VMware cloud – AfricanCloud

Data sovereignty in EMEA is a concern for the majority, multi-cloud research reveals

By 2024, 95% of organisations across EMEA will be looking to their data as a revenue driver, with 46% recognising it as a significant source of revenue, up from 29% today. This is according to new research announced by VMware Inc, a leading innovator in enterprise software.

The research, entitled The Multi-Cloud Maturity Index, was conducted amongst almost 3,000 business and IT decision makers across EMEA, and reveals that nearly half (47%) strongly agree that using multiple clouds will enable them to maximise their data to innovate while addressing critical issues such as national and sector data sovereignty. Data sovereignty is, in fact, highlighted as one of the key challenges facing organisations, with 95% admitting it’s a concern.

However, the ambition to realise more value from data comes with additional challenges. Security (35%), skills (35%), difficulty stitching different cloud environments together (31%) and siloed access to data (27%) remain key obstacles. Organisations must also improve the control they have over their operational and cloud expenses, with 76% and 74%, respectively, agreeing that this is a concern if data is to drive genuine business value.

“The reliance on data to fuel innovation and drive competitive advantage is now the backbone of the digital business. Being cloud smart -the ability to choose the right type of cloud for the right data, including highly sensitive information that needs to remain within national borders, is becoming the de facto business model for organisations looking to drive advantage from their data,” said Joe Baguley, VP and CTO VMware EMEA. “Organisations who are fully exploiting the competitive advantages of using multiple clouds to manage data are seeing benefits across the business. To achieve success, however, they must be able to control where their data resides without compromising security, compliance or sovereignty, and the choice of providers to manage it.”

There is agreement (86% of respondents) that the benefits of multi-cloud -the ability to use and manage different types of private, public, edge, and sovereign clouds outweigh the challenges. Almost half (46%) believe multi-cloud use has had a very positive impact on revenue growth, while 46% also believe it has had a very positive impact on profitability. In fact, only 4% believe multi-cloud is not critical to business success.

“Our Digital Retail Strategy 2026 is built on a ‘data-centric, digital-first approach. Data, and the cloud it runs on, are at the heart of all our operations and our value creation model. This digitisation will improve the customer experience with greater personalisation, increase operational efficiency at headquarters and stores, and positively affect the Group’s revenue,” explains Damien Cazenave, CTO and chief information security officer at Carrefour France, a leading global retailer.

www.vmware.com

[Column] Sumeeth Singh: CFO becomes key to organisational cloud future

The ‘boring’ stereotype of a CFO simply being a sophisticated number cruncher is giving way to one where the role combines the best of technology with a financial know-how to unlock business value in a cloud-driven world. In fact, such has the pervasiveness of technology and the cloud become, that CIOs can no longer lay claim to being the sole custodians of this responsibility. In fact, a partnership between tech and finance is crucial if a company is to stay relevant. Think of it as sneakers meet suits for a brave new world led by innovative companies.

If anything, CFOs must become digital leaders themselves as the finance role is reinvented given how rapidly artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation, and cloud have started to become integrated into every aspect of a business. And when you throw in the potential of real-time data analytics thanks to the high-performance compute capabilities of cloud, CFOs have a wealth of insights available to them to help shape the future business strategy. But if this is to yield maximum benefit for an organisation regardless of its size or industry sector, the partnership between CIO and CFO must be a smooth one.

Tech insights

The cloud is no longer something only the CIO needs to take responsibility for. Modern CFOs fulfil a critical role in helping get organisations cloud-ready. Their understanding of the business, its unique challenges, and where to focus efforts to enhance operations must be combined with a technology know-how and an awareness of where the evolution to the cloud can deliver the best returns. If a CIO is seen as being driven by technology, it is the CFO that needs to take that and inject it with financial analysis and insights to understand where the best return for the investment can benefit the organisation the most.

So, moving beyond someone as just signs the cheques, the modern CFO takes their own technology understanding, combine it with input from the CIO, and then targets the best areas for the highest return on investment. There is no getting around the fact that the CFO will always be guided by the numbers. But what is different for the modern, cloud-ready organisation, is that this role is now influenced by the potential of technology and an increased willingness to explore risks (within reason) that can transform into revenue-generating opportunities.

All about the cloud

As recently as 2018, Deloitte research highlighted how CFOs are sceptical when it comes to spendings based on the promise of savings especially as how it pertains to the transition to the cloud. However, the research at the time did highlight the importance of finance needing a seat at the table when it comes to this kind of technology decision-making.

