‘DCC is best Cisco partner in Nigeria’

DCC Networks has won the “Best Cisco Nigeria Partner for 2011” award.

DCC Networks, which is the communications subsidiary of the Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) was honoured for its outstanding performance and significant impact on Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

Head, Corporate Communications at CWG, Mr. Chidi Okpara said that the criteria for the prize, according to Cisco included varieties of indicators, which are collaboration with Cisco, market development and dedication towards the Cisco sales team.

He also said that the award, presented in Cape Town, South Africa at the just concluded One Africa Partner’s Summit held for the purpose of seeking plans and ways of supporting the emerging market is the first of its kind.

Sales Manager, DCC Networks, Mr. Sylvester Ekpo, who attended the summit and received the award on behalf of DCC, said, “DCC is honored and delighted to win this prestigious award which rewards the company’s efforts and successes with CISCO.”

CWG, he noted is known for having a dedicated and highly motivated professional team, which is committed to quality, innovation and value with a passionate attitude towards meeting the needs and satisfaction of its customers.

ITRealms Online recalls that Cisco Systems Inc. is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet.

And today, Cisco networks are an essential part of business, education, government and home communications, and Cisco’s Internet Protocol-based (IP) networking solutions are the foundation of these networks. Cisco’s core development areas of IT is routing and switching.

Remmy Nweke
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

IDC names Oracle leader in Business Process Management

The latest report by the International Data Corporation (IDC) has named Oracle, a leader in business process platform for 2011.

The report tagged “IDC MarketScape: Business Process Platforms 2011” also gave some reason for this assertion.

“Oracle was named a leader in this IDC MarketScape because of its technical functionality as a platform, sophisticated user interface, business functionality in its process layer, and business execution capabilities. We believe Oracle is a very strong option for enterprises investing strategically in BPM automation technology,” part of the report read.

Also, IDC report assessed the capabilities of vendors to support mid-range to complex process improvement scenarios, stressing that Business Process (BP) platforms provide development and runtime environments to improve and automate a wide range of processes and support advanced use cases around orchestration, case management, process interoperability, end-to-end process monitoring, and event-driven process management. “That means BP platforms are capable of combining people- and system-centric use cases,” the report added.

ITRealms Online gathered that IDC’s MarketScape assessment model balances the strategy of vendors with their current capabilities.

Oracle Business Process Management Suite 11g, for instance, is a unified, complete, and social solution that enables customers to engage business and Information Technology (IT) users more easily in the management of all types of business processes enabling increased efficiency, business visibility, and agility.

Programme Vice President at IDC’s BPM and Middleware Research, Ms Maureen Fleming, who endorsed the report said “Leaders in the IDC MarketScape for BP Platforms are aligned with an enterprise’s need for highly capable, well-rounded offerings that support a broad range of needs, particularly for more sophisticated process improvement efforts.”

This, she noted, is essential for enterprises investing strategically in a platform capable of supporting multiple process improvement projects.

Reacting to the development, Vice President, Oracle Fusion Middleware, Mr. David Shaffer, said that this is a critical area as business processes are at the heart of what makes or breaks a business, and what differentiates it from the competition.

“IDC’s comprehensive analysis demonstrates Oracle’s leadership in the business process management market, and it is rewarding to achieve top marks in a number of areas such as innovation, out-of-the-box productivity and overall platform capabilities,” he said, adding that these results validate Oracle’s commitment to providing customers with the industry’s most complete and unified business process management solution.

Remmy Nweke
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Airtel increases investment by N151.8bn

Airtel Nigeria has increased its investment profile in Nigeria from initial US$600 million to US$1 billion, about N151.8 billion within the last 18 months.

Disclosing this recently in Abuja, the chief executive officer and Managing Director, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Rajan Swaroop, said that in order to meet the expansion needs on the network the management has to raise the investment profile for Nigeria.

Airtel, Swaroop noted, has to increase investment to meet the challenges and opportunities of the Nigerian market in the last one year and six months.

He also said that some new challenges are being discovered as the company trails the path, declaring that remain the biggest telecom market on the continent.

“As we stated on arrival, Nigeria is the biggest market in Africa, which in turn is the only telecommunications market region that is still grossly underserved,” he said, stressing that Airtel have made significant investment and are still making as the mobile operator seeks to strengthen the network it inherited, make it more robust and expand coverage especially to the rural communities.

Swaroop further said, Airtel is committed to creating jobs and employment opportunities in Nigeria, hence it retained its call centre operations in the country even as the technology exists to run the service from locations with lower costs of doing business.

Pointing out that Airtel Networks has deployed Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) for management of its network and call centres.

“In the past nine months, we have recruited additional 1,300 call centre agents, bringing the total capacity to 2,100 through our partners, Spanco and Tech Mahindra,” he said, assuring that as Airtel roll out new call centres, more young graduates would be given employment.

“We are expanding our core functions of sales, marketing and operations. That has resulted in growth opportunities for existing staff and new jobs for other experienced Nigerians. I can tell you we are attracting remarkable talents from other telecommunications companies and fast-moving consumer goods companies,” he asserted.

