GRTech
Cisco Meraki simplifies IT solutions for MSMEs in Nigeria


By: Justice Godfrey
A global leader in cloud-managed IT solutions, Cisco Meraki, Tuesday, said it has come up with intuitive and simplified technology solutions to help boost the bottomline of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.
These new offerings according to Cisco Meraki are designed to simplify IT solutions for small and medium businesses even in the absence of an IT specialist. The technology provides complete network visibility and control – no hardware controllers or overlay software required.
MSMEs in Nigeria are already limited in their scalability due to various constraints ranging from lack of funding for advanced digital solutions to inadequate IT specialists to manage these solutions.
In view of these challenges and digitization becoming a big trend, Cisco Meraki believes that is is important for businesses irrespective of its size to adopt digitization and is poised to helping businesses through its affordable IT solutions.
The configurations and management of these solutions by Cisco Meraki are easily performed remotely or on-site, while trouble-shooting can be done in a fraction of the time with advanced networking analytics, allowing businesses to focus on more projects that are impactful.
Speaking at the event, General Manager of Cisco Nigeria, Olakunle Oloruntimehin, remarked, “Cisco Meraki creates the simplest, most powerful solutions, helping everyone from small businesses to global enterprises save time and money. It helps organizations to rapidly roll out digital initiatives, delivering real business value.
We are committed to helping our customers overcome challenges and achieve their goals. Technology can connect us, empower us, and drive us.
“At Cisco, we believe that by simplifying powerful technology, we can free passionate people to focus on their mission and reach groups previously not utilizing technology”.
He assured that with 17,000 MSMEs on target, all Cisco Meraki devices are centrally and securely managed from the cloud using a single web-based dashboard.
Their feature-rich, intuitive architecture enables customers to save time, reduce operating costs, and scale as a business grows, Oloruntimehin said.
Some of Cisco Meraki set of solutions includes wireless, switching, security, communications, EMM, and security cameras, all managed through Meraki’s web-based dashboard interface which allows customers to seize new business opportunities and reduce operational costs.
Meraki started operations in 2006, got acquired 2012 by Cisco and has grown to become an industry leader in the IT space, with over 230,000 customers and 3 million network devices and counting online around the world.
Substantiating the importance of simplified IT solutions, Nick Malherbe is the territory manager for Nigeria, Ghana, east and sub-Saharan Africa, explained the need for businesses to use data smartly and securely for business success.
He said, “In Nigeria, small and medium businesses account for 84% of employment attesting to the fact that they contribute greatly to the GDP of the economy. The success of this sector is key for the success of our economy, it is therefore imperative that these businesses use IT solutions that are secure, simple and intelligent.
“With Cisco Meraki, these MSMEs can enjoy agility, operational efficiency, and most importantly, data security that they require to accelerate their digital transformations. Our goal is to help customers benefit from digitization by simplifying IT solutions”.
According to Steven Kewley, EMEAR Commercial Regional Manager, Cisco, Nigeria is a focus and big market to deliver simplified IT solutions that will help businesses increase their bottom line.
He said the company’s selling point revolves around reducing operational costs for Nigerian businesses while paving way for digital transformation.
GRTech
The Economics of Product Decisions: Applying Behavioural Economics and Game Theory in PM


