IT environments have become overwhelmingly complex, with many organisations across Africa managing hybrid estates of legacy infrastructure, on-premises systems, cloud platforms and distributed networks. AI and automation are changing the game, turning IT teams from operators and reactive ‘firefighters’ into orchestrators.
This is according to Dan Hauenstein, VP of Product Marketing at SolarWinds, speaking ahead of a series of events to be staged in Africa by SolarWinds and distribution partner ATS Network Management.
Hauenstein says SolarWinds' 2026 IT Trends Report finds that 81% of respondents agree that the role of technical staff is shifting from operator to orchestrator and becoming more strategic, automation-driven and cross-functional.
“What that means is that IT is going to require some new skills as they work more AI into the way they do their jobs – things like workflow design, content validation and where to put a human in the loop for security reasons or just to ensure that they have control,” he says.
The IT Trends Report also finds that 71% of IT professionals say that AI is making their roles more demanding and 41% of frontline managers believe AI has not reduced their workload. 43% of respondents cited data privacy and security anxiety, including a lack of clear corporate policies or secure sandboxes, as the primary barrier preventing their team from using AI effectively or safely.
Hauenstein says: “One of the main blockers that we're seeing in AI adoption is broadly speaking around trust. One trust gap exists in terms of the outputs from AI: Am I getting the results that I'm expecting? Do I understand where the information may be coming from or the actions that are being taken? Are those the right actions?
“The second aspect of the trust gap is really around guardrails to keep data safe, to ensure privacy is not violated. The organisations that are thinking very diligently about overcoming those trust gaps will be able to move faster.
“For all IT teams, there's too much going on, there's a lot of complexity, always feeling like they're in firefighting mode. Now we have an opportunity to reduce the burden, improve their productivity and help the operators of today evolve into the orchestrators of tomorrow,” Hauenstein says.
SolarWinds' IT management and monitoring software is helping organisations achieve visibility and control and improve trust across hybrid environments. SolarWinds' new AI Agent – SW1 – is an advanced, built-in assistant designed to slash complexity and help drive autonomous IT operations.
Hauenstein explains: “SW1 is built with our AI by design framework and secure by design approach to building software overall. We're building with a focus on security guardrails, how data is handled, and ensuring a human remains in the loop. One strength that we have is our observability self-hosted product which can be deployed on-prem, allowing organisations to keep their data private, secure and not sent to the cloud.”
Addressing complexity in Africa
Hauenstein says organisations across Africa are seeing measurable benefits from SolarWinds' solutions: “Africa is an important growth area for us. With the continued increase in complexity and how quickly the market is moving today, we feel like we're in a good position to help organisations across Africa tackle those challenges.”
By working with partners like ATS Network Management, SolarWinds enables customers to achieve value faster, he says. “ATS understands the unique challenges that the customers in Africa face every day. They understand how they're going to adopt technology and how they're going to get the most out of it, and offer them the local support they need to put our technology to work right away,” he says.
ATS Network Management, a leading value-added distributor across Africa, enables its in-country partner ecosystem with the technical expertise, solution architecture, pre-sales support, skills development and business enablement needed to translate SolarWinds' global technology vision into practical local deployments and measurable business outcomes.
By combining regional technical leadership with the trusted relationships and local market expertise of its partners, ATS helps organisations adopt AI and intelligent IT operations with confidence, while reducing complexity and accelerating time to value.
Glenn Lazarus, CEO of ATS Network Management, says: "Across Africa, organisations are embracing AI to improve operational efficiency, strengthen resilience and accelerate digital transformation. However, adopting AI successfully is about far more than deploying new technology. It requires trusted guidance, strong governance, the right skills and a clear strategy to integrate AI into often complex hybrid IT environments.
"As a value-added distributor, ATS Network Management's role is to help our in-country partner ecosystem bridge that complexity. We invest in technical enablement, solution architecture, pre-sales support, skills development and business engagement so our partners can confidently deliver real business outcomes for their customers by fulfilling the roll of trusted advisors.
"Our partners understand the unique business, regulatory and operational requirements within their local markets. By combining that local expertise with SolarWinds' innovation and ATS's regional technical capabilities, customers benefit from world-class AI-driven IT operations delivered through trusted local advisors.
"The move towards autonomous IT operations should be evolutionary rather than disruptive. Organisations need to build on their existing technology investments while ensuring security, governance and human oversight remain central to every AI initiative. AI has enormous potential to reduce operational complexity, accelerate root-cause analysis and automate repetitive tasks, allowing IT professionals to focus on higher-value strategic outcomes.
"Our objective is to empower our partner community with the knowledge, tools and support they need to help customers adopt AI with confidence, maximise the value of their technology investments and build resilient, intelligent IT environments for the future."
Paving the way for self-healing environments
SolarWinds and ATS Network Management will showcase SolarWinds' capabilities at a number of events to be staged in South Africa and Nigeria soon. The SolarWinds World Tour will be staged in Johannesburg on 18 August, highlighting autonomous operational resilience. This event will include sessions for customers and partners, offering practical roadmaps for achieving intelligent IT operations.
The SolarWinds World Tour will outline how organisations can move from reactive troubleshooting to self-healing, resilient environments, and give attendees an exclusive first look at the SW1 AI Agent and include a live demonstration showing how AI and agentic insights proactively diagnose root causes to radically slash Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR) and Mean Time to Prevent (MTTP).
SolarWinds will also participate in the AWS Summit in Johannesburg on 19 August and GITEX Nigeria in Lagos on 2-3 September.
At AWS Johannesburg, Hauenstein will explain how IT leaders are redefining their roles in the age of AI and outline the SolarWinds innovation roadmap at these events.
Session number: Lightning Session #5
Time: 12h25 – 12h40
Date: Wednesday, 19 August 2026
Duration: 15 minutes
Location: AWSome Stories Theater, Main Expo, Hall 3
To learn more and register for our upcoming events:
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