Featured Success Story

4 Ways Your Business can Innovate With Google Cloud

As technology continues to rapidly advance, businesses are increasingly looking for innovative ways to improve their operations, gain a competitive edge, and meet the ever-changing needs of their customers. One such way to achieve these goals is by leveraging the power of cloud computing. With its scalability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness, cloud computing has become an essential tool for businesses of all sizes.

Google Cloud is a leading provider of cloud computing services, offering a wide range of tools and services to help businesses innovate and succeed. From artificial intelligence and machine learning to collaboration and security, Google Cloud has something to offer every business.

In this article, we will explore 4 ways your business can innovate with Google Cloud. We will look at real-life examples from Descasio’s clients, Future View and Coscharis, to understand how they leveraged Google Cloud to achieve their business goals. By the end of this article, you will have a better understanding of how Google Cloud can help your business innovate and stay ahead of the competition.

Embrace Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have the potential to transform businesses and industries in ways that were previously unimaginable. These technologies can help automate processes, improve customer service, and gain insights that can drive innovation. Google Cloud offers a range of tools to help businesses leverage AI and ML, including AutoML, TensorFlow, and Cloud Machine Learning Engine.

By using Google Cloud’s AI and ML tools, businesses can develop custom machine learning models to automate processes and improve efficiency.

Moreover, Google Cloud’s AI and ML capabilities can also help businesses improve customer service. With features such as Natural Language Processing (NLP), businesses can develop conversational interfaces to interact with customers more efficiently. This can include chatbots, voice assistants, and other conversational interfaces that can help customers get the support they need, faster and more accurately.

Streamline Operations with Cloud Migration

Migrating to the cloud can help businesses reduce costs, improve scalability, and streamline operations. Google Cloud’s migration tools can make this process easier by automating many of the steps involved in moving applications and data to the cloud. Some of the tools offered by Google Cloud for migration include Cloud Endure, Velostrata, and Migrate for Compute Engine.

For example, Future View, Nigeria’s leading investment firm with the help of Descasio, a leading technology partner in Africa, migrated its SAP workloads to Google Cloud to improve its agility and reduce costs. By doing this, they could improve their performance and reduce their IT costs by 30%. This is collaborated by the company’s Head IT, Jude Okafor, “Partnering with Descasio on Migration to the Google Cloud Platform remains one of the best business decisions we’ve made in a long time.”

According to Femi Olugbesan, CIO of Descasio who affirms the strength of GCP, “Using Google Cloud, businesses can leverage powerful tools to innovate and grow. At Descasio, we’ve seen firsthand how our clients have benefited from integrating our platform with Google Cloud. By moving their operations to the cloud, they’ve gained access to a wide range of cutting-edge technologies that have allowed them to streamline their processes, improve efficiency, and drive growth.”

In addition to reducing costs, cloud migration can also improve agility and scalability. With cloud infrastructure, businesses can easily scale their resources up or down as needed, without the need for significant upfront investments. This makes it easier for businesses to respond to changing market conditions, improve their time to market, and stay ahead of the competition.

Improve Collaboration with G Suite

Collaboration is essential for innovation, and Google’s G Suite makes it easy for teams to work together regardless of location. With tools like Google Drive, Docs, and Sheets, teams can collaborate on documents in real-time, making it easy to share ideas and work together on projects.

By using G Suite, businesses can break down silos between teams and improve communication, which can help drive innovation. Coscharis has embraced G Suite to improve collaboration across their teams. By using G Suite, they are now able to collaborate seamlessly across their global team, and the ability to work on documents in real-time has allowed them to innovate faster.

According to the Group Head ICT of Coscharis, Nigeria’s leading automobile company “G Suite has transformed the way we work, allowing us to collaborate more effectively and get more done in less time.”

G Suite can also help businesses improve productivity. “G Suite is a powerful set of collaboration tools that enable teams to work together seamlessly, no matter where they are located. With tools like Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides, teams can collaborate on documents in real-time, share files easily, and communicate effectively. This helps businesses increase productivity and streamline their workflows. Additionally, G Suite integrates with other Google Cloud services, such as Google Meet, to provide a comprehensive collaboration platform for businesses of all sizes.” – Gbemisola Ajayi, Chief Strategy Officer of Descasio

By using tools like Google Calendar, Gmail, and Google Meet, teams can schedule meetings, manage email, and communicate more efficiently. This can help businesses reduce wasted time and improve their overall efficiency.

Enhance Security with Google Cloud

Security is a critical concern for businesses, and Google Cloud offers a range of security tools to help protect data and applications. With features like identity management, data encryption, and threat detection, businesses can enhance their security posture and protect against cyber threats.

Google Cloud’s security features also help businesses comply with regulations and standards. By using tools like Cloud Audit Logs and Data Loss Prevention, businesses can ensure that they are meeting the requirements of various regulatory frameworks, such as HIPAA and PCI DSS. Additionally, Google Cloud undergoes rigorous third-party audits and certifications to demonstrate its commitment to security and compliance.

This helps businesses gain confidence in the security of their data and applications when using Google Cloud.

Conclusion

Google Cloud offers a range of innovative tools and services to help businesses drive innovation, reduce costs, and improve their operations. From AI and machine learning to cloud migration, collaboration, and security, there are many ways businesses can leverage Google Cloud to gain a competitive edge.

