Cloud IT infrastructure spend to rocket
Total cloud IT infrastructure spending (server, storage and Ethernet switch) will grow by 26,4% to reach $33,4-billion in 2015, accounting for a third of all IT infrastructure spending, up from 28,1% in 2014. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC)...Team SA takes on global vocational challenge
A team of 21 young vocational skills ambassadors will be representing South Africa at the WorldSkills International Skills competition in Sao Paulo, Brazil in August. This global event will see Team South Africa competing in 19 skill categories and against more than...Middle East, Africa shine as storage dips
The external disk storage systems market in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) in the first quarter of 2015 registered one of its heftiest declines in recent years, dropping 6% year-on-year to $1,7-billion in user value, according to the IDC EMEA Quarterly Disk...Casting simulation network aids foundries
Simulation software improves and confirms casting processes and tools, providing the South African foundry sector with advanced technology to equip it in its role to provide vital inputs to the South African manufacturing industry. This was the message from Minister...
Consumer confidence plummets
Social unrest, political turmoil, frequent power outages and other economic headwinds have all combined to bring South African consumer sentiment to a 14,5-year low. Results from the 2Q2015 FNB/BER Consumer Confidence Survey show that consumer sentiment booked its largest drop since 2008 to reach a level of -15 in the second quarter. Consumer confidence had already declined from zero to -4 index points during the first quarter of 2015. The latest index number is not only far lower than the lowest reading recorded during the 2008/09 financial crisis and recession (-6), but it is also only the second time since South Africa’s first democratic election in 1994 that the CCI has dropped below -12 index points.