MTN Business has unveiled a Server Virtualisation solution in Kenya that will enable various businesses to remotely store data at the company’s offices. The MTN Business Kenya Managing Director Mr. Tom Omariba says the solution is “an outsourcing service that companies can subscribe to, depending on their needs.”  It is an upgrade from the present data collocating set up, where customers move servers from their respective offices to the MTN Business Kenya data centre.

By devoting their data to the virtual servers, businesses will be in a position to save costs of buying infrastructure which become obsolete after a while. These servers replace the need of having stand – alone physical hardware which has high maintenance costs to an enterprise.

Up to four companies have already subscribed to the solution, which will free space in their offices and reduce capital expenditure (CAPEX) associated with buying, storing and maintaining physical servers as well as providing server security. 
“This solution is an outsourcing service that companies can subscribe to, depending on their needs,” says Mr. Tom Omariba. It is part of the re-branding solutions that the company promised the market.
An advantage of having business data sitting on a virtualized server is that companies have various access channels to their data, for instance through IP-MPLS private links among others. In addition they support all mainstream operating systems and applications.
Mr. Omariba assured customers that there is no heavy capital outlay to enable their businesses to be virtualized, since they only needed to upgrade their access circuit, while MTN Business would supply and install client software.“This approach will help the client to be secured against the risks associated with investing in such technologies,” he said.
MTN Business has developed a pay per use billing system. Omariba said the payment model moves infrastructure costs from a capital expense to an operational expense, enabling clients to only pay for resources and licenses they use.
Although uptake of virtual storage technology in Kenya is still unpredictable compared to the rest of the world, Omariba believes it will be embraced by businesses because of availability of bandwidth from the submarine cables, EASSY, SEACOM and TEAMS. Virtualisation is a solution that enables the efficient management of large volumes of data, resulting in provision of quality performance in business processes.