Symantec: The Passion For Information And Business Protection

Symantec Channel Manager, Nigeria & Ghana at Symantec, Mr. Adeyemi Adeleke; Finance Director, JSP Communications Consultancy, Mr. Joseph Adeboyejo and Symantec Territory Manager, IWECA (Indian Islands, West, East and Central Africa), Sheldon Hand during the Company's Media Roundtable in Lagos

By ROMMY IMAH

Global businesses are under serious threat posed by malware proliferation and spam. Unfortunately, those businesses seem to be at a loss as to how to confront these challenges. In fact, research has shown that about 50 percent of Small and Medium businesses in the world does not have a disaster recovery plan yet, about 81 percent of the same business sector consider data their company’s most valuable asset. The most fatal is that about 71 percent of small businesses that suffered cyber attacks, never recovered to tell their story.

Today, world business is confronted by new complexities and challenges represented by security risks and threats, level of consumerization of IT and the explosion in the information realm. A situation like this needs the deployment of reliable solutions from reliable providers to tackle.

For over a decade, Symantec, a global leader in providing security, storage and systems management solutions to help consumers and organizations secure and manage their information-driven world have been helping businesses in Nigeria to remain afloat even in the face of growing cyber attacks resulting from boost in economic activities in the country.

Sheldon Hand, Territory Manager, West, East and Central Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands for Symantec recently at a media round-table in Lagos, identified four key trends that have emerged to increase fears surrounding cyber attacks on businesses. Those trends include the growth of malware attack by as much as 81 percent; expansion of targeted attacks; the expository impact of mobile attacks as well as the rise in data breaches.

“While profits remain lucrative in the Personal Computer space, mobile offers new opportunities to cybercriminals that potentially are more profitable. Mobile also creates an urgent concern to organisations around the possibility of breaches. Given the intertwining of work and personal information on mobile devices, the loss of confidential

Why MTN Nigeria Is Spending US$1.3Billion On Network Modernization

L-R: General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Mrs. Funmi Omogbenigun; Chief Technical Officer, Mrs. Lynda Saint-Nwafor; and Corporate Services Executive, Mr. Akinwale Goodluck; all of MTN Nigeria at a press conference announcing MTN’s nationwide network modernisation project in Lagos

By ROMMY IMAH

One issue that has repeatedly surfaced at telecommunications meets in this part of the world is that of poor quality of service by telecom service providers. Since the coming of the Global System on Mobile (GSM) communications in Nigeria, the phrase- ‘poor quality of service’ has stubbornly refused to disappear from the country’s telecoms dictionary.

In fact, consumers of telecommunications services especially those of GSM services have ceaselessly accused GSM operators of deliberately indulging in delivering poor quality of service to Nigerians. At the phenomenal Telecoms Consumers Parliament introduced by the country’s telecoms regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission, issue of poor quality of service has consistently dominated complaints by parliamentarians.

Only a couple of months ago, the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC brought the sledge hammer on the four GSM operators in the country for not meeting with the industry’s Key Performance Indicators, KPIs especially that of quality of service. All the four GSM operators were cumulatively fined N1.7billion.

But the service providers have attributed the perceived poor quality of service to an avalanche of problems ravaging the industry. They have and rightly too, argued that they were in business to make profit and so, do not see the reason why they should revel in poor service delivery that would obviously affect their Return on Investment, RoI.

MTN for instance, had about a month before the imposition of the fine on it complained bitterly about the growing damage to its fibre optic network across the country, alleging that its network suffers more than 70 fibre cuts every month. MTN attributed this development to poor road construction practices which account for 42 percent of the incidents; damages by criminals and hoodlums which account for 25 percent; as well as other incidents including sabotage, accounting for 33 percent.  

MTN’s Corporate Services Executive, Wale Goodluck had in his reaction to the NCC fine stated that the leading GSM operator remained committed to ensuring the provision of the best quality of service for its teeming subscribers. “MTN continues to employ the greatest effort to overcome the infrastructural and environmental challenges that impede the delivery of consistently good quality of service”, he said.

Goodluck reiterated the challenges faced by operators in Nigeria including unavailability of regular power supply, insecurity of infrastructure, vandalization, and the menace of multiple taxation and regulation. He revealed that the company expends billions of naira annually on diesel, to power its generating sets across the country.

He cited as examples, the difficulties encountered by MTN in Abia State in 2011 when it was involved in a face-off with the State Government over infrastructure levy as well as the face- off between NESREA and NCC over jurisdiction to intervene in specific regulatory issues, leading to the closure of a number of MTN sites in Abuja, the FCT. In each case, as with numerous such incidents all over the country, MTN’s ability to service its customers has been severely impaired.

