The recent emergence of Stage 6 loadshedding on the South African business landscape saw added interest in cloud services from local firms eager to insulate themselves from the country’s energy fallout.
A 2019 cloud survey shed light on cloud adoption by local businesses and found that 77% of South African businesses are using cloud services in IT departments.
“Having real-time remote access to reliable back-ups is the number one reason for Cloud adoption and we’re certain the number of businesses using Cloud services will eclipse the 80% mark by the new year,” says Riaan van Stryp, GM of ICTGlobe.com.
The expected uptick in cloud adoption can be attributed to a growing realisation amongst businesses that access to basic utilities cannot be guaranteed in 2020 and beyond and the cloud enables business as usual. “Data backup and disaster recovery are eclipsing cost savings as the number one reason to go the cloud route,” adds Van Stryp.
There are, however, a number of good reasons to opt for cloud-based connectivity. Anecdotal evidence suggests about a third of SA businesses are using the cloud for telecoms services. PBX solutions hosted in the cloud means any enterprise-class or SME firm can benefit from corporate-quality unified communications platforms without the need for clunky physical equipment.
“Loadshedding has become the final nail in the coffin of the clunky, desk-bound, reception area PBX system of yesteryear,” Van Stryp says.
In the era of loadshedding with its traffic snarl-ups, the cloud also enables us to revisit such concepts as telecommuting and flexi-time. Working smarter remotely using the latest available Cloud technology is the best way to avoid the load-shedding fallout.
Aside from providing virtual immunity against loadshedding, the cloud also provides an effective solution to the ongoing challenge of cable theft and other forms of crime affecting local firms’ access to ICT services.
This holiday season, South African corporate executives, SME business owners, IT managers and others who opted for services hosted in the cloud will be able to relax at the berg, bush and beach secure in the knowledge that their valuable IP assets are always reachable from any connected device, anywhere in the world.
The cloud also enables unified messaging, which means each phone, tablet, laptop and desktop essentially becomes a redundant replica of the other devices. Every voicemail, text message and email is accessible on any device that may still have battery life in it. That’s a big help in carrying on being effective during load-shedding, during any unplanned emergency, or simply when one is away on holiday.
Finally, in a tight business environment both locally and overseas: “Cloud-based ICT services enable companies to access world-leading technology on a very modest budget and without any significant capital investment,” concludes Van Stryp.