Computing strategy that amongst other things articulates the proposed approach, risks, resources, integration, security and connectivity. It’s equally important for an organization to appreciate the different levels of cloud computing and tailor make the levels with the organizational needs.”

Peter Muya.

James Muritu.

Complaints website launched in Kenya Kenya to host 2016 Global ICT capacity building symposium Kenya Bankers sets up Payment Digital Solutions firm to enhance industry’s interoperability

5 most retweeted items on CIO EA’s Twitter Account CS Rotich: 1.7 million Kenyans are registered on the e-citizen platform, Kshs 4.2bn has been collected through the platform #Budget2016 CS Rotich to table Kshs 2.3trillion budget in parliament this afternoon. How much of this will be allocated to ICT projects?#BudgetKe Oracle, CIO EA to host inaugural Africa Security Summit in Tanzania - CIO East Africa http://cio.co.

Mobile money could give Kenyan entrepreneurs a business boost - CIO East Africa http://cio.co.ke/blog/ mobile-moneyCome discover the next big thing in IT Security at he #AfricaSec2016 Summit in Dar-Es-Salaam June 29-30 http://goo.gl/TWuXRn @OracleKE

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

6

GuestEDITORIAL

By Delano Longwe

Simplifying Service The World as a whole is moving to simplified environments at a rate and pace never quite anticipated as recently as 10 years ago when we began to talk about the mass rollout of virtualized technology.

In today’s world we see traditional bureaucratic barriers falling away to pave a path into typically, highly sophisticated and yet simple to use services. Software as a Service (SaaS) defines that pathway where even Core Banking seems to be on the move into the Cloud. Whereas previously most organizations would shudder at the thought of inhabiting the same physical space with a competitors hardware due to advances in SaaS multi-tenancy and security as well as perimeter layering, industry verticals are beginning to congeal in SaaS environments in an ‘us vs. the world’ model. Many large corporations are doing so inadvertently hardly noticing the transition due to the fact that they have become totally inebriated at the joy of simplicity in experience even with just the thought of a previously arduous task, operation or process made smooth and seamless through a new service deployed simply and easily with the greatest of ease.

The most wonderful Vertical SaaS example we have of this currently is in the Education sector with the Laptops for Schools project which envisions every single Standard One child in Kenya having technology in hand.

Maturity of the model came hard and fast following the vast challenges experienced in trying to push traditional laptop type solutions and our children now are the beneficiaries of future proof robust and resilient tablets which are simple to use and update as well as upgrade from a SaaS perspective. Who said that they needed to type on traditional keyboards in the first place?

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

“Vertical-specific software represented the largest segment of the worldwide software market in 2014 with $114 Billion in revenues (Gartner, March 2015)”.

Not only is there light at the end of the tunnel in the SaaS world the actual tunnel seems to be expanding quite rapidly and is beginning to look like a very large brilliantly lit gateway with the onset of dynamic technology finding its way into SaaS oriented architecture. Previously even the news that large corporates had like Kenya Airways had moved large portions of their environment and were enjoying the benefits of doing so came as quite a shocker to many industry and technical leaders but then made perfect sense in the global market that the Airline was beginning to dominate from an African continent perspective. The sheer delight of freed environments has a very noticeable impact and the fact that many of us have benefited unknowingly from these services is a stamp of approval for the fact that not only does SaaS work, it works wonderfully well in the African environment.

The other aspect that brings in the dynamism is that future tech has found a new home in SaaS as we now witness deployments of Artificial Intelligence, Deep Learning, Machine Learning, Predictive API’s, Image and Speech recognition becoming part of the SaaS landscape. These impact us every day unknowingly as we us platforms like Google, Facebook et al and as we travel around the world they are applied in security, healthcare, education, insurance and many other Horizontal SaaS environments. ‘Jihadi John’ the terrorist was identified, verified, Geolocated and eliminated using SaaS

solutions speech recognition being one of them. Both large and small problems will be resolved through rapid rollout and adoption of Software as a Service and the economic gains are quite tangible.

As we carefully consider the new worlds we are walking into the examples of the Rwandese and Kenyan governments thinking into cross generational investments through Laptop for Schools projects begins to take on an even greater dimension of thought. What will life be like in the next 10, 30 and 50 years?

Certainly nowhere near where it is today.

Let’s have the same thoughts for the technology environments where we live, work and play in today. Let’s invest in our future and simplify services. A famous Sudanese proverb says:

We desire to bequeath two things to our children; the first one is roots, the other one is wings.’

JULY 2016

CONTENTS Cover Story:

Michael Njenga

7

18

How Subaru is espousing on technology to drive confidence in motion InBrief - 6 Appointments - 7 Regional RoundUP - 8 - 9

Start up CORNER

IT AND LEADERSHIP

TRENDLINES

10

Cost of a data breach: $4 million.

Benefits of responding quickly: Priceless.

11

Cloud computing costs to stabilise as more vendors enter the region

20

34

Sage masters the East African SaaS markets

Gov’t and Private sector helping to develop startups

OPINION

34 36 38

Gov’t and Private sector helping to develop startups Data Security on Mobile Devices

Women & TECH

What To Consider When Building A Business Mobile App In Kenya

28

HARD TALK

30

40

Out of sight is not out of mind

NADEEM JUMA

Chairman and CEO of AIM Group Tanzania

TECH DADA CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

8

InBRIEF

Dell unveils Africa’s fastest computer Dell has unveiled a supercomputer at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in Cape Town, South Africa, aimed at stimulating research and the private sector economy in the nation. It is nicknamed Lengau, meaning “cheetah” in Tswana, and is the fastest on the continent, the company announced. The machine’s creators boasted its high capacity and rapid operating system is capable of doing 2.5 teraflops, which is 2.5 trillion operations per second. The 40,000-core 19 rack system has the capability to store 5PB. It may be the fastest in Africa but not the fastest in the world, a title that was held by China’s Tianhe-2 for the fifth consecutive year in a row in 2015. Having the fastest supercomputer has become something of a point of pride for international powers, and U.S. President Barack Obama issued an executive order in 2015 to have the fastest supercomputer built by 2025.

Africa to maintain top Mobile Money position While strong adoption in China will continue to boost the mobile payment market in Asia Pacific, making it the leading market globally in terms of volume, Africa will maintain its numero uno position in terms of value. The tremendous success of M-Pesa in Kenya has influenced consumers and businesses in other African countries to adopt mobile money, leading to a rapid increase in the Africa mobile payment market. Africa currently accounts for nearly 32% revenue share of the global mobile money market, with a subscriber base of over 100 million. Outside of Asia Pacific and Africa, the U.S. and Western Europe remain the other lucrative regions for mobile payment transaction market globally.

While mobile payment transactions will continue to grow, existing challenges, such as slow adoption of smartphone compatible POS systems by retailers will continue to impede growth. “While a 42% volume growth looks staggering,

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

LTE equipment party is over, as carrier spending drops For the first time since LTE technology hit the mainstream in 2012, the worldwide market for carrier wireless equipment has declined, according to a report released today by IHS Technology.

The decline, moreover, is a sharp one, the report said – the global market for macrocell infrastructure dropped by 18% in the first quarter of 2016, down to $10 billion overall. The mobile infrastructure sector in general was down 8% in the same time frame, and LTE equipment specifically dropped by 23% on a quarterly basis.

The downturns were seen across the globe, with only Japan, Mexico and North America in general working against the trend. Among the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), only India has been a relatively strong market for carrier hardware over the past year, but it also saw a downturn in the first quarter of 2016 thanks to issues of available spectrum and agreements among national carriers, according to IHS. In counterpoint, however, the market for the software that runs on carrier hardware continued to expand, the researchers said, driven largely by LTE Advanced upgrades. Software sales grew by 17 percent over the past year to reach $15.2 billion, and IHS predicts that the trend will continue, with annual sales of software for 2G/3G/4G radios to reach $23 billion by 2020.

Among hardware vendors, the report found that Ericsson was the top seller of 2G/3G/4G radios in the first quarter of 2016, with Huawei in second place and the newly combined Nokia/Alcatel-Lucent entity in third. Nokia/ALU was top, however, of the LTE market, with Huawei again in second place.

Android owners losing interest in social media apps Android users spend less time with social media apps than they did just a year ago, according to a new report from SimilarWeb, a company that measures website and app performance. The total amount of time people spent using the four leading Android social apps — Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter — dropped in seven of the nine countries included in SimilarWeb’s study, which compared the time users spent with the four apps year-over-year during the first quarter of 2016. The time Android users spent on Facebook increased in Germany and Spain from 2015 to 2016, but people in Australia, Brazil, France, India, South Africa, United Kingdom and the United States used the site less than they did a year ago, according to SimilarWeb. Some of the usage drops were negligible, such as Snapchat usage in Brazil, which dipped from 11.23 minutes to 11.10 minutes. Others were more substantial. For example, time spent on Twitter in France decreased by 34 percent, from an average of 19.8 minutes during the first quarter of 2015 to 13.12 minutes during 2016’s initial quarter, according to the report.

there’s more to what meets the eye. Apart from a few countries, consumers haven’t fully embraced mobile payments, in spite of its relatively better security features.

However, given the enormous advantages mobile money offers over traditional payment options, it won’t be long before mobile payments become as ubiquitous as credit cards”, said a Future Markets Insight report.

NewAPPOINTMENTS

From Dimension Data to South Africa’s Transnet

Former Orascom CFO takes over Telkom Kenya

Shuter exits Vodafone, enters MTN

Aldo Mareuse has been appointed the Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors of Telkom Kenya.

Announcing the appointment, Eddy Njoroge, Chairman of Telkom Kenya’s Board of Directors said, “As Telkom Kenya (TK) enters a new phase of development, the Telkom Kenya Board and I are confident that Mr. Mareuse is best suited to lead the company through the transformation.” Mareuse is an Engineer by profession, with 26 years’ experience in the telecommunications sector. He was Managing Partner of Accelero Capital, a telecoms fund management group he co-founded to invest in the telecommunications. Prior to that, he was Group Chief Financial Officer of Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH) and Wind Telecom Group. While there he was instrumental in its growth from a mid-sized regional mobile operator with 4 million subscribers in 2002 into a global operator with 100 million subscribers across 4 continents that ultimately merged with VimpelCom Ltd, to create one of the world’s largest telecommunications carriers.

Before joining OTH, He was MD at the Investment Banking Division of Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) and also held other senior management positions in Paris, New York and London.

Rob Shuter is the new Group President and CEO at MTN Group. He commences work in 2017 after the completion of his current contractual obligations.

Rob, a South African national, is the current CEO of the European Cluster at Vodafone Group and has extensive experience in telecoms and banking having held senior management roles at Vodacom Group, Standard Bank and Nedbank prior to joining Vodafone Group. MTN says Rob will bring experience and new insights to the CEO role having had many years in the telecoms sector both in Africa and Europe as well as in banking where his expertise will help as MTN continues to develop its new business strategy.

Another appointment at MTN is that of Godfrey Motsa who is appointed by the countries in the South and East Africa EA Region (excluding South Africa) to oversee the operations in those regions with effect from 1 July 2016. Godfrey joins from Vodacom where he was Chief Officer for Consumer Business. He was previously CEO of Vodacom DRC Congo and CEO of Vodacom Lesotho.

He brings 10 years of experience of telecoms in the region to MTN. He has various other commercial experience.

Ms. Makano Mosidi formerly CIO at Dimention Data has been appointed as CIO of one of South Africa’s biggest parastatals‚ Transnet. She took office June 1 and she has been tasked with driving Transnet’s digital strategy and innovation. Transnet chief executive Siyabonga Gama said, “...She is specifically tasked with enabling the Transnet business to standardise and rationalise the information technology environment in its railways‚ ports and pipelines business.” She has extensive experience in the private sector‚ primarily IT consulting. She has worked at global technology solutions firm IBM and services and advisory firms Ernst & Young and Accenture‚ among others.

Dandemutande appoints Nhena Nyagura CEO Dandemutande has announced the appointment of Nhena Nyagura as the Chief Executive Officer to lead the business following its merger in 2015 with iWayAfrica Zimbabwe and Africa Online. He has over 18 years’ experience in the technology industry, gained locally and with the top ICT companies in the USA. He was previously the Head of Business for iWayAfrica and Acting Regional Manager for Africa Online, where he was responsible for strategy formulation and execution. This saw the transformation of iWayAfrica Zimbabwe from a consumer centric operator into one of Zimbabwe’s largest and most trusted corporate services provider. He holds a BSc in Computer Information Systems and is currently pursuing an MBA with the University of Gloucestershire.

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

9

10

Regional ROUNDUP

JEANETTE OLOO

Airtel Tanzania, Facebook launch an online campaign to narrow digital divide The campaign dubbed in Kiswahili “Bila salio wala MB” which means neither credit nor data charges is aimed at connecting Airtel customers with phones that connect to the internet to Facebook, Messenger.

“In this day and age, internet is very important and it has brought a lot of development in our communities and the world economy. Our objective is to connect as many individuals to the Internet and introduce them to the opportunities of growth. We are confident that offering Free Basics with FREE Facebook is a first good step to achieve this purpose,” said Airtel Tanzania’s Chief Commercial Officer, Arindam Chakrabarty during the launch.

CEO Airtel Segun Ogunsanya, Ebele Okobi, Ime Archibong and Markku Makelainen (Photo credits http://www.itrealms.com.ng) Airtel Tanzania and Facebook launched free Facebook for Airtel customers in a new campaign aimed at narrowing digital divide through increasing internet access and unlock new opportunities.

