Network connectivity across the African continent is fundamental . As Middle East and global telecom players such as stc , Zain , e & Etisalat , take off as active infrastructure players in the continent , African enterprises are going to find themselves accelerated towards digital platforms . In-country low latency networks , neutral and hosted data centres , data residency and SaaS applications will become the norm over the next five years .

As African enterprises mature along this trajectory they take along with them various management and operational challenges . In this edition we consider the challenges of IT outsourcing , cloud security , and micro grids for power consumption .

The arrival of the Digital Operational Resilience Act , DORA will force organisations to seriously consider where they are with their cloud security posture considering the consequences of non-compliance . DORA will apply to financial sector organisations operating in Europe from 17 January 2025 . The regulation impacts not only banks and other financial institutions , but also the technology firms that support them .

Microgrids allow businesses to generate electricity onsite , use it when needed and potentially sell excess power back to a relevant utility . Microgrids allow businesses to address a major concern , the variability and downright unpredictable nature of energy costs , explains Nishandra Baijnath at Schneider Electric .

To read more about digital and business transformations taking place across Africa turn these pages .

Says Raeford Liebenberg at Silver Moon IT , IT services have become critical to business , so the cost of getting them wrong will far outweigh the expense of procuring them .

The discussion of whether to outsource or insource typically centres around the elements of risk and cost . There is always debate about whether it is cheaper to retain skills in-house or to outsource them , but boiling this down to a pure Rand value can be hazardous , as the true cost of a service is not only related to the money that is paid for it .

As African enterprises adopt cloud and digital platforms , advancing in their digital transformation journeys , what are the challenges they face around data and security , is the Editor ’ s Question for the month . Executives from ESET , Commvault , Intellinexus , Data Management Professionals respond . Wishing you the best of business success in your technology adoption .

Arun Shankar Managing Editor arun @ lynchpinmedia . com

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