June 2021 - Descasio

How Wakanow Partnered with Descasio to Cut Down Cost By 45% in 18 Months using Azure.

Wakanow is a leading online travel agency founded in 2008, with locations scattered across Nigeria and an office also in Ghana. Their services include Hotel, Rides, Travel Sim and WakaCargo.

With a YoY consistent growth rate (except for last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic), Wakanow has remained the top online travel agency in Nigeria. This steady and continuous growth has created a need for an affordable, secure and scalable cloud solution for real time data storage of the company’s files and applications for easy access. Descasio in collaboration with Microsoft has been able to offer this service to Wakanow for the past 18 months.

The Cost of being on the Cloud

Prior to adopting Microsoft Azure provided by Descasio, Wakanow operated a hybrid technology, partly moving to the cloud in late 2015. But 5 years down the line, the company couldn’t handle the cost.

“The cloud was and is a great option until we realized the cost was eating away our pockets. We were on an Enterprise Account subscription however, due to limited knowledge at the time it wasn’t a suitable plan for the organization.”
Amechi Ayegbusi, Head IT Infrastructure, Wakanow

This caused a great strain on the company’s revenue and its overall operational process.

Our Primary Aim is to Optimise Cost

In 2020, Wakanow partnered with Descasio as its Cloud Solution Provider as a cost saving measure.

“Since our primary aim was to optimize cost in the cloud and not to move away from it, we reached out to Descasio. They helped us to move to a more sustainable plan.”

This has greatly reduced the cost of cloud services and enhanced the efficiency of the online travel company.

“After we signed with Descasio, We had one on one sessions where we had a breakdown of each resource and their cost implications. Thanks to this in-depth analysis we were able to cut down costs by 45%.”

Some of the cloud solutions Descasio offer include Cloud Database Management, Cloud Compute, Cloud Foundry (a software that lightens the operations team’s workload by freeing up resources and minimising human error), Application Modernisation and Azure Stack.

These cloud offerings have made Descasio the number one go to Cloud Solution Provider.

Bar Set High

For Wakanow, Descasio has set the bar high as a Cloud Solutions Provider

“Working with Descasio has been magnificent, the service has been nothing but pleasant. Right from day one, migrating our resources, the relationship felt natural and harmonious. Descasio has set the bar high.”

3 Min. Read/June 29, 2021/by Team Descasio

Digital Transformation

10 Things You Need To Know About Digital Transformation

It is unimaginable to start a business right now without thinking of its digital journey. In today’s world, going digital is the only way you can stay ahead of the competition as the world continues to move swiftly in the digital direction.

Before taking that leap from the traditional mode of business operation to digital, business owners must understand what it all entails. In this blog, we will be sharing with you ten things you need to know about digital transformation. But before we get into that, let’s lay some foundations and start with the definition of digital transformation.

What is Digital Transformation?

Digital transformation is the cultural, and operational change of an organization, industry, or ecosystem through smart integration of digital technologies, processes, and competencies across all levels and functions in a staged and strategic way. Simply put, it is all about strategically using technology to enhance internal business processes, products, and ultimately consumer experience.

A typical example of an aspect of digital transformation that we all witnessed recently was businesses switching from working from a physical location to working remotely and using different cloud-based software to collaborate and keep the workflow going.

Want To Learn a Little About the Cloud? Read Our Article on Top Companies Using Cloud Technology Including Netflix

In that scenario, we notice two major factors; a change in operation, the use of technology to support the operational change. These two factors combined is what digital transformation is all about.

Why Digital Transformation?

Our lives are being transformed daily using technology. We once trooped into banking halls to perform one form of transaction or the other, that process has been digitally transformed with the advent of banking apps, PoS and other digital payment tools.

This is just one amongst diverse examples of the huge impact of technology on processes. With digital comes convenience, ease of access, reduction in latency, increased return on investment (when properly deployed), scalability and many other values that businesses and their customers can benefit from. Hence, its importance.

Here are the 10 things about Digital Transformation you need to know.

The Future is not Digital

Going digital belongs to the past. Digitally transforming your entire business process is what determines the survival of your company/business in the future.

But digitally mature companies that have embraced and invested in technology in their early stages are more likely to transform quicker than the companies with little or no digital awareness.

Luckily, most businesses across all spectrums especially in Nigeria have woken up to the reality of a complete digital transformation.

Gen Z want to associate with Digitally inclined Brands

The major driving force behind the adoption of digital tools by brands are the Gen Z (people born after 1996). This digitally savvy demographic has made organizations to completely overhaul their business strategies in order to target and satisfy them, invariably making the demographic the biggest push for digital transformation.

Customers are the front and center of Digital

For most organizations, their journey into the digital world is mostly based on the parallel switch of a lot of their customers from offline to online. We can clearly see this shift from the Digital 2021: Nigeria report released by DataReportal which revealed that Nigeria’s increasing internet penetration rate currently stands at around 50%.