“In the past, we have lost network availability in over 1000 base stations cumulatively across the network as a result of these cuts. This has affected services predominantly in the South East, particularly, Onitsha and Port Harcourt, and also other

Microsoft Office 365: Introducing The Business Booster

Awawu Olumide-Sojinrin, Marketing Lead, Microsoft Nigeria, Emmanuel Onyeje, General Manager, Microsoft Nigeria, Marc Israel, Information Worker Business Group Lead, Microsoft Africa and Dele Akinsade, Developer Platform and Evangelism Lead, Microsoft West East and Central Africa at a press briefing to announce the availability of Microsoft Office 365 in Nigeria

 

There are some musings in some quarters especially amongst IT disciples that the sky is no longer the limit. Some IT freaks now see the Cloud as presenting every firm with a big and exciting opportunity to revolutionize their IT estate and realize ‘cloud economics’ by achieving more with less. Again, increasing simplicity yields greater productivity.

And if going by the features of a recent product introduced into Nigeria by leading global Software Company, Microsoft, then this thinking could well be true. Businesses in the country are in for rapid growth which experts argue could result to spontaneous national economic transformation.

Known as Office 365, the innovative product is a cloud productivity solution that simplifies IT management and provides virtually anywhere access to familiar Office tools, email, file sharing, conferencing, and many more services.

Businesses in Nigeria can now leverage on the good features of Office 365 to get their work done securely and communicate real-time from almost anywhere. In fact, when combined with office, Office 365 full potential is unlocked as the best solution for productivity, collaboration, communication, and worry-free IT.

Commercially made available in Nigeria about three months ago, businesses can try it for free for 30 days by signing up at the office website or from Microsoft’s 31 leading local Nigerian service providers. It will integrate Office 365 with other offerings and market the service to the hundreds of thousands of small and midsize business customers in Nigeria.

Office 365 for instance, helps professionals and small businesses to grow with Office Web Apps, Microsoft Exchange Online, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft Lync Online and an external website in just 15minutes.

Office 365 for enterprises has an array of choices for midsize and large businesses, as well as government organizations. It also includes the option to purchase Microsoft Office Professional Plus desktop software on a pay-as-you-go basis, for the first time.

These tools put email, voicemail, enterprise social networking, instant messaging, Web portals, extranets, video conferencing, web conferencing and more at everyone’s fingertips.

The new product is quite rich with varieties of business-boosting offerings. For instance, while Office offers all the familiar tools including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote on your computer, Office 365 comes with Cloud-based

Lagos CP Lauds Airtel For Support to Command

(L-R): Commissioner of Police (CP), Lagos State, Alhaji Umar A. Manko, Mni 

and CEO and MD, Airtel Nigeria, Rajan Swaroop 

during the CP’s Visit to Airtel Nigeria…

Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Umar A. Manko has commended Airtel Nigeria for partnering with the Lagos State Police Command to maintain peace and orderliness in the state.

Speaking during a courtesy visit to the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Airtel Nigeria, Rajan Swaroop at the Airtel Headquarters in Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos, Manko thanked Airtel for its support and assistance to the Lagos State Police Force, saying the Command values its cordial relationship with the telecommunications operator.

“I value the relationship the Lagos State Police Command has with Airtel Nigeria. That is why I decided to make Airtel my first place of courtesy call. Indeed, this is a testimony to the shared relationship with Airtel and I want to thank them for their assistance, thus far,” he said.

He urged Airtel to render more help in terms of mobile telecommunications partnership, saying this will go a long way in assisting the police deal with crime and other vices plaguing the society.

In his response, Chief Executive Officer, Airtel Nigeria, Rajan Swaroop described the courtesy visit as a confirmation of the cordial relationship Airtel enjoys with the Lagos State Police Command, saying that Airtel always looks for opportunities to impact positively on the society.

“I am sure you will agree with me that the art of policing is a collective responsibility. Airtel appreciates this fact that is why we proactively engage the Lagos State Police Command and we are always willing to collaborate with them to promote public good.

“In the past, we have done quite a lot to support the Nigerian Police. At present, we also have quite a few projects with the Nigerian Police. And since policing is an on-going concern, we will continue to partner with the police to protect lives and property in Lagos, he said.

The Lagos State Police Commissioner was accompanied by Assistant Commissioner of Police, Operations, Vincent Brown and Police DPO, Ikoyi, Aisha Haruna.

The Human Resources Director, Airtel Nigeria, Jubril Saba and Head, Security, Airtel Nigeria, Gbemileke Oladeni joined Swaroop to welcome the delegation from the Lagos State Police Command.

