L-R: Adebayo Sanni, Country Managing Director, Oracle Nigeria and Xavier Verhaeghe, vice president Technology Solutions, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Oracle Corporation 

By: Azeez Disu

Oracle Corporation has urged businesses in Nigeria to adopt cloud and avoid spending a larger percent of their information technology (IT) budget on maintenance of their data system rather such budget should be channeled to innovation.

Adebayo Sanni, Country Managing Director, Oracle Nigeria, during Oracle Digital Day held recently disclosed that if companies adopt cloud, it would give them a lot of opportunities to invest in innovation and innovation will bring about winning more market share and increasing revenue.

He said that most Nigerians have little knowledge of what cloud adoption can do for their business instead they worry on data security and data sovereignty but that he explained is the top priority of Oracle. To ensure better understanding of cloud adoption, Sanni revealed that Oracle has been embarking on talks, fora and other engagement to educate stakeholders both private and public on the need for cloud adoption and the security and convenience it brings.

Similarly, according to a research conducted by Oracle in April, 2016 across Europe and the Middle East. The findings reveal that businesses must rethink their IT funding models and undergo a cultural transformation in order to fully exploit the benefits of cloud computing. One third (33%) of respondents say an inappropriate IT funding model is inhibiting their business. One third (33%) also believe their company’s IT culture is unfit for the cloud computing age.

Tellingly, 72% of respondents say a new cloud funding model will allow IT departments to deliver more cloud services to the business, and 70% expect it will help the company to reduce costs.

On his part, Xavier Verhaeghe, vice president Technology Solutions, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Oracle said that cloud technologies are providing a level playing field for companies to innovate, gain more market share and manage their resources better.

“We have seen that in the presentation made by the Jumia CEO. The company which started barely four years ago has spread to other countries. Before now, it was only very big corporations that can make such investments internationally, but cloud services have made their operations very seamless, providing opportunities for growth and productivity. Similar case is associated with Uber which offers pay-as-you-go solutions to people. Technology has never been so affordable than it is today. Today, the issue is not about the hardware or the software rather having a better experience to integrate the capabilities the solutions offer. If you are able to overcome that the company has a great future.”

For Nigeria to get out of economic recession and boost its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Sanni noted that leveraging on technology and adoption of cloud is the answer. He urged government to make friendly policies that would make adoption of cloud spread across all sectors of the economy.

“The era of digital bank entails that you can walk into a bank, probably on Sunday, open an account, deposit money in there, without meeting a single staff. This is the world of digital”. Sanni disclosed. The transformation in the financial sector he believes is just the tip of the ice berg likewise in other sectors; more can actually be done with technology and adoption of Cloud.

Verhaeghe explained further that cloud adoption is affordable, guaranty data security, data sovereignty and can be adopted by startups or multinationals from any industry.

Oracle Nigeria leveraged the platform to inundate participants on its solutions such as Cloud Infrastructure – hardware and software systems, storage, servers and processors; IT systems development – development tools; PaaS and IaaS – state-of-the-art technological platforms in the Cloud; EPM and ERP systems available in the Cloud; HCM solutions in the SaaS model and Customer Experience – cloud solutions for ensuring excellent customer relations.

Oracle Digital Day 2016 featured case studies from customers, live demo sessions, and inspiring discussions with experts, analysts and practitioners.