E-Business
5 Ways Business Management Solutions Changed in Past 5 Years Via Cloud

Keith Fenner, vice president, Sage Enterprise Africa and VP Sage Middle East has reiterated that today’s business management solutions are powerful, adaptable and quick to pay for themselves—representing a quantum leap over the rigid ERP systems of the past with their long implementation cycles and even longer times to achieve return on investment.
Fenner’s position tarries with his presentation at Sage West Africa’s Forum in Lagos 2016 tagged: ‘Launch Into 2016’
According to him, the market has evolved over the past five years showcasing the power of cloud computing too. Here are the five ways businesses have changed:
Implementation Cycles Are Much Shorter
An ERP installation for a medium sized or large enterprise could take up to a year to complete in the past, and it could take six months or longer to install even the basic features such as financials.
Today, you can get a cloud-based business management solution up-and-running in around a month to six weeks.
For example, our new deployment methodology, Fast Start, enables medium-sized enterprises to deploy a preconfigured Sage X3 solution with the financial and distribution modules in just 21 man days (six weeks total).
It fast-tracks the deployment of a solid, integrated enterprise backbone and gives you the freedom to plug in modules for extra functionality later – as and when you need them.
The Cloud Reduces The Upfront Investment And Ongoing Operating Costs
Many medium-sized businesses hesitated to embark on ERP projects because of the costs, many of them hidden.
There’s the investment in hardware infrastructure and software licences, plus ongoing support and implementation costs. It’s simpler and more affordable with today’s solutions that charges you per-user, per month.
Solutions should also include consulting and implementation as well as all software upgrades over the lifecycle of the business management solution.
Customers can benefit from a single, transparent price for the software, the infrastructure costs (it’s hosted in our cloud data centre), implementation and training.
Today’s Business Management Solutions Connect You To The Digital World
Unlike the slow and rigid ERP of the past, today’s business management solutions support modern ways of working. They are made for an era of social, mobile, cloud and big data technologies.
At the same time, they still offer traditional ERP benefits such as integration of processes and systems across the enterprise, a single view of corporate data, and the ability to improve process discipline.
These systems deliver the clean, intuitive and mobile user experience today’s workforce demands, and also scale up to cater for massive data volumes.
Return On Investment Is Provable And Predictable
Organisations used to see the returns from ERP deployments as uncertain; in the best-case scenarios, they would expect it take to years rather than months to start reaping a return on investment.
Not the case anymore – for example, a Forrester Consulting study this year revealed that a composite organisation of Sage X3 users achieved a 177% ROI, $1.7M from cost savings over three years and an expected payback period of only five months.
Many users of modern business management solutions, in our experience, achieve up to 60% revenue growth, increases in productivity in the region of 40%, and efficiency gains of around 60%. These gains come from automating processes, gaining real-time insight into business information and integrating business processes and data across the business.
Business Management Solutions Are Suitable Even For Smaller Companies
ERP used to be for big companies and the larger end of the mid-sized business sector; now, there are business management solutions that scale from as few as eight users to thousands of users, enabling business builders of all sizes to reinvent and simplify business processes.
E-Business
OADC Lagos Reinforces Commitment to Local Data Hosting and Digital Transformation @ NDPC’s National Privacy Week Summit

Open Access Data Centres (OADC) Lagos has reaffirmed its commitment to Nigeria’s data protection and digital transformation agenda through its sponsorship and active participation in the Nigeria Data Protection Commission’s (NDPC) National Privacy Week Summit.

The National Privacy Week Summit, organised by the NDPC, convened policymakers, regulators, technology providers, and industry stakeholders to promote data privacy awareness, strengthen compliance with the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA), and advance conversations around data security, sovereignty, and responsible data governance.
As a sponsor of the event, OADC Lagos demonstrated its continued support for the Federal Government’s drive toward local data hosting and data domiciliation, which are increasingly critical to safeguarding sensitive information, enhancing regulatory compliance, and building trust in Nigeria’s digital economy.
Through its carrier-neutral, Tier III Design certified data centre in Lekki, Lagos, OADC provides secure, resilient, and compliant infrastructure that enables government institutions and private sector organisations to host and manage data locally while meeting international best practices.
Commenting on the engagement, Adesola Adesugba, Country Marketing Manager, Open Access Data Centres Nigeria, said: “We are proud to have supported the Nigeria Data Protection Commission through the National Privacy Week Summit and to stand alongside the government in advancing Nigeria’s digital transformation objectives.
“Strengthening local data hosting and domiciliation is fundamental to national data sovereignty, improved security, and sustainable digital growth, and OADC Lagos remains committed to enabling this future.”
OADC’s participation at National Privacy Week Summit underscores its role as a trusted digital infrastructure partner to government and enterprise, supporting secure cloud connectivity, regulatory compliance, and the long-term development of Nigeria’s digital ecosystem.
Open Access Data Centres is part of the WIOCC Group and operates open-access, world-class data centres across Africa, serving cloud providers, network operators, enterprises, and public sector institutions.
E-Business
Kaspersky Launches OT Calculator to Align Cybersecurity Investments with Business Goals

Kaspersky’s new online tool has been specially developed for industrial organisations to assess the potential costs associated with insufficient operational technology (OT) security.

