Whether it is in-house or, in keeping with modern trends - outsourced - the data centre is a critical part of every business.
Previously, data centres were only available to enterprise customers that could afford the considerable capital expenditure of ownership, or could take on the commitments and costs of outsourcing to third parties.
Today, with reliable, secure outsourcing available to businesses of all sizes - and the advent of flexible, on-demand cloud computing services - the advantages of a data centre are there for all customers.
“The data centre is the brains of any business,” says John Jenkins, Business Connexion services group chief executive. “It securely stores the critical information and intellectual property of a business, providing continuous access and immediate disaster recovery.
Earlier this year, Frost & Sullivan awarded Business Connexion the 2010 South Africa Market Share Leadership Award - due to the findings of a survey conducted by them, which concluded that Business Connexion holds 23% of the data centre services market, with its nearest competitor coming in at 19%.
Frost & Sullivan is acknowledged as a global leader in growth consulting and the integrated areas of technology research, market research, economic research, corporate best practices, training, customer research, competitive intelligence, and corporate strategy.
“Now, with cloud computing, the data centre can also provide software and business services - including business-critical processes that may not go offline if there is a problem at the bricks-and-mortar head office facility.”
Business Connexion runs one of a handful of Tier IV certified data centres in the world and has a long track record of providing outsourced computing services from data storage to application hosting.
“The advantages of outsourcing the data centre are numerous and compelling,” says Jenkins.
“For the larger customers, they can avoid massive capital expenditure on running their own in-house facility and free up their IT staff for other activities. Built-in disaster recovery is part of the package. Business Connexion runs five separate national data centres to make sure of that.
“Smaller companies can take advantage of outsourced data centre services to avoid the risks of in-house data storage and use hosted applications to reduce their dependence on licensed software and the hardware it requires.”
The trend towards using enterprise strength cloud services is significant. Companies of all sizes are realising they can save on costs and still get a customised package that meets their business needs. This is also flexible and can be down - or up-scaled - as those business needs change.
“The trend is for companies to switch from capital expense models to operational expense models,” says Jenkins. “This has notable advantages in the modern business environment where needs can change overnight.
“Outsourcing the data centre is a perfect fit for this scenario, especially since it now includes services that go far beyond secure data storage.
“Previously, the concern has been just that aspect - security. However, it has now been well established in the field that a properly certified hosted data centre offers reliability and security equal to and often better than any in-house facility.
“And that is in addition to the savings and business agility that cloud computing provides.”
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Business Connexion
Business Connexion is a leading integrator of innovative business solutions based on information and communications technology (ICT). With over 4 000 employees and a track record spanning 29 years, Business Connexion runs mission-critical ICT systems and manages products, services and solutions for JSE listed and key public sector organisations, parastatals and medium-sized companies. Business Connexion has a unique business model and vision that centres on establishing the company as a world-class provider of the connective intelligence needed to amplify the simplicity, richness and affordability of end-users' connective interactions as they work across the African continent and around the globe. This represents the company's approach to configuring and integrating business solutions, which it develops and implements by drawing on expertise from entrenched competencies across the organisation.
In order to deliver a world-class service, Business Connexion has developed strong relationships and attained top-level certification with many of the world's leading ICT suppliers.
To find out how it can connect your business to a world of endless possibilities, visit www.bcx.co.za.
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