Free Basics is a set of local Swahili and international websites in Tanzania providing health, education, news, and finance-related information to people so that they can make informed choices and decisions to improve their lives. Free Facebook is the most popular social media platform in the world, allowing customers to engage and share moments with their friends and family.

According to a statement from Airtel, Having our customers access these sites at no cost will open up more opportunities for millions of people, allow them to stay connected, and grow their potential from the wealth of information available on the Internet.

Standard Chartered rolls out new Mobile and Online banking platform Standard Chartered Bank has brought its newest mobile and online banking platform to one million clients across eight African markets, the most extensive digital rollout of its kind in Africa by an international bank. Supported by the Bank’s global-standard technology, clients now enjoy a consistent online experience across laptops, tablets or mobile phones, and the convenience of banking from the location of their choice. Following a rollout in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe in the first half of 2016, the Bank will launch fingerprint recognition technology in these markets later in the year, giving clients a more secure and convenient way to log in to their accounts.

“We’re bringing the best in mobile banking to Africa – consumers across the continent are increasingly affluent and tech-savvy and they want convenient access to their bank, wherever they happen to be,” said Karen Fawcett, Standard Chartered’s CEO for Retail Banking. “Africa is important to Standard Chartered and this launch is another demonstration of that.”

“We are committed to making banking easier, faster and safer for our more than 1 million retail clients across Africa,” commented Jaydeep Gupta, Standard Chartered’s regional head of Retail Banking for Africa and the Middle East. “This multi-country rollout is in line with our promise to bring world-class products and

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

functionality to Africa, consistent with the trends and progress we are making in our international markets in Asia and the Middle East. By early next year, we expect at least 35% of all client transactions to be done through online channels; significantly advancing the transformation of banking in Africa.”

The Bank last year announced it will invest $1.5bn in technology globally over three years. It’s retail banking business serves the banking needs of nearly 10 million individual and business clients globally, through more than 1,000 branches, 5,000 ATMS and a range of digital and staff-assisted channels.

This online and mobile banking platform puts Standard Chartered at the forefront of digital banking technology in Africa and the first international bank to extend a brand-new global platform to eight countries in one rollout. In Kenya and Nigeria, the bank also recently launched the Retail Workbench, a tablet-based sales-and-service tool that “brings the bank to clients.” Retail Workbench allows sales staff can open an account for a client in any location and makes banking services like loan approvals and credit card issuance fast, simple and completely paperless.

Zimbabwe and Zambia have also launched digital branches, revolutionising traditional branch formats.

Regional ROUNDUP

Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa 2016 to be held in Uganda the most number of countries so far.

These deliberations come as various African countries witness a slide in online freedom of expression and association, as well as breaches of the rights to privacy and access to information.

The Forum provides a unique opportunity to deliberate and build a network of supporters of internet freedom in Africa.

According to the 2015 FIFEA report : Africa has registered a rise in abuses and attacks on internet freedom, including a proliferation of laws, legal and extralegal affronts, as well as limited judicial oversight over surveillance and interception of communications.

However, there is widespread lack of knowledge on what constitutes internet freedom, coupled with limited skills and information about threats to online safety.

The Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa is scheduled to take place on September 27–29, 2016 in Kampala, Uganda.

A key highlight at the Forum is the launch of the State of Internet Freedom in Africa report that captures trends on internet freedom in select African countries. The 2016 report will cover

The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), under the OpenNet Africa initiative, held the second Forum on Internet Freedom in East Africa where Crystal Simeoni, Projects Coordinator with Hivos East Africa noted that East African governments are increasingly effecting controls on the use of the internet under the guise of fighting terrorism, child pornography and cybercrime. She added that this is a practice that needs to stop for the internet to be fully recognised as a valuable tool for development.

With just a few clicks , do more with our Standard Chartered Mobile App Manage your finances at your finger tips.

Our Mobile Banking App gives you the freedom to bank from anywhere, like never before.

You can do this and more: • View your banking portfolio at a glance - accounts, loans and credit cards • Make credit card payments • Transfer funds in real time • Set up and manage beneficiaries • Schedule payments We are committed to enhancing your experience with us.

Download the Mobile Banking App from the App Store Or Play Store and log in using your online banking details.

Call 020 329 3900 or visit our website for more information.

sc.com/ke Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Ltd is regulated by Central Bank of Kenya.

11

12

TrendLINES

By KATHERINE NOYES

Cost of a data breach: $4 million.

Benefits of responding quickly: Priceless.

The bad news is that data breaches are becoming ever more common. The worse news is that the cost they represent for companies is going through the roof.

Those are two conclusions from a study released Wednesday by IBM Security and the Ponemon Institute, which found that the average cost of a data breach has grown to US $4 million. That’s a hefty jump compared with last year’s $3.79 million, and it represents an increase of almost 30 percent since 2013.

“Data breaches are now a consistent ‘cost of doing business’ in the cybercrime era,” said Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of the Ponemon Institute, a research firm focused on security. “The evidence shows that this is a permanent cost organizations need to be prepared to deal with and incorporate in their data protection strategies.”

The annual Cost of a Data Breach study examines both direct and indirect costs to companies in dealing with a single data breach incident. Based on in-depth interviews with nearly 400 companies across the globe, the study includes costs associated with breach response activities as well as reputational damage and the cost of lost business.

This year’s data uncovered a 64 percent increase in reported security incidents between 2014 and 2015.

Meanwhile, the study found that companies now lose some $158 per compromised record. In highly regulated industries like healthcare, the damage is even worse, reaching $355 per record.

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

Incident forensics, communications, legal expenditures, and regulatory mandates account for the bulk of that cost.

IBM Security, which sponsored the survey, obviously has an interest in the results. At the same time, it’s hard to argue with its recommendations, which include a coordinated and automated response plan along with access to the right resources and skills.

Having an incident response team can reduce the cost of a data breach by nearly $400,000 on average, the study’s authors said. Moreover, speed makes a difference. The study found that the average time to identify a breach was 201 days; the average time to contain it was 70 days.

In general, breaches that were identified in fewer than 100 days cost companies an average of $3.23 million, whereas those found after the 100-day mark cost $4.38 million.

Companies with business continuity management (BCM) processes in place were ahead there, discovering breaches 52 days earlier and containing them 36 days faster than companies without, according to the study’s authors.

The author - Katherine Noyes is Senior U.S. Correspondent (IDGNS).

Katherine Noyes has been an ardent geek ever since she first conquered Pyramid of Doom on an ancient TRS-80. Today she covers enterprise software in all its forms, with an emphasis on cloud computing, big data, analytics and artificial intelligence.

TrendLINES

13

BARAKA JEFWA

Cloud computing costs to stabilise as more vendors enter the region Richard Hechle, Managing Director (IS) Kenya.

Cloud computing costs in the East African region are set to stabilise as more vendors offering cloud services enter the market.

This was said by Richard Hechle, Managing Director (IS) Kenya, during an interview with CIO East Africa, while speaking on whether SMEs in East Africa can afford SAAS products, Mr. Hechle said that ITAAS solutions are readily affordable and that as more vendors enter the Kenyan market the cost will become rationalised.

“The cost of acquisition depends on the scale of the solution you require. What makes the cloud more affordable for SME’s is that it takes their business from a capex model to an opex model; we have redefined this business model to show people, and particularly business owners, that they don’t have to invest large amounts of capital in equipment.

This allows them to concentrate on their core business,” he added.

Dimension Data (DD), through its subsidiary Internet Solutions, acquired Access Kenya in 2014 for around Ksh.3.05 Billion. Since then the company has been operating as both Internet Solutions and Access Kenya with clients having different solutions from either party.

“What we’re doing now is integrating the business and growing all facets related to the provision of ICT solutions. We are investing about Ksh. 750M per annum in growing our business in Kenya and in the East Africa region,” said Mr. Hechle.

According to Mr. Hechle, IS Kenya is currently not in the SAAS space but

offers a host of ITAAS solutions which include Managed Hosting (Collocation), Shared Hosting (Virtualization),Hosted Email and Offsite Backup. As a business that is owned by DD the company is working on a collaborative model with its parent company, complementing their service offering in the market.

“We exist as Internet Solutions (IS) and Dimension Data (DD) in the market each offering expertise in different solutions.

To tap into each other’s expertise we’re currently running a joint initiative that we are calling ‘Better Together’ where DD and IS are working more collaboratively to meet our client needs. Where DD has strength in system integration then we go in with their expertise and where IS Kenya has strength in connectivity and Infrastructure As A Service (ITAAS)we do the same”, added Mr. Hechle.

Amongst the benefits you get from adopting cloud solutions are very low to zero capex, a very flexible opex model that allow pay per use, increased and improved security, a much quicker road to market, and greater ease of adoption.

“At IS Kenya, we’re able to achieve greater uptime owing to a host of measures that we have in place. For instance we have redundant power installations that ensure our service is always up and redundant connections to the major undersea carriers. Our backbone infrastructure has availability built into it with physically separate

routes to redirect traffic.”

“We are constantly improving our security infrastructure by employing the latest security framework for the safety of our client data,” Mr. Hechle continued.

IS Kenya offers a broad portfolio of ITAAS solutions in East Africa. In addition to the current product portfolio, IS South Africa recently launched the world’s BIGGEST cloud which can be accessed through a single service platform called SkyLight. This platform will give clients on-demand access to a range of cloud platforms from the Internet Solutions Public Cloud, Amazon EC2, Dimension Data Cloud and Microsoft Azure. The service will be made available in the East African Market in the very near future.

Additional developments on the business are that IS Kenya is working on a Joint Venture with Continuity SA to offer Business Continuity Management (BCM) expertise in East Africa and is in the process of registering Continuity East Africa to help drive the BCM agenda in the region.

Internet Solutions (IS) acquired Continuity SA, to provide clients with a greater depth of business continuity management services and information technology (IT) disaster recovery services, data replication, syndicated hardware and work-area recovery services.

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

14

TrendLINES

JOHN E DUNN

A DDoS extortion attack – how one company decided to take a stand

On Friday, June 10, a member of the IT team at German payments processor Computop retrieved an email sent to one of the company’s public addresses threatening to hit the firm’s customer websites with a massive DDoS attack if a ransom of 15 Bitcoins (about £7,900) was not paid to the attackers by June 15.

The attackers had launched a smaller demo DDoS to prove their intent, the email said, something IT staff confirmed after checking monitoring systems. This was clearly a threat with the capability to do serious damage.

“If you decide not to pay, we will start the attack at the indicated date and uphold it until you do, there’s no counter measure to this. You will only end up wasting more money trying to find a solution.,” the email warned in broken English.

Computop’s engineers confirmed that an attack of 80-90Gbits/s would be more than enough to cause an outage to the platform and anyone in its vicinity in the datacentre.

“We don’t want to hide behind a wall of silence and are determined to keep you in the loop with regard to what’s been going on,” wrote Gladis in a second follow-up email sent a matter of hours before the DDoS deadline was due to expire.

“DDoS attacks happen every day, and they can hit each and every one of us. Which is why we should take advantage of our community of business partners - stick together, learn from each other and ensure we are prepared for when the s**t hits the fan.”

GOING PUBLIC

When Computop’s CEO Ralf Gladis heard of the threat he was tempted to pay up. But after speaking to contacts in the industry over the weekend instead he resolved to do something rare and, frankly, quite extraordinary.

Gladis probably didn’t consider it at the time but he was making history. Companies hit by or threatened with DDoS attacks rarely talk about their experiences and absolutely never put such information into the public domain prior to an attack. It just isn’t done. Business wisdom says that it’s just too much of a reputational risk and might even seriously annoy the attackers.

It’s almost as if the industry sees the attack as being the victim’s fault.

Instead of simply ordering his company to defend itself in conventional fashion he was going to write to all 5,000 of Computop’s customers and partners telling them that on 15 June his firm’s website was likely to be hit with a DDoS attack big enough to cause everyone serious problems.

Fired by the liberation of disclosure, Gladis and Computop decided to go a stage further and publish a detailed account of their experience complete with lessons for other firms that might one day find themselves in the same predicament [Computerworld will link to this when it is posted online].

“We will completely destroy your reputation amongst Google and your customers and make sure your website will remain offline until you pay.”

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

TrendLINES

15

STAFF WRITER

What seems to have crystallised the unusual decision to go public was a simple discovery.

Not only was Computop fighting back against DDoS extortionists it was also party to a botnet take-down.

“If you investigate you find out that they [DDoS attackers] target our industry,” Gladis told Computerworld UK. DDoS extortion threats were routinely being sent to other firms in the German payments sector, he realised, but nobody seemed prepared to discuss this open secret.

Computop’s story stands as a remarkable refutation to the idea that security is best served by secrecy. In fact, as Gladis, suggests, secrecy is what makes these crimes more potent than they would otherwise be. When there is no learning, criminals are able to target companies one at a time, picking them off at will.

Sensing an opportunity to break a taboo it struck Gladis that this kind of secrecy might be precisely what the attackers thrived on. Having decided to defend itself, the firm came up with a plan of action.

“My first reaction we need to talk to our data centre because they will get as overwhelmed as much we will,” says Gladis.

“We have a trusted relationship with many important merchants all over the world. They trust us and to honour this and we have to let them know that there is a threat. Some of them might want to take precautions knowing that in two days there might be a problem with their payment processing.

