Oracle, equipping Kenya for Big Data, Cloud and Social

 The Senior Vice President (Oracle Europe),

 Dr. Andrew Sunderland during his, Oracle Day 2013

 Kenya, keynote speech

Nov 11 2013  by Dan Gaiku
On the 8th of November, with much pomp and glamour, Oracle drew us into the world of the information age at their Open Day held at Safari Park. Scores of IT/system administrators and enthusiasts graced the event where Oracle expounded on the three main trends in IT: Big Data, Cloud and Social; also showcasing how Oracle can equip your company/organisation to handle those trends.

The Senior Vice President (Oracle Europe), Dr. Andrew Sunderland during his keynote speech stated that Oracle has moved from box vending to systems and services. He added that Oracle has shifted focus to Open Standard Unified Systems, allowing you to programme above the platform.
“You can concentrate the value addition while oracle works on the platform below,” he added to the prior statements.

The Country Leader (Oracle Kenya) Dr. Gilbert Saggia, a doctor by academic profession who is among the Top 40 under 40 in Kenya stated that Oracle sees much potential in Kenya, that’s why they invest in not only the business partners but also the community. The doctor left a lingering and challenging quote with all the attendees, “Don’t fight tomorrow’s problems with today’s technology!”

Cabinet Secretary Ministry of ICT, Dr. Matiang’i (left) and Senior Vice President (Oracle Europe), Dr. Andrew Sutherland (right)

The Cabinet Secretary Ministry of ICT – Dr. Matiang’i, who was also present had a few words to share; he & the government commended Oracle for equiping teachers through the Oracle Academy Partnership with the ministry of education allowing teachers to be upto speed with ICT and deliver the same correct to their students. He lauded their efforts for not ignoring the youth by saying, “A society that ignores young people ignores innovation.”
The day was constituted of break out sessions/tracks that tackled modern day IT trends and where the benefits of using Oracle were stated. The general message broken down, crystallises in the following points:
Benefits of using Oracle on your IT department:
• Consolidates, standardises, simplifies, systems and services.
• Reduces the budget spent on maintenance & increased spending on innovation
Benefits of using Oracle on you as the User:
• Fast web based self service provisioning
• Pay per use
• Better performance for service levels