Symantec Survey Reveals Information Costs Businesses $1.1trillion

*Francis deSouza

Symantec, a global leader in providing security, storage and systems management solutions has announced that information costs businesses worldwide $1.1 trillion annually, according to its first ever State of Information Survey.

From confidential customer information, to intellectual property, to financial transactions, organizations possess massive amounts of information that not only enable them to be competitive and efficient – but also stay in business.

Symantec’s Group President, Enterprise Products and Services, Francis deSouza stated that, digital information makes up 49 percent of an organization’s total value.

“The vast amount of information that organizations produce today can help them better serve their customers and increase productivity. However, the same information can also become a major liability if it is not properly protected. Companies that effectively use their information will have a major competitive advantage over those who cannot, and in some cases it can be the difference between success and failure,” he said.

deSouza further disclosed that, “with its increasing value and rising cost, successful companies will find ways to more effectively protect their information and unleash the productivity it can bring.” 

The survey revealed that, businesses of all sizes are dealing with enormous amounts of data. The total size of information stored today by all businesses is 2.2 zettabytes.

MTN Nigeria: Akingbade Out, Annetts In

*Bola Akingbade

After six years of obvious meritorious service, MTN Nigeria has announced the retirement of its Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer Bola Akingbade effective June 30, 2012.

The retired CMO is to be replaced by Larry Annetts, an accomplished professional with more than 16 years cognate experience gained in multinational organizations.

Described as an experienced marketing strategist, Akingbade joined MTN after a distinguished career with Nigerian Breweries, where he rose to the position of Marketing Director. 

Akingbade’s wealth of experience and his contributions to the growth and success of MTN Nigeria and indeed the MTN Group have been of immense benefit to the GSM giant and are well documented.

It is on record that under his leadership of the Marketing & Strategy Division of MTN Nigeria, the company made significant strides including playing a significant role in growing the market share from 45 percent in 2006 to over 50 percent at the end of 2011 and entrenching MTN’s position as the number one brand in Nigeria.

Under Akingbade, the Marketing & Strategy Division contributed

Airtel, Arsenal FC Announce Partnership

*Airtel Africa Chief Marketing Officer, Andre Beyers

*Ivan Gazidis, Arsenal FC CEO

Arsenal Football Club and African mobile network operator Airtel have signed a three-year partnership agreement.
The deal provides Airtel with the opportunity to utilise the Club’s merchandising, hospitality and content rights in five markets: Nigeria, Zambia, Ghana, Uganda and Rwanda.
Arsenal.com reports that the agreement will help the north London side reach some of its 42million fans across the continent.
On the other hand, Airtel customers in Nigeria, Zambia, Ghana, Uganda and Rwanda will have the opportunity to win match tickets to watch this summer’s pre-season tour fixture and receive exclusive Club content and news direct to handsets. In addition to the agreement, Airtel will be designated as the official mobile operator of the 2012 Arsenal Tour to Nigeria.
Arsenal will also support the Airtel Rising Stars football programme, an annual grassroots training initiative that offers young boys and girls the opportunity to play football and compete in a safe environment. Airtel donates money for each goal scored at the tournament to support the players’ education to ensure those involved don’t only get best-in-class sports training and opportunities, but also have better opportunities to further their academic studies. The Gunners will provide UEFA-trained coaches to assist with training in each of the five markets and at an Arsenal Coaching Clinic for up to 50 footballers in London.
Arsenal’s Head of Global Partnerships Vinai Venkatesham added: “I am delighted to welcome Airtel into our family of Commercial Partners. This is the second long-term partnership arrangement to arise from the continent and we look forward to developing a number of exciting initiatives with Airtel, starting with our forthcoming tour to Nigeria in August. This underlines the depth of our following in Africa and how the profile of the Club continues to grow internationally.”
Airtel Africa Chief Marketing Officer, Andre Beyers added:  “Football fans across Africa are known for their passion of the great game. Arsenal’s exciting style of play and a history of working with the best talent from Africa will enrich this partnership and offer a wealth of opportunities for upcoming players and fans. The partnership provides an impetus to the Airtel Rising Stars in some of the countries that have produced amazing young talent and whose youth teams have gone on to win FIFA Youth and Olympic tournaments.’’
It is the Club’s inaugural pre-season tour of Nigeria, having played a fixture in South Africa in 1993. The 2012 visit will feature a game between the Arsenal first-team and the Nigerian National Team the Super Eagles on Saturday 5th August. Airtel is in the process of finalising arrangements that will give selected consumers in the five countries a chance to watch the match and interact with the team in Abuja.
The details of the promotion will be announced soon.