Cloud-based software company Salesforce has leveraged its existing partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to host its Hyperforce cloud platform locally in SA.
The move means South African businesses can now store their data within the AWS SA (Cape Town) Region, helping them comply with local data residency requirements without relying on capacity or data centres located elsewhere.
Linda Saunders, country manager and senior director of solution engineering for Africa at Salesforce, said the cloud platform has always been available to companies in SA, but local hosting means they can now deploy new solutions and services more quickly.
“Now, for the first time, our customers in South Africa have the option to host their Salesforce data in-region,” said Saunders. “This matters enormously for organisations in highly regulated industries such as government, financial services and telecommunications, where data residency and compliance requirements are strict and continue to evolve.”
Regulatory complexity
In a recent interview with ITWeb TV, Saunders spoke about the impact of emerging technologies like AI and cloud on CRM. She said that while regulation adds to complexity, it is possible to comply without hindering innovation.
"The conversations we've had and what we've been able to achieve show that we are not giving up our rights or responsibilities; we're also not giving up innovation," she said. "I think there is the ability to have both, but it is very much centred on ensuring those discussions are about driving the right outcomes and working backwards from there.”
The company has positioned Hyperforce as the infrastructure for its AI platform, Agentforce, including the Agentforce Trust Layer – a control point that governs interactions between private enterprise data, users and external AI models.
With Hyperforce now hosted in SA, Agentforce processing and associated governance controls can run on locally hosted infrastructure. This means South African businesses can use agentic AI while keeping their data and AI activity subject to locally hosted infrastructure and governance controls.
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