Tom Pegrume ,vice president, Oracle Hardware Sales, Middle East and Africa was in Nigeria on a working visit and he spoke next generation data index; R&D and host other issues.
He also spoke of excited some innovations in Nigeria and other countries in Middle East and Africa in this interview with peter ugwu
 
Next Generation Data Index, What Are The Expectations?
Anyone who had opportunity of going through our recent report which established that many businesses are lagging behind in their use of innovative technology in data centres, will understand that it makes them less efficient, especially in meeting industry demands and responding to change quickly.
Many were also found to be lagging behind in terms of managing spiraling energy costs. We discovered two key things.
Firstly, from the time we released the previous report to the present time where we clamoured for improvement in data management; now there is a general intent, and there has been a big swing to the use of cloud-based data services to manage data offsite.
What we have seen happening more recently are companies buying into the essence of using cloud for saving their data.
Just as the report also showed, there has been improvement in the general performance of many organisations, as measured in three key areas: achieving data centre flexibility, sustainability and supportability.
We are seeing increasing alignment between IT and business with many companies taking advantage of the radically improved price performance on new technology to develop innovative products and services that were not possible two or three years ago.
There is a visible stepping up in consolidation, virtualisation and systems management. Now, the focus should be to implement necessary strategies and innovations meant for business to operate optimally.

Are Companies Buying Into The R&D Results?
We have organisations across the regions that are really eager to embrace research results before embarking on new projects.
They are following the roadmap that will lead to transformation; that is, appreciating the need to take advantage of the technology and tools available to solve issues to do with data management in an organisation.
 Oracle’s strategy is to reduce complexity and assist organisations to manage their IT costs.
 When we do that, they can channel the savings into innovations and transformation; that will further help them get services delivered to their customers and be responsive as situations may call.
Oracle’s investment in R&D enables us to engineer hardware and software to work together in the cloud and in the data centre – from servers and storage, to database and middleware, through applications.
This R&D results in Oracle systems providing better performance, reliability, security, and flexibility, lowering the cost and complexity of IT implementation and management, and delivering greater productivity, agility, and better business intelligence to our customers.

Success Stories
We have success stories to share, mainly around cost savings. We have customers in this region that are already seeing the benefits of Oracle’s Engineered Systems in their businesses, and many more that are currently evaluating these technologies.
Personally, I am excited seeing some innovations in Nigeria and other countries in Middle East and Africa.

Target Business Segment
We have expertise and experience across a large number of industries, and we will continue to invest and expand in these industries.
 However, we are not targeting just a segment of the business circuit. Small and medium businesses are very important, because they need innovation and solutions for growth, at the same time; we are not limiting ourselves to that area.
Every business needs ICT, especially in the areas of data security and optimization. In essence, whilst we are deploying solutions in the sectors like health, education, government, transport/utilities, Oracle solutions address complex business issues that are relevant across many industries and size of organisation.
 
Oracle In The IT Environment
Innovation and complexity are two critical topics on executives’ minds. Innovation is what gives them a competitive edge; increased complexity is their greatest challenge.
Complexity keeps organizations tied to systems that aren’t as effective as they need to be and it stifles the ability of IT groups to support new ideas and gain a fresh perspective.
Oracle is simplifying IT by engineering hardware and software to work together—from servers and storage to database and middleware to applications.
The idea behind Oracle’s integrated technology stack is that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
 There are best-of-breed products throughout the stack, and every product and every layer of the technology stack is designed and engineered to work together. Integrated solutions engineered for specific industries make delivering IT simpler.
And when IT is simple, you can focus on business innovation. With more than 390,000 customers—including 100 of the Fortune 100—and with deployments across a wide variety of industries in more than 145 countries around the globe, Oracle offers an optimized and fully integrated stack of business hardware and software systems.
 
Adaptability of Oracle Software to the Nigerian Business Background  
Historically, Oracle has been strong in Nigeria. We have a huge Nigeria software customer base, using Oracle applications like eBusiness suite, our Flexcube banking products and others. We have been talking to customers, which formed my earlier comment that there has been progression and a shift from the old path.
 This change started; particularly in the last ten years through the revival of the telecommunications sector which enable people to communicate more whilst doing business. It has really pushed a number of organisations to be more competitive and since then Nigeria has been witnessing change.
 
Plugging $2M Network Downtime
There is a need for people to appreciate that downtime is something that can happen to any company that relies on IT. It is just for the companies to realise what the fault is and try to install advanced technologies to contain such.
 Meanwhile, there will always be technologies that will help plug areas like disaster recovery; we will always have that to make it easier for them.
For example, if you buy Oracle storage today, you get a server and platform that offers you a huge space to save data. A lot of pressures that surround disaster recovery revolve around the storage capacity.
 
Impression on Nigeria’s IT Market
We have really started to see innovation in Nigeria. Organisations in the country are very dynamic and forward looking.
Nevertheless, prior to them trying to align themselves with the business strategies we saw the hunger. And the trend has been such that when a particular company goes that way, others would want to follow… they now think outside the box trying to adopt and adapt to the input technology has to offer.
And it also speaks volumes about the leadership, because the leadership seemed to have asked the question like how do we abolish the old inclinations.
 I think that is why companies are thinking ahead, appreciating the efficacies of research and development.
They are getting out of their complacencies, moving ahead with the new ways of doing things. My advice is that they should not derail, there are going to be cross-competition and pressure on them, but they can compete.