MTN Business has launched pilot projects in six African markets to test its cloud services and products
An MTN statement explained that the Cloud Service Brokerage model, which is being tested currently, will centralise access to services where a third party, in this case MTN, will act as the single point of contact for customers.
MTN Group executive for enterprise business, Farhad Khan, said that the pilot project would be carried out in six of MTN’s key markets in Africa, including Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda and South Africa.
Khan added, “MTN Business has identified a number of small and medium enterprises in these markets for the trial. MTN cloud will be targeted at such enterprises in Africa to assist customers to reduce the cost of doing business by offering specially-designed ICT solutions.”
The MTN executive explained that a particular challenge facing small and medium-sized businesses in Africa was the high cost of IT software and hardware which included the licence fees.
“What MTN cloud services seek to do is enable small and medium-sized businesses to minimise these costs, and at the same time improve productivity and efficiency,” he said.
MTN has said that the trial period with selected customers will run until the end of January 2013 and that participating companies will automatically gain access to a variety of MTN cloud services like Office Desktop, email and collaborative software, Mozypro, a back-up service for the effective management of files and servers, and Dialcom, an on-demand video conferencing offering.
Also on the catalogue will be McAfee, Averiware, Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
