The cloud computing market in South Africa experienced 38% growth in 2022, supported primarily by multinational hyperscaler cloud providers expanding their presence in the region., which notes this trend is expected to continue, with a projected compound annual growth rate of 27% over the next five years.
BMIT adds that cloud marketplaces are poised to become the go-to platform for cloud solution providers, particularly in the SME sector. “Cloud computing is seen as a key enabler of digital transformation initiatives. It allows organisations to modernise their IT infrastructure, adopt new technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning, and innovate more rapidly,” says Christopher Geerdts, MD of BMIT.The market research firm says cloud adoption has significant potential to save costs in many cases, but it also presents a set of new challenges in cost management and optimisation.
“Organisations in South Africa are continuing to adopt a hybrid cloud strategy, leveraging multiple cloud service providers and combining public and private cloud environments,” notes Geerdts, emphasising the flexibility and control provided by the hybrid cloud approach. BMIT points out these challenges represent opportunities for local cloud service providers to add value for their customers.
Cloud-native development is gaining traction, as applications designed specifically for cloud platforms offer enhanced manageability and ease of updates, the firm notes.BMIT is seeing successful new businesses being built entirely in the cloud environment – digital banking and other financial services, for example.