In today’s fast-evolving digital world, the demand on SMEs to digitally transform their service operations in line with supporting an increasingly complex online customer is a powerful catalyst for growth and competitive advantage across various sectors. This is especially urgent for Small
and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), that are pivotal to Uganda’s economic growth. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Cooperatives, SMEs contribute approximately 70% to Uganda’s GDP and account for 80% of total employment.
Many SMEs are increasingly investing in technological solutions to remain competitive and scale their businesses. These include HR management systems, digital payment platforms, automated payroll software, and data collection tools, all aimed at better serving diverse customer needs and streamlining operations.
However, despite these advancements, many SMEs are still in the early stages of adopting technology. Barriers such as high costs, inadequate infrastructure, and limited technical skills hinder their ability to leverage the benefits of digital transformation fully. These challenges slow
the widespread adoption of business automation and innovation that when mature as technologies are represented as Machine Learning and artificial intelligence, thus preventing Ugandan SMEs from reaching their full competitive advantage potential.
Tier 3 data centres like Raxio Data Centre fill a critical gap by providing the foundational infrastructure needed for optimal digital technology performance. This allows industries, particularly SMEs, to focus more on navigating higher-level challenges such as selecting the right IT tools and addressing regulatory issues. By offering cutting-edge infrastructure, Raxio enables businesses to drive innovation and facilitate seamless digital transformation—essential for both economic growth and long-term sustainability. This technological backbone supports unrestricted scalability, empowering businesses to grow without the limitations of inadequate infrastructure.
A key milestone in building a robust digital transformation ecosystem has been the deployment of the first local instance of Microsoft Azure Stack by Liquid Intelligent Technologies in the Raxio Uganda Data Hall. This partnership unlocks new opportunities for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by providing affordable access to advanced cloud solutions. In the past, many SMEs found these solutions inaccessible due to high costs or inadequate infrastructure. This development now brings powerful cloud capabilities within reach, enabling SMEs to scale and innovate more effectively.
The integration of Azure Stack into Raxio’s infrastructure not only eliminates technical constraints such as slow access, poor support, and data residency issues, but also addresses key concerns around cost and deployment complexity—critical factors in today’s digital economy. This empowers Ugandan SMEs to confidently expand their operations while ensuring their data remains secure and compliant. With access to high-performance cloud services, SMEs can optimize their processes, enhance efficiency, and drive innovation like never before. This technological leap also positions them to compete on a global scale, fostering sustainable growth in an increasingly digital world.
Hosting the Microsoft Azure Stack aligns perfectly with Raxio’s vision of driving economic growth and oiling the varied phases of digital transformation in Uganda. Our secure and reliable services allow SMEs to focus on their core activities, knowing that their data and operations are
supported by world-class infrastructure.
At Raxio Data Centre, we do more than just provide a service; we actively invest in your business’s strategic innovation journey, working towards the future success of SMEs in Uganda. Technology is no longer simply a tool—it has evolved into an ecosystem that captures, stores,
and processes data, ultimately producing insights through machine learning. The result is artificial intelligence, which will be the driving force behind SME growth, innovation, and the overall prosperity of Uganda.
By Godfrey Sserwamukoko
The writer is the General Manager, Raxio Data Centre.
