Press Release.
Nairobi Wednesday January 18, 2012 – Leading integrated communication solutions provider AccessKenya Group has announced completion of compounded system upgrades of the data centre that have been underway since late 2009. The upgrades, which cost over Sh30 Million, have seen the installation of an advanced under-floor cooling system aimed at enhancing temperature control in within the data centre.
Announcing the completion, AccessKenya Group CEO Mr. Jonathan Somen said the upgrade is part of a progressive plan to optimize functions and expand capacity of the data centre even as the company continues to develop innovative IT services and unified communication solutions for its clientele.
‘We have invested heavily in building the right infrastructure so that we can incessantly support the critical services on our network and give our customers a better experience,” said Mr. Somen.
AccessKenya has in the recent years expanded its product portfolio to include a wide range of IT services including data backup, disaster recovery, remote assistance and inter-branch connectivity (commonly referred to as MPLS). The company is also offering video conferencing and telepresence solutions among a growing list of other value added services.
Mr. Somen said: “our corporate clients are now able to benefit from conveniently packaged and world class IT services alongside our internet solutions which are designed to enable them achieve their desired results without undue hassle.”
Part of the upgrade was also the installation of a more structured cabling system for better management and increased capacity. This, according to AccessKenya Systems Engineer Mr. Samson Oduor, will ensure that centre has expanded capacity in anticipation of growth on the group’s systems.
Mr. Oduor noted that the project has been successfully completed without any interruptions on client services further attributing the seamless upgrade to the network’s integration capabilities.
“With these upgrades, we are at par with Tier 1 Service Providers around the world and this gives our clients confidence that their data is safe with us,” said Mr. Oduor.
AccessKenya Group MD Mr. Jonathan Somen (Left) explains the features of a Private Branch Exchange unit (PBX) to the Company's Finance Director Mr. Peter Ndirangu in the company's data centre.
Meanwhile, the company also announced the adoption of a new data authentication system to protect internet users on its network from imminent cyber threats that have become rampant in the recent years.
The system, which is a set of extensions to the Domain Name System (DNS), is dubbed Domain Name System Security Extension (DNSSEC) and will protect the AccessKenya DNS infrastructure against cache poisoning, spoofed updates, corrupt data and what is commonly referred to as “man-in-the-middle attack”.
DNS is a hierarchical distributed naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network. It associates assorted information with domain names assigned to each of the participating entities. Mr. Oduor indicated that the system will improve the security of the network while at the same time protecting AccessKenya clients against forged data while accessing the internet.
“This technology allows for digitally signed answers. This means that a client will be able to discern the authenticity of information received and the information on the authoritative DNS server,” he explained.
Similarly, the company has also upgraded the antivirus and anti-spam systems with the view of managing email spam. The upgrade is set to streamline client outbound emails and prevent “false positives.” This, according to the AccessKenya technical team, will enhance data loss prevention and “empower clients to keep all their data that has been previously lost as SPAM”.
“The email filtering solution will help us transition from the internet protocol Version 4 (Ipv4) address space which is getting depleted to the new protocol dubbed Ipv6,” added Mr. Oduor.