Product managers often need to make a clear-cut decision: what should we build next? But the decisions which hold real importance go beyond adding features.
It’s about getting what makes people tick.
It goes way beyond what you would expect, getting into how people behave and using game theory.
These areas give insight into how users decide and how a product’s design can improve growth and keep people interested.
This is what Amarachi Nnochiri excels at. She is a senior product manager that knows how to use economics and psychology in her job.
She goes beyond simply managing product tasks; she develops whole product systems based on how users think, feel, and use a service. Her background shows how understanding human psychology and behaviour can give you a significant advantage in the competition.
One idea Amarachi uses is “loss aversion.” In this scenario, people feel worse about losing something than they feel good about gaining something of equal value.
She uses this when designing her products, mostly when it comes to pricing and getting people to try new strategies. For example, instead of giving a free trial, she might use a freemium setup where users get some stuff for free but could lose it if they don’t buy an upgrade. This pushes them to pay.
She might also use progress bars or streak counters, since losing progress gets people to keep using the product.
Amarachi also uses ideas from “game theory” to get how users act and change their behavior. She realizes that users are doing more than operating a product, but are playing a game with other users or with the product itself. She designs things that use ideas like “Nash equilibrium,” where nobody can do better by changing what they’re doing. For a social product, this could mean creating a system where doing something good for yourself (like inviting friends) also helps everyone else. This makes the whole thing stable and positive.
Her know-how in game theory also applies to making strong “network effects.” This means making stuff that gets better as more people use it.
A good example is a social network where each new user makes the product more helpful for everyone else. Amarachi endeavours to make things go viral on purpose, not just by luck.
She might use “commitment devices,” which are things that make a user stick with a behaviour by making them depend on it socially or functionally. For example, inviting team members to a tool makes the user stick with the platform and makes the product’s network stronger.
This way of thinking is better than just following the usual steps. By using these economic and psychological tricks, Amarachi develops competitive advantages which are difficult to replicate.
She knows that a company’s best thing is not just a simple interface, but a product that’s designed to sync with how people behave.
Her product choices aren’t just about the needs of users, but equally focus on motivating them to like the product, use it, and stick with it.
In her work, choosing a subscription price isn’t just a business thing; it’s about behaviour. Designing a social feed isn’t just about the content; it’s about balancing what people want and watching how they interact. Amarachi knows extensively about the economics of product decisions. This makes her products innovative and appealing to human behaviour, which leads to more use, keeps people around, and helps the product grow. She’s a leader in product management, where identifying customer desires is backed by understanding human motivation.


Technology Company, Globacom, has announced significant reductions in its International Direct Dialing (IDD) rates, making international calls more affordable for its existing and new customers across Nigeria.
Effective August 10, the new rates began applying to over 15 popular international destinations, including United States which will has moved to ₦30 per minute, down from ₦35, United Kingdom is now N350 from ₦400, while India also moved down to ₦40 from N45.
The rates for China, Saudi Arabia and Cameroon however recorded major reduction moving to N75, N300 and ₦700 respectively.
The reduction was also extended to African countries including Benin Republic which goes for ₦650 per minute, Niger Republic ₦750, Ghana ₦500, and Togo ₦650. United Arab Emirates also moved from ₦450 to ₦325, Germany to ₦550, Côte d’Ivoire ₦700, Libya ₦700, while calls to Malawi is now N1,100 from ₦1,200.
Glo aims to provide more value for its customers through these revised rates, encouraging them to make Glo their preferred network for international calls. New IDD bundles will also be introduced, offering frequent international callers even more attractive deals.
Globacom, which remained optimistic that frequent international callers will benefit immensely from the reductions in IDD bundles, enjoined customers to take advantage of the new rates to stay connected with friends and business associates across the globe.
GRTech
Oil subsidy removal freed up resources for infrastructure – Enugu Governor
By Orji Israel, South East Correspondent


The Executive Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, has attributed the financing of numerous infrastructure projects embarked by the state government to the oil subsidy removal policy of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration.
He made this declaration at the Govermment House, Enugu, during a courtesy visit by a delegation of federal government led by Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, as part of activities lined up for the 2-day Citizens’ Engagement Series in the South East geo-political zone.
“For us in Enugu, we are able to accomplish all we promised our people during the campaign, thanks to the bold decision taken by President Bola Tinubu, which has freed up resources needed to execute humongous capital projects,” said Governor, while listing ongoing projects in the state, which include the construction of 7,000 classrooms, 3,300 hospital beds and 2,000-hectare of 260 farm estates across the 260 wards of the state.
Governor Mbah also pledged more support for the policies of the federal government, saying they are in the best interest of the people of the state.
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