Cloud uptake to explode across Africa

Cloud computing uptake is about to explode in Africa’s major economies, as businesses gain confidence in both the security and reliability of the Cloud. This was the key finding of the Cloud in Africa: Reality Check 2013 research study, released last week by World Wide Worx and Cisco.

The study was conducted among a small but representative sample of senior information technology decision-makers in medium-sized and large companies in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.

Survey Key Findings:

‚”Cloud computing is the next big step in the evolution of computing and the Internet,‚” says David Meads, Cisco’s Vice President for Africa. ‚”The broadband revolution sweeping Africa and the continent’s reputation for innovation add up to tremendous appetite for services that will drive this evolution. Looking ahead, the Internet of Everything represents the largest online trend today. As more people, things and devices connect to the Internet in Africa, more data from more places will be introduced across corporate and service provider networks, which will open up new opportunities and increased demand for the Cloud.‚”

‚”The fact that no one is expressing doubt about the reliability of the Cloud means that the final pieces of the puzzle are falling into place,‚” says Arthur Goldstuck, managing director of World Wide Worx. ‚”Now the Cloud becomes real in Africa.‚”

Cisco Global Cloud Index Projects Cloud Traffic to Dominate Data Centres

In the third annual Cisco Global Cloud Index (2012 2017), Cisco forecasts that global cloud traffic, the fastest growing component of data centre traffic, is expected to grow 4.5-fold a 35 percent combined annual growth rate (CAGR) from 1.2 zettabytes of annual traffic in 2012 to 5.3 zettabytes by 2017.

Approximately 17 percent of data centre traffic will be fuelled by end users accessing clouds for web surfing, video streaming, collaboration and connected devices, all of which contribute to the Internet of Everything, which is the networked connection of people, data, process and things.

“People all over the world continue to demand the ability to access personal, business and entertainment content anywhere on any device, and each transaction in a virtualised, cloud environment can cause cascading effects on the network,‚”” said Meads. ‚””Because of this continuing trend, we are seeing huge increases in the amount of cloud traffic globally within, between and beyond data centres over the next four years.””

From a regional perspective, the Cisco Global Cloud Index predicts that through 2017, the Middle East and Africa will have the highest cloud traffic growth rate (57 percent CAGR), followed by Asia Pacific (43 percent CAGR) and Central and Eastern Europe (36 percent CAGR).

* Cloud image courtesy of Shutterstock.com

* “