Most small and Medium-sized businesses (SMEs) use cloud services for at least some of their workloads and apps. Throughout 2023 we can expect South African SMEs to move deeper into the cloud and become more sophisticated in their cloud strategies. But the move to the cloud has only just begun.
Here are some of the trends we expect to see more of in the market this year…
1. Multi-Cloud Complexity
The majority (89%) of organizations worldwide have embraced a strategy of employing multiple cloud providers, according to Flexera’s State of the Cloud 2022 survey. It can be a deliberate tactic in some situations to avoid vendor lock-in. In others, the situation arose naturally as organizations moved various workloads and applications from their data centers to the cloud.
A multi-cloud strategy has clear advantages. In 2023, as economic pressures mount, we can expect many businesses in South Africa to look for ways to cut costs and increase efficiencies. However, many SMBs struggle with the complexities of ensuring compatibility, accessing capabilities, and gaining visibility across multiple public clouds. In the coming year, we can expect that they will focus on simplifying their environments in the coming year.
2. Hyperscale providers continue to invest in Africa
Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services catalyzed faster cloud adoption when they opened a store in South Africa a few years ago. Google and Alibaba also announced significant investment plans for Africa this year. Google is also building its first cloud region on the African continent, also in South Africa.
This gives South African cloud users more options, especially for those who want to store their data in on-premises data centers for compliance reasons. Enterprises should see better performance for latency-sensitive applications. We’ve also seen a flurry of innovation in localized apps and content. As more opportunities are recognized in Africa, more startups are founded and more technical solutions are developed, the cloud will continue to be the most cost-effective way to scale apps.
3. Cloud cost concerns come to the fore
Flexera’s report shows that cloud costs remain a hot topic for businesses of all sizes. Many organizations are still struggling to reduce waste and gain visibility into spending, as evidenced by respondents’ prioritization of optimizing existing use of the cloud (reducing costs) as their top priority. Cost benchmarking with FinOps technologies and processes is becoming increasingly important.
Local hyperscale cloud providers need to change their models to bring more business to Africa and South Africa due to rand dollar pressures.
4. Edge solutions are gaining in importance
The industry has been talking about edge computing for years, but we’re finally seeing its potential realizing. According to IDC, global spending on edge computing is expected to reach $176 billion in 2022, a 14.8% increase from 2021. Edge computing moves computing resources to the physical location where data is created, dramatically reducing the time to value enabling business processes, decisions, and intelligence. It has some powerful applications for analytics and Internet of Things driven processes in industries like manufacturing, mining, and logistics.
This becomes even more relevant as we see AI and ML creating greater business value. The way we collect data will become more driven by IoT, and edge technology will bring about AI-powered technologies like the chatbot ChatGPT.
5. Don’t sell me a service, offer me a solution
5. Don’t sell me a service, offer me a solutionAs the cloud grows more complex, SMBs are turning to resellers, cloud aggregators, cloud providers, and other ecosystem members to simplify things for them.
Before buying, people are doing more research than ever. Providing one-off products or services will lead to churn as more SMBs turn to companies that offer complete solutions or are more inquiring about their pain points.
Business solutions – not applications, infrastructure or platforms – are what they are looking for. Forward-thinking resellers should consider how to package cloud technology blocks into solutions that address business pain points such as reducing service costs or opening up new markets. Those helping SMBs reduce technical and operational complexity should expect rapid growth in the years to come.
2023 will be another year of strong growth
Gartner forecasts that spending on public cloud services in Europe, Middle East and Africa will grow from $111 billion in 2022 to $131 billion in 2023, an 18.2% increase from the corresponds to the previous year.
Business models should mature in the coming year as SMBs continue to rely on the cloud to increase efficiency, boost productivity and foster innovation.
About Tarsus On Demand
Tarsus On Demand, a division of Tarsus Technology Group, enables managed service providers, independent software vendors and technology resellers to seamlessly transition their businesses to the cloud and software as a service. The dynamic team works closely with channel partners to help their customers design and deliver cloud solutions that support growth, efficiency, agility and innovation.
Tarsus On Demand gives channel partners access to aggregated offerings from leading cloud service providers, as well as tools that enable them to offer customers seamless access to cloud products and services. Partners can accelerate their move to the cloud by leveraging the company’s established competency base and direct supplier relationships.
Tarsus On Demand has been named Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) of the Year four years in a row (2018-2021) and has also won multiple industry awards including Microsoft Partner of the Year 2021, Acronis Cyberfit Distributor of the Year 2021 and Mimecast Managed Services Partner of the Year 2021. This has allowed Tarsus On Demand to establish itself as the leading cloud enablement partner for resellers looking to offer business solutions to customers.
For more information about Tarsus On Demand, visit www.tarsusondemand.co.za. You can also find the company on YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter.
- The author, Inayeth Govender, is GM for Demand Generation, Tarsus On Demand
- This promoted content was paid for by the party in question
