Many SMEs are increasingly investing in technological solutions to remain competitive and scale their businesses. These include HR management systems, digital payment platforms, automated payroll software, and data collection tools, all aimed at better serving diverse customer needs and streamlining operations.

Despite these advancements, many SMEs are still in the early stages of adopting technology.

Barriers such as high costs, inadequate infrastructure, and limited technical skills hinder SMEs’ ability to leverage the benefits of digital transformation. These challenges slow the widespread adoption of business automation and innovation that when mature as technologies are represented as machine learning and artificial intelligence, thus preventing Ugandan SMEs from reaching their full competitive advantage potential.

Tier 3 data centres like Raxio Data Centre fill a critical gap by providing the foundational infrastructure needed for optimal digital technology performance. This allows industries, particularly SMEs, to focus more on navigating higher-level challenges such as selecting the right IT tools and addressing regulatory issues. By offering cutting-edge infrastructure, Raxio enables businesses to drive innovation and facilitate seamless digital transformation—essential for economic growth and long-term sustainability. This technological backbone supports unrestricted scalability, empowering businesses to grow without the limitations of inadequate infrastructure.

See also: Godfrey Sserwamukoko urges educational and research institutions to harness tier III certified data centres

A key milestone in building a robust digital transformation ecosystem has been Liquid Intelligent Technologies’ deployment of the first local instance of Microsoft Azure Stack in the Raxio Uganda Data Hall. This partnership unlocks new opportunities for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by providing affordable access to advanced cloud solutions. In the past, many SMEs found these solutions inaccessible due to high costs or inadequate infrastructure. This development now brings powerful cloud capabilities within reach, enabling SMEs to scale and innovate more effectively.

Also read:

• • OP-ED: Microsoft Azure Stack, a game changer for Ugandan businesses and enterprises
  • Godfrey Sserwamukoko: we’re well equipped to host Microsoft Azure Stack

The integration of Azure Stack into Raxio’s infrastructure eliminates technical constraints such as slow access, poor support, and data residency issues —and also addresses key concerns around cost and deployment complexity—critical factors in today’s digital economy. This empowers Ugandan SMEs to confidently expand their operations while ensuring their data remains secure and compliant. With access to high-performance cloud services, SMEs can optimize their processes, enhance efficiency, and drive innovation like never before. This technological leap also positions them to compete on a global scale, fostering sustainable growth in an increasingly digital world.

Hosting the Microsoft Azure Stack aligns perfectly with Raxio’s vision of driving economic growth and oiling the varied phases of digital transformation in Uganda. Our secure and reliable services allow SMEs to focus on their core activities, knowing that their data and operations are supported by world-class infrastructure.

At Raxio Data Centre, we do more than just provide a service; we actively invest in your business’s strategic innovation journey, working towards the future success of SMEs in Uganda. Technology is no longer simply a tool—it has evolved into an ecosystem that captures, stores, and processes data, ultimately producing insights through machine learning. The result is artificial intelligence, which will be the driving force behind SME growth, innovation, and the overall prosperity of Uganda.

The post OP-ED: Digital Transformation as a Catalyst for Growth in the Ugandan SME Sector appeared first on PC Tech Magazine.

Recent statistics have indicated that more businesses are integrating a cloud-driven approach within their operations. According to Flexera’s 2024 State of the Cloud Report, 89% of companies use a multi-cloud approach, which shows widespread adoption of cloud solutions across various industries. Additionally, 80% of businesses have embraced a hybrid cloud strategy, combining public and private cloud environments. Furthermore, over 85% of organizations will have adopted a cloud-first principle, fully integrating cloud-native architectures and technologies into their operations by 2025, as projected by Gartner.

This underscores the landslide victory that cloud technologies will have over traditional physical servers, personal computers, and local networks in the foreseeable future as cloud adoption within the business sector continues to skyrocket.

Given the foregoing, tech giants such as Microsoft Corporation, Amazon Inc., and Google have gone ahead and diversified their services to include cutting-edge cloud technologies such as Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud, respectively. Previously, Ugandan companies have had to procure these much-needed cloud services from distant cloud instances hosted out of the country as far as Mombasa, South Africa, Portugal, etc.

Liquid Intelligent Technologies’ recent launch of a local instance of Microsoft’s Azure Stack, the first of its kind in the country, is poised to resolve this distance problem for both the ICT and business sectors, bringing the flexibility and power of Microsoft’s cloud closer to users. The Azure Stack, being a mini version of Microsoft’s big cloud service (Azure) is a portfolio of products that extends Azure services and capabilities to any environment, from the data centre to edge locations and remote offices.

Businesses currently running or procuring Azure services in the distant cloud will have the pleasant option of migrating them into the locally run Liquid Azure Stack, which also enjoys the advantages of being hosted in Raxio Data Centre, a state-of-the-art Tier III certified carrier and cloud-neutral data centre, managed and operated to global standards. It is the first of its kind in Uganda, offering best-in-class colocation, cross-connect, fibre, and infrastructure services.

See also: Raxio’s GM, Godfrey Sserwamukoko urges educational and research institutions to harness Tier III certified data centres

Cloud hosting on the Azure Stack will reduce expensive capital expenditure decisions on hardware and infrastructure, allowing businesses to scale resources according to workload demands without incurring significant delays or investments. Akin to this, hosting the stack in the data hall will eliminate the hassle of maintenance, providing a secure colocation environment with room to scale capacity requirements in a 24/7 secure and redundant hosting environment.

A local Azure Stack instance will also ensure data sovereignty compliance and security enabling businesses to meet regulatory and compliance requirements by storing and processing data within the country as mandated under the Data Protection and Privacy Act.

Businesses will also benefit from the robust cybersecurity features including updates provided by Microsoft, complemented by an extra buffer of physical security at Raxio Data spanning up to 7 layers of physical security.

By hosting on the local Azure Stack, businesses are guaranteed efficient and robust performance with Microsoft’s high uptime, latest hardware, and software. This will further be enhanced by Raxio’s carrier and cloud neutrality which lends to a strong IT Services ecosystem.

Additionally, Raxio Data Centre offers secure colocation spaces and hosting environments of up to 400 racks to hold all mission-critical IT infrastructure via a redundant environment and a concurrently maintainable design, offering 2N+1 design on power, cooling, connectivity, and space with no single points of failure, hence further boosting the consistency and performance of the Azure stack.

The launch of this edge Azure stack in Uganda is set to revolutionize how businesses approach their data storage and connectivity needs. It provides businesses with time-tested cloud hosting benefits, including enhanced compute scalability, reliability, and improved data sovereignty and latency. As a local solution, it will also introduce local payments and support for a global service giving businesses a competitive edge to thrive in an increasingly digital landscape worldwide.

These advantages will ultimately contribute to economic growth, business continuity, social development, and the digital transformation of the Ugandan economy.

Editor’s Note: This article was written and given to PC Tech Magazine to publish by Godfrey Sserwamukoko, General Manager of Raxio Data Centre

See also: Uganda becomes 5th African nation Liquid Intelligent Technologies deploys Microsoft Azure Stack

The post OP-ED: Microsoft Azure Stack, a Game Changer for Ugandan Businesses and Enterprises appeared first on PC Tech Magazine.