South Africa cloud spending to surge 50% in 2024
EDENBURG, SOUTH AFRICA — The International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts that spending on cloud computing services in South Africa will increase significantly this year.
In an interview with ITWeb TV, IDC IT Services Research Manager Derrick Chikanga reveals that continued investment in cloud services is expected, largely driven by enterprises.
The public sector is also forecasted to accelerate its cloud adoption, considering the frequent IT system failures faced by some government departments.
“Clearly, public sector institutions have significant challenges trying to maintain their IT infrastructure, hence the cloud environment could provide a plausible solution to these challenges,” Chikanga stated.
Citing an IDC survey of over 100 respondents, Chikanga notes that only 9% indicated spending on traditional on-premises infrastructure, while 60% plan a hybrid cloud approach in 2024 – combining public and private cloud solutions.
He explains that South African organizations are realizing the benefits of migrating files to the cloud, like reduced IT infrastructure costs, since everything becomes a pay-as-you-go service. However, providers must keep educating customers on the tangible advantages compared to on-premises servers.
His interview also focused on major cloud providers like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Alibaba (BCX), which have a presence in South Africa.
Chikanga advises that companies should thoroughly evaluate their business needs and map out a migration plan to achieve desired outcomes. The common pitfall of “lift and shift” often prevents organizations from realizing the expected gains from the cloud.
