Works on Namanve data centre start

Construction works. Mr Abdul-Rahman Baguma Ahmed the Raxio vice president- technical and operations (L), Mr Jaco Mare (M), the Roko construction project manager and Mr James Byaruhanga, the Raxio general manager, look through the site plan at the launch of the construction works in Namanve, Mukono District. COURTESY PHOTO

What you need to know:

  • 86.4 per cent of IT managers working for government ministries, departments and agencies in a recent survey by National Information Technology Authority (Uganda) said that shared services offered in data centres, such as cloud services, significantly cut ICT related costs and increase productivity.

Kampala. Roko Construction has started works on a multibillion shilling data centre in the Kampala Industrial and Business Park, Namanve in Mukono District.

The centre, which is an initiative of Raxio Data, seeks to among other things create a safe and cheap channel through which companies can back-up their data as well as increase use of shared ICT services.

Speaking at the launch of the construction, Mr Robert Mullins, a Roko director, said the centre has already been cleared by Mukono Municipal authorities and National Environment Management Authority.
“We are in the process of selecting other contractors to handle electrical and other associated works. We expect to conclude this process soon,” he said, adding that works could be completed by November.

Roko beat six other companies that had shown interest in a bidding process that was started late last year to construct a data centre, which was designed by Future-tech, a UK-based design company and Symbion.
The centre, according to Mr James Byaruhanga, the Raxio general manager, will have an investment of approximately $15m over its life-cycle.

At a recent joint event to promote cloud services by Oracle and Raxio in Kampala, Mr Joachim Steuerwald, the Oracle Cloud Platform sales director for East Africa, said it was time for companies in the region to invest in securing their data given the increasing reliance on digital platforms to run businesses.

The available data centres within the region, he said, had been overgrown by the rapid advancements thus requiring an update.
Data centres have become critical in cutting ICT-related costs for businesses.

86.4 per cent of IT managers working for government ministries, departments and agencies in a recent survey by National Information Technology Authority (Uganda) said that shared services offered in data centres, such as cloud services, significantly cut ICT related costs and increase productivity.