ITRealms Online recalls that Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa.

The company offers mobile voice and data services, fixed line, high speed broadband, Internet Protocol TV (IPTV), Direct to Home (DTH), turnkey telecom solutions for enterprises and national as well as international long distance services to carriers.

Bharti Airtel has been ranked among the six best performing technology companies in the world by BusinessWeek, even as Bharti Airtel had over 223 million customers across its operations at the end of April 2011.

Remmy Nweke
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Helios, Telkom extol Okeahalam on MultiLinks

Chief Executive Officer, Helios Towers Nigeria (HTN), Mr. Inder Bajaj, has commended Nigerian international investment strategist, Prof. Charles Okeahalam for facilitating the sale of MultiLinks Telkom to Helios Investment Partners (HIP).

ITRealms Online recalls that a dispute arose from the sale of the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) arm of Telkom MultiLinks Nigeria to Visafone Communications, due to a subsisting contract Telkom had with HIP, the owners of Helios Towers Nigeria.

This culminated HTN bringing charges of breach of contract against Telkom SA and sued for US$252 million dollars.

Prof. Charles Okeahalam, Chief Executive Officer of AGH Capital in Johannesburg and Non-Executive Director of BGL Plc, reportedly developed a strategy through which the dispute between Telkom and HIP over MultiLinks Nigeria was amicably resolved and eventually MultiLinks was sold to HTN.

“We are very pleased to reach an agreement with Telkom. Upon acquisition Helios Investment Partners will take forward the future course of MultiLinks to ensure the smooth and orderly transition, re-introduce operational stability and maximize value for all stakeholders including Telkom. Telkom and HTN wish to acknowledge the visionary leadership and diplomacy role of Prof Charles Okeahalam who brought both parties together to enable them to reach this agreement.” Bajaj said in a press statement made available to Daily Champion.

Equally commented, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Telkom, Nombulelo Moholi said they were glad to have been able to negotiate an agreement which would enhance the strategic focus for Telkom.

Chairman of Telkom, Mr. Lazarus Zim, was also quoted as saying “We believe that this is a win-win transaction that will yield benefits to both sets of shareholders,” stressing that they assume that the step taken would be beneficial to all of Multi-Links’ stakeholders particularly, employees and customers in Nigeria.

The legal battle that ensured, experts say have implications not just for the two firms in question but for the large number of employees, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders dependent on the continued operation of MultiLinks.

Remmy Nweke
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

What makes Nokia dual SIM unique – Onwubiko

Head of Marketing, Nokia West Africa, Mr. Reuben Onwubiko has identified what makes the recently introduced Nokia dual Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) phones different from the pack already in the market.

Speaking at a media roundtable of Nokia X1-01 and Nokia C2.00, Mr. Onwubiko who was accompanied by the Communications Manager, Mr. Osagie Osunbor and mobile product officer, Mr. Olumide, said that with Nokia dual SIM phones, telecom consumers do not need extra-charging or dual batteries.

According to him, dual SIM phones are generally known to consume more battery life, hence what already existed in the telecom market, mostly in emerging economies including Nigeria is that additional battery are provisioned with such a phone.

But for the latest in shelf from Nokia, the duo of C2-00 and the X1-01 series, he said are phones meant to be pocket friendly, especially for low income earners or students.

“With Nokia devices (C2-00 and the X1-01) the dual standby feature gives a long life battery and there is no need for extra charging or for dual batteries,” he said.

Onwubiko also said that Nokia is not afraid of competition, especially in the dual SIM segment, assuring that despite its lateness in this segment, Nokia devices are characterized by their durability and reliability.

“Nokia traditional devices features, services and service support make our devices unique,” he declared.

On the X1-01 dual SIM phone, he said, it was made to cater for a certain market and therefore affordable.

In addition, he explained that X1-01 phone affords consumers to give each SIM card a name and a dedicated logo as well as Media Player version 3 (MP3) devoted ring tone.

Equally, he said, X1-01, has built-in flashlight, extra long battery life and pre-loaded games, with the ability to availing users access to Nokia Life Tools (NLT) via Ovi Store.

For the C2.00, Onwubiko said that the dual SIM phone is filled with features that definitely excite Nokia customers.

The phone, he said, has an external SIM slot for multiple SIMs, unlike competition what users have to open the phone, remove battery before changing any of the SIMs.

With C2.00, Onwubiko pointed out that it comes with features such as microSD which supports up to 32 Gega Byte (GB), media player, 3.5mm AV connector, General Packet Radio Services (GPRS), Video Graphics Array (VGA) camera of 1.3 pixel, as well as web browser and micro Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector slot.

He further said, C2-00, has a messaging device which means users could stay in touch with their loved ones with the chat applications of Yahoo, Facebook and other social media platforms to name a few.

He strongly believes that the two dual SIM phones from Nokia would definitely make their inroads into the Nigerian telecom market space.

Remmy Nweke
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D