[kictanet] [KICTAnet] CCK hosting its website abroad

Mon Apr 23 10:07:16 EAT 2012

I find it hypocritical, that we want to be at the forefront of lobbying government to outsource locally, but when that is done, we in turn outsource abroad using sleek phrases and acronyms like BPO/ITES, Lack of Capacity, Costs, Security… the list is endless!

While I see the argument you are raising for local support, I think there is a bigger question as to whether the Internet is local? Also how many of the local hosting companies are locally owned? 

The Internet is as local as the Internet is abroad and vice-versa. The question of whether a firm is locally owned or not, is a “local-hosting” irrelevancy that needs to be addressed differently.  It may be entertaining to watch Nigerian oga movies  produced in Abuja, it would be better to see a few Kenyan actors star in those movies and a few scenes shot in Kajiado, the best experience is to have a hearty laugh watching hilarious Naswa/Pasua comedy clips.… whether some Nigerian owns the production company behind Naswa is equally an irrelevancy as far as “local-do-it-ourselves” goes.

The net effect of every shilling spent in Kenya as opposed to being converted to dollars and spent abroad, is pretty straight forward I should think. I find it hypocritical (if not defeatist – and bordering on an economic crime) that a company “saves” by hosting abroad and later claims to partake in CSR activities and benefits from Tax incentives for the phony CSR!

It would be great if as an industry we answer some key questions and then decide whether it is beneficial to use "local" or imported. My phone is Korean, Laptop Apple (Chinese or US - you decide), Office furniture from a South African company, imported from Italy etc.. 

I want to believe that the decision to import an Apple computer is more informed by the lack of a local alternative in functionality, aesthetics, prestige or some peculiar sentimental value. If only there was a local brand called Chungwa that could equally tickle your gadgetry taste buds….. The same “lacking” cannot be claimed for local hosting.

How many Kenyans are  in the Diaspora and using the Internet.  

What difference does it make? If anything, they ought to be on the frontline advancing our cause as a “hosting”/ICT destination, while we develop the requisite capacity to absorb the business they forward our way. I think it is immoral from a policy perspective to target the Diasporas while 40 million are languishing in traffic Jams and endless dropped calls, just to mention a few of the “easiest-to-solve” of our local ICT problems…

America did not just wake up July 4th and decide to outsource software development to India or hardware to China. It is the nationals of these countries residing/visiting America who built their respective cases and they did so with the confidence that back home there was sufficient capacity and capability. Unlike in our case, they managed to do so despite language and accent barriers and differences in political ideology and nuclear capability. We seem to have our cart in front of the horse, expecting the IBMs and Googles of this world to come develop capacity for us then swing us some!

I think you are asking the wrong question. You should be asking about the quality of service to the visitor of the site. Various considerations go into where to host a service; 

With respect to CCK hosting, for as long as they are dealing with a middle man (aka Broker/Reseller) then topics like Security, Quality of Service ought not to arise, and if they do, then the contract ought to go to a firm with demonstrated local infrastructure. 

Regards

From: kictanet-bounces+eugene=synergy.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-bounces+eugene=synergy.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of Joseph Mucheru
Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2012 11:38 PM
To: Eugene Lidede
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
Subject: Re: [kictanet] CCK hosting its website abroad

Grace/Wanjiku, 

While I see the argument you are raising for local support, I think there is a bigger question as to whether the Internet is local? Also how many of the local hosting companies are locally owned? I think you should evaluate the total economic impact to Kenya and not base it on face value. It would be great if as an industry we answer some key questions and then decide whether it is beneficial to use "local" or imported. My phone is Korean, Laptop Apple (Chinese or US - you decide), Office furniture from a South African company, imported from Italy etc.. back to the subject of local hosting ..... How many Kenyans are  in the diaspora and using the Internet.  I think you are asking the wrong question. You should be asking about the quality of service to the visitor of the site. Various considerations go into where to host a service; 

1) Cost 

2) Security 

3) Quality of Service - where is your primary audience, what devices (mobile (feature or smart phone?, desktop, tablet )

4) Search Engine Ranking and optimisation - Discoverability

5) others ...

Who is best positioned to provide this kind of comparison data? Can you investigate and give us feedback?

Thanks

Joe Mucheru

On Sun, Apr 22, 2012 at 11:01 PM, Grace Githaiga <ggithaiga at hotmail.com> wrote:

Quoting the article by Rebecca Wanjiku...

For a regulator like the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), you would expect them to be promoting services if the whole talk of how infrastructure has improved and how it is getting better. 

http://www.wanjiku.co.ke/2012/04/cck-hosting-its-website-abroad/

Rgds

GG

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