“A lot of large retailers came back saying that they liked being given a heads up. Nobody complained.”

Having enlisted the support of the firm’s datacentre provider, that company in turn told its upstream providers. Then Computop hired an ethical hacking consultancy to advise it before taking the decision to use cloud DDoS sink-holing from Imperva’s Incapsula division.

“There is nothing to hide. This can happen to all of us. Better to talk about it and let people know,” he says. “Our customers will be better prepared than we were.”

COMPUTOP’S DDOS DEFENCE 101 The company has now published a more detailed set of recommendations for anyone who faces the same type of attack. Below we extract the main lessons but the published document offers more depth:

•

Inform your datacentre. This might seem obvious but it is critical that they know as soon as possible of the threat. When choosing a datacentre makes sure it is one that is open to helping in these situations.

•

Don’t pay the ransom and don’t communicate with the extortionists. “They might just attack anyway and ask for more money. They might come back under a new name. They might tell their friends that we are willing to pay.”

•

Reach out to your partners for advice. Many of them will have had similar experiences.

•

Don’t underestimate the usefulness of firewalls, including your datacentre’s upstream infrastructure. That filtering can lighten the load.

•

Consider using DDoS mitigation and expert consultants. It costs but the price is small compared to the protection it offers. Techies or pen-testers with experience in DDoS can also offer the sort of advice that saves valuable time, including how the attackers operate.

•

Phone the police. The Bavarian state police reacted extremely quickly to help defuse part of the extortionist’s botnet

DID THE PLAN WORK? The date and time for the promised attack came and went and nothing happend. Gladis was told by the company’s pentesters that the attackers would have been able to detect that the vulnerable servers were now within a mitigation cloud and probably simply backed off.

“We don’t want to look like heroes who have beaten the enemy. We were just well prepared.”

The attackers went elsewhere, most likely to less well defended targets.

THE STORY OF A DDOS EXTORTION ATTACK - FIREWALL CLUSTER A fascinating side detail is that at the time period of the threatened attack the company was still struggling with a new firewall cluster it had recently installed. This sort of infrastructure would normally help with e-commerce and website availability but the trouble was it wasn’t working as a single logical entity. In the nick of time, the firm’s IT team resolved the issue with a software update.

Did Gladis have any worries about being so open?

“We knew we were taking a slight risk but it’s worth it. It is about fighting criminals and complying and hiding is not going to help.”

Computop involved cyber police in the German state of Bavaria who were able to trace some of the IPs used in the demonstration attack launched by the extortion gang.

According to Gladis, police used police forces across Germany to visit the offices of the innocent companies in which rogue servers were operating, asking for them to be taken down.

We knew we were taking a slight risk but it’s worth it. It is about fighting criminals and complying and hiding is not going to help.

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

TrendLINES

16

Cloud adoption soars, but integration challenges remain The cloud has quickly become a mainstay in IT departments, with recent research from cloud solutions provider RightScale showing 93 percent of businesses using cloud technology in some form or another. But it’s not all smooth sailing after the initial migration and integration - many businesses find that the second wave of cloud adoption is just as rough as the first.

According to RightScale’s 2015 State of the Cloud report, which surveyed 930 IT professionals about their current adoption and future plans involving cloud computing, 88 percent of businesses are using public cloud technology and 63 percent are using private cloud. Eighty-two percent have a hybrid cloud strategy, up from 74 percent in 2014, a clear indication that the cloud has quickly become an essential ingredient of modern IT.

like marketing or CRM and instead rely on cloud technology for storing valuable data. The January 2015 research from cloud provider RightScale revealed 20 percent of respondents are running their enterprise workloads from the cloud and more than half - 55 percent - say their enterprise applications are built on cloud-friendly technology, giving businesses a lot of wiggle room to eventually move those to the cloud.

CompTIA’s Fifth Annual Trends in Cloud Computing Study, conducted in June and July 2014 and released in November 2014, polled 400 IT and business professionals in the United States who are involved in IT decision-making for their organizations; and executives from 400 U.S. IT firms. The data revealed that among companies that have progressed from the first experimental stage to a non-critical use stage, 28 percent rated the transition as requiring significant effort.

The CompTIA study found that, as of mid-2014, 59 percent of respondents used the cloud for storage; 48 percent used the cloud for business continuity and disaster recovery and 44 percent for security. That means increased pressure on CIOs to make sure their cloud architecture is secure, accessible and is efficient, and that it seamlessly integrates with other technology.

But among users that have moved from full production completely through the progression to a transformed IT stage, 63 percent rated the final transition as requiring significant effort.

Cloud integration challenges remain “The bulk of the cost and effort for any IT project is typically consumed by integration and cloud computing is no different - if anything, cloud integration may be even more challenging, as it requires web APIs that may be unfamiliar to the technical team,” says Seth Robinson, senior director, technology analysis, CompTIA in a statement about the research.

Further complicating matters, many businesses have moved beyond using the cloud for non-critical functions

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

Secondary migrations Sometimes that requires organizations to shift between public cloud providers, or to a hybrid model (with some data in a public cloud and some residing in on-premise systems) or even completely away from the cloud altogether, and each migration brings an additional wave of integration challenges. The CompTIA survey revealed that 44 percent of companies say they’ve moved either infrastructure or applications from one public cloud to another; 25 percent moved from a public cloud into a private cloud; and 24 percent moved from a public cloud back to an on-premise system.

The reasons for these secondary migrations vary. Users may be in search of better offerings and features, greater security, lower cost or a desire for open standards. “If companies are looking for greater compliance and

TrendLINES

SHARON FLORENTINE

corporate governanace, they may shift to a hybrid model to get the best of the both worlds. They’ll use the cloud for non-sensitive, non-critical information they can store cheaply. But they’ll keep sensitive data in a private cloud or on-premise so they have greater control. It’s a strategic decision they’re making,” says Arindam Ray Chaudhuri, COO, Agreeya Solutions.

IT takes a backseat This shift means that, instead of driving technology decisions that affect the business, IT departments are starting to take a backseat to business decisions mapping out the direction of IT, says Brett Gillett, public cloud lead at IT consulting and solutions provider Softchoice. “The strategic side of the business, all the way up to the C-suite has become more empowered.

IT has been in the drivers’ seat for so long, saying, ‘This is the technology we need to get business done,’ but now the C-suite is saying, ‘No, this is the direction we’re going.’ New business imperatives are dictating how companies use IT,” Gillett says.

The RightScale survey revealed that while 62 percent of respondents’ IT departments were still driving decisions about cloud technology, 43 percent say they offer a selfservice portal for general business users and 41 percent were planning such a portal.

These lines of business are incredibly empowered by the shift to the cloud, says Chaudhari. With a few mouse clicks, almost any department can access, purchase and use cloud-based technology, often without understanding how those applications or services will (or will not) integrate with an organization’s existing IT stack. “This is something IT departments are really struggling with - that separate lines of business and departments can just grab technology out of the cloud; they don’t have to wait for IT to come do something for them, they do it themselves,” says Chaudari.

Cloud architects are essential This creates even greater integration hassles; most non-IT end-users aren’t skilled at integration, scaling, provisioning and administrating technology, and IT must get involved after the fact, he says.

Organizations that successfully navigate the initial migration and the secondary integration challenges often find a dedicated cloud architect invaluable, says Gillett. Cloud architects have the necessary installation, scaling, provisioning, networking and administration skills, and are skilled in security best practices, as well.

“This is a crucial position for most organizations - there are lots of DevOps skills here, too. You need someone who can be a business analyst to help shape the direction IT is going as well as someone who can get in there, hands-on, and make all these systems work together,” Gillett says.

Though integration challenges remain long after organizations first make the jump to the cloud, it’s clear

17

that the technology is here to stay. Businesses who ride out the current storm and find the right balance of public, private and hybrid cloud solutions will gain a unique advantage over the competitors. “The primary takeaway from all this movement is that no one model is the best answer for every workload,” CompTIA’s Robinson says in the statement. “Companies will be utilizing every type of system as they find the multicloud approach that works for them.”

“The strategic side of the business, all the way up to the C-suite has become more empowered. IT has been in the drivers’ seat for so long, saying, ‘This is the technology we need to get business done,’ but now the C-suite is saying, ‘No, this is the direction we’re going.’ New business imperatives are dictating how companies use IT,” Gillett says.

The Author - Sharon Florentine is Senior Writer at CIO.com She covers IT careers, women in technology and diversity, as well as software, Agile, cloud tech, data center and security topics. She has written for CRN, eWEEK, Channel Insider and CIOInsight, among others. You can reach her at sflorentine@cio.com

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

18

TrendLINES

BARAKA JEFWA

A glimpse at the cyber security landscape in East Africa

A 2015 report by Serianu Cyber Threat Intelligence Team, dubbed: Kenya Cyber Security Report revealed that Kenyan firms lost Sh15 billion through cybercrime in 2014. According to the report the top 10 sectors that were most vulnerable to attacks in Kenya were as follows: Government, banking, financial services and mobile money, manufacturing, Sacco’s, telecommunications, Insurance, hospitality and professional services respectively.

(BYOD) policy, will need to prepare for this in their security strategy. It is necessary to apply the same level of security to mobile as required by traditional networks and PCs, and security professionals must have a coherent, over-arching threat management approach that addresses this.” Said Duncan Andenga, Country Manager, Check Point Kenya, during a media briefing held in Nairobi, Kenya.

“A data attack occurs when someone who is unauthorized is able to use data for a purpose that actually benefits him/her, for example the most common data attack we have now is ransomware,” said Bethwel Opil, Channel Sales Manager for East Africa, Kaspersky Lab, during an interview with CIO East Africa.

It is a weakness on the side of an organization when they purchase and install different solutions for different devices, some solutions might not work together nicely due to a lack of compatibility. For this Mr. Opil suggests that CIO’s look into purchasing solutions that have been built from scratch.

Mr. Opil noted that banks usually bear the brunt of data attacks.

According to a Deloitte 2013 Financial Crimes Survey report, Kenya and Tanzania lose more than $10 million, each, annually to fraud, while Uganda loses between $1 million (Shs2.4 billion) and $10 million (Shs24.9 billion).

What Governments are doing in fight against cyber crime

The new trends driving cyber crime Mr. Opil talked about the latest type of cyber attack taking root in the East African region mentioning targeted attacks as the new kid on the cyber attack block. One such example of malware used for targeted attacks is Red October which was uncovered by Kaspersky lab in January 2013.

“It is important for CIO’s to know this information because the way they were dealing with traditional attacks is different from how the will be dealing with targeted attacks,” He said.

Mr. Opil sighted education to the whole organization on matters cyber security as one of the ways CIO’s should look to securing their companies from threat. He also spoke about mobile devices saying that CIO’s should look into protecting the devices.

A recent quarterly analysis of the global Threat Index by Check Point Ltd revealed deep disparities in the potential for increased attacks as cyber-criminals target mobile devices in Africa.

“Individuals who run their businesses off mobile devices, as well as organisations which have a bring-your-own-device

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

According to Serianu’s report the government is the most vulnerable sector in Kenya, in terms of cyber attack. The government of Kenya, through the ministry of ICT, has thus taken to legislation to come up with solutions, by drafting a Cyber crime bill which is currently in the process of being passed.

According to Dr. Katherine Getao, ICT Secretary, Ministry of ICT, who during an interview with CIO East Africa said that one importance of a cyber crime bill is that, it helps countries work together to combat what is essentially a global problem.

According to Serianu’s report USA, China and Russia formed the highest number of attacks targeting the Kenyan Cyber Space in 2014.

“Due to the lucrative nature of Cyber crime many cyber criminals are not within the countries they are attacking. So most countries require a country to have strong cyber crime legislation so that they will cooperate with the country being attacked and capture and hence charge the cyber criminals,” added Dr. Getao.

One country is ahead in this regards, as in June 15, 2015, it was widely reported that Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, signed into law the Cyber Crimes Bill, 2015. The Act criminalizes and penalizes a number of cyber activities, including: data espionage, publication of child pornography, publication of false information and many others.

BANKING ON NETWORK CAPABILITY The banking and finance sector is increasingly looking towards network partners such as Liquid Telecom to not only deliver connectivity, but to help drive innovation across their operations.

Shouldn’t your business too?

he banking and finance sector has always had to act fast to keep up with the ever-changing demands of its customers.

T

of physical infrastructure. Access to commercial bank branches and ATMs in Africa is proportionally far lower than global averages.

After all, its customers are entrusting them with their financial future. The very least they can expect in return is a reliable, efficient and secure banking service, available anywhere and on any device they choose.

This is changing as global banks and large pan-African banks make their mark further on the region. But how do they extend their reach to underserved areas when the cost of deployment is high and the population density is low?

In Africa, the banking and sector is having to act even faster to keep up with more dramatic changes in customer demand.

Choosing a network partner with scale is a must. The absence of critical ICT infrastructure in rural areas can have costly implications for regional banking institutions.

Some five years ago, mobile banking exploded across parts of Africa in a way previously unseen by the world. The region now has the highest levels of mobile money penetration in the world (see graph below), which has seriously disrupted traditional banking models.

International and local banks operating across the region have got smart.

They’ve been exploring how to overcome some of the infrastructure limitations posed by the vast region, while at the same time tapping into advancements in technology.

Strategies that all businesses in Africa can learn from.

Proportion of live mobile money services (2015)

Satellite has emerged as a cost effective and versatile solution for banks, enabling them to establish reliable links for ATMs and point-of-sell devices.

Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), for example, has one of the largest banking networks across East Africa, and, thanks to Liquid Telcom Kenya, was able to successfully connect 24 of its branches in South Sudan using VSAT technology – allowing for faster and more efficient banking services for its South Sudanese customers.

A technological advantage

Recognising that increasing the physical reach of their services across Africa will not be enough, forward-thinking organisations are also exploring innovative ways to use technology to AFRICAN MARKETS gain a competitive advantage.

19

HAVE MORE This has been taking a variety of forms.

MOBILE MONEY For some banks, it can be about ACCOUNTS THANimproving service levels to a specific BANK ACCOUNTS type of customer.

Source: GSMA

Sub Rest of the world -Saharan Africa

Banking the unbanked One of the reasons mobile banking proved to be so successful in parts of Africa is that it surpasses the limitations

For instance, video conferencing can enable higher-value customers to directly interact with financial advisors as they would do in a branch. Integrated with online banking services, this

creates a very powerful customer experience proposition.

Or it might be more about building brand awareness in a particular field.

Security and data privacy, for instance, are issues that weigh more heavily on the minds of today’s customers.

By demonstrating that it follows best practices and leverages the most advanced technologies, a bank can build customer trust and confidence.

Liquid Telecom’s CrashPlan service, for example, can ensure that a bank has all its data securely backed up to the cloud, demonstrating to its customers that it has a contingency plan.

Or it might be more about discovering clever, subtle touches to enhance the overall customer experience. For example, Barclays recently became the first bank in Kenya to offer its customers free Wi-Fi in its branches. In partnership with Liquid Telecom Kenya, Barclays connected 10 branches in Nairobi with free Wi-Fi, helping to improve overall customer experience as well as introduce them to the benefits of online banking. Liquid Telecom Kenya set up a dedicated Wi-Fi network - totally independent from the bank’s internal network - in order to mitigate any potential security risk. The positively received move is a good example of customer service differentiation, and will be rolled out to more branches across Kenya.

The banking sector has recognised that high-cost branches cannot survive in their traditional form in Africa and it is responding to that challenge. Greater network capability and use of innovative technology is at the heart of that business transformation - is that the case at your business too?

For more information about Liquid Telecom visit www.liquidtelecom.com

20

TrendLINES

DAVIS WEDDI

Sage masters the East African SaaS markets

Not so long ago, a research report said much of the hype around cloud computing in Africa is as a result of the adoption of highend technology and software by industries like financial services, oil and gas and of advanced next-generation networks by the telecommunications operators. It is also claimed that the emergence of cloud computing in Africa is viewed as a natural extension of the deployment of advanced IT technologies by high�end users in both the consumer and enterprise services markets.

According to IBM, digital transformation is well underway, it is driven and enabled by the combined phenomena of ubiquitous access to compute power using the cloud, the new API economy and the global adoption of smart mobile devices.

Since cloud applications are usually delivered in the form of a SaaS model, most companies taking it up are looking at the advantages like including the ability to remove complexities and costs involved in the installation, maintenance and upgrading of complex IT systems in their own environment in addition to benefiting from providers running the cloud infrastructure.

In Eastern Africa, there is increased realisation of the great advantages of SaaS including the mitigation of risks which in turn saves money for businesses, allowing them focus on their core value generation. So unless these advantages go away, SaaS is here to stay.

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

The Sage Divisional Director for East and West Africa Dr. Rutendo Hwindingwi agrees and says that one of the key things that has caused companies to want to invest more is due to the lower total cost of ownership of the SaaS solution, the whole principle of a company focusing on its core competency, key functions, or reasons for existence, allowing them to implement their strategy successfully.

Dr. Hwindingwi observes that Sage as a company, is seeing that a market opportunity for SaaS growing specifically in East Africa.

Local telecom operators and Banks are now placing their eyes on the best SaaS solutions in the region.

Billy Owino, the Regional Director for Sage in East Africa says that one thing the region has done very well recently is to invest a lot in infrastructure – both fixed and mobile broadband with a majority of it addressing last mile

21

connectivity thereby making SaaS a reality.

“It cuts across the different sectors – public sector and private sector.

We have SMEs that can actually access SaaS because of that ability to connect. Being able to save in terms of the initial investments, that is a very key factor that comes into play. Of course if you look at the other side of the coin, there are factors around the regulatory framework that comes into play where one of the hindrances to adoption of SaaS has been in things like data security, privacy,” Owino says and adds that the Ethiopian and Kenyan governments have started some work around putting in place proper regulatory framework to assure the users that if they are using services such as cloud, there is protection policies that have been put into place.

Given that most Cloud based apps come on a subscription basis, Dr. Hwindingwi says one of the big positives of the SaaS model is the fact that there is no huge outlay of initial capital thus cutting down on spending when investing in IT solutions whether it is Payroll, HR, infrastructure or network connectivity.

He says that with cloud-based solutions, companies’ leverage on existing platform – the internet. He also praises the flexible payment terms that come with the SaaS models which allows a company to pay monthly fees, as opposed to paying millions of dollars up front, thus freeing its working capital which in turn allows you to be more competitive and be agile on the market.

According to Owino, there is a whole debate around whether you should go for private cloud or public cloud.

Currently there is a lot on private cloud. But there is a huge push towards public cloud and its beauty is that, eventually, once the security concerns are addressed, there is huge investment potential that it will create economies of scale that will drive down the cost of using SaaS. Sage which is one of the top three SaaS vendors globally that can sum its offering in the form of a ‘golden’ triangle, thereby offering Accounting (ERP), Payroll and HR, and the Payment system that integrates to banks and other applications.

Sage has positioned its solutions to address a segmentation of the East African markets at the following three levels: SSB – small start-up business,

SMB – Small to Medium businesses Enterprise – large corporates The drivers that differentiate the Sage offerings in these markets include the savings on the total cost of ownership, the accelerated return on investment, and the access the clients will have to leading edge technology.

“We segment the market based on the size of the organisation.

Then we segment further into the cross-section of the industry like mining, manufacturing, electronics, pharmacy, retail etcetera. The beauty is that Sage’s offering has a solution for each market segment,” said Dr. Hwindingwi. “We find that it doesn’t matter what industry a person or company is in the demand for a SaaS model is there because of what it brings to the party. It is like the internet, it doesn’t matter whether you work in the hospital, and garage or even prison, at the end of the day, there is a default expectation, that the internet is available. The reality of the SaaS model and its impact on business is going to get to a point it doesn’t matter what business you want to do, they will always want a service like SaaS that will add value to them in terms of the offering.”

to do business on the mobile. He says that this can go to the next level where they can run business based on a mobile phone/platform, and with SaaS like Sage One, which comes with a mobile application, to run accounting, on a phone, affordably and is itax-compliant.

“This is going to drive the small business and the informal sector to adopt especially with the mobile flavor, it is going to help in driving proper entrepreneurship. We know startups fail – one of the reasons they do fail is how they manage their finances. Sage One is very exciting for us because it is a cloud solution that is situated where you are able to sort out your finances. As small businesses access more of these solutions that they could not afford before, they will be able to run better.

Then of course translate into a whole ripple effect on the economy,” The SageOne can link into a supermarket system (retail system), simply meaning that it will integrate to the tillcc. Banks with over 20, 000 SMEs are now approaching SaaS vendors like Sage to provide the cloud application to help manage their client’s financial management.

According to Owino SaaS in the public sector allows governments to quickly roll out eGovernment services – eCitizen is one classic example given performance of eCitizen in Kenya.

“Think about that in terms of service delivery, across the different markets in East Africa, Education: when you are talking about digitization of education, and being able to take advantage of cloud applications, and you have all these SaaS solution built around cloud that allows the government to deliver” Owino says.

On SaaS in education, Owino explains that if government have proper framework, in terms of access to educational material, even the remote schools can be able to access the curriculum online, collaborate with kids in other schools, and have teachers on the cloud with ability to chat with other teachers even in the more advanced markets to access certain information. Because schools are now connected, they are able to access certain business applications like Sage’s accounting software - Sage One, and be able to have a proper affordable business management system as opposed to on-premise solutions.

Think about that in terms of service delivery, across the different markets in East Africa, Education: when you are talking about digitization of education, and being able to take advantage of cloud applications, and you have all these SaaS solution built around cloud that allows the government to deliver” Owino says.

Owino also says that for SMEs, East Africa is the in the adoption of mobile money which has enabled business

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

www.liquidtelecom.com

AFRICAN. We can bring world-class banking to all of Africa.

We believe better, more accessible banking can help unleash Africa’s unlimited potential. It’s why we’ve built Africa’s largest fibre infrastructure and provide an award-winning satellite network, capable of making systems faster, more dependable and more secure across the continent. Because we are not just a telecoms company.

We are your technology partner.

Building Africa’s digital future

24

MAINFEATURE

DAVIS WEDDI

Interswitch responding to finance industry security needs with innovation Locally-bred Fintech enterprises have not been left out of the techinnovation frenzy. In fact, they are driving the agenda and have captured the imagination of wit-oriented CIOs seeking to elevate themselves from a back-office cost centre to strategic partners in growing the security of businesses.

Fintech has disrupted the way ordinary Africans manage and use money. The fintech players are standing up to traditional institutions as a force to be reckoned with. Locally-bred Fintech enterprises have captured the imaginations of CIOs seeking to save costs on back office and instead seek a strategic partner in growing the security of their businesses. Fintech services are making financial services more relevant, while using data to deliver more meaningful financial services on an ongoing basis.

One such Fintech enterprise with offices in Nairobi is Interswitch. The digital payment solutions company with physical operation bases in Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and the Gambia while serving the rest of the East, West and Central Africa, claims to be moving with the times. While they initially started with ATMs and cards, the company has rapidly moved into the mobile space and virtual.

Their business is to make payments safer, more convenient and more intuitive.

Interswitch who have partnered with several financial institutions in East Africa, have advised enterprises handling finances to adhere to security standards if they are to beat an explosion in the numbers of digitally-empowered brilliant thieves who are ever on the look-out for vulnerabilities to exploit.

In Fintech, savvy CIOs know that their speedy rate of positive change is crucial to the company’s competitive positioning and that comes with the ability to predict and forestall even the minutest of potential security challenges that may pose a danger to the business, hence the need to adhere to global security standards.

Because handling of people’s finances in the digital age is an extremely delicate affair, the enterprises in the financial sector have to abide by very stringent

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

DAVIS WEDDI

security compliance measures which in turn is also known to be costly.

“The cost of security compliance keeps going up. It may reach a point where the industry starts to say let us look at a way to leverage some kind of shared approach because every isolated case of data needs a very stringent security,” says Bernard Mathewman the CEO Interswitch in Kenya.

Because of such a situation, Interswitch has positioned itself as a leader in innovating security solutions for financial institutions with an aim to keep ahead of the security threats with cutting edge innovation.

“At Interswitch, we have been very instrumental in combining the mobile world with existing payments platforms. For example in Kenya and Tanzania, 34 Banks are now able to offer MPesa customers cash straight from an ATM without a card. Our role as a payments provider is that we look at the traditional payments world and the emerging payments world and we take the best of both,” says Mathewman.

He says the payments space in East Africa is very interesting with things moving fast in reaction to the market demands. They have introduced the Verve card scheme – which is both card and mobile. It is an All-Africa product that allows payments at POS, ATM, and all the things that you have been used to.

While the innovations introduced by Interswitch are wonderful, there is still a lingering fear of using cards at the POS and even online. When asked what is stopping the use of cards, payments on the internet and online, Matthewman responds that people still have security concerns about sharing any information relating to their finances. “People still feel insecure, using their cards on the internet, to address this we have implemented a system called 3DSecure, verified by VISA, where you can do secure card transactions on the internet. It is a scheme basically where the user is authenticated when they use the card on the internet. We have seen one bank realise a 300% growth in transactions on the internet because customers now feel secure when transacting online using 3DSecure.”

“Solutions like 3Dsecure help us to secure transactions and we are working with our banking partners on how to get its utilization up and encourage more people to transact online. We are the experts in payments and so we bring along solutions like 3DSecure and we are already seeing them react to the fact that they can immediately do online secure payments” adds Matthewman.

On cards – be it Credit or Debit cards, Interswitch has sealed off all the insecure windows. Card security has been enhanced by eliminating all cards that only had the magnetic stripe because they were quite insecure with thieves being able to copy off customer information and introducing EMV chip which were harder to hack. All the big financial associations signed onto it and most banks migrated their customers accordingly.

MAINFEATURE

“Everyone was behind the move to EMV. But we also understood that this is a war and the battleground will change. When we used to have the Magnetic stripe alone, it could be read by all machines, and people were able to reproduce cards with similar data. So we put the chip on. It is just storage with programs and encryption that makes it very difficult to copy. The chip made it virtually impossible to copy the card,” says Matthewman.

The data thieves’ war has now shifted to the big computer at the datacenter where all the data about cards and their owners is sitting.

“The data centre has become the next target for the thieves. There is no question. If you can’t get the data off the card and you can’t get it while it is traveling, the only solution is to go to the home of the data – the data center.

What Interswitch has done is to put in place the PCIDSS which stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. This is a very complex set of rules and set up that you have got to put in your data centre for internal and external data fraud. One of the underlying principles of this is having all the card numbers truncated. No one can get hold of that. We have sniffers on our network looking around,” Matthewman says.

