Liquid’s software defined network service set to empower online businesses

Fibre optic network and cloud solutions provider Liquid Dataport on Tuesday launched a software defined network (SDN) service, Dataport, to enable users, including online businesses, to scale and tailor their digital operations to customer demands.

The launch took place at digital infrastructure event AfricaCom at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

The company says the SDN service will allow users to have complete control over their operations through an efficient, easy-to-use web portal, from choosing destinations, speed, and bandwidths, to managing traffic demand and assessing costs, among other features.

“With Dataport, customers have complete oversight of services provisioned at their fingertips,” it adds.

The offering will first be rolled out in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, France and the United Kingdom.

“If African businesses were to level the playing field against their counterparts in more developed economies, SDN is the answer,” says Liquid’s CEO, David Eurin.

“How we work has evolved, and our customers now expect to pay for services as they consume them.

“The flexibility we have brought customers through this solution has allowed them to select and scale their network requirements according to their individual needs and only pay for what they use.”

Speaking to Moneyweb, Eurin says the service can be accessed through Liquid’s owned network.

The company says it uses the industry-leading software solution to provide quotes and orchestrate service provisioning for customer service requirements – automatically.

“This makes Dataport the most extensive ‘One Africa’ digital network and empowers customers to take control of their network, tailor-making it to suit all of their connectivity requirements, app usage and costs.”

The company says the service will allow businesses to break away from traditional approaches of networking, such as emailing in response to customer queries, further enabling them to take advantage of its significant fibre backbone across the continent.

This underscores the business’s “overall commitment to providing extensive infrastructure and building on a digitised network in Africa and beyond”.

Nondumiso Lehutso is a Moneyweb intern.