A recent study conducted by The Software Alliance, also commonly referred to as the BSA, found that South Africa has drastically improved and strengthened its position in the global ranking with regards to its cloud computing policies.
South Africa moved six places up from 2013, securing its 14th place out of 24 leading IT economies. This signifies the countries adoption of cloud computing technology, a cost-effective solution that is key in building the emerging economy.
“This is an extremely positive step and we believe that South Africans will continue to notice the value in using cloud computing solutions. By accepting the new legal and regulatory framework, South Africa is showing its commitment towards working within cloud innovation policies thus promoting cloud computing service providers to sufficiently move data across borders,” explains Henry McCracken, regional sales director for Aspect Software.
Cloud computing far outweighs IT’s existing capabilities as it creates a pay-per-use, on demand service that can be deployed in real time over the internet.
“Cloud computing is so unique in that it cuts down costs involved with increasing or adding capabilities that in other cases rely on new infrastructure. It also eliminates the time required to train users and technicians to maintain the system. Lastly, it enables one user or company to use the same service at one time. What makes it so well suited for our market is its resilience,” McCracken adds.
“The implementation of comprehensive privacy laws such as the Protection of Personal Information act and the laws in place for cyber-crime and electronic commerce were influential factors in South Africa’s improvement. According to the report, South Africa only has basic copyright laws which are not in line with international best practice. There is still a great need for broadening internet filtering and censorship,” he explains.
The study grades the cloud computing readiness of the 24 countries that make up 80% of the world’s IT markets. Countries are ranked according to strengths and weaknesses in seven major policy areas, including: data privacy, security, cyber-crime, intellectual property rights, support for industry-led standards and international harmonisation of rules, promoting free trade, and IT readiness and broadband deployment.
Several countries made noticeable improvements in the policy environment for cloud computing in the past year. Victoria Espinel, the President and CEO of The Software Alliance made mention to the fact that countries around the globe need to recognise that their policies affect the global cloud marketplace.
“Our cloud solutions are dedicated to providing a flexible, scalable and reliable platform for the customer experience that adhere to policy rules and regulations. We follow appropriate compliance programmes that promotes legal software use and supports public policies which encourage technology innovation,” McCracken concludes.
