Huawei Cloud has unveiled plans for increasing its market share in South Africa and Africa, through strategic investments and collaboration with partners.
At an online media briefing, Stone He, the new President for the Huawei Cloud Business in Southern Africa, said since its launch in SA in February 2019 the company now has four points of presence in Africa, two in South Africa, one in Nigeria and one in Kenya.
“We will look to increase the number of these data centre’s as the demand for cloud services grows. We currently serve customers in 12 countries, with plans to grow rapidly as the need arises. We have seen an increased move to the cloud due to the Covid-19 pandemic impact,” said He.
In South Africa, during 2020, Huawei has seen great business growth in public cloud and hybrid cloud with significant investments from the public and finance sectors as well as from the telecommunication industry.
“We are also proud of our three-fold increase in our customer base and our registered South Africa partners have doubled. We predict these numbers to grow substantially over the next few months, and we see South Africa becoming a cloud hub for the continent,” said He.
According to a recent IDC cloud report, despite the increased adoption of public cloud services in South Africa, many organisations still face several challenges. These challenges range from a lack of good solution providers to cloud migration difficulties.
“With better solutions for these issues, I believe the South African cloud market will be one of the biggest. The fourth industrial revolution featuring intelligent technology is coming. New technologies will be integrated into all aspects of our lives. It is our belief that cloud based technology will promote sustainable development and become a new driver for economic growth,” said He.
“Our success lies in the success of our partners. As we embark on the road to digital transformation in SA, our global experience allows us to leverage best practices to ensure their return of investment is achieved quickly and at an optimal rate.”
Huawei Cloud SA will also invest heavily in cloud training and marketing support for its partners. Training is also being offered to consumers, tertiary students and smme entrepreneurs.
Last week Huawei announced that it had restructured its Cloud & AI Business Group, separating the hardware and software divisions, with a focus on strengthening software engineering capabilities. The separated Cloud Business Unit will now focus on providing services at both global and local levels.
“As an indispensable and important market for Huawei, South Africa has also established a regional Cloud BU. We have recruited an experienced team including cloud architecture experts, cloud service experts, and cloud solution experts so that we can continue to serve South African customers and promote digital transformation in South Africa,” concluded He.
