- With cloud transformation enabling businesses to navigate challenges, adopt emerging technologies, and compete globally, Africa’s cloud-driven future holds great promise.
- A new survey shows that CEOs’ top cloud-enabled priorities over the next 12 months will include increasing productivity, improving profitability, saving costs, and enhancing stakeholder trust.
- Organizations that embrace cloud technologies strategically and swiftly will be better positioned to unlock value and drive innovation.
In a market of rapidly advancing technology, CEOs throughout Africa are strategically positioning their investments to secure a competitive advantage through emerging technologies, including generative AI, advanced analytics, and cloud transformation.
Among these, the linchpin for optimizing value is cloud transformation — the process of migrating work to the cloud, which can include data, apps, and software programs, and others.
What is cloud computing?
Cloud computing, as defined by Amazon Web Services (AWS), is a revolutionary approach to accessing and managing IT resources. It delivers computing services—including servers, storage, databases, networking, software, and analytics—over the internet, providing users with flexible and scalable solutions without needing physical hardware.
With cloud computing, businesses and individuals can access these resources on demand, paying only for what they use, much like how we consume electricity or water.
This model eliminates the need for organizations to invest in and maintain costly infrastructure, allowing them to focus on their core business activities while leveraging the latest technologies and innovations.
In essence, cloud computing enables users to access a wide range of services and applications from anywhere in the world, as long as they have an internet connection. This flexibility and accessibility have transformed how businesses operate, enabling them to scale up or down quickly in response to changing demands.
Additionally, cloud computing offers enhanced security, as data is stored and processed in highly secure data centres operated by cloud providers. Overall, cloud computing represents a paradigm shift in how IT resources are managed and utilized, offering unprecedented flexibility, scalability, and efficiency to organizations of all sizes.
Cloud adoption in Africa and EMEA
According to the PwC Africa Cloud Business Survey 2023, 50 per cent of African companies have already adopted cloud capabilities in all or most parts of their business. Within the next two years, this number is expected to rise to 61 per cent, indicating a significant shift towards cloud transformation technologies.
The survey, which assessed cloud adoption across public and private companies in seven major industries, including industrial products, financial services, consumer markets, energy, technology, media, and telecommunications, highlights the growing importance of cloud in business strategies.
Challenges and strategies facing industries in cloud adoption
Mark Allderman, PwC South Africa Cloud and Digital Leader notes that despite progress in cloud migration in Africa, businesses still face numerous region-specific challenges.
These include budget constraints, skills shortages, cybersecurity risks, and navigating the changing regulatory landscape on crucial topics like data sovereignty.
Allderman singles out the need for businesses to strike a delicate balance between economic considerations, skill development, and the strategic advancement of their technological infrastructure.
Iterative approach to cloud transformation
Organizations across EMEA prioritise and pursue large-scale migrations towards new technology platforms, with African organizations opting for a more iterative approach.
The figure below shows that in Africa, many organizations are going beyond a mere ‘lift and shift,’ with over 40 per cent focusing on a combination of migration, modernization, and cloud-native development to transform their businesses.
Compared to businesses in EMEA, modernization is often the first step in adopting the cloud to enable fundamental enterprise-wide transformation.
Cloud adoption trends and imperatives
Survey results indicate that Africa’s adoption of cloud technologies aligns closely with EMEA’s, reaffirming a crucial imperative: organizations must continue accelerating their cloud journey to remain competitive in the global market.
Tshifhiwa Makhari, PwC South Africa Technology Consulting Partner, underscores that increasing cloud adoption is not only key to giving businesses the edge when it comes to leveraging cloud scalability and innovation but is also becoming increasingly recognized as an enabler of economic growth across Africa.
Future priorities and outlook
Over the next 12 months, CEOs’ top cloud-enabled priorities will include increasing productivity, improving profitability, saving costs, and enhancing stakeholder trust.
Makhari notes that Africa is dynamic and entrepreneurial, with a youthful population more open to technology disruption and transformational change. This presents enormous potential for cloud solutions, and Africa is on the cusp of significant change, with customers and businesses driving that change.
Isabel Papadakis, PwC South Africa Technology Consulting Partner, highlights that the cloud transformation maturity curve goes hand in hand with data strategy maturity.
Data is now a fundamental aspect of business architecture and the foundation of intelligence, automation, and insight. Almost half of African survey respondents have an enterprise-wide strategy for modernizing their data that is distinct from specific cloud initiatives.
Read also: TelCable Nigeria launches Cloud2Africa to power cloud computing
Africa’s cloud-driven future
Africa is emerging as a critical player in the global cloud ecosystem. Strategic investments by major cloud providers on the continent signify its potential. With cloud transformation enabling businesses to navigate challenges, adopt emerging technologies, and compete globally, Africa’s cloud-driven future holds great promise.
“To achieve this, they are streamlining their architectures to create an integrated view and are investing in the right governance structures, building the right skills and encouraging comprehensive alignment on business strategy,” notes Isabel.
According to the survey, the urgent case for cloud transformation in Africa is clear. Organizations that embrace cloud technologies strategically and swiftly will be better positioned to unlock value, drive innovation, and achieve sustainable growth in an increasingly digital and competitive world.
