Johannesburg, 06 Oct 2010
A newcomer in the local telecoms market, Arc Telecoms, is set to unveil what it claims is SA's first Microsoft software rental offering, which it believes will provide an affordable alternative to software piracy.
Software piracy remains a problem in the country and, according to the 2009 Global Piracy Survey, SA's piracy proliferation is rate at 35% a year, at a cost of $1.244 million.
Arc Telecoms has partnered with US-based AllenPort to offer small to medium enterprises (SMEs) the option to rent Microsoft software rather than buy it. The company argues that this is a compelling alternative to the high costs of buying, licensing, upgrading and ultimately pirating the software.
It has geared the offering for the SME market in SA, where it believes the demand for affordable software options is highest. Arc Telecoms claims this is the first offering of its kind in the country.
However, Microsoft's Albie Bester, cloud services lead at Microsoft SA, argues that the concept of not owning the Office software you use is not new. “Microsoft has offered Open Value Subscription - a non-perpetual licence agreement for one year - for some years already.
“There is also an onsite Hosted Office offering, available under the Services Provider Licensing Agreement, where the service provider owns the hardware and provides software on a subscription basis. What is new about Arc's offering is that the actual hardware is owned by the user, with a rental option for the software,” continues Bester.
Nonetheless, Arc Telecoms CEO Steve Briggs points to the significant savings offered by a software rental option. “An average customer saves 42%. We work out our numbers based on a 36-month period, the typical gap between new versions of Office, and a five-user business will save about R220 000 and a 100-user organisation over R2 million.”
Bester agrees: “Not owning the software that an organisation uses is one of the major benefits of cloud computing. It shifts software from capex to opex, and for most small businesses, this can have a marked positive impact on their cash flow.”
Briggs argues that the demand for an affordable legal alternative is high and is confident the offering will be well received in the local market, with hopes to reach out to the Pan-African region in the future.
The exact price of the offering has yet to be finalised, but Briggs estimates a figure of R150 per seat, monthly.
He says Arc Telecoms and AllenPort are doing extensive local testing to fine-tune the technology to work in SA's telecoms environment and is set to have the solution commercially available by January 2011.
AllenPort CEO Joel Allen notes that, while Arc Telecoms will be its first distribution partner in the country, plans are under way to recruit more partners.
Hybrid elements
The rental service integrates elements of both cloud and client computing. “We take advantage of the power of the local PC, and engineer our system around the fact that not all work is done with a live Internet connection,” explains Allen.
“The service is a mobilised, local computing environment. It provides businesses with all their files, software applications and settings from any PC, and replaces a traditional office network,” he continues.
The advantage of this hybrid cloud model is that users can work offline when not connected to the Internet and then have their work backed up to the cloud the moment they come back online.
“The benefits include having all information backed up to the cloud so that, in the event of hardware failure or a stolen laptop, all the user has to do is download the software components to the computer, and they will have instant access to all their documents and e-mail immediately,” says Briggs.
“Also, unlike simple backup solutions, AllenPort's service automatically backs up data and ensures all files stay synchronised so that users don't have to backup manually.”
Arc Telecoms recently entered the market and has prioritised the SME market as its key focus area.
“The pay-as-you-go model is incredibly cost-effective, allowing for the scaling of users, up or down, depending on the business' needs,” concludes Briggs.
Related story:
Arc enters SA telecoms space
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