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Economic, Political Factors Impact CEE External Storage Market

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The last quarter of 2014 was the weakest quarter of the year for the external storage market in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), with a 4.7% year-on-year value decline and only 15.9% capacity growth.

Market performance for the entire year was almost flat (-0.3%), with total value just below the 1 billion dollar threshold.

Overall capacity in the region jumped 23.9% from the previous year, almost reaching 1 Exabyte.

Spending in the small and medium-sized business (SMB) segment increased 15.2% year on year, which helped prevent a more significant decline of the total market.

These results were revealed in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) Disk Storage Systems Quarterly Tracker published recently by International Data Corporation (IDC).

Factors shaping market trends could be viewed as reflecting two distinct groups: macroeconomic and political versus technological.

While the first has mainly short to medium-term effects, the effects of the second are more long-term, related to the ongoing transition to 3rd-Platform technologies.

The poor performance on Russia and Ukraine markets in the second half of 2014 was responsible for the overall CEE market decline.

Demand was strongly affected by international sanctions, plummeting oil prices, and currency devaluation, and the market will take a further hit from the imposed restrictions on big international vendors such as HP, EMC, IBM, and HDS from dealing with official partners in Russia and large government and corporate clients.

As a result, the importance of Chinese manufacturers (Huawei, Inspur) and local server and storage companies, which are unaffected by the sanctions is on the rise.

The remaining CEE countries, particularly EU member states such as Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, and Slovakia, exhibit the long-term IT trends but are free of the socio-political inhibitors.

The additional support of EU funds allocated for 2014-2020 period and planned egovernment programs, resulted in a successful year in terms of storage spending.

Although SMBs buy significant numbers of primary and backup storage systems, these are typically entry-level products.

On the other hand, large organizations and service providers tend to invest in midrange solutions, flash-optimized storage, and software-defined storage (SDS) solutions, while the government buys high-end storage systems, which contributes strongly to the positive development of the market in these countries.

While currently subdued by the political and economic situation in CIS countries, the technology and market trends valid for the global enterprise hardware markets – i.e., a shift to lower-priced storage systems and the rise of flash, cloud, SDS, convergence, and hardware commoditization – can be observed in many CEE markets.

The adoption of flash-optimized storage in datacenters started making an impact in the region in 2014. In the last quarter, even the more niche all-flash arrays recorded skyrocketing value growth and captured 4% of the total external storage market value.

The demand for flash solutions gave an additional boost to the recovering midrange segment and confirmed the decline of the high-end says “We forecast that flash-optimized arrays, both all-flash and hybrid flash, will account for 40% of the external storage market by the end of 2015, spurred by increasing competition and database online transaction processing, Big Data, virtual desktop infrastructure, and high-performance computing projects,” said Marina Kostova, storage systems analyst with IDC CEMA.

Cloud adoption in the region was mainly driven by public cloud spending among cost-conscious SMBs and private cloud deployments in larger enterprises that are concerned about security, governance, and data protection requirements. “Thanks to the proliferation of cloud and flash in the CEE region, the commoditization of hardware and SDS solutions will be the next datacenter strategy consideration for both vendors and end users,” added Kostova.

IDC’s Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) Disk Storage Systems Quarterly Tracker delivers timely intelligence and a comprehensive database detailing changes and trends in the storage market.

The tracker enables users to view data by volume, value, terabytes, country, year, quarter, vendor, product brand, model name, product category, topology, installation, protocol, OS, redundancy, storage class, and price band.

IDC leads the innovation discussion through events, research, and consulting. For nearly five decades it has been giving IT and business professionals data and insight for making strategic and practical decisions.


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CWG Board of Directors Approves 400% Increase in Dividend Payout

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CWG Plc has announced a significant milestone in its commitment to delivering value to shareholders. Following a thorough review of the company’s financial performance and outlook, the Board of Directors has approved a substantial increase of 400per cent in dividend payout to shareholders.

This decision reflects CWG’s confidence in its financial stability, growth trajectory, and ability to generate sustainable returns. By enhancing the dividend payout, CWG aims to reward shareholders for their continued trust and support while reaffirming its commitment to creating long-term value.

Mr. Philip Obioha, Chairman of the Board of Directors at CWG Plc, said, “The decision to approve a 400% increase in dividend payout underscores our confidence in CWG’s performance and outlook. We are dedicated to delivering value to our shareholders and believe that this significant dividend increase is a testament to our commitment to shareholder value creation.”

This increase in dividend payout aligns with CWG’s strategic objectives to prioritize shareholder interests and maintain strong financial discipline. The Board remains committed to prudent financial management and sustainable growth, ensuring that CWG continues to be a reliable investment for shareholders.

As CWG continues to execute its growth strategy and expand its presence in the market, the Board anticipates that the increased dividend payout will further strengthen investor confidence and support CWG’s vision for the future.


