Cherian Varghese, Vice President & Managing Director - Sub Saharan African Markets Oracle.Enterpriseservices leader,Oracle, recently hosted its OracleDigital Day event across 25 African countries. These events are aimed at driving digital transformation and encouraging the adoption of cloud and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) solutions.With Africa being one of Oracle's priority markets, the organisation continues to support digital transformation within thecontinent as cloud adoptiongrows steadily.IT News Africa had the opportunity to interview Cherian Varghese, Oracle's VP and managing director of technology in Africa, to discuss Infrastructure as a Service and cloud adoption on the continent.How important is digital transformation and the adoption of IaaS solutions'Digital has changed the way startups look at business and the way they market Business to Business and Business to Customer interactions. From a digital stand point, IaaS has become the core strength for Oracle.With the continuous growth of cloud IaaS in Africa, what role does Oracle play in facilitating the use of this solution'Oracle has been in Africafor over two decades. There was a specialinterest in Africa over the last seven or eight years and that is whywe developedthe Africa Strategic Plan. We'veinvested heavily in our people and today we are spread all overAfrica.We have offices in Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and Egypt. Note however that the cloud adoption trend is not only an African trend but a global trend. Cloud from an infrastructure standpoint is new but early adopters are willing to see how this whole thing is panning out within theirorganisations. They are also discoveringnew ways of working and operatingWhat was the objectiveof your Digital Day'Our whole idea was how can we have a digital event and impact the entire continent because for us digital is not only about technology it is a way of life. It is about how technology is going to transform the new age companies and how it is going to transform the new millennials in the workforce. The platform and whole idea was conceived to reach the maximum number of people in one given day. The idea for the digital day was to build awareness and educate.How can businesses in Africa utilise cloud to better transform their performance'Cloud is about changing the way you look at your service. It is the most powerful thing to happen to the industry. It helps customers to reach out faster at the sharpest speed of time with the least amount of money spent. Cloud is about saving time and it changes the way an organisation operates, it gives the agility and speed the company needs to offer the market. In Africa cloud gives skilled individuals the ability to use their skills. Cloud brings the continent together, it has shrunk the overall speed of adoption.How does digital transformation influenceeconomic growth'There is slow economic growth at the momentin Africa therefore costs become very important. Cloud and digital are becoming a trend and more innovations are happening, smaller companies are out-innovating big ones. When innovating, cloud and digital should become the core of your strategy. Companies will innovate more and that will be through digital. Even though the economy doesn't grow, the next genre of growth will come from technology.Fundisiwe Maseko
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