Safaricom partners with CISCO

7 Dec 2009

Safaricom, a mobile service provider in Kenya has yet unveiled its ‘Managed Office in a Box' offer that saw it partner with Cisco, the global networking solutions provider. Cisco announced that it has joined forces with Kenyan mobile operator Safaricom to launch managed services based on Cisco equipment in the East African market.

Making the announcement, Safaricom chief executive officer Michael Joseph said the deal would allow broadband customers outsource their IT services to be run by Safaricom. According to Capital News, Joseph said the demand for managed services in the information technology (IT) sector was on the rise as companies look for ways of streamlining expenditure.

“With one stop solutions, business managers do not have to worry about the day-to-day management of area networks and Internet-based applications, freeing up time to concentrate on their core business,” Joseph said.

“Customers will need to spend money only on services as Safaricom will have invested in the underlying platform, allowing them substantial savings.”

Safaricom will launch first the 'Managed Office in a Box' service, which includes connectivity, conferencing and collaboration tools, security and a VPN. The IP services will be delivered through Safaricom's wired and wireless local area networks (LANs) with integrated security features. Once the IP service is in place Safaricom will be able to deliver services including IP communications, telepresence, application-aware data centre services and other technologies.

This move comes at a time when mobile services providers in East Africa are competing to take advantage of the fibre optic internet connection to provide data services.