Fast forward to the present and the disruption caused by events of the past two years have illustrated the need for ‘bean counters’ and ‘tech geeks’ to work together if the organisation had any hope of surviving. Hybrid work, digital transformation, multi-and hybrid clouds, are just some of the ways in which things have evolved since the onset of the pandemic.

Perhaps more critically, companies have finally realised they can no longer afford to keep their data in siloes. If anything, it will be the CFOs and CIOs that become the stewards of that data as they work with the rest of the C-suite to bring improved agility into traditional environments.

While nobody is advocating a rip-and-replace approach to legacy solutions and infrastructure, the CFO is no longer focused on ‘sweating the asset’. Instead, they are looking at how to enhance what has been put in place through cloud-based solutions that can bridge the gap between the old and the new. The proverbial secret sauce to this lies in a cloud adoption/operating model that goes beyond just technology but holistically looks at the business overall. Being willing to look beyond crunching the numbers and apply innovative technology where it makes business sense to do so will result in a new agility being introduced to the business. Taking and improving what works and evolving what is not effective require the best efforts from both the CFO and the CIO.

The key to everything

There is no getting around the fact that the CFO is the critical cog in any successful cloud migration or adoption project. Having the finance department involved in all technology projects is no longer the challenge it was in the past. Far from becoming a bottleneck, finance can be an enabler to drive efficiencies faster. This can only happen if the CFO gets involved on the ground floor and provide the necessary input that can help shape the direction of the cloud project.

And then when discussions turn to licensing consumption costs and the like, the CFO will be better able to make a more informed appraisal than if it is just something that drops in their lap when they need to sign off on a migration.

CFOs, therefore, need to dust off their own sneakers and start wearing them with their suits as they become more technologically informed and partner with CIOs to transform their companies into cloud-forward businesses.

Sumeeth Singh is Head: Cloud Provider Business, Sub-Saharan Africa at VMware.

[South Africa] Teraco welcomes VMware cloud

Teraco has announced that VMware Cloud is now available via VMWare Cloud Verified service providers in the Cape Town (CT1) and Johannesburg (JB1) data centre facilities. VMware Cloud provides the fastest and easiest way to migrate existing enterprise application workloads to the cloud. When you see the VMware Cloud Verified logo, you’ll know you can easily access the full set of capabilities of VMware’s Cloud Infrastructure.

Jan Hnizdo, CEO, Teraco, says that this collaboration will further expand business opportunities for clients already present within Teraco’s data centre facilities as they adopt a cloud-first approach for their existing and next-generation applications.

“With VMware Cloud now available within Teraco, enterprises can take advantage of private and secure multi-cloud connectivity, and quickly deploy hybrid cloud infrastructures. The premise of Teraco’s vendor neutral data centre offering is to serve local and global markets at the digital edge and through channels critical to the connected world we live in. VMware, as one of the world’s leading cloud providers, assists us in making our offering richer.”

Hnizdo says that through the Teraco cloud services ecosystem, the addition of VMware Cloud will further enhance the ability of service providers to deliver more innovative cloud strategies, ultimately delivering better business value and experience to clients.

“The choice of Teraco’s digital infrastructure platform is critical for the enterprise when transforming and embracing digitalisation. It must enable scale, performance and security and assist in building digital architecture that provides resilient data centre services,” explains Hnizdo.

Together with Teraco, VMware’s expanded portfolio will enable service providers to deliver new cloud services for differentiation and, in turn, potential revenue growth, and create clouds that are developer ready and support modern applications.

Dave Funnell, Senior Manager Cloud Business at VMware, sub-Saharan Africa, says that VMWare is now being viewed as the ‘Switzerland of Cloud’ as it partners with the six major hyper-scalers as well as over 4,000 local cloud providers: “VMware’s goal is to continue being a strategic partner to our clients as they transform their business via accelerated application delivery. It encompasses providing the fastest and easiest way to migrate to the cloud, along with a platform for the management of the hybrid-multi cloud world that provides for both existing application environments, built on virtual machines, as well as the next generation built on containers. We provide freedom and choice to our clients as they adopt cloud, with the VMware Cloud Verified status providing confidence in the cloud provider they engage with.”

VMware Cloud within Teraco’s vendor neutral data centre facilities further supports the ambition to reach and assist the enterprise sector in developing and implementing successful cloud strategies: “We are excited to form part of the Teraco cloud ecosystem as we assist our clients in implementing their cloud journey” says Funnell.

www.teraco.co.za