Page 21 - EngineerIT October 2022

CLOUD

SA’s cloud market is maturing –

at last!

n 1999, CNN published an article with
the headline: “Is the internet maturing?”
IThe author referred to the first airline
tickets being sold online and said the
internet was ‘going ordinary’ – in other
words, no longer the playground of the
tech-savvy, but more ubiquitous in the
average Joe’s life.
Cloud, say experts, is going ordinary
too. “Cloud, just like the internet back in
the day, is revolutionising the way people
think about their infrastructure,” says
Andrew Cruise, MD of Routed, a local
VMware Cloud Verified and VMware
principal partner. “The conversation really Lee Syse Andrew Cruise
started changing during the pandemic.
Before, people had a bad understanding to re-factor applications into. Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen interesting shifts.
of cloud – they’d only ever heard of cloud Large enterprises and telcos have started asking for cloud business solutions even if they
hyperscalers like Google and Azure and aren’t fully moving over to the cloud yet. They want the cloud experience and the benefits
thought it was only meant for developers. in their own data centres – such as software procured on consumption models or having the
Now, businesses are starting to see and complete platform delivered as a service. They’re looking to local providers and want fit-for-
understand that there are different types purpose solutions. Cloud conversations became more mature because people now better
of cloud, each with its own ideal use case. understand how it can benefit their specific business.”
They’re becoming more mature in their In some ways, however, South Africa is still lagging behind other markets, says Cruise.
outlook.” “The local market is behind the curve in terms of cloud penetration, but it’s useful to
Hyperscalers are suited to application distinguish between different kinds of workloads here. The market for workloads born
redesigns, he adds, whereas local in the cloud, such as websites and mobile applications, is growing quite well organically.
providers like Routed tend to focus on But enterprise apps, such as line-of-business applications that are accessed internally, are
enterprises wanting to get rid of the typically still being run on-premise. One big reason for this is internet penetration. For cloud
weight of hardware around their necks. to be used to its fullest extent, you need ubiquitous fast, reliable and affordable internet –
“Server rooms and data centres are a something that has been lacking in this country.”
huge cost and require specialist skills to People’s desire for cloud and the reality they’re facing are different things, adds Syse.
maintain – skills that are in very short “The shift to cloud must be well timed. Some things in data centres are simply not cloud-
supply. Cloud slashes those costs in the ready yet. Other considerations include hardware life cycles, security processes, and the
long term and comes with expert support. fact that some technologies are not straightforward to move. Other times it’s a lack of skill.
It’s also more secure than your own So, until those issues are ironed out, businesses are looking for some cloud benefits to start
infrastructure and, while the cloud won’t ticking those boxes as they get their heads around a more comprehensive move.”
stop ransomware, it will make data easier In some cases, businesses are also realising that some work loads will never be suited
to recover. The right type of cloud solves to cloud, adds Cruise. “This could include work loads that need to be kept on-premises for
those fundamental business issues.” compliance reasons. But importantly, the market is starting to make those distinctions and
Lee Syse, lead cloud solutions taking steps towards more hosted solutions where it makes sense.”
architect for the cloud providers business A fantastic sign of market maturity is that businesses are realising the importance of
at VMware Sub-Saharan Africa, agrees. using local providers, says Syse. “South Africa might be behind the curve in terms of uptake,
“Cloud used to be this buzzword, and but certainly not when it comes to expertise. Businesses are starting to see this – and the
when people talked about it, they were fact that local knowledge is crucial when it comes to laws, compliance, and understanding of
referring to the shiny native services in the local landscape.
which hyperscalers specialise. These native “Interestingly, every time a new hyperscaler launches in the country, we see local cloud
services work well for new application providers’ businesses growing. They welcome the international competition because it’s
development but are extremely difficult contributing to a more mature market,” notes Cruise. n

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