Cloud Offering Gives Small Businesses an Edge

During 2013, Dube iConnect, primarily a telecoms, voice and broadband internet provider operating under licence from ICASA and aimed at Dube TradePort tenants, launched its Data Centre infrastructure services.

The data centre, or cloud infrastructure service as it is also known, is available for all companies and provides full visibility, a 99,99% uptime Service Level Agreement, data security, highly trained staff and enables companies to meet King III requirements for data recovery and business continuity in the event of a disaster.

Dube iConnect’s cloud meets the mandate for local data storage in terms of the King III Report and other legislation that makes company CEOs and Boards liable and accountable for their data. Storing it locally gives them that control.

“The question always arises as to why Dube TradePort Corporation provides a Data Centre? The answer is simple... ICT, in terms of infrastructure is the same as electricity, water or road infrastructure,” says Hamish Erskine, Dube TradePort Corporation’s Executive: ICT.

“Nowadays, to have a property zone that is competitive, able to attract the best businesses and able to provide the best operating environment, a developer needs to ensure that it has invested in connectivity. We chose the route of not outsourcing as we believe this is a basic long-term offering in the same way as we would roll-out any other infrastructure,” he says.

For business, there is an enormous requirement for secure data storage, processing, back-up and disaster recovery of data because so much of companies’ critical information is digitally secured today. The rapid roll-out of broadband globally has meant that there is less requirement for data to exist on a device in the office, as it can be managed from a centralised location.
A company can now choose to invest heavily in its own data storage system or it can choose to buy space on an operating expenditure model, from a third party, such as Dube iConnect with its sophisticated infrastructure.

“The general trend of backing-up information on the cloud is driving its use. For example, Amazon Web Services is currently the biggest cloud provider and they estimate that as much as US$750 million uptake of cloud data storage is expected in the US market in 2015,” says Erskine.

Dube iConnect recognises that many companies have invested heavily in in-house data storage and so aim to offer businesses the opportunity to migrate over a period of time. Dube iConnect provides rack space for the client’s equipment in its Data Centre and when the client decommissions the equipment, Dube TradePort Corporation is able to offer a virtualised environment and one in which the customer may enjoy a substantial cost saving. Dube iConnect’s aim is to achieve full tier 3 accreditation so as to offer the business community world-class data storage services.