That’s the view of  John Jenkins, executive director at Business Connexion, who will be addressing this issue during his showcase presentation at the AITEC East Africa ICT Summit to be held in Nairobi on 02 and 03 November 2011.

A South African corporation, Business Connexion is one of the sponsors of the AITEC East Africa ICT Summit. Jenkins is a leader of some distinction in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services industry. His experience spans deal-making, contract structuring, service management and multi-sourcing arrangements.

“The multi-sourcing trend is gaining momentum internationally, but in the Middle East and Africa more than 80% of outsourcing deals are still done with single service providers,” Jenkins says. “Cloud or online service providers operate on a bigger scale with a broader customer base. This means they are able to offer better price models and economies of scale, but generally they don’t contract for specific service level agreements.

“However, application hosting services can sometimes reduce software licensing costs, allowing service providers to charge their customers on a per-use basis. As IT usage models change and the trend towards software hosting and software as a service gathers momentum, all software suppliers will be compelled to move in this direction.”

At the Summit, Jenkins will explain how cloud computing and services on demand are rapidly achieving widespread recognition for their ability to cost-effectively and efficiently deliver ICT to meet business requirements. However, many companies are concerned about whether cloud computing and services on demand can meet their stringent requirements for reliability, availability, performance and, most importantly, security.

Jenkins’ experience and leadership equip him to address these critical issues. He will show that driving successful cloud strategies for private enterprise today is not just a technologically astute strategy, but a necessity to operate a cost-effective and highly responsive organisation.

Dr Tony Githuku, Managing Director of Business Connexion Kenya, comments on the group’s strategy to expand its operation into Kenya. “In a region that is showing a period of growth and relative political stability, Kenya stands out as a country which is entering a new period of accelerated growth, development and advancement,” he points out.

“We believe the Kenyan economy to be vibrant and that we can add significant value from an ICT perspective. The government is to be commended for its policies and regulations, which are geared to attract investment.”

Although Business Connexion offers a broad, deep range of ICT solutions, its initial focus in Kenya will fall on establishing and operating data centre and infrastructural capabilities. This is significant, as data centres and the technologies they contain are the foundational building blocks for the ICT services which run on top of them.

“In due course, we anticipate introducing a fuller range of services, technologies and capabilities into this market, spanning the Business Connexion competencies,” Githuku says. “These include applications, software and infrastructure on demand, professional services and content delivery.”

Business Connexion has an exemplary track record in working with both the public and private sectors, and seeks to establish infrastructure and services which are suitable for both these markets in Kenya. In terms of vertical environments, the corporation will primarily target the telecommunications and financial services industries, as well as the manufacturing and industrial sectors.

With a clear strategy for Africa, Business Connexion’s stated intent is to grow and contribute to markets across the continent. Through its International Group, the company has a presence in Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Tanzania and Zambia, with an extensive partner network in a further 22 African countries.

“The opening of our Kenyan operation is seen as a key strategic development which strengthens our ability to participate in East African markets while contributing to the development and advancement of the region,” Githuku says.