On online card security, Matthewman is of the opinion that online security especially on financial transaction is a continuous process. “As a requirement, a Payment Card Industry Report (PCI Report) on Compliance is required by any organisation that handles large volumes of branded card transactions for credit, debit and prepaid. The PCI Standards help protect the safety of card data at multiple locations – from the point of sale (POS) to the processing centre. They mandate measures to protect data from both internal and external threats.” says Matthewman Matthewman observes that the other thing that has baffled Kenya for some time is the fact that people use their cards at the ATM and they use their card at Agent, but they are not using their card at POS to purchase goods and yet it costs nothing as a user to purchase goods at POS. “There is a perception problem,” he says and observes that to other people the lingering thought has been bad experiences at the POS when there is no connectivity, leading the card holder to feel embarrassed.

The other thing that Interswitch is delving into now is securing Mobile Wallets which can be used to get cash and make payments off the phone. Mathewman believes that if payments continue coming out of mobile phones, there will be more payments out of POS. Interswitch is now rated as the fastest growing technology company in Africa according to Deloitte, and has a widerange of payment services that it offers across various industries. The evolvement of Interswitch and payments is not just about the channels, it is about the Industry adoption of payments and how different industries are adopting payments in different ways.

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

25

26

COVER STORY

By Lillian MUTEGI

Michael Njenga : How Subaru is espousing on technology to drive confidence in motion Every company is a technology company. This is a common phrase that cuts across all industries today. However, technology adoption rarely flows in any industry; it happens in pulses or rather revolutions. On the other hand, technologies in any industry are faced with resilience first before they can be fully embraced Take for example; the telecommunications industry progressed from telegraph to telephone, from copper wires to fiber-optics, from analog to digital, from wireless to satellite. This pattern holds true in virtually every field, and each pulse opens the door to new innovations that revolutionize industries and, sometimes, society itself.

In the auto industry the revolution took a while but we finally here. For 100 years, the industry has relied on vehicles that are stand-alone, mechanically controlled and petroleum-fueled as compared to the ones that will soon be interconnected, electronically controlled and fueled by a range of energy sources. In the auto industry, the revolution is being driven by three main things; convergence of connectivity, electrification and changing customer needs. “The auto world has been a sleeping giant for ages, but I guess we are moving into an era where everything is customer centered, this is the age of the customer and the market demands are forcing every industry to change and adopt technology. May it be social media, mobility, big data, cloud all this disruptive technologies are forcing us to shift and wake up to the reality that technology is here to change how we do things,� said the Group IT Manger of ECTA Group and CIO of Subaru Kenya.

Mr Micheal Njenga, Group IT Manager at ECTA Group and Subaru Kenya

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

Subaru cars are one of the most loved cars I presume, especially when it comes to lovers of speed, maybe: maybe not, thanks to NTSA and their speed check meters and the new TIMS System. However, what you might not

COVER STORY know is that the Japan Car Manufacturer has enhanced its cars safety, to live its “confidence in motion” slogan, thanks to new technologies like eyesight and Starlink that come preinstalled in the latest models.

This time round we take a look into how the auto world is leveraging on technology to boost business growth. On this issue’s cover story we feature Mr. Michael Njenga the Group IT Manager of Subaru Kenya / ECTA Group.

A look at where Subaru Kenya hails from: Subaru Kenya is a division of ECTA (Kenya) Limited, a limited liability company incorporated in 1965 and an established and experienced motor vehicle importer and distributor in East Africa with over 40 years experience in the automobile industry.

Since 1985, ECTA has been the sole franchise holder and exclusive distributor of the Subaru range of motor vehicles in East Africa and has taken the initiative in introducing the latest models suitable for our country as and when they are released from Japan.

“I have been with the Ecta Group for the last six years and I view my role as the Chief Influencer Officer as compared to the Chief Information Officer. I say this because we are in an era where as CIOs we are more of influencers in that ‘Change is our currency’. We are constantly engaging in conversations about improvement and our ability to Influence our peers and other leaders is key. We influence the direction an organization chooses to take especially from a technology perspective and as we’ve already established every company is a technology company,” said Mr. Njenga.

On how the role of the CIO was evolving daily from Chief Information Officer to Chief Innovation and now Chief Influencer we were curious to know how Subaru Kenya was leveraging on technology to drive Subaru’s business in Kenya and how he was influencing the business through technology.

“When I joined Subaru Kenya we had what was termed as an IT Strategic Framework but we have transitioned this to a Digital Transformation Framework. The Digital Transformation Framework guides us in respect to five core elements namely People, Governance, Applications, Technology Infrastructure and Business context. This gives us a holistic approach in how we adopt and integrate technology in our business. Digital transformation in our experience is largely about culture so People are truly a key ingredient in this transition.

On buy or build. I am a CIO who would rather buy a technology rather than build one to save more on the finances. I find that most ‘off the shelf’ mid to large tier business application providers have customized solutions across major verticals. There are certainly are situations I have had to build especially when it comes to Apps. I also live by the slogan ‘Demo or Die’. As long as you can demo an innovation or technology and it works I will absolutely buy it to help grow our business,” he added.

Technologies In the recent past technology has grown in leaps and bounds. Citing examples: from the Tesla Electric cars, the charge stations that are more in Japan as compared to gas stations, Google driverless cars, BMW #Innovation100, even the flying cars.

Well, in tech adoption Subaru has not been left behind.

In 2016 alone Subaru has won a total of six global awards having been named 2016 Best Overall Brand, 2016 Most Trusted Brand, and 2016 Best Resale Value, according to Kelley Blue Book. Subaru vehicles equipped with optional EyeSight receive the highest possible rating for front crash prevention from IIHS. With this in mind, Mr. Njenga explained that a couple of technologies that come pre-installed in the latest models of Subaru that are being shipped even here in Kenya were the key contributors.

“Disruptive technology has cut across and citing this even from Subaru Globally, we have felt the impact of this and we have come up with a couple of innovations around this.

Starting from technologies around IoT and Big Data. We have the technologies like Eyesight, Starlink App and IBM IoT for Automotive,” he said.

These technologies include: Eyesight: Developed by Subaru engineers, Subaru’s EyeSight driver assist system is the world’s first system to use only stereo cameras to detect the presence of other vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. In addition to avoiding frontal collisions and limiting damage in the event of an accident, the EyeSight technology has made possible a host of other preventive safety functions, notably Adaptive Cruise Control and Active Lane Keep.

“EyeSight is an extra set of eyes on the road, and if need be, an extra foot on the brake when you drive. When equipped with Subaru EyeSight, the 2016 Forester, Impreza, Legacy, Outback, Crosstrek and WRX receive the highest possible score in front crash prevention by the IIHS,” explained Mr. Njenga.

StarLink App: On the other hand, in 2014, Subaru launched Star-Link App unlike Ford’s Sync or Chevrolet’s MyLink, Subaru’s Starlink is applied to more than just infotainment.

SUBARU STARLINK is an app in-vehicle technology that brings both entertainment and safety features to all vehicles.

Subaru is also integrated with some Smartphone applications such as Aha. The Subaru connectivity suite allows drivers to access thousands of web-based radio stations and podcasts via streaming. Drivers can also access on-demand music services such as Slacker, Rhapsody, and others.

“Subaru Starlink is about enhancing the driver’s experience.

Aha gives drivers an easy, inexpensive and safe way to interact with information from their Smartphone device without touching it while driving – the simple to use

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

27

28

COVER STORY significantly contributing v.00 towards the attainment of the advanced driver assist.

In the future FHI and IBM Japan will also look into investigating the building of a new system using IBM Watson Internet of Things (IoT) for Automotive, an internet of things (IoT) solution for the automotive industry based on IBM cloud, and will advance to verify applicability of the technology in the advanced driver assist system through understanding characteristics of the latest technologies in the cloud and AI.

interface is transferred to your vehicle navigation screen automatically.

We research, talk, and interact with consumers regularly and many are looking for a safe way to utilize their apps in-car,” he added.

IBM IoT for Automotive: This is an IBM Watson Internet of Things (IoT) solution. It is an automotive industry based on IBM cloud. The solution supports real time analytics by integrating data collected from sensors mounted on each car with other data.

Earlier in May, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (FHI), the manufacturer of Subaru automobiles, also announced that they had partnered in the development of a data analytics system for test images from the advanced safety system including output from EyeSight1 and evaluation using cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in the advanced driver assist system segment.

Working together with IBM Japan, FHI developed a system that integrates and comprehensively manages vast amounts of test image data. The system has been in operation starting this May 2016. This will allow FHI engineers to easily search for and analyze needed test images.

This system is also expected to lead to improved development efficiency,

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

FHI aims for “zero car accidents”, and is promoting technology development to achieve selfdriving characteristic of Subaru by advancing safety performance and reliability that are verified with EyeSight. The collaboration with IBM Japan is the base for accelerating the development and evolving its technology level dramatically.

Locally in Kenya: “Subaru Kenya is the first to launch an e-shop where you can aftermarket products online. Secondly, we have a customized app for our sales team that helps them offer a Subaru experience to all our customers virtually. On this app we have partnered with FHI in Japan. We plan to have this on large interactive screens as well as integrate the same app with a couple new features to give our customers the best experience,” added Mr. Njenga.

On his thoughts around new emerging technologies like Driverless cars, Mr. Njenga thought that we are still in the very early days and that there is a lot of work ahead. Key to the success of the driverless car is also developing an infrastructure that would support the level of ‘intelligence’ required for the autonomous car to function safely. Some of these would be smart traffic lights, smart road signage, smart parking lots etc. basically a smart road transport infrastructure that will communicate and guide the autonomous vehicle system. Other elements such as reliable ‘in-car’ connectivity also play a huge role so technologies like 4G LTE and 5G will

obviously matter. “ So Just like the internet and how it started off by the US Department of Defense as a covert communication tool in the 50s before opening it up to the public, I think the driverless cars would probably work for a certain niche first before opening up to the whole world. Not that this is not achievable, but I feel we are not there yet,” said Mr. Njenga.

Future predictions: However, Mr. Njenga feels there will be growth in all the three facets of connectivity in the connected car i.e.

‘Brought in’, ‘Built in’ and ‘Beamed in’.

‘Brought in’ being ability to extend your digital experience to the car via your hand held device good examples here are Android Auto and Apple Car Play. Under ‘Built in’ we are looking at solutions like Subaru’s Starlink solution where we’ll see a lot more capabilities built into the car moving forward. The car will pretty much receive system upgrades just as your phone or tablet does. Lastly ‘Beamed in’ being where we are looking services transmitted into the vehicle a good example is satellite based digital services including radio and navigation. I also see opportunities for local solution providers around the area of In-car data provision. The fully connected car is expected to generate up to 1 TB of data per day and so again opportunities around cloud data storage, IoT integration and analytics/big data are rife” he added.

Advice to CIOs in the Auto Industry: “I believe we are in a dispensation I can only term as ‘the customer age’ and if you think about it what digital is achieving at the end of the day is giving the customer a greater voice and more options whether you are looking at social media or actualizing an omnichannel experience. It is really about how technology can build more value into the life of a customer.

The CIO has a key role in making this industry more customer centric. There is a huge opportunity in improving customer experience through digital transformation in the automotive industry, so CIOs in this industry need to drive this agenda to achieve more,” he concluded.

FEATURE

Cloud Computing is changing how business is being done in Africa Cloud computing is more than an advance in technology; it represents an opportunity for the transformation of entire business organizations.

While developed countries have largely embraced the Cloud, there is only recently a ground swell of adoption of Cloud in South Africa and the rest of Africa.

This adoption locally is being driven by business drivers such as regional expansion, cost control and staff optimization, which influences decisions just as strongly as technology considerations such as flexibility, scalability and elasticity.

“Traditionally the African market lags Europe and the US by around 18 to 24 months when it comes to the adoption of new ICT concepts. With Cloud computing this hasn’t been any different,” said Albie Bester, Global Head of SEACOM Cloud Services and GM of Pamoja Cloud Services, a Cloud wholesale business unit.

“A year ago we were responding to concerns regarding the security and reliability of Cloud services, today we are responding to questions about Cloud adoption strategies and platform migration projects.”

Decision makers, both technical and business, are now realizing that Cloud computing is more than an advance in technology.

“It represents an opportunity for transformation of the entire organization; people, processes, and systems,” Bester added.

“This transformation is allowing organizations not only to capitalize on new market opportunities but also to avoid cost traps in a challenging economic environment.”

One of the fastest growing area of Cloud computing is in the move from on-premise server hardware to hosted virtual servers.

Organisations are coming to the realization

that running their own server farm is not core to most businesses and secondly it is associated with large costs. The cost elements are made up of hardware costs, annual licensing costs, technical staff costs and disaster recovery costs.

as its private and outsourced network solutions.

In contrast, in a move to hosted virtual servers all those cost elements are combined into a single, predictable monthly subscription that changes only when the required resource level change.

“SEACOM has been diversifying its business from bringing low-cost data transmission infrastructure to other service providers in Africa, towards offering a full portfolio of services directly and through channels to the business market.”

“We are experiencing a marked shift of ERP and accounting systems from company owned hardware to our Windows Azure Pack virtual server environment” Bester added.

This shift typically coincides with a decision making point in the life cycle of these systems. Either the organization is moving from an older ERP or accounting system to a modern system or they have outgrown their existing system and are upgrading. At this point they start asking questions about the commercial and technical feasibility of running their own server environment. Where they have access to quality internet access the decision to move to the Cloud usually is an easy one.

