Cloud Computing is simply the use of hardware and software that are delivered as a service over the Internet. In 2011, according to Johnson, federal government’s estimated spend on data centres was a whopping N19.4 billion. This figure, she reckons is “unsustainable” and must be managed in the face of growing ICT usage and in the interest of judicious use of public funds.
“Given our plans for e-Government and the increased use of ICT by government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), this is an unsustainable practice that must be managed. A Government cloud will provide some economic savings”, she said. In view of this, Galaxy Backbone is building a major cloud computing infrastructure with the aim of bringing significant cost savings to the running of the federal government. The government cloud, according to the CommTech Minister is expected to not only to improve cost savings but drive efficiency and productivity across all its MDAs.
This approach to the underlying technology provides the greatest opportunity for Nigeria to deploy the latest ICT infrastructure capabilities for efficiency and improved service delivery in a cost-effective manner, Johnson said in a speech at the formal opening of the annual Institute of Software Professionals of Nigeria (ISPON) National Software Conference held in Cross River. Already, the Federal Government’s decision to deploy cloud computing to manage core operations is paying off in the workings of its Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) under a phased rollout of a genre of cloud computing known as Software as a Service (SaaS).
The CommTech Minister said, “with this, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation is able to administer civil servants’ identification and payroll in a more effective and efficient manner. Today, the Federal Ministry of Finance can attest to the success of the IPPIS which has so far been implemented at 183 MDAs and have yielded a cost savings of over N14 billion from the previous manual process.” Cloud Computing offers possibilities to organisations in the public and private sectors, according to Johnson. “Barriers to acquisition of high technology and skilled staff by MDAs of Government and provides a ready plug-and-play platform for various MDAs.
“Smaller or poorly-funded MDAs can thus roll out technology based online services without expending huge sums on infrastructure.” The minister’s unveiling of the public sector cloud computing initiative comes amid last month’s announcement by the federal government, that it sealed a $1.1billion loan deal with China to accelerate some of public priority projects including an ICT infrastructure rollout project by Galaxy Backbone. Galaxy Backbone, provides ICT services to MDAs, will get $100million out of the $1.1billion loan agreement signed by the Federal Government with China Exim Bank for high priority public sector projects projected to be completed by 2015.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Ben Uzor Jr.
Quelle/Source: BusinessDay, 06.11.2012
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