By GIDEON NYENDWA
LIQUID Intelligent Technologies Zambia has launched Azure Stack to ensure that businesses should access local cloud solutions that are cost-effective, meet local data regulatory requirements and efficiently run latency-sensitive business applications.
Liquid Cloud and Cyber security Country Executive, Shuko Chinga said Azure Stack is a service that consolidates computing products and services into one location.
Mr Chinga said the service deals with large service and storage that people have been innovating and whatever they do was saved on Azure because it was cheaper than buying the equipment.
He said what had been a problem was that in Zambia, there were issues of data protection and date residency and the challenge customers were facing wanting to use the services that did seat in the country.
Mr Chinga said Zambians did not know how to make use of their data and kept data protection act into consideration and that Azure Stack was coming in as an extension of all the computing services in Zambia.
“Now we can use all those service while being in compliance with the local laws. We can do things like voice to text and vice versa and image editing without having to spend on the infrastructure costs,” Mr Chinga said.
According to the Zambia Inclusive Digital Economy Status Report 2022, the local digital economy score is 45 percent, which indicates that Zambia is still in the start-up phase.
Liquid Intelligent Technologies Zambia Chief Executive Officer, Mark Townsend said the statistics were indicating that as an economy, Zambia still needed to make cloud more easily accessible to ensure the country was 100 percent ready.
“With the unveiling of the Azure Stack, Liquid Zambia has reiterated its commitment to working with the public and private sector to convert Zambia into a digital economy,” he said.
He said Liquid recognised that every client was unique, and with the availability of Stack in the country, it was perfectly positioned to cater to businesses of all sizes, through the investment.
Mr Townsend said his organisation would empower its existing customers with a highly secure cloud solution, reduce latency, and enable real-time business continuity with flexible adoption models.
Mr Townsend said Local businesses, especially Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), were rapidly seeing the benefits of migrating to the cloud.
“However, the associated high cost of cloud adoption has always been a deterrent. But now, the availability of Azure Stack in the country, combined with Liquid Zambia’s expertise, has levelled the playing field for local businesses compared to their international counterparts.”
“Having worked extensively with our customers over the years, we understand the changing needs of businesses. We are excited to bring this cloud solution to local businesses, helping them speed up their journey to the cloud with a flexible, fully managed Azure stack solution where and when needed,” Mr Townsend added.