Some of the advantages of moving back office systems to the Cloud include lower capital expenditure, less hassles in managing and maintaining off-site backups of these systems and the ability to access the systems from anywhere. The latter introduces a level of business continuity in case of disasters that are usually not possible with on-premise hardware.

Enabling the Cloud

“SEACOM Business’ strategy is starting to pay off,” said Kevin South, SEACOM Business channel head.

“Connectivity from SEACOM Business has been a game-changer, and with our high-speed data services, is no longer the inhibitor to cloud,” South added.

“Cloud enablement forms an important part of SEACOM Business’ strategy, with the company’s network interconnecting directly to various cloud CDN providers & OTT players on the African continent.

SEACOM has brought much of the best global content and application platforms onto its network in Africa, allowing users to experience not only higher bandwidth speeds but also closer proximity to what businesses need to perform more efficiently. ” At the same time, SEACOM Business is actively building the New Age Telco of tomorrow, with emphasis around automation of systems and process, SDN (Software Defined Network) and NFV (Network Function Virtualization).

“These are the key building blocks for streamlined acquisition of Internetbased products and services by business customers, channel partners and ultimately consumers alike,” South said.

As a result, SEACOM Business (SEACOM’s direct to business offering) is seeing great adoption of its fibre connectivity as well

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

29

30

IT & LEADERSHIP Nadeem Juma: At 31 years, defying all odds to make it in the Entrepreneur space The other day going through the interwebs I came across an interesting meme, “How your friends look at you when you tell them you haven’t watched Game of Thrones”, I haven’t honestly.

Okay this is not about “GoT” as any millennial would call it, but it is about something else, “Zootopia”. You might have come across this comic movie centered on this main character, Judy Hopps, who defies all odds to make it through to the police force, so as to change the world to become crime- free.

The key word here is “defying all odds” to achieve what you really desire. When I carried out an interview with Nadeem Juma, the cofounder and Chairman of AIM Group-Tanzania, I could relate, the Zootopia movie with his entrepreneurial journey.

“I was born and raised in Tanzania. I later moved to oversees to carry on with my studies. I came back to Tanzania. At the age of 19, I started an international school called Dar-es-Salaam International Academy (DIA). This was my first start-up. I was pretty young, but I had to go against all odds to change the lives of our young people through education,” said Juma in an interview with CIO East Africa.

So, why an international School? He explained that he was inspired to start the school because, Tanzania has an emerging middle class like the rest of Africa, but there was a gap in the market in regards to quality international education at an affordable rate.

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

BY LILIAN MUTEGI | IT& LEADERSHIP “You see I am the type of person who is always driven by opportunity. I see an opportunity and I get excited. I saw an opportunity in the education sector because I realized a lot of Tanzanians opted for other schools in Kenya, and other countries and this was a barrier for people thinking of settling in Tanzania,” he added.

Since its inception over a decade ago Dar-es -Salaam International School has grown significantly in the land is now one of the leading international schools in Tanzania.

get regulatory approval from TCRA and secondly get all the operators on a single platform.

“Having received a letter of no objection from TCRA, we then approached the other two major operators with a proposal to do a pilot with 50-100 agents per operator. We would make the investment and they would help us integrate it with their systems,” The first pilot was done with Vodacom and was successful.

”From the initial pilot there were lessons.

The user interface needed to be adapted.

We also needed to add a fallback for when connectivity was down and so that After, DIA, In 2004, Juma decided to move into the tech space and that’s when it instantly registered when connectivity he co-founded E-Fulusi Africa, a research came back up,” he said. and development company focused Also when they implemented it for Tigo, in the mobile payment space. E-Fulusi they were able to add a dashboard that developed and deployed the first mobile showed in real time where registrations banking platform in Tanzania. were being done and how many of them.

This information allowed the operator to One of E-Fulusi Africa’s earliest make decisions about how it deployed developments was the EFMTS, an its customer service and marketing independent switch that connects the resources. They were also able to collect four main mobile operators in Tanzania, a small amount of socio-demographic thus allowing mobile technology information, more of which later. solutions to be hosted, managed, and implemented.

With E-KYC platform a registration process that used to take anywhere “I am also the founder of Mkito.com, this between 48 hours to 7 days to complete is a music app that allows you to buy or with the activation of the new line was download songs for free from all your now able to take between 5-7 minutes favorite East African artists and genres,” for 80% of registrations. The balance he added. has tended to be when there has been However, his story in the Technology no connectivity and these are now World became more exciting two years completed in a maximum of 24 hours. ago, after the aftermath of the Westgate To date, more than 7 million customers Mall Killings in Kenya, that saw over 60 have been newly registered or repeople lose their lives to a terror attack registered to SIM cards through this that was termed the third worst attack solution. E-KYC Platform records who in Kenya after the 1998 USA Embassy your customers are, how old they Bomb Blast and the Garissa University are, where they live, and any other Terror Attack. information you need. It then visualizes “You see after the Westgate Attack, there this invaluable data which can be used was a crackdown on operators in Kenya to build and market other products because the regulator was not able to and services that will add value to your track the ownership of the phones used customer and your business. in the incident. Similar pressures began On whether he was looking into turning to exert themselves in Tanzania,” said this success in one country into a Juma. wider business success, Mr. Juma said, It was again that idea for E-KYC was born.

“Absolutely, we looking into rolling E-KYC, is a platform that enables mobile this out in the East African countries operators register and identify customers. first. Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Mozambique.”

Just like any other start-up it is always hard to get that first client. Juma first It was after E-KYC Success story that approached Vodacom but then they now AIM Group was formed. Around two were given two conditions if the two years ago. AIM Group is an Innovation could work together. Firstly, E-KYC had to and Digital Agency founded in Tanzania

focused on R&D, digital communications and creating enterprise and business solutions that have been shaping consumer experiences since 2011.

It has two divisions that have been delivering this promise. Focused on digital advertising, marketing and communications. The companies including Mkito.com, E-KYC,E-FULUSI all fall under the AIM Group.

Having carried out the interview, a day after the East Africa Community Member Countries, read the Budgets, 2016/2017.

It was notable that Tanzania was still lagging behind, in ICT as there was no major allocation or even a mention of the ICT projects that were going on unlike their counterparts Kenya and Rwanda.

Well, Juma recognizes that Kenya and Rwanda are ahead of Tanzania in tech and economic development.

“As a Tanzanian, we definitely face stiff competition from Kenya that has begun the process of creating a culture for innovation. Kenya Techpreneurs are good at advertising what they do and are good at monetizing technology. It also has a much more educated working population, so you will often see Kenyans in management positions in Tanzania.

On the other hand Tanzania has a lot of techpreneurs but the problem is lack of realization on how to monetize technology,” he says.

He also added that now with the Tanzania’s Government having allocated up to 25%of the 2016/17 Budget to infrastructure development, this will lead to growth and more business opportunities.

At 31 years now, Mr. Juma is termed as a serial entrepreneur in Tanzania with his being a success story in the start-up world. His word to the young African Entrepreneurs looking into venturing into any field, “ First, never give up. Any entrepreneur will tell you, this is not for the faint hearted and entrepreneur is not for everyone. We fail; we get up and learn from our mistakes. Secondly, be willing to seek advice and thirdly, as you compete, compete from global level,” he concluded.

Back to our Zootopia story, shall we?

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

31

32

Women & Tech This story on our website became among the most popular stories, with a great reaction on our social media platforms. But, are there similar projects to empower, young people and especially women in marginalized areas through equipping them with the rightful skills around technology, to help them address the issues they face in the society, through app development and online businesses?

It is said change is as good as a rest.

On this issue, we divert a little bit and we look at a team of young women who are impacting other young women through equipping them with the rightful ICT Skills to empower them on how they can leverage on technology to address issues they face in the society.

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

Sometime last month, a humanitarian initiative Re:Coded, and New-York Based School, Flatiron School launched a Fellowship that will train Syrian refugees in Iraq as software developers and connect them with employers who hire remote talent.

Josephine Mliiza, is a network engineer at Tunapanda Institute (TI), an institute that explores how new technologies can solve problems in local contexts with both educational and practical goals. Technologies under investigation include 3D printing, mesh networking, and tools enabling high-impact lowcost digital-era community libraries of the future.

The organization also develops open source software and creates openlylicensed content (in English and Swahili) to enable any individual, community organization, school, or family with computer access to acquire valuable “digital era vocational skills” and discover their own voice and passion.

It is under TI that Ms. Mliiza runs a beautiful initiative with a key focus on

women. Tech Dada is a Swahili word meaning technology sisters. This initiative is set to build confidence in young people, particularly girls and young women, aged between the ages of 14 and 25. The initiative seeks to help the young girls acquire the mental, emotional, and social capacities .

“We encourage more women to pursue careers in technology, design, and business with a focus on solving real problems in our local communities and globally,” said Ms. Mliiza.

Unlike most of the initiatives by big organizations that focus on the highend society, Tech dada focuses on marginalized areas, like Kibera and Turkana. So far the project that kicked off in January, has over 30 girls from Kibera who are being equipped with

LILIAN MUTEGI ICT skills around coding and software development while another seven girls hail from Turkana.

lives, they start training them in real skills related to technology, design, and business.

The project currently runs on two chapters with partner organizations at Kibera Soccer Girls Academy in Nairobi a secondary school that provides tuition at no cost to a number of at-risk and orphaned girls and Learning Lions in Turkana.

Building networks of young women and mentors. Fighting the prevailing wisdom that women are meant to be submissive support staff in their husbands’ lives is a group activity. Challenging the status quo to build a better future always involves risks. Empowerment, like innovation, is not a solo activity. By facilitating the emergence of networks we help lay the groundwork for real, lasting change.

“The reason why there is a low turnout of girls from Turkana is because of culture differences. In communities like Turkana, a girl child is still viewed differently and access to basic education is still hard, but we believe through this initiative we can be able to reach several girls and equip them with rightful skills. We are in an era where we are becoming tech driven, from how we file our tax returns to how we access Government services. We need people who can drive this in the grassroots and that’s why if we have the girls equipped with the right skills they will be able to grow communities as well as drive businesses even online,” said Mliiza.

First, the tech dada program begins with activities around encouraging the girls to ask the question “Who am I?” to start building confidence and encourage them to bring their full selves to the learning experiences.

Next the girls are introduced to careers around ICT that they have never heard of or considered. After they have built confidence and expanded their perspective on what is possible in their

Tech Dada’s objectives are set to Improve access to ICTs for women and girls in urban and rural areas, Increase the number of digital literate girls and young women, Increase the number of women makers and developers in the tech space, Increase the number of women leaders in the technology space, Collaborating with other local and international organizations that share our mission to share ideas, resources and develop common advocacy strategies and creating innovative technology based solutions for key gender equality issues such as literacy, health, economic empowerment and social inclusion On how the initiative kicked off, Josephine Mliiza told us that as she joined campus, she had taken a different career in Nutrition but later on she changed to pursuing Network Engineering.

Women&Tech

“I wanted to pursue a career that will not only benefit me, but will help me bring about change across communities.

After school, I joined Tunapanda Institute where team members are young women, and many of us brought with us a deep understanding of the gender-related problems in our world and a passion for spreading equality of opportunity. The idea grew out of conversations at Tunapanda in Kibera about the unique challenges facing young women in today’s world. A few of our team members came together, pitched the idea to the larger group, and with the support of the entire organization Tech Dada was born,” she said.

“We are proud that the girls are now more interested in technology and aware of the opportunities that exist in the tech space both as end users or tech creators. We have also seen a great improvement in the girls’ ability to express themselves and confidence,” she concluded.

The initiative has also come up with an application known as Swag, that contains content and a digital curriculum that will help young girls interested in coding to do so with ease. The swag application has been nominated for a global grant known under The Global Innovation Exchange which is a global online marketplace for innovations, funding, insights, resources and conversations, allowing the world to better work together to address humanity’s greatest challenges.

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

33

34

PRODUCT REVIEW

LILIAN MUTEGI

Huawei P9 REVIEW The Huawei P9 device was launched in the UK in April 2016 in collaboration with Leica, setting a new standard in smartphone photography. The Huawei P9 is the first smartphone co-engineered with the global iconic brand, Leica Camera AG. The P9’s dual-lens camera takes smartphone photography to the next level, allowing people to capture both vivid colors and striking black and white image.

It is also the first smartphone to operate on Huawei’s Octa-core Kirin 995 processor.

The phone is incredible and is set to target smartphone photography enthusiasts with the dual camera lens.

Design The Huawei P9 is created by some of the world’s top industrial designers to achieve a visually stunning design with diamond-cut edges, rounded out by beautiful curvatures.

The Huawei P9 is sculpted using aerospaceclass unibody aluminum and a superior-grade 2.5D glass.

The 6.95mm thick Huawei P9 has a 5.2in screen and an all-metal body which makes the phone feels reassuringly expensive, with a gorgeous polished brushed metal finish on the rear of the device.

On the right side is the volume rocker and textured power button while the left side is bare except for the nano SIM card and microSD tray.

At the bottom is the 3.5mm earphone jack, a USB-C port for charging and data, and the speaker. The top side is clean, save for the noise-cancelling microphone pinhole.

The Huawei P9 is the first Huawei phone to come with the latest USB-C charging port however, a variety of other new phones including the LG G5, the HTC 10 and Google’s Nexus 5X and 6P already use the new connector. We expected Samsung Galaxy S7 would follow suit but it didn’t’.

