General News
Oracle Out With Application-Engineered Systems for Data Center Harmony
The price of running modern data centers is quickly rising, said Tom Pegrume, vice president Oracle Hardware Middle East and Africa.
He added that the astonishing amount of data that companies collect today coupled with a mounting need to convert this information into measurable business value quickly and effectively has seen enterprises fill server rooms with rows of expensive storage stacks working furiously to accommodate an army of data-processing applications.
Given that the amount of data collected by businesses is expected to continue growing by 50 to 70 per cent each year, companies that content themselves to add current-day servers to their existing data center technologies will quickly find themselves in a financial struggle to support the upkeep of their IT infrastructure in the face of this growth, and lacking the floor space to even do so.
The key for businesses looking to remain competitive in an increasingly data-heavy world is therefore a more rapid, more powerful, and more space and cost-efficient storage solution. Andreas Olah, research analyst at IDC in EMEA agrees, saying that “Server density is increasing … driven by the need for lower power consumption and less datacenter floor space required while maintaining performance”.
The problem is that in past years storage systems were primarily designed as general-purpose solutions meant to work with as many applications as possible.
While these presented attractive products to sell to customers operating across multiple industries, this “one size fits all” approach has left businesses with expansive IT infrastructures whose performance is encumbered by limited communication between applications and storage within the stack.
Moreover, because these systems are standardized companies have been allocating a considerable portion of their time and budget on managing their integration into their in-house data centre architecture rather than investing into the growth of their practices.
In reality, each application in the stack is different and should therefore be treated as such.Some require high-performance support, others extreme security measures, while some even have varying operational requirements dependent on the time of year – for example, an energy provider’s performance demands are much higher during the work day than during the quiet late evening hours.
To unlock more value from these tools, businesses will have to move past generic storage appliances and adopt engineered systems that marry application-aware storage solutions with storage-aware applications.
These application engineered systems (AES) drive faster, more powerful IT by automating data management to an unprecedented degree while helping businesses reduce operating costs.
A storage device operating within an integrated AES solution is aware of the requirements that each application it supports will have before their request even reaches the storage controller.
This co-engineering between application and storage leads to much faster query times and data processing.
By running more efficient data compression technologies such as Hybrid Columnar Compression that can only be supported by these engineered systems, businesses can reduce the space required to store their data by up to10 times when compared with the compression rates of non-application aware systems.
Businesses require improved operational agility from their IT, and cannot afford to lose time dealing with bottlenecks in their mission-critical databases and applications.
A major benefit of AES storage systems is their ability to automatically adjust to the changing requirements of data centre applications in real time.
For companies, this pre-integrated interaction between applications and storage means that rather than using their employees’ time to manually treat labour-intensive IT issues they can instead focus on driving innovation and business growth.
Pegrume added that while some businesses may prefer to build and manage their own storage systems, the disconnect between applications and the server will inevitably grow wider with every third party technology added to the stack.
“When one considers that two thirds of enterprise storage costs can be attributed to the time and manpower dedicated to managing these systems, this piecemeal approach risks becoming prohibitively expensive, especially when factoring in the cost of frequent system upgrades, maintenance, and troubleshooting. Not only does a fully-integrated AES solution help businesses bypass some of these costs, but because engineered applications automatically tune themselves to the stack and scale their functionality in response to system requirements they also leave room for significant performance enhancements down the road.
“For businesses, investment in innovation drives progress. In today’s fast-moving economy, the seemingly endless trickle of money companies will spend to tune and manage their data centers would serve them better if reinvested towards achieving measurable market growth.
By providing businesses with fully-integrated data storage and analysis capabilities, application-aware systems like AES, such as Oracle’s ZFS Storage ZS3, give them the self-managing IT solution they will need to reduce their long-term IT investment and focus on achieving success in their respective fields,” he said. Furthermore, due to the dynamic relationship between application and software within these stacks, businesses will also benefit from dramatically improved data processing capability and speed.
MoMo PSB, a subsidiary of MTN Nigeria and a leading provider of digital financial services, has unveiled its Customer Refer & Win Promo, an exciting initiative aimed at rewarding loyal customers with free airtime or data for life.
This campaign underscores MoMo PSB’s commitment to advancing financial inclusion and enhancing the digital banking experience for millions of Nigerians.
