NSE, Rack Centre Ink Partnership on Data Centre Colocation Services

Mr Oscar N. Onyema, chief executive officer, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), has stressed the importance that technology has played in the quest to transform the NSE.

This is even as the NSE itself strives to play its strategic role in the development of the capital market both in Nigeria and the world at large.

Mr Onyema  who was speaking recently at the CEO Briefing  Forum,  organised by Rack Centre Limited, the Nigeria Premier Tier III design certified data centre in West Africa, said the NSE will continue to focus on providing the “Best-in-Class “ technology with smart trading tools and enhanced market surveillance capabilities.

He said the current NSE management team led by him will continue in its avowed aim  of a technological transformative agenda.

The NSE boss added that  it was in realisation of this objective that it launched several “innovative solutions such as X-Compliance-Qual and Broker –Trax,” which were technologically driven, and had also rolled out the “X-Web and X-Whistle and the NASD trading system on the NSEX-Gen Platform,” which had been dubbed as the “fastest trading engine in Africa, being the first issuer of such a portal in West Africa.

Mr Onyema who expressed  satisfaction with  partnering with Rack Centre, said what stood the Data Centre out was its qualities of being “truly carrier neutral which gives  an “access to multiple connectivity providers  that can serve the brokerage community; localised IXPN which provides low latency for real-time trading and on line transaction; state of the art, Tier III Design certified, which provides assurance of uptime commitment to minimum of 99.982 percent availability, state of the art  data centre technology environment that gives infrastructure  a  longer life and better performance; and an energy efficient, secure and  modular technology scalable to about 3000 racks which help to meet the needs of brokerage community… and lower costs and therefore long term savings.”

Mr Onyema who  said the protection of  “data “ is the lifeline of the NSE, said he  was not only impressed by the 100 percent Nigerian  ownership of Rack Centre, but also that  a  partnership with Rack Centre was an “opportunity to experience world class right here in Nigeria’

Mr Onyema said technology, as well as working with companies like Rack Centre will enable the NSE to engage in international best practices, increase its presence in international and regional   organisations, aid it in financial market modernisation, and increase its maturity in information security and also in crime reduction.

Enumerating what the Exchange had achieved with the help of Technology, Mr Onyema said the NSE today services the largest economy in Africa and is presently championing the development of Africa’s financial markets and has become the first West African country member of the World’s Federation of Exchanges.

Mr Onyema explaining the NSE Technology framework, said it was based on leadership through innovation, operational excellence through business transformation, and growth reputation through diversification, and that technology had impacted positively on its efficiency levels.

Mr Ayotunde Coker, managing director of Rack Centre pointed out the advantages of outsourcing data centre services through data centre colocation to include , significant cost reduction, efficient energy consumption, carrier neutrality and therefore diverse connectivity access points, most especially to international undersea fibre cables.

Lauding the partnership with the NSE, Mr Coker said the wholly Nigeria owned Rack Centre, which started operations in October 2013 and is the premier Tier III design certified Data Centre in West Africa is now recognised as the premium data centre facility in West Africa and is presently the only truly carrier neutral data centre in the sub region with 100% availability since launch.

Also speaking at the event which attracted Chief Executives from various companies, Mrs Bisi Lamikanra, Partner, KPMG, one of the BIG 4 international consulting firms, said in driving business growth, partnering with technology was key.

Mr Lloyd Crisp, managing director, Nigerdock, an oil service company, agreed with Mrs Lamikanra on the synergy between business growth and technology saying  that technology had helped Nigerdock to be competitive and to serve its clients better.  Technology said Mr Crisp, “had helped   us to recruit manpower, analyse data and work better through the supply chain.”

Mr Olusola Teniola, MD Internet Solution, said going forward, adaptation of the environment to technology will be key and Ms Evangeline Wiles, managing director, Kaymu, an online retailer, said in the running of business, technology will continue to be an enabler.