Local Microsoft data centres to accelerate cloud adoption

On Wednesday 6th March 2019, Microsoft South Africa launched its Azure cloud data centres in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Decision Inc. believes that this heralds an exciting new time for the cloud market, not only in the country but the rest of the African continent.

“Having the data centres closer to home will enable South Africans to experience less latency on cloud services and enable support for regulatory compliance, with the focus on the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA),” says Reghard van Jaarsveld, Engagement Manager at Decision Inc.

The availability of these data centres in the country will provide companies across Africa with a platform for significant growth when it comes to securely and quickly migrating to the cloud.

“IT is a strategic enabler for business, and one of the critically important vehicles to deliver this is through the cloud. Some local companies have remained sceptical, despite the cost efficiencies on offer. However, the launch of these two multinational data centres will change this and reiterate the importance of going the cloud route in a digitally connected world.”

Microsoft Azure provides organisations, irrespective of size and industry sector, with scalable performance and infrastructure. They can therefore easily and cost-effectively use more cloud services during peak times of the month. This further results in reducing licensing fees, as companies only pay for their usage.

“These Azure data centres also see bundled services on offer that enable companies to get more value out of their data. Things like machine-learning algorithms, scalable use of Internet of things integration, and other related offerings provide business owners with a wealth of locally available solutions.”

The launch of these Azure data centres will result in other multinational offerings also launching locally, further stimulating what it expected to be a significant growth market in the coming years. Furthermore, Decision Inc. anticipates more companies will start leveraging the power of Azure for their business services to remain focused on delivering strategic value to stakeholders.

“Decision Inc., along with Microsoft, is extremely excited around how cloud services will enable new solutions to customers and see the dawning of a new era in the African landscape.”