Cloud computing in South Africa – hybrid solutions may be a better option
22 February 2011
Vendors are currently marketing the concept of cloud computing in a big way, but it’s really not new – it’s the natural evolution of services from the distributed computing or hosted environments that made an appearance a decade and a half ago, to the Net. What’s different today is that the computing capacity provided ‘out of the cloud’ focuses less on processing and more on services. In South Africa, cloud computing is becoming viable.
However, you must ensure that you understand the implications of cloud computing and find a solution that works for your business, says Spescom DataFusion.
Notes Pieter du Preez, Group Executive: Business Solutions Development :
“Previously, low bandwidth availability, high cost and variability of throughput reliability made cloud computing a risky venture locally. Today, with more bandwidth available at lower cost, it may well be a more cost effective solution than owning infrastructure and software – especially when you add licences, upgrades, integration and maintenance expenditures to initial purchase and installation costs. However, a hybrid solution may be what is needed at the outset.
“A hybrid solution is when you combine your own infrastructure with a cloud infrastructure and services. It will allow you to test the waters, retain data, transaction and customer privacy security, and fully understand the benefits and limitations of this environment,” he suggests. “And while the business model driving cloud services suggests that only standard ‘off-the-shelf’ solutions may be available, it may be well worth your while to find a provider that specialises in a particular service or industry and will tailor or customise a solution to suit your needs.
For a contact centre, for instance, the organisation would need cloud services that use suitable computing power and applications. “In this scenario, the contact centre is likely to ‘own’ the people and create the processes – these being the two components within contact centres that enable the greatest competitive advantage. The technology platform can sit anywhere. The contact centre then has the choice to invest in technology and in-house skills or buy in a hosted service, where the functionality is obtained via a network – or make use of cloud computing services.”
A hosted service provider of the traditional kind is likely to have physical premises housing servers and other computing equipment close by, providing a dedicated network with guaranteed service levels. Hosted services obtained in the cloud may come from anywhere and will rely strongly on bandwidth and throughput available to the user.
“The challenge is to ensure reliability and cost of the network and services are in line with budget and risk appetite,” notes du Preez. “Advantages of cloud and hosted services include use of opex rather than capex, the vast functionality that is available at a fraction of the cost of outright purchase and, of course, the flexibility of being able to scale services up or down as customer or business service requirements change.
“Making use of a specialist will additionally allow the organisation to, for example, gain access to advanced functionality that will allow it to enhance its service offerings and effectiveness, like automation of campaigns and predictive dialling. However, without some customisation, the contact centre may never get access to the ‘right’ data it needs from the cloud service provider to identify key indicators like performance shortcomings or perhaps trends that indicate future opportunities.”
Furthermore, there are security, privacy and governance issues that need to be taken into account. “In the cloud, someone else is responsible for your data security. You cannot abdicate this responsibility – accountability must remain with the organisation,” says du Preez. “This means you need to be very sure your service provider can live up to its security claims. Don’t let this scare you off, however – hybrid solutions are often the answer.”
One good example is where contact centre agents need to dip into a CRM system to service customers. “You may not want that data to reside with the cloud service provider. A hybrid solution would see the contact centre application located in the cloud, and the CRM solution within the organisation itself, behind a firewall. Thus, client data risk is minimised.”
A hybridised managed service where the vendor owns the equipment and a contract governs usage, coupled with a cloud service for application or specific solutions may also be cost effective, depending on your business model, he notes.
“Don’t be afraid to ask questions – and keep asking them till you are satisfied you will get the best solution to suit your organisation,”
reiterates du Preez. “Cloud computing is inevitable – it’s the next evolutionary stage in computing. CIOs that ignore the cloud ignore major opportunities to differentiate their businesses.
“A recent Gartner report puts South Africa 15 years behind the United States, but that doesn’t mean we will take 15 years to get where they are now – with all the bandwidth now becoming available, we have much less time to adapt. Exploring the options now with a trusted provider that can offer the insight and expertise will stand organisations in good stead.”
About Spescom
Spescom Limited is a South African company recently acquired by Jasco. It has developed and delivered a number of world first technologies, as well as innovative products and services to both local and global markets.
Spescom’s core focus is to deliver integrated business communication solutions that enhance the way businesses communicate with their customers’
and leverages voice, video and data technologies through its five divisions:
Spescom DataFusion; Spescom DataVoice; Spescom Telecommunications; Spescom Media IT and recently created NewTelco South Africa – a carrier-neutral co-location service provider creating a telecoms interconnection hub for sub-Saharan Africa. The deep technical expertise and considerable industry know-how housed in these five divisions combine to deliver world-class solutions including integrated contact centre platforms and applications, a range of voice application technologies, as well as telecommunications and broadcast solutions.
‘Smart People. Clever Solutions’ reflects who we are and why we are positioned to leverage current and future technology trends and developments to meet the dynamically shifting requirements of our customers and ensure their continued competitiveness.
The company has a staff complement of 258 with offices located in
Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and London (UK).
For more information about Spescom visit www.spescom.com.
For further information contact:
Stuart Vey
Group Executive: Marketing and Communications Spescom Limited
Tel: 011 266 1701
Or: 011 266 1754
Fax: 011 266 1553
Email: svey@za.spescom.com
Issued by:
Evolution PR
Sarah van Staden
Tel: 011 462 0679
Mobile: 0843276007
Email: sarah@evolutionpr.co.za
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