As more customers switch on that online bulb, more businesses will have little choice but to start their transformative digital journey to ensure that they are right where their customers are at.

Assessing your digital readiness is important

If it’s so important, then what exactly is it? Simply put, Digital readiness is defined by the level at which an organization or its workforce is prepared to transition into digitized workflows that are enabled by software and technology. To know this, organizations will usually have to sit through a consultation session.

Thankfully, with Descasio’s soon to be released solution, businesses will be able to complete this process faster and without having to interface with anyone.

Data is everything, or at least almost

Brands and organizations in the past hardly get any insight on their marketing campaigns and other initiatives. But with digital, organisations can turn to analytics and media monitoring tools to get better insight through data, insight that can help businesses to scale. It’s a total game changer for businesses.

Social Media is the new customer service desk

Listening and responding to customers across all social media channels (except for twitter currently) sounds daunting if you’re just getting started with some of the social media apps – like LinkedIn – on your own phone.

But a host of tools designed for social service makes it easy to highlight customer needs, integrate social channels into your service workflows, and start measuring brand sentiment and activity across social media.

Meeting your customers where they already are is a big part of winning business in our digital world. Approaching social service with a digital transformation mindset can really spell the difference between struggling to keep up with customer needs and turning service calls into opportunities to grow your brand.

AI is the go to digital tool for Businesses

Artificial intelligence systems can be incredibly helpful in their ability to comb through vast amounts of data in search of useful patterns and other insights and it’s no wonder big organisations and small and medium scale enterprises are in love with it.

The right skill set is needed

In considering undertaking the digital transformation journey, you must be aware of the fact that you might need to bring on digitally savvy people to the team in necessary areas and train existing staff members to use adopted technology in order to ensure a smooth run.

Any Businesses Can Be Transformed Digitally

Regardless of size or industry, every business can and should take steps to transform their operations through the use of technology. The most important thing is for the business to be able to pinpoint the areas where transformation is needed and plug in the relevant tech solutions that can bring about that needed change.

When this is done, the company can then monitor results and optimize as they go on.

Like Cryptocurrency Digital Transformation is Here to Stay

The world is currently bitten by the cryptocurrency bug. Most financial institutions are threatened by its whirlwind with some partially or outrightly banning it. This has only fuelled the push and acceptance for digital currency.

A lot of parallels can be drawn between cryptocurrency and digital transformation (the former is seen as the next frontier of digital transformation), the more business and corporate organisations delay the inevitable – the adoption of digital transformation, the faster they lose out.

Conclusion

It has become more apparent than ever that business owners and corporate organisations need to infuse digital transformation into their company/brand’s DNA as quickly as possible.

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6 Min. Read/June 10, 2021/by Team Descasio

Lifestyle

Thriving in Tech: 5 Hacks to Prevent Mental Health Issues

Mental Health Awareness Month

The month of May is set aside for raising awareness on mental health issues. A lot of people are prone to masking their mental health issues. Many of these people refrain from seeking help due to the stigma that comes alongside. Ask a random person a question about mental health and they are either misinformed or ignorant. The gross misinformation and high level of ignorance on the subject have been identified as major influences on the unpleasant remarks and jibes thrown at victims.

Here’s what people aren’t taking cognizance of; 1 in 5 adults live with mental illness such as, depression,bipolar disorder,anxiety disorders, or ADHD. Yet, most employees are hesitant to open up about their mental health issues out of the fear of being judged or facing discrimination. Which when you think of it, is the last thing that they need.

With the ever-increasing pressure, deadlines, and sleepless nights in the tech industry, workers within the space can easily develop some mental health issues without the adoption of proper preventive measures. To join in driving awareness for mental health this month, we have put together this shortlist of preventive tips to guide all parties within the fast-paced tech environment into managing their mental health.

Break big tasks into bits:

Knowing that you have a lot of work to do could increase the rate of your heartbeat. This could cause an anxiety attack, as you are most likely wondering where to start from. If you can, first make a list of what you have to do, then create a smaller list from those tasks. This helps you keep track of your progress, avoid distractions and stay motivated.

Start your day early:

With remote work, it can be quite difficult getting out of bed early, especially as you don’t need to catch a bus or make a long drive down to work. At the same time, having an early routine helps you kick start your day and check off a lot of tasks before work pressure sips in and your energy wanes.

Exercise:

Experts have said that engaging in a workout routine helps release endorphins (the feel-good chemicals). They are basically chemicals produced naturally by the nervous system to cope with pain or stress.

Eat at least once a day:

Eating too little causes fatigue and that could be linked to mental illness. Hence, it is advisable to not starve yourself all in the name of work. Hunger could also be a demotivating factor in starting your day and ultimately getting work done.

Seek professional help

This can be the change you need in your mental health as therapists are trained to help you process your thoughts, your feelings and help you function better as an individual.

In celebration of mental health month, we hope that this article was helpful to you. Don’t forget to leave a comment and share it with a friend.

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3 Min. Read/June 1, 2021/by Team Descasio