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Prof. Aliyu, AI Practitioner to Keynote ABoICT 2024

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CommunicationsWeek Media Limited, a certified global ICT company with over two million online subscribers, is delighted and proud to announce Prof. Yakub Aliyu, as the keynote speaker at Africa’s Beacon of ICT Merit and Leadership Distinguished Lecture series 2024.

 

Aliyu, will be speaking on the theme: Artificial Intelligence (AI): The Good, The Complex and The Anticipated”, this leans heavily on the fact that AI changing our lives– we just need to know where to look today.

This year’s rebranded Africa’s Beacon of ICT Merit and Leadership Distinguished Lecture/Awards Series is slated for Saturday, May 25, 2024 at the Four Points by Sheraton, Lagos.

The event is the most prestigious annual event that brings together captains of industry in both technology and financial worlds.

According to Ken Nwogbo, CEO, Communication Week Media Ltd, organisers of the ABoICT Distinguished Lecture/Awards Series, “the choice of Prof. Yakub Aliyu is deliberate because of his exceptional career in Artificial Intelligence (AI)”.

He added that, AI is considered to have the potential to instigate a fourth industrial revolution,1 and is dramatically changing people’s patterns of interaction and economic activities.

“The traditional factors of production and physical capital and labour may no longer promote substantial economic growth. It is generally believed that AI will be one of the most important factors determining future economic growth,” he said.

A professor of microelectronics and a scholar-practitioner in artificial intelligence and deep machine learning for industrial applications and high-speed application processors. His research interests include Multimodal AI models for high-efficiency industrial robot applications and Human AI interactions.

He also has adjunct academic professorships at five African, USA, and UK universities. Holds a BS in Applied Physics Electronics from Karlsruhe and A Bello Universities in Germany and Nigeria, an MBA in International Business Management from the University of London, an MSEE (Master of Engineering, Electronics), and a Ph.D. in Electronics Engineering from the University of Wales.

Prof. Aliyu is the global quality director for Bourns Inc., Riverside, California, USA, an electronics system, and components manufacturer. I oversee quality functions in 21 factories worldwide.

He has also held quality and operational management leadership positions at National Semiconductors, Bell Labs-Lucent Technology, Texas Instrument, Global Foundries, and Roper Technologies USA.

Authored and coauthored over 30 Advanced Technology United States-issued patents in High-Speed Application Processors and Contributed to over 40 international impact Journals, chapters, and conferences; FASI, SMIEEE USA, MIEE UK, M. Inst pf Physics Chartered Phys and C Eng UK.

Past lecturers included Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, then executive vice chairman, Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC); Engr. Yomi Bolarinwa, former Director-General of National Broadcasting Commission (NBC); Dr. Jean Luc Fort, CEO at OR System France and a specialist in Counterparty Risk; and Professor Chris Nwagboso, Chairman, Knowledge Factory International, United Kingdom.

Others are: Uche Orji, managing director/chief executive officer, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA); Biodu Omoniyi, Managing Director/CEO, VDT Communications; Ayotunde Coker, Managing Director, Rack Centre Limited; Peter Adedayo Arogundade, managing director and chief executive officer, Sidmach Technologies Nigeria Limited; Dr. Adewale Obadare, chief visionary officer, Digital Encode and John Obaro, CEO and founder of Systemspecs; Prof. Isa Pantanmi, minister of Communications and Digital Economy; Dr. Seyi Akindeind, co-founder, Digital Encode; Dr Krishnan Ranganath, Regional Director, Africa Data Centres.


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Legit.ng, Shade of Life Foundation Partner to Advance Autism Awareness in Nigeria

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Legit.ng recently joined forces with the Shade of Life Foundation to become a voice of autism, and drive advocacy for improved media support during Autism Awareness Month.

Legit.ng, Shade of Life Foundation Partner to Advance Autism Awareness in Nigeria

Participants at the event

Conversations around media support exploration was led by Joseph Omotayo, head of Department for Human Interest Stories at Legit.ng, and Dr. Eziafakaku Nwokolo, founder and CEO of the Shade of Life Foundation,

This partnership is a response to the concerns raised by organizations like the Shade of Life Foundation about the level of support received from the media in discussing autism as a disability.

While other disabilities may receive attention, autism, with its critical developmental implications often lacks adequate representation in mainstream media.

Recognizing the importance of addressing these concerns, Legit.ng took proactive steps by integrating itself into the essence of autism awareness.

It facilitated a one-hour workshop with Dr. Nwokolo, the founder of the foundation, to deepen our understanding of autism, its various spectrums, and the language boundaries associated with it.

Other steps we took in advocating autism awareness in the media, can be seen in our attached press release.

Legit.ng believes that by amplifying the voices of autism and advocating for better media representation, we can contribute to creating a more inclusive and accepting society for all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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