Operations | Monitoring | ITSM | DevOps | Cloud

Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds onto the top spot with a 30% share of the global cloud infrastructure market. Despite fierce competition, AWS remains the leader by consistently driving innovation in AI and cloud computing. In this blog, we explore the latest advancements, from global infrastructure expansion to enhancements in cloud services’ availability and performance, as well as what AWS has planned for 2025.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping industries worldwide, and Sub-Saharan Africa is no exception. Across the region, governments, businesses, and start-ups are recognising the potential of AI to drive economic growth, improve efficiencies, and enhance decision-making. Yet, as AI adoption accelerates, so does the demand for robust digital infrastructure, including high-performance computing, data centres, and connectivity.

Google Cloud remains the third-largest provider, holding a 13% share in the global cloud infrastructure services market. In Q3 2024, Google reported a 30% year-over-year revenue growth reaching $12 billion in sales. However, it is a competitive market so they are working hard to accelerate this momentum and drive future growth with developments in AI innovation and infrastructure investments.

Microsoft Azure remains the second largest cloud service provider with 24% of the market share globally but boasts the most availability zones, spanning 60+ regions worldwide. Over the past 12 months, the platform has seen major advancements across AI and infrastructure, and we share some of the highlights in this blog.

The exponential growth of new technologies, such as generative AI, in conjunction with the rapid adoption of cloud technologies and the boom of IoT devices, has created an abundance of data that needs to travel across diverse ecosystems. This proliferation of technology brings many benefits to organisations but simultaneously creates more vulnerabilities and security challenges to manage.

As we step into a new year, Neil Templeton, SVP of Marketing, highlights four transformative trends that are reshaping network infrastructure and revolutionising how data moves across diverse ecosystems. In this blog, we explore these pivotal themes and offer key insights for organisations seeking to optimise and secure the movement of their data across clouds, data centres, devices and more.

From developers and tech leaders to start-ups and students, over 60,000 attendees from around the world gathered in Las Vegas for the 13th AWS re:Invent. This year’s event showcased continuing innovation from AWS, offered an abundance of content for every type of attendee, plus a sprawling Expo Hall hosting hundreds of AWS partners and industry vendors.

Last week, Lisbon was jam-packed with innovation as Web Summit 2024 saw over 70,000 attendees and 3,000 companies at one of the largest tech conferences in the world. Across the exhibition floor and track presentations, a clear theme emerged: while AI offers numerous benefits, its large-scale impact on data processing raises concerns among many parties, from consumers, legislators, and government bodies.

Africa’s connectivity landscape is undergoing a rapid evolution, propelled by increased investments in telecommunications infrastructure, data centres, and cloud services. However, the continent still faces challenges, including infrastructure gaps and regulatory complexities.

As enterprises continue to migrate workloads to cloud environments, they are reaping significant benefits, such as scalability, agility, and the ability to deploy applications in near real-time. However, these advantages are often undermined by the limitations of legacy networks. Traditional networks, restricted by long-term contracts and inflexible delivery timelines, are no longer fit for purpose in a cloud-driven world.