As we have seen from the examples of Future View and Coscharis, businesses can achieve significant benefits by using Google Cloud. By embracing AI and machine learning, businesses can automate processes, improve efficiency, and gain valuable insights. By migrating to the cloud, businesses can reduce costs, improve scalability, and streamline their operations. With G Suite, businesses can enhance collaboration and productivity, and with Google Cloud’s security features, they can protect their data and comply with regulations.

As technology continues to evolve, businesses must stay up to date with the latest tools and trends to remain competitive. By leveraging the power of Google Cloud, businesses can drive innovation, improve their operations, and ultimately achieve success.

6 Min. Read/March 29, 2023/by Team 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

Featured Success Story

Descasio Partners with First Bank to Strengthen Employee Relationships with Microsoft Teams

Since its inception, First Bank of Nigeria has regarded its people and partnerships central to its long-term success. For more than 125 years, this pioneering Nigerian institution has been steadily pursuing its vision of empowering people by providing the best financial services possible. Now, Microsoft Teams has made it easier for the company to realize that goal with a single platform where thousands of employees across the country can work together simultaneously and efficient.

For an organization of First Bank’s size and prominence, effective communication is one of the most important ingredients of success. Staying connected takes work, especially when teams are dispersed and employees are frequently on the move. “Our department is at one of the head office annexes, and as most of our internal stakeholders are head office departments, we attend quite a number of meetings, explains Folake Ani-Mumuney, Group Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications at First Bank.

Before, bank employees were using a variety of tools, including email, phone, text messages, Office Communicator, and Microsoft Skype for Business to connect and keep the business running smoothly. The multitude of communication streams and solutions would sometimes create inefficiencies and didn’t cover all aspects of effective collaboration, like online document sharing and co-editing. “With Skype, you could have a meeting, but working together as a team, having documents shared in one place and people collaborate on it at the same time was difficult,” says Folasade Ajanaku, Service Delivery Manager at Descasio, a local Microsoft partner retained by First Bank to carry out the implementation.

When the need for a new solution became apparent, First Bank opted for Teams. “Our evaluation showed that Microsoft Teams had the features we desired for overall enhancement of business efficiency, hence the decision to go with it,” explains Akeem Adesina, CIO at First Bank. “The project was part of the strategic initiative leveraging technological advancement to drive and achieve business goals with a productive and conducive workspace for business efficiency and enhanced productivity.”

Communicating with less noise, more productivity
Although most employees were satisfied with Skype for Business as a communication tool, the main challenge was to show the advantages of Teams, creating “stickiness” from day one. To build employees’ confidence in the solution, First Bank adopted a step-by-step approach, starting with the deployment of Teams in the Financial Control department. “When Teams was first introduced in the Bank, there was the usual resistance to change. Adoption has, however, been on a steady rise,” notes Ani-Mumuney.

Although most employees were satisfied with Skype for Business as a communication tool, the main challenge was to show the advantages of Teams, creating “stickiness” from day one. To build employees’ confidence in the solution, First Bank adopted a step-by-step approach, starting with the deployment of Teams in the Financial Control department. “When Teams was first introduced in the Bank, there was the usual resistance to change. Adoption has, however, been on a steady rise,” notes Ani-Mumuney.

In every single department, the new tool created value that extended way beyond essential video conferencing features. In the past, First Bank employees dealt with considerable email noise, slowing down task execution. Now, Teams covers all aspects of holding meetings and sharing documents.

Cultivating staff engagement
With time, the solution has built effective, enterprise-wide staff awareness and engagement through new, better ways of working, according to Ajanaku. “First Bank had each person work on a document separately, and there was one employee who would stay after work to collate each individual’s feedback and work done by everyone on the team.” This way of working devoured time, led to errors, and caused enormous friction. Staff work-life balance also suffered. Teams has changed all this by providing First Bank’s employees with an enhanced mobility and agility that has proved especially invaluable for employees located upcountry, outside metropolitan areas.

Now, employees no longer have to travel to bank headquarters to participate in meetings. Since Teams is compatible with several different operating systems, they can join from anywhere, and work on any device. According to Adesina, the application’s comprehensive sharing and collaboration support led to a significant reduction in the risk, time, and cost of travel for meetings and workshops. “With Teams, there has been over 10 percent reduction in the cost of travel and hotel accommodation for internal meetings, training, and workshops,” he adds.

Building connections beyond corporate walls
Currently, Teams is the main internal collaboration tool within the company. However, several bank departments also use it to streamline external communications, such as the procurement team. “They looked to use Teams for communication with their external vendors. So, we also showed them how to add guests in Teams,” says Ajanaku.

Going further with Teams, First Bank has gained the opportunity to expand its organizational reach and engage a broader audience. The company’s 125th anniversary was the perfect occasion to test the tool’s live streaming capacity. “The Anniversary Lecture by Daron Acemoglu was streamed live to enable staff to watch the events, as they were held during working hours and we were not all able to attend,” explains Ani-Mumuney.

“It was a week-long program, and First Bank had many events scheduled to have its customers, users, and staff who were outside the country join the celebration. The bank used Teams broadcast to stream that event to all of these groups,” adds Ajanaku.

Envisioning an exciting future
By now, First Bank of Nigeria has incorporated Teams into all of its business processes. For Adesina, the results couldn’t have been more spectacular. “Any organization in need of an efficient collaboration tool that can transform work and make employees feel like doing more should consider Microsoft Teams. Our experience with Teams has been simply amazing.”

Looking forward, the bank aims to integrate the solution with third-party applications, further strengthening team cohesion, and empowering every employee to work toward common goals.

6 Min. Read/November 24, 2020/by admin