The adoption of cloud computing in SA shows no signs of slowing, with 75% of business applications expected to be in the platform within the next two years.
This is according to cloud service company Alto Africa, which says local businesses are ready to make use of the platform "en masse". Oliver Potgieter, Alto Africa director, notes that SA tends to follow rather than set IT trends and the local cloud penetration currently sits at between 10 and 15% of applications.
"Use of cloud services is low in some areas, such as infrastructure solutions, and high in others, such as e-mail security and continuity services," he says.
Potgieter adds that the growth will be "driven by the presence of experienced vendors in the local market, backed with the right service level agreements, good technical skills, redundant connectivity and ample evidence of the value that cloud delivers."
According to Alto Africa, the increased adoption is likely to spread. "It is being led by big business, but the mid-market and small and medium enterprises stand to gain as much or more by moving into the cloud."
The predictions are based on research sourced from MSP Mentor and Spiceworks, says Potgieter. Spiceworks notes that cloud uptake for small businesses is influenced by less existing infrastructure, less bureaucracy, more flexibility and smaller capital budgets for purchasing in-house technology.
Pieces of the puzzle
According to Potgieter, momentum in increased adoption will depend on a number of factors falling into place. "Among these elements are connectivity, local service provider capability and customer readiness," he says.
He adds that SA's challenges with increased bandwidth have been influential in stunting growth, but the market's "tipping point for mass adoption" will occur when penetration reaches the 15% mark - a period he notes is close at hand.
Meanwhile, a recent preliminary finding by IBM found that less than 10% of organisations say their existing IT infrastructure is fully prepared for the proliferation of technology developments including cloud computing, mobile devices, social media and data analytics.
The forthcoming study, titled "IT Infrastructure Matters," is based on responses from 750 CTOs, CIOs and other technology executives in 18 countries and 19 industries.
Although cloud is no longer a "leading edge" technology, says Potgieter, anticipated growth is not a radical phenomenon. "The local market is unique from a lot of perspectives, but none of them are restrictive to cloud adoption."
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