“As people are more connected they need storage solutons to ensure all their valuable data are safe and backed up. This what we provide at Western Digital.”
Chinenye Anuforo
Mr. Ghassan Azzi is the Senior Manager, Sales, Africa Business at Western Digital, a leading global data storage brand that empowers people to create, manage, experience and preserve digital content on a range of devices. In this interview, Azzi speaks on the company’s plan to transform data storage business in Nigeria through its latest devices.
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Excerpts:
Western Digital storage solutions
With technology evolution, storage is becoming a necessity for organisations. With the new development, organisations do not need to purchase storage devices from stores each time they are in need. Organisations should be thinking of how best to install the latest data storage devices around their premises because the demand for storage is on the increase, which has been propelled by technology evolution. The demand for data is huge, which calls for increased demand for storage of data and other essentials, and we have the latest storage devices to address the increasing demand for data and storage facilities. We have our storage devices in USB, SD, Micro SD, and Hard drive and these devices are readily available.
Coming into Nigerian market
We are new an entrant into the Nigerian market, trying to penetrate the market through our distributors to gain significant share in the Nigerian technology market. As a business organisation, our decision to penetrate the Nigerian market was informed by our desire to transform data storage business in Nigeria and at the same time, grow our market share as quickly as possible. We have commenced business through our distribution structure, which we have put in place and we hope to grow the market fast as technology evolves. We are beginning with Lagos from where we will cover other parts of Nigeria.
Mobile phone storage
We are delighted that mobile phone penetration is on the increase in Nigeria and we can see most individuals carrying more than one mobile devices with dual SIMs. So our product is best suitable for the Nigerian market, where mobile phone penetration growth rate is high. As people browse the internet with their mobile phones, they need storage facilities as backups and that is what we provide at Western Digital. We have two types of storage solution: hard drive and flash. For micro SD, and USBs storage capacity starts from 8GB and goes all the way up to 400GB, while SD cards, we offer storage capacity from 8GB up to 512GB. For the hard drives storage solution, we cater to the needs of the simple users, to the enthusiastic ones looking for a more advanced solution, all the way up to bi corporations looking for a more sophistaicated storage solutions.
Importance of storage facilities to organisations
importance of storage facilities cannot be over-emphasised, because of its critical role in organisational growth. Data is key to any organisation, and
the effective storage of the data will give organisations the full assurance that their data is secured. Data must be stored as backup and ready for retrieval at any point in time. Any organisation without effective data storage devices is still far from the realities of digital transformation business, and there is a need to store every data for business continuity and for future reference. Data is about information and information is key to organisations, which means that proper storage of information is also key to organisational growth. So it gives an organisation peace of mind when they know that their data and information are in a safe place where no one can tamper with them.
Durability of stored data
Information stored in our storage devices can remain there for several years without getting damaged before it can be retrieved at any point in time.
Security features
Technology is in stages and also evolving fast. Based on this fact, it becomes very obvious that nothing
or rather no facility has 100 per cent security, which of course is a factor of management and usage as well as exposure to the vulnerability. But with our products, customers rest assured that their data is secured if properly stored in our storage facilities, and properly managed as well. We consider the security key to any business and we take security issues very seriously.
Benefits of Western Digital solutions to organisations
The benefits are numerous. Western Digital is the number one brand in storage solution globally and organisations in Nigeria will have the opportunity to experience the quality and durable products from our company. Solutions from SanDisk and WD, which we are introducing to the Nigerian market, are flagship solutions that will provide organisations with trust-worthy solution and peace of mind. We have the best cutting-edge technology in the world and our products are tested and accepted globally
Affordability
Our products are not only affordable but also pocket-friendly. What is important to Western Digital, is the value add that we bring to any business, through our solutions. So SanDisk and WD are brands of Western Digital that attach value to all our products. Yes, we are not the cheapest, but we are not the most expensive. What matters to us is the value and our products are pocket-friendly, considering the value we are bringing to the storage business.
Office in Nigeria
For now, we have no office in Nigeria, but we plan to have offices in Nigeria as the business grows. So the setting up of offices in Nigeria will largely depend on the growth of our storage business in the country.
Nigerian market
The Nigerian market is a place to do good business because of the massive population of the market and technology is evolving fast in the Nigerian market. In terms of technology evolution, I think Nigeria is next to South Africa within the African markets. Today the demand for technology solutions is on the increase in Nigeria and this shows the growth rate of technology adoption and usage in Nigeria.
Small and Medium Enterprise (SME)
In designing and manufacturing of our solutions, we do not focus only on the enterprise business, but also on SMEs who are a significant factor for the rapid economic growth of a nation.
Partnership with government
At the moment, our focus is on private sector development and partnership, not on government, but with time, that can be extended to the government for partnership. We are establishing our consumer business in Nigeria with a chain of distributors at the moment.