By offering detailed financial forecasts, the calculator empowers senior management to make well-informed decisions regarding security investments.
Industrial organisations increasingly depend on interconnected systems, elevating cybersecurity to a critical factor in business resilience and profitability.
According to VDC Research, over 60% of industrial companies last year reported that cybersecurity breaches had led to significant costs. Despite this, a persistent disconnect remains between security teams and executive leadership as security professionals focus on minimising risk, while executives must balance cybersecurity concerns with broader business objectives. This misalignment often results in competing priorities and underfunded security initiatives.
To bridge this gap, Kaspersky has launched the OT Cybersecurity Savings Calculator, an innovative online tool designed specifically for industrial organisations to assess the potential costs of inadequate operational technology (OT) security¹.
The primary aim of this tool is to translate cyber risks into tangible financial metrics and support strategic discussions around priorities and budget allocation. By entering details such as their sector, sub-sector, region, company size, breach history, and existing cybersecurity measures, organisations can estimate their potential cost savings and receive customised, actionable recommendations.
The calculator benchmarks performance against industry peers and highlights the company’s position within the current threat landscape.
“We believe this calculator is a powerful resource for transforming complex cyber risk data into straightforward financial insights. It enables OT leaders, security professionals, and executive teams to develop clear, data-driven business cases and recognise the value of cybersecurity investments. With actionable guidance, it promotes a comprehensive approach to resource management and strengthens overall organisational resilience,” comments Andrey Strelkov, Head of Industrial Cybersecurity Product line at Kaspersky.
E-Business
Local App Developers Rake $1m in Sales in 2025- NOTAP

National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) has said Nigerian software developers have reached significant milestones with locally made applications generating over one million Dollar in sales across domestic and regional markets.

Dr Obiageli Amadiobi, director-general of NOTAP, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Thursday in Abuja.
Amadiobi said the development signified the growing strength of Nigeria’s digital innovation ecosystem and how local innovation powers digital growth.
She said it was also a direct outcome of targeted support initiatives led by NOTAP.
She added that the initiative helped to build capacity, protect intellectual property, and connect developers to market opportunities.
According to the NOTAP boss, the journey from concept to impact started with understanding and securing intellectual property (IP) rights, a step many local innovators missed.
“Whether it’s a literary work, a laboratory invention, or a creative digital product, the process of bringing an idea to life demands immense time, skill, and dedication.
“An innovator might wake up with a solution to a pressing problem; spend months testing and refining it and achieve remarkable results; so it is their fundamental right to patent that creation and claim ownership.
“Without this protection, someone else could easily replicate their work; patent it in their name; and legally control what was built with Nigerian brainpower,” she said.
Amadiobi said that the challenge was compounded by widespread digital piracy and counterfeiting, which hit the ICT sector hardest.
“From copied software applications to replicated content on social platforms like TikTok, unauthorised duplication has become a major barrier to growth.
“We see talented young creators develop unique digital content or tools, only to watch others rebrand and profit from their work within weeks,” she said.
The DG noted that most popular online personalities with distinctive styles often don’t realise they could protect their original contributions through IP registration.
She said that to address these gaps and unlock the value of Nigerian innovation, NOTAP implemented a multi-pronged strategy,- a cornerstone initiative – which is the Local Vendor Policy.
“The Local Vendor Policy mandates that foreign technology firms entering Nigeria partner with domestic counterparts,’’ she said.
Amadiobi said that among the performing apps are solutions addressing critical local challenges such as a mobile health platform that now serves 750,000 users across six states.
“There is also the agricultural marketplace connecting smallholder farmers to buyers; and an educational tool that has been adopted by 200 schools to improve learning outcomes,” she said.
She added that the apps were developed by teams that gained skills and resources through NOTAP’s Local Vendor Policy.
According to her, the policy requires foreign technology firms operating in Nigeria to allocate a portion of their technical service fees to local partners.
“Three years ago, many of these developers were only providing support services to foreign companies.
“But today, they are building their own products that compete globally. 60 per cent of last year’s sales came from other African countries, showing our developers can lead on the continent,” she said.
The D-G explained that the one million dollar figure represented sales from over 50 locally developed apps, with individual developers earning between 5,000 dollars and 80,000 dollars from their products.
“Looking ahead, NOTAP aims to double these sales figures by 2027, with plans to expand support to developers focusing on fintech, renewable energy management, and climate adaptation tools.
“These are the sectors identified as high-growth opportunities for Nigerian innovation,’’ Amadiobi said
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