The promo offers customers the chance to win incredible prizes, including free airtime or data every month for 50 years for 11 lucky winners, and consolation prizes for 110 winners who will receive airtime or data every month for one year.
Open to both new and existing customers, the initiative encourages participants to perform qualifying transactions and refer friends and family to activate or reactivate their accounts.
Phrase Lubega, CEO of MoMo PSB, emphasized the company’s dedication to customer satisfaction and seamless financial transactions. “This initiative is about giving back to our customers while promoting the ease and convenience of using MoMo for everyday transactions.
“By simply transacting on the platform, customers get the chance to enjoy free airtime and data for life, an offer that truly rewards their loyalty,” he said.
To participate, customers must complete eligible transactions such as MoMo-to-MoMo transfers, other bank transfers, bill payments, betting wallet top-ups, and airtime/data purchases.
Referrals also earn participants an instant 100MB for every active referral. Weekly electronic draws will determine winners, with the promo running for 12 weeks from April 3rd to June 25th, 2025.
MoMo PSB will also engage users through nationwide activations, interactive sessions, and digital campaigns to drive awareness and participation.
This initiative further solidifies MoMo PSB’s role as a key player in Nigeria’s financial services sector, offering innovative solutions that simplify transactions and enhance customer satisfaction.
House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee has directed Remita, a financial technology firm, to refund N182.77 billion to the federal government. The sum was allegedly withheld from the Treasury Single Account (TSA) since 2015.
The directive was issued on Wednesday during a committee meeting in Abuja, following the submission of a forensic audit report by consulting firm Seyi Katola & Company (Chartered Accountants), which uncovered significant discrepancies in revenue remittances.
Remita, owned by financial services company SystemSpecs, is the online platform through which federal government agencies remit revenue into the TSA. In November 2023, the House launched an investigation into suspected revenue leakages through the platform.
Chairman of the committee, Bamidele Salam, said the decision was reached based on evidence presented by the forensic auditors and documents submitted by Remita and other stakeholders in the TSA ecosystem.
Adewale Oyebamiji, managing partner at the auditing firm, presented the breakdown of liabilities, stating that SystemSpecs was responsible for N3.42 billion in under-refunded transaction processing fees, N101.85 million in unpaid acquirer fees, and N179.25 billion in unremitted collections.
The report also applied the Central Bank of Nigeria’s monetary policy rate of 27.25 percent to determine interest charges. According to the findings, the under-refund of transaction processing fees amounted to N993 million, with interest charges of N2.42 billion, bringing the total to N3.42 billion. For unpaid acquirer fees, N29.60 million was due, with interest charges of N72.25 million, totalling N101.85 million. Regarding non-remittance of collections, N54.24 billion was due with N125 billion in interest, totalling N179 billion.
“The committee hereby recommends that SystemSpecs Ltd be compelled to refund the total sum of N182,769,245,175.20 to the federal government asset recovery account domiciled at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), account number: 0020054161191,” the report stated.
The committee noted that some deposit money banks have already complied with similar refund directives and urged other TSA value chain service providers yet to comply to do so without delay.
Chairman Salam praised the forensic auditors for what he described as a thorough and patriotic investigation.
The Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment has announced the launch of the Digital Services Survey in a strategic effort to empower Nigerian digital service providers to expand across Africa under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The ministry’s Director Press and Public Relations, Dr. Adebayo Thomas in a statement said the aims of the digital services initiative is to map and support the growth of Nigerian digital services throughout the continent and simplify the process for digital businesses to navigate regulatory environments and expand their reach across African markets.
He added that Nigerian digital businesses often face challenges when entering other African markets, including uncertainties around service registration, applicable regulations, and responsible agencies.
Thomas said: “Unlike physical goods, digital services don not always align with existing trade categories. This framework will serve as a common language, ensuring consistent treatment of digital services across borders” and its benefits include unlocking new markets by identifying target African countries for expansion, as Nigeria can focus trade negotiations on opening specific markets for digital services.”
He added, “The framework would also create a Digital Services Repository and for the first time, Nigeria will compile a comprehensive database of digital service providers, their expansion plans, and the challenges they face.
“Furthermore, the framework would strengthen Nigeria’s digital leadership by positioning the country as a proactive leader in Africa’s digital economy, shaping the rules and standards for digital trade.”
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