Digital transformation has turned data into one of Africa’s most valuable business assets. Every AI pilot, customer app, core system and analytics engine depends on that data being clean, available and secure. Yet the Veeam and ITWeb Data Resilience Survey shows that while business confidence in security and resilience is high, true cyber and operational resilience are far more fragile than companies realise.
According to Brendan Widlake, regional director and country manager for Africa at Veeam, one of the most striking statistics is that 83% of respondents felt confident in their data strategy and their ability to recover after an incident. “When they were pressed further, however, and asked if they could restore operations in 24 hours, only 43% said they could.”
The survey, which included more than 200 companies across the sub-Saharan market – a mix of public sector, financial services, software and IT companies – provided insights from executive leadership, middle management and technical experts. It showed a clear gap between perception and protection, with companies risking slow and expensive recovery times because they do not have the right systems in place.
Africa’s unique risk profile was also a concern. Globally, ransomware and cyber attacks are still among the leading causes of outages, while in Africa, leading causes are infrastructure and power instability, with cyber crime coming a close second. As Ian Engelbrecht, head of technical sales for Africa at Veeam, says: “African companies are confronted with multiple challenges. They need to be prepared for infrastructure outages or natural disasters, while at the same time, they’re also at risk of cyber attack.”
These threats create unique pressures and opportunities. African organisations are being forced to build deeper resilience than many global counterparts, and this resilience is no longer defined as just backup.
“We see this resilience as being far more in-depth, focusing on key areas such as data continuity, cyber resilience and clean recovery. Customers may have the ability to recover from an attack, but often their systems aren’t designed correctly, so they’re just putting back malware or malicious data. That’s how double extortion and repeat attacks happen, which are a constant threat on the continent.”
Of course, the rise of AI-powered attacks is making this even more urgent. The growing use of AI in malware and its ability to mutate ransomware in real-time as it encounters security controls make it a pervasive and concerning form of attack. Companies need AI-powered security to protect against AI-powered threats.
Veeam’s own technology strategy reflects this reality. The Veeam Data Platform now embeds intelligence through Veeam ONE and Veeam Intelligent Assistant, allowing teams to analyse backup data, detect anomalies and understand their security posture through natural-language queries across languages, including South African languages. “Data re-use is becoming just as important as data protection,” says Engelbrecht.
Widlake adds: “Organisations that move from basic to best-in-class data maturity see exponentially higher uptime, productivity and profitability, so it’s important to be curious, consistently look for blind spots and seek advice from vendors and partners.”
Resilience has become a continuous discipline that is essential for companies operating in an increasingly hostile landscape. A mindset of constant awareness, combined with proven recovery processes and security systems, will ensure companies can survive disruption and threats.
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