By Kathy Gibson in Barcelona – Africa is ready and willing embrace virtualisation, the software-defined data centre (SDDC), end user computing and the hybrid cloud.
“The African market is probably little bit different to South Africa, but it’s significantly more exciting,” says VMware SA’s Wayne Biehn. “The customer appetite for VMware’s offerings in Africa is massive.”
With African companies at various different stages of development, Biehn points out that all VMware’s offerings, from server virtualisation right up to the SDDC, are relevant for the market. “Some of our customers are still looking at core concepts and haven’t even virtualised servers yet; others are already adopting cloud computing.
In many instances, African companies are more ready to embrace the SDDC concept than their South African counterparts, says Biehn. “Conversations around operational and capital savings that SDDC unlocks become more relevant than ever for companies that may have small or constrained budgets.
“Often, companies in Africa have to do more with less, and SDDC lets them to this by giving them massive operational savings. In many instances, they can leapfrog the technology and achieve operational savings quickly.”
The ongoing problem of skills and resources in Africa is another factor driving the popularity of SDDC, he adds.
“The platform makes management of the entire data centre easier, with a lot of features and functionality part and parcel of the platform by default.
“In Africa, there is a huge infrastructure, but in people resources are stretched very thin. So a high level of automation is something that African organisations warm to very easily.
“Africa is hugely exciting for us.”