Electricity and Control August 2023

INDUSTRY 4.0 + IIOT

Choosing a cloud provider that lifts your business

Cloud adoption is rapidly increasing in Africa, with no slowdown in sight.World Wide Worx research indicates that 69% of companies in eight African countries plan to increase their cloud spend in 2023. Andrew Cruise, Managing Director of Routed, local VMware Cloud Verified Provider and VMware Principal Partner, says this is due to a number of factors that started with the pandemic and the increase in working remotely.

Andrew Cruise, Routed.

“ N ow, loadshedding is further fuelling this shift,” Cruise says. “Data centre colocation providers are obliged to offer a guarantee of continuous power to their tenants and can address power cuts more efficiently than a smaller enterprise’s data centre or server room.” In choosing to move to the cloud, decision makers often need guidance in terms of what to look for in a provider – and Cruise emphasises that to ensure success, it’s critical to choose the right provider. He highlights seven key fac tors to be considered. Specialisation Choosing to trust someone with their critical data, business es should make sure the cloud provider is an expert in the field. The cloud provider should be a specialist with a dedi cated, experienced, certified team. “If it’s not the provider’s sole focus, their ability to deliver a secure, well-performing product and to be available to support their customers will be diluted,” says Cruise. Data centre choice Just as the cloud provider should be a specialist, it’s impor tant to make sure the provider uses a colocation facility that is also an expert in its field. Cruise urges decision makers to check up on the appropriate certifications and a proven track record of security, redundancy, and resilience across power (dual UPS, dual generators), CRAC (computer room air conditioning) and fire risk mitigation. “An open access, vendor-neutral site at one of the main peering points for in

ternet connectivity is preferable, so that connectivity is not restricted or charged at a premium due to vendor lock-ins. For best performance and minimal latency, it should also be located in-country.” Guarantees With loadshedding continuing, a cloud provider’s reliabil ity is essential to ensure that its customers’ business op erations are not disrupted by system failures or downtime. “Look for a provider that offers a robust service level agree ment (SLA), including uptime guarantees and penalties for failure to meet the SLA. A minimum n+1 redundancy should be a given, although n+2 or 2n is preferable,” Cruise says. Interface For any business that relies on various software applications, it is essential to choose a cloud provider that can integrate with these applications seamlessly. “And, although there is a host of tools and features available from cloud providers these days, not every enterprise needs all the bells and whistles. Choose a provider that uses proven, reliable, easy-to-use management and orchestration tools,” Cruise says. “Most enterprises don’t need complicated, cutting edge open-source software. Rather opt for a purpose built, upgradeable and well-supported stack from a trusted vendor and ensure the provider offers APIs that allow for easy integration with other software applications,” he adds. Security Data can be worth more than gold. Besides ensuring re dundancy and fault tolerance measures as well as back up and disaster recovery services, decision makers need to know how their business data will be protected. Will it be kept in a single instance only, snapshotted locally, or replicated across failure domains? What additional security options are available? “Make sure the cloud provider cares as much about your data as you do and has a proven track record of top-notch security,” Cruise says. Location Global software and hardware vendors are starting to cater to the unique requirements of African markets, but none will understand these as well as a local vendor. The benefits of local providers include data sovereignty and POPIA

Just as the cloud provider should be a specialist, it’s important to make sure the provider uses a colocation facility that is also an expert in its field.

4 Electricity + Control AUGUST 2023