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

On the back are the Leica dual cameras and flash as well as the fingerprint scanner. There is no option to remove or replace the battery.

It measures in at 145x70.9x6.95mm and weighs a fairly lightweight 144g; an impressive feat when you consider that similar 5.2 inch smart phones like the recently announced HTC 10 weighs 161g and is 2mm thicker at 9mm.

Display.

The 5.2-inch display has a full HD (1,920x1, 080-pixel) resolution, resulting in a pixel density of 423 pixels per inch. The screen itself is reasonably bright. It wasn’t as easy to see under bright outdoor sunlight, though. It’s a great screen for browsing your photo gallery or playing vibrant games like Candy Crush and the latest Bungoma Hangman game.

LILIAN MUTEGI

PRODUCT REVIEW

Battery life

Connectivity

Cost

Compared to the Huawei Mate 8 which still stands as my favorite the Huawei P9 doesn’t store power for long. Huawei says that you’ll squeeze two days of use from the 3,000mAh battery but in my own use, I found that even with reasonably heavy use I was able to get a full day from a charge. Playing games or shooting with the camera does take its toll though, so it’s easy to drain power when you’re out and about.

Leveraging on Huawei’s industry-leading capabilities in telecommunications, the Huawei P9 will be the first smartphone with a virtual Triple antenna, meaning you don’t need to worry about your hand position under different signal conditions.

In Kenya, Huawei P9 is available across all Safaricom Retail outlets and is set to retail for Kes. 54999 which roughly translates to USD 543.13 (Exchange rate being at Kes 99.99 per USD)

Huawei P9 comes with Wi-Fi+ 2.0 which drives superior connectivity that automatically connects to the strongest available Wi-Fi network. The Huawei P9 automatically ranks Wi-Fi hotspots, and prioritizes the best connection.

The Huawei P9 comes in six great colors Haze gold, ceramic white, rose gold, prestige gold, titanium grey and mystic silver.

It holds its charge well in standby mode, and you could get extra hours by turning the screen brightness down and switching off GPS and Wi-Fi. And if you need to save that last few percent, there’s an ultra battery mode, which gives access just to calls and texts.

Colors

Fingerprint sensor The fingerprint scanner for Huawei is not anything new, apparently, most or rather all of their latest models come bearing the fingerprint scanner. Huawei P9 has a biometric fingerprint scanner at the back of the phone, conveniently located where your index finger naturally sits when you hold the phone. It’s easy to set up and was fast and accurate in recognizing my prints. The sensor allows users to personalize and safeguard their devices by significantly lowering the possibility of fraudulent or accidental device access, while also ensuring users can quickly and securely access their smartphone.Its position, however, means that you can’t use it to unlock your phone when it’s lying flat on the table. Benefit from enhanced security on your phone and unlock it with ease with the enhanced fingerprint sensor. There is also NFC for contactless payments as well as exchange of files at the back.

Camera

Smartphone cameras.

If there is anything that Huawei never disappoints at, it is the Camera work.

The Huawei P9 was created with the photographers in mind. Created in partnership with Leica, the camera uses one standard color sensor and one monochrome sensor. Here’s how it works: the standard 12Mp camera takes the primary photo and the 12Mp monochrome sensor also takes a photo. When combined you get up to 300 percent more light and 50 percent better contrast when compared to other

The Huawei P9 is the first smartphone with an intelligent camera and gives users a unique experience with features such as a hybrid focusing system that allows you to capture those precious fleeting moments in your life.

With the camera app users can swipe in from the edge of the display to access their camera settings and a variety of shooting modes which include pro mode and shallow depth.

The Pro mode which is a feature that offers complete control over the

dual-camera, provides users with an opportunity to tweak settings including the ISO, shutter speed and even the autofocus area to capture the perfect photo.

On the other hand the camera also has a shallow depth of field’ mode. The mode allows you to tweak the “aperture” settings and focus of a photo after it has been taken.

The photos taken are vibrant, and the cameras capture a great amount of detail in well-lit conditions.

FOR MORE INFO VISIT http://cio.co.ke/product-reviews/huaweip9-review-created-with-photographers-in-mind

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

35

Startups Corner

36

Baraka Jefwa

Gov’t and Private sector helping to develop startups Startups are usually designed with the aim of fulfilling particular needs in society, whether it is a social need such as the need to reconnect with family and friends; where global companies such as Facebook have established themselves as the go to platforms for such interactions. Closer to home where health is an issue affecting the greater African continent, Toto Health, a startup that is fighting this problem using mobile technology, is looking to establish itself as the go-to platform for this as well.

The link between the two companies is that Facebook was once a startup, and startups like Toto health are trying to achieve similar or even a fraction of the success that Facebook has managed to achieve. On the Startup corner column this month CIO East Africa will be highlighting some factors that may assist startups in their quest for success. Some of the factors that stand out include:

connect African startups to the global ecosystem.

Private sector support

Government support

The private sector can play a big part in helping to grow emerging businesses, through financial support and sharing business experiences which can play a crucial role in seeing a Startup move from its idea phase to the implementation phase. 2014 was a good year in terms of this as it saw Safaricom launch a US $1 million (Kshs 90 million) Venture Fund aimed at accelerating the development of innovative mobile applications and solutions by availing much needed capital to ICT start-ups.

Government support for startups can come in different forms, for example; it can be in form of reducing or doing away with taxation for businesses in their developing stages, another way would be the obvious financial support. The government of Kenya has done well in this regard as early last year Kenya’s Information Communication Technology Authority (ICTA) agreed a three-year US$1.2 million funding project with the Government of the Netherlands to grow Kenya’s ICT sector through the support of ICT startups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

“We see this as a much needed catalyst that will help actualize our aspiration to nurture a vibrant ICT economy in Kenya. It will directly address the key startup and developers’ pain points such as the cost and speed of accessing a platform where they can test their solutions,” said Joe Ogutu, Director, Strategy and Innovation, Safaricom.

Pitching competitions Pitching competitions are a great way for entrepreneurs to get their upcoming companies exposure on a big stage with the chance of impressing potential investors. Participating in good pitching competitions can raise the profile of a startup and boost its potential for success. A good example of a pitching competition, worth attending, is DEMO Africa, DEMO Africa is one of the flagship initiatives of LIONS@frica and aims to

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

“DEMO Africa allows start-ups from all over Africa to meet VCs, investors, tech acquisition specialists, IT buyers and media from across the region and around the globe. In just two years of running, the DEMO African alumni have generated over $8 million,” reads a statement on the official DEMO Africa website.

Education “Nowadays you need education cradle to grave,” this was said

by Dr. Katherine Getao, ICT Secretary, Ministry of ICT, during a World Bank event held in Nairobi, Kenya, as she stressed the importance of education. Education, in this case, is important for both the startup’s leader and the team he/she looks to assemble to make the company a success.

Education helps leaders think critically intern allowing them to make better business decisions. When employing staff, educated workers are better as it ensures a higher level of competence while carrying out tasks. The right mix of educated team members and an educated leader can guarantee the success of a startup.

Pictorial CIO GOLF Highlights of the CIO East Africa Golf Tournament at the Limuru Golf & Country Club.

38

OPINION

SAM MWANGI

Data Security on Mobile Devices Mobile devices are continually holding sensitive information, emails, photos, mobile money transactions, bank records, photos, videos, calendar items, contacts and the list is endless.

Moreover, most organizations have implemented bring your own device (BYOD) policies. There is more at stake, company contracts, product documentation, company strategies, project plans, customers’ proposals, and so on. Threats to the enterprise posed by an employee-owned mobile device can be as complex as a sophisticated malware attack designed to snoop on an employee’s browsing activity or as simple as a lost phone in a taxicab. Enterprises have no control on the software vulnerabilities in third-party applications running on the employee’s device. How then do we secure both personal and enterprise data?

There are simple steps we can take towards data security.

Software security updates on the devices is key. Apple broadly pushes out software updates to iPhone users, while Google Android devices are more dependent on the carrier and device maker for updates. Thus as a user, it is paramount that you either enable auto updates or regularly check on the same. These updates contain patches that fix known vulnerabilities over a certain period of time. Same applies to upgrading operating systems on laptops and updating the anti-virus software. The other step you can take, encrypt everything. One of the easiest ways to secure data in an Android or iOS device is to take advantage of built-in hardware encryption. This feature will turn the data on your phone into nearly unreadable junk—unless it’s properly unlocked with your password.

Avoid downloading unfamiliar applications to your mobile device.

This is especially so for Android users. Google, unlike Apple, doesn’t vet applications before they go live on Google Play. This has proven an easy way for malware creators to sneak malicious apps onto Google’s app store. Malware-laden apps range from those offering free device wallpaper to games, and even to impostors that try to look like popular apps. Install an antivirus such as Avast, Kaspersky, and AVG security apps for Android to help keep your data secure. Block installation of applications from unknown sources and enforce password authentication for any new installations.

Some enterprises ensure that communications between a mobile device and a company or cloud-based system or service requires use of a Virtual Private Network (VPN) for access to be allowed to the resources. VPNs not only include strong encryption, they also provide opportunities for logging, management and strong authentication of users who wish to use a mobile device to access applications, services or remote desktops or systems.

Passwords used on these VPNs should be strong and with at

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

least six characters. Remember to always lock your screen when the device is not in use. Despite the elaborate security mechanisms put in place, all an intruder is access to you device and there is not an easier way to access the network than via an unlocked device.

Mobile devices should be configured to avoid unsecured wireless networks, and Bluetooth should be hidden from discovery. In fact, when not in active use for headsets and headphones, Bluetooth should be disabled altogether. Prepare a recommended configuration for personal mobile devices used for work - and implement such configurations before the intended users get to work on their devices. The most effective method of protecting the data on your mobile device is to protect the device itself.

Keep your device with you at all times or leave it in a secure physical location. This can prevent not only malicious access to your data, but inadvertent or accidental loss or damage of your.

The enterprise can keep records of your device’s identifying information, such as its MAC address, serial number, and the date and place of purchase. This information can help authorities track or identify a lost or stolen device.

Google, unlike Apple, doesn’t vet applications before they go live on Google Play. This has proven an easy way for malware creators to sneak malicious apps onto Google’s app store.

Malware-laden apps range from those offering free device wallpaper to games, and even to impostors that try to look like popular apps.

PETER MUYA

OPINION

The Architecture of the “Enterprise as a Service” Traditionally an on-premise type of approach to enterprise architecture has tended to break down the enterprise structurally into four domains namely; • Business (everything else that is not IT), • Applications (IT systems), • Data; and • Technology.

In this case, the business domain dictates how applications, data and technology are organized to effectively support it. This approach takes the assumption that the enterprise has control of methods (processes, rules etc), culture (our values, structures and people), artifacts (products and services) and the environment (systems, assets etc). This however is not necessarily true where significant level of control is ceded. Cloud computing has by and large described how control is has been or will be relinquished on the Environment part of the enterprise structure to enable it focus on “core business”.

The reality is that control hasn’t been and wont be restricted only on the environment part of the enterprise. If you consider business process outsourcing, the ceding of control cuts across the methods, artifacts culture and environment. Whereas the condundrum of structural complexity faces many a traditional in-sourcing business models, how much more would it portend to enterprises that increasingly are considering or in the process of shedding off control of parts of the enterprise to partners in a multi-context global setup?

Is the function of enterprise architecture dead or dying as enterprises choose lean models to run their enterprises? Why would enterprises have layers of architects when they actually own no systems, data centres, physical retail stores or production plants etc? We may ask. Looking at the modelling based on the approach of business->applications->data->technology to enterprise architecture, it means three quarters of the work of an architect has been / will be shaved off the enterprise. Therefore, using this argument, the need for the architect goes out of the window together with the respective inhouse technical teams that provide technology solutions to support business.

Let’s take a step back and look at the enterprise not from the point of segregating IT vs the business but holistically looking at how parts coherently deliver the whole. In the diagram above, suppose an enterprise (called Acme) has operations in America, Europe and Asia. By operations we mean they have functional offices (culture and methods). However, Acme serves markets in Europe, America, Asia and Africa. In other words, Acme’s artifacts (products and services) are available in these continents. Note that in Africa, Acme has no offices. In order for Acme to produce and distrubute products, it uses IT systems, machinery, warehouses in Europe, North and South America. It has a cloud based ERP system running on a primary data centre in North America and a

secondary one in South America. It has a co-located warehouse facility in Europe where distribution for European, Africa and Asian markets is done. Acme also has an outsourced distribution centre for the American market located in North America.

This paints the picture of a highly de-coupled enterprise (operating in diverse contexts) from an operations perspective.

Let’s examine how the enterprise manages change. In other words, how does Acme transform itself to be more adaptive to the demands of the market(s) it serves? It has a research and development team in Europe and a project management team in Africa. These teams (we shall call them “transformation team”) are meant to work together to continually develop and deploy new products to consistently differentiate Acme in the industry.

Let’s assume the transformation team is planning to develop a product for the Asian market. Let’s also assume the product requires addition of rules (methods) to support only that market.

Let’s also assume that addition of those rules may compromise existing rules for products in the African market. Addtionally, let’s assume that Asia is a strategic market for Acme and introduction of the new product would open up new opportunities for Acme in Asia given the political and economic context of that market. On the other hand, compromising the rules of product offering in Africa by introduction of this new product in Asia may expose Acme to potential fraud and loss of revenue from the African market. The complexity of Acme, from a transformation perspective, despite having shed off “IT” requires a holistic and coherent view of its methods, artifacts, culture and environment in these multi-context operations. Therefore, the role of enterprise architecture is paramount for Acme.

