Uganda’s Raxio data centre signs Hamilton Cloud Services as 1st customer

Hamilton Cloud Services (HCS), Uganda’s first local cloud service provider and a subsidiary of Hamilton Telecom, recently finalised an agreement to colocate their servers in Raxio data centre’s state-of-the-art, always-on data centre at the Kampala Industrial and Business Park, Namanve.

Raxio announced its plans to construct Uganda’s first tier 3, carrier-neutral and cloud-neutral data centre in July 2018. Since the announcement, Raxio has completed feasibility studies, land acquisition and design works and is now in the process of finalizing earthworks, contractor procurements and the relevant regulatory approvals. With today’s announcement HCS becomes Raxio’s first officially signed customer for service when Raxio opens its doors in October 2019.

“Today is an exciting day for Raxio. Not only are we proud to announce Hamilton as our first officially signed customer- but Hamilton is also a uniquely strategic kind of partner that will give other Raxio customers and opportunity to enjoy a seamlessly integrated data centre and local cloud service experience under one roof,” said James Byaruhanga Raxio’s General Manager.

Construction is set to start later this quarter.

“HCS will now operate their infrastructure in a failsafe, always-on environment provided by Raxio, protecting their business and that of their customers and supporting their growth ambitions. Among other services, the HCS cloud computing and backup service model uses cloud resources to protect applications and data from disruption caused by disasters on a pay-as-you-grow model that allows customers to stay ahead with access to cutting-edge hardware and/or software solutions.,” said Byaruhanga.

Byaruhanga, said the agreement with Hamilton, is proof of a “win-win model” that “enables especially start-ups, SMES and mid-sized businesses to overcome the obstacle of upfront capital investments and to reduce total cost of ownership on software, storage and backup

infrastructure, into manageable monthly operational expenses that are scalable and on demand, thus avoiding costs associated with over-capacity.”

“This is very exciting for us and the market and we couldn’t be any happier to have Hamilton on board,” he said.

Local cloud service in a tier 3 data centre environment

Commenting about the deal, Derrick Sebbaale, Chief Operating Officer, Hamilton Cloud Services, said the deal will make HCS, “pioneers in providing the biggest local cloud service in a tier 3 data centre environment in Uganda.”

“Our vision is to revolutionize businesses in Uganda by providing affordable cutting-edge technology solutions, which enable them to thrive and prosper in a globally competitive economy. Our services are delivered via hyper-converged cloud infrastructure; delivered, sold, and supported by DELL EMC, which will enable customers to run and host applications across private, public, dedicated and hybrid cloud environments. By hosting our equipment in Raxio’s data centre, we will be able to quickly scale up our services, without the high capex costs on infrastructure; which savings will be passed on to our customers,” he said.

He added the agreement with Raxio will not only reduce on the high costs as well as risks of hosting and storing data overseas but, it will also provide a 24/7 secure, accessible and dedicated platform to HCS clients.

Pay as you grow model is a game changer

Sebbaale, called upon business owners, government decision makers and regulators to support the shift to cloud computing as “it is a game-changer with real and proven return on investment, manifested through new efficiencies, enhanced customer experiences and new business models, leading to accelerated revenue and productivity growth.”

Quoting a 2017/18 study by the National Informational Technology Authority (NITA), Sebbaale said that while 86.4% of government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) had reported that cloud computing significantly reduces ICT related costs, to date, only 28.6% of all MDAs reported using cloud computing services.

The study also reported that 80.5% of MDAs and 66.7% of Local Governments relied on local in-house capacity to host their applications and databases- only 48.1% of MDAs and 38.1% of Local Government reported keeping backups off-site.

The following major fears for not using off-site data storage and or cloud services were advanced:

• Risk of a security breach (55.8%)
• High cost of buying cloud computing services (40.3%)
• Uncertainty about the location of the data (36.4%)
• Uncertainty about applicable law, jurisdiction, dispute resolution mechanism (27.3%)
• Difficulties in unsubscribing or changing service provider and data portability (22.1%)

“This landmark agreement between Raxio and Hamilton is a paradigm shift and answers all these issues- we are giving businesses in Uganda a reliable and secure pay-as-you-grow local cloud service, housed in a world-class tier 3 data centre under local laws, with local customer-service,” said Sebbaale.

25% discounts on early-bird offer

Byaruhanga said that Raxio was offering an early-bird offer that offers up to 40% discount on core co-location fees to customers who sign between now and the end of February 2019.

“Any customer signing up between now and the end of February is entitled to a 25% discount and they will be able to carry this price on for the duration of their contract. For customers that take up more than 5 racks, they will be eligible for an additional 15% discount, meaning that customers can save up to 40% on the price they will have to pay when we open for business in September 2019,” he said.