by MTHULISI SIBANDA
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – THE use of cloud computing has doubled over the past five years in Africa’s key regional markets where businesses of all sizes have lauded its impact.
Research conducted in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa indicates the cloud has taken off dramatically across but its benefits are experienced very differently in each region – as are its budget allocations.
Companies welcomed business efficiency and scalability as the major advantages.
These are some of the key findings of Cloud Africa 2018, a research project conducted by technology market research organisation, World Wide Worx, for global networking application company, F5 Networks, across the three countries earlier this year.
“Over the five years since World Wide Worx conducted equivalent research, use of the cloud among medium and large organisations has more than doubled, from less than 50 percent using it in 2013 to pervasive use in 2018”, said Arthur Goldstuck World Wide Worx Managing Director.
Decision-makers at 300 medium and large organisations were interviewed about cloud computing usage, benefits and intentions.
Eighty-two percent of respondents in Nigeria have seen an impact from cloud computing on market share, with 48 percent seeing a high or very high impact.
In Kenya, 69 percent have seen an overall positive impact, while 48 percent had seen a high or very high impact on market share. In South Africa, it is 66 percent and only 33 percent respectively.
Innovation within the organisation saw an equally high impact in all markets, with 100 percent positive impact in Nigeria, 98 percent in Kenya and 88 percent in South Africa.
The cloud has had a similar impact on brand perception, at 100 percent in Nigeria, 98 percent in Kenya and 85 percent in South Africa.
It had a high impact on customer experience, at 96 percent in Nigeria, 85 percent in Kenya and 81 percent in South Africa.
Matthew Barker, F5 Networks’ Divisional Sales Manager for Sub-Saharan Africa, said it was no longer about whether to use the cloud but about the benefits.
“These depend heavily on the dynamics of each market, so we were not surprised to see that businesses in each country emphasised different benefits,” Barker said.
– Guardian
