South African executives are concerned about cloud security, with the tech sector feeling the impact of the domestic skills crisis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a local survey with responses from 500 CTOs, Directors, C-suite respondents and business owners, 89% of South African business leaders said that cloud security is a major concern. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The insights show that businesses are looking to overcome major barriers in cloud adoption, including cybersecurity (37%) and a lack of technical skills (39%), which limits the business’s ability to harness the strengths of the cloud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe same things that are happening in security from a global perspective are happening in South Africa,\u201d said Gary Peel, Cloud BDM, Africa at Fortinet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSecurity is not geographically isolated. So, whether you\u2019re in SA or the US, you\u2019ve still got the same people trying to attack your systems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Interestingly, Fortinet\u2019s 2023 Global Cloud Security report said that the biggest cloud-related threat globally is the threat to the public cloud at 59%, whilst this issue ranks fourth at 39.8% in South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This suggests that South Africa mainly focuses on basic security risks, while more mature markets have moved to a higher risk level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Africa’s cloud computing market is growing quickly following the introduction of big cloud infrastructure players, such as AWS in 2018 and Microsoft Azure in 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSouth Africa may be a late adopter, but most of our customers are already using some kind of cloud technology. Industries like FSI are leading the way. They understand the value of the cloud and how it supports rapid innovation in a cost-effective manner\u2014even though their industry is the most stringent regarding compliance,\u201d said Peel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The study reveals that 35.8% of South African businesses host more than 50% of their workload in the cloud in comparison with 39% globally, suggesting South Africa is not far behind the race to digitise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGetting the right people in the organisation to manage and secure the cloud platform is often an issue,\u201d adds Peel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCollaboration between the cloud and security teams means overcoming a clash of cultures. The security team is viewed as the legacy team, and the cloud team wants to keep pace with business demands. But they need to work together to keep the company\u2019s data secure rather than be reactive after a data breach.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pros and cons <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Although there are plenty of benefits for businesses in South Africa, specific issues limit cloud migration, the largest of which is a lack of technical skills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWith the global market becoming more competitive, SA is losing a lot of its security engineers to global opportunities, creating a deficit in local talent,\u201d Peel added. <\/p>\n\n\n
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