The decisions made on how to navigate past this question of conflicting interests in the case of Acme will determine how mature Acme is in effecting transformation. The question no longer becomes of how quickly they respond to change (from the Asian market) but how mature is the context upon which that change is effected. Therefore while the enterprise evolves from a monolithic brick-and-mortar controlled based operation to a more fluid and multi-partner oriented enterprise, the need for enterprise architecture becomes increasingly important to provide “enterprise x-rays” to expose problems / conflicts long before decisions are made to change. More than just having the x-rays is how mature do those x-rays evolve as the enterprise continually evolves to be more adaptive to the needs of the market(s) it operates in.

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

39

40

OPINION

By Moses KEMIBARO

What To Consider When Building A Business Mobile App In Kenya The latest numbers suggest that there are close to 3.5 million apps available on Apple’s App Store and Google Play. This is a massive number of mobile apps based on Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS ecosystems – often referred to as the duopoly, now that it seems that every other mobile operating is destined to die out over the next few years. Given that there are so many mobile apps in the world, it would appear that only a relatively small number of them are actually achieving any meaningful traction. The numbers do not lie.

However, I am particularly enthused that there has never been a better time for businesses in Kenya to consider building their own mobile apps for their business-to-business and business-toconsumer market segments. In particular, it would appear that the financial services sector in Kenya has taken the lead with a myriad of mobile banking, investments, on-demand loans and insurance mobile apps that serve to extend their reach to an ever increasing number of smartphone wielding customers.

The business case for local mobile apps in Kenya is most recently backed by Safaricom’s financial results from May 2016 where they confirmed that 7.8 million users are on smartphones – a growth of over 128% in a year. This means over 30% of Safaricom’s 25.16 million subscribers are on smartphones. Correspondingly, mobile data usage grew by 77% whilst data costs dropped by 33% over the past year. In addition, the latest numbers from Facebook show that 5.3 million of their 5.5 million users in Kenya do so via mobile devices and of those 3.8 million are on Android mobile devices.

In a nutshell, these numbers make a compelling case that mobile apps finally make business sense in Kenya.

There are many reasons why mobile apps do matter today on a global basis given that consumer behavior has largely gone mobile-first on so many levels. However, even on mobile devices, consumers are increasingly using mobile apps and completely bypassing the mobile web in the process. This shift is accelerating in Kenya as well and the rest of Africa given that the majority of Internet consumption on the continent happens on a mobile-only basis. Indeed, I am often amazed at how many people use WhatsApp at the expense of traditional SMS these days in Kenya.

For businesses in Kenya contemplating going the mobile app route, here are some of the key considerations that can help make a mobile app initiative successful:

1. Focus on Android Mobile Apps The majority of smartphones in use in Kenya are running on Google’s Android mobile ecosystem. This is due to the fact that that these are the most inexpensive and most widely used smartphones in Kenya. However, if your mobile app has a potential to grow massively beyond Kenya in markets like Asia, Europe and North America, it makes sense to all create versions for Apple iOS.

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

2. Aim for a refined Mobile App user experience Mobile app user experience or UX for short can make or break your mobile app. In a nutshell, UX sits at the convergence of business, technology and design approaches which ensures a mobile app that is aesthetically beautiful, user-friendly, technologically refined and business-driven. A good mobile app UX can be the backbone of mobile app success.

3. Mobile Apps MUST solve a business or customer problem Mobile apps should not be built for reasons that amount to vanity.

They should actually solve fundamental business or customer problems that will ultimately result in better service delivery, leading to increased revenue and customer loyalty over the longterm. Mobile apps that fail to deliver a solid value proposition from this perspective will be doomed to failure.

4. Mobile App discovery is a massive challenge Mobile app user experience or UX for short can make or break your mobile app. In a nutshell, UX sits at the convergence of business, technology and design approaches which ensures a mobile app that is aesthetically beautiful, user-friendly, technologically refined and business-driven. A good mobile app UX can be the backbone of mobile app success.

5. Mobile app messaging and re-engagement is key Getting a mobile app installed is just the first step since many mobile apps go unused after being installed. Therefore, using features like mobile app notifications and in-app messaging go a long way to re-engage mobile app users from time to time so that hopefully your mobile app can be used on a regular basis and also avoid it being uninstalled.

6. Social sharing can help drive awareness Ensure that your mobile app has social sharing features so that users who have installed it can also share it via their social media profiles that can result in additional installations from their social connections.

By James MURITU

OPINION

Get the Basics Right before Implementing Cloud Computing The hype and excitement around cloud computing continues to rise in leaps and bounds across the world with attention coming from all quarters. The move though hasn’t been fast enough and there still exists a lot of skeptism within some market sectors on whether cloud is a preferred route for accessing IT systems. In East Africa, the thinking has mostly been around moving only noncore systems to the cloud vis a vis the core systems. It therefore follows that it’s not uncommon to find multiple companies in East Africa running email, CRM and even stripped down HR systems off the cloud. In Europe and America, the move to the cloud is at a more advanced level with various institutions running core systems from the cloud. In a recent event where I presented on the pros and cons of the cloud, there was little buying from the “C” suite with key queries being raised around security and vulnerability issues around cloud environments. Infact one CEO lamented that whatever goes to the cloud never comes back and he was better off his company running in-house based systems. One CIO complained of how cloud based systems undergo overnight updates and patching without due regard of informing the users. A sentiment I fetched from CFOs and Chief People Officers was one of cloud environments being insecure and high probability of data thefts and breaches.

Irrespective of the concerns and doubts, Cloud Computing is here to stay and usage will only increase. An analysis of the benefits garnered via this technology far outweighs the pinpointed pitfalls.

When you consider that all social media platforms, from facebook to twitter run on the cloud, then you appreciate the power behind this technology phenomenon. The benefits to be garnered are numerous and just to list a few: Disaster Recovery – cloud systems have far more advanced disaster recovery systems compared to in-house systems. Bandwidth scalability - Cloud computing is the ideal solution for organizations struggling with fluctuating bandwidth demands. Cloud computing enables a scaling downwards and upwards of bandwidth requirements hence bringing the much needed agility around bandwidth management. IT Expenditure - a major headache that’s addressed via this technology is a smarter way to manage IT expenditures; whereas the incumbent, traditional systems are often purchased via CAPEX cash outlay financing models, with cloud, you get an opportunity to pay as you go meaning lack of a need to capitalize the expense.

To avoid disappointments with cloud computing initiatives, it’s imperative for organizations to first layout the ground work and get the basics right. The first step is to develop a Cloud Computing strategy that amongst other things articulates the proposed approach, risks, resources, integration, security and connectivity.

It’s equally important for an organization to appreciate the different levels of cloud computing and tailor make the levels with the organizational needs. The three most popular cloud levels include: Software as a Service(SaaS) – gives access to computer systems in the cloud, IT Infrastructure as a Service(IaaS) – gives access to IT Infrastructure in the cloud e.g storage space, servers and Platform

as a Service(PaaS) – grants a cloud platform for which you can build own systems, mostly around software development. Besides having an elaborate cloud strategy, an organization considering Cloud needs to think about the in-house technology elements that are critical to the success of Cloud. Top on the list is the need to invest in a robust Unified Threat Management system(UTM) that helps address security aspects pre and post cloud systems access. Integration remains a major pain point amongst most organizations running mission critical systems in the cloud. It’s an added plus to plan in advance how integration will be handled between systems running on the cloud and in-premise systems.

Lastly it’s an absolute must for an organization to have a Data Management Policy that addresses matters around Data with clear rules of engagement, especially for Master Data being accessed from the cloud

The three most popular cloud levels include: Software as a Service(SaaS) – gives access to computer systems in the cloud, IT Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) – gives access to IT Infrastructure in the cloud e.g storage space, servers and Platform as a Service(PaaS) – grants a cloud platform for which you can build own systems, mostly around software development.

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

41

42

HardTALK

Bobby YAWE

Out of sight is not out of mind In this article I had to go back to core tech this has been necessitated by the fact that we are seeing less and less large corporations embracing the cloud of which we believe the issue is about what we believe defines the ICT role.

In the good old days of the mainframes and minis, the user rarely knew where the processing system was all that mattered to them was access to a terminal to work from and a printer to generate physical reports.

The birth of the personal computer got us obsessed with having physical contact with our processing and storage hardware, we placed it on the desk, under the desk and with time on our laps. Because of this, collocation and cloud services such as infrastructure as a service IaaS are having a problem making inroads into the corporate space especially where there are legacy issues.

It is interesting how many ICT managers are fine using cloud services such as email, storage and video conferencing yet are very resistant when it comes to proposing the same for their corporate systems.

To help ICT managers move towards the cloud our organisation has been working with clients who have existing data centres (DCs) by first getting it out of sight. We have a strong believe that so long as you sit in front of your equipment it makes you feel that they are what define you as the ICT manager.

To be able to reduce physical access there needs to be implemented remote access capability for all services for both IP and serial devices and making sure other equipment such as AC/CRAC units and power distribution are also remotely accessible.

All equipment that goes into datacentres must be SNMP enabled, if you bought equipment over the past 3 years and it does not have this then you got non-datacentre equipment.

The first item to move to IP should be the KVM switch thus allowing access to the servers without having to physically enter the DC, this reduces some of those inadvertent outages caused by a simple action like touching a patch code which then disconnects.

CIO EAST AFRICA | JULY 2016

The next step is to close all openings that enable you to see the equipment followed by complicating the process for getting physical access into the datacentre forcing the staff to embrace remote access that has the added advantage of providing an electronic log.

After you have made this baby steps the rest, such as installing a serial terminal server device to connect to devices such as switches, routers and UPSs, should not be as difficult. This allows one to access IP devices in the event that they are unreachable over IP and can only be reached through their console ports.

In addition with switched power distribution units (PDUs) you are able to reboot, power up or power down a specific port either “manually� (clicking an icon) or automatically where you can setup a schedule to power-up a device such as a modem to allow remote access from a support person and then power-down when they are done.

The environment of the DC can today be monitored remotely especially with the introduction of SNMP enabled AC/CRAC units, UPSs, water leak sensors, airflow sensors and current loop sensors allowing you total visibility while out of sight.

To be able to get visibility there are hundreds of options available from the passive wall mounted screen to siren alerts and then the ones active such as email, SMS and voice calls. With this monitoring implementation, you rarely need to physically enter your DC to see what is happening.

Once you have implemented all this for your datacentre, it gives you the confidence that it is possible to have your hardware far away from you and still have full access and visibility thus making it easier to move to a colocation centre or onto the cloud.

This might seem like a us shooting ourselves in the leg but after we lost some of our email server clients to Google we realised that you either embrace the new dispensation otherwise perish.

BOOTCAMPS

Enhance your credentials with African eDevelopment Resource Centre Take advantage our Oracle trainings that deliver the most up-to-date information on industry-leading Oracle solutions. Using a combination of classroom lectures, hands-on lab exercises, and case studies, these sessions provide the foundational skills upon which partners can gain competitive advantage building powerful solutions and grow their business.

Our comprehensive Oracle training curriculum starts with a comprehensive introduction to Oracle 12c. Learn database administration, backup and recovery or PL/SQL programming.

One day courses are now available on topics such as writing SQL Queries and RMAN, Oracle Backup and Recovery Strategies

Oracle 12c Specialist & Expert Certifications • Certified Specialist in Oracle 12c Application Development • Certified Specialist in Oracle 12c Database Design • Certified Specialist in Oracle 12c DBA

Courses can be taken on-site, online or at our eDevelopment center.

You can choose your learning format too.

Contact Us eDevelopment House, Old Muthaiga, 604 Limuru Road P.O. Box 9475-00100 Nairobi, Kenya | www.africanedevelopment.org

Enhance your skills and knowledge with our certification and best practice certification.

FOA | Fiber Optic Certification • Certified Fiber Optic Technician • Certified Fiber Optic Specialist - Design • Certified Fiber Optic Network GVF | Global VSAT Forum Courses • Satellite Communication A to Z • Advanced VSAT Field Engineering • Intensive WIFI Systems Engineering • Intensive VSAT + WIFI Engineering IT Service Management Certification • ITIL Foundation + Practitioner • ITIL Intermediate + Expert • COBIT 4 Framework • Cloud Computing & Virtualization Project Management Certification • PRINCE2 Foundation & Practitioner • Project Management Professional • IT & Telcoms Project Management IT Security Certification • IT Network Security System • Computer Forensics & Investigation • Ethical Hacking & Penetration Testing Advance Networking Courses • CompTIA A+ • Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) • Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) Mobile & GSM Networks Courses • GSM Radio Network Planning & Optimization • GSM Core Network Planning & Optimization • GSM/GPRS/EDGE/HSPA +Technologies • LTE & Advanced Communication IT Vendor Certification • ORACLE Application & Database • VMware v6.1 • Microsoft Server Administration

Partners & Accreditations

AeRC is registered and recognized by the National Industrial Training Authority (NITA)

Upskill your team with the right skills and knowledge to increase productivity for your organization remain competitive. Consider our in-house, on-site and instructor-led options.

Contact Us

eDevelopment House, Old Muthaiga, 604 Limuru Road P.O. Box 49475-00100 Nairobi, Kenya www.africanedevelopment.org

AeRC is a registered FOA school number 716