Extraordinary events over the past five years have created the ideal environment to enable large-scale Internet of Things (IoT) projects in South Africa.
First, the rapid adoption of the cloud due to Covid-19 has accelerated digital transformation across all business sectors. Second, the increasing availability of fibre and 5G connectivity across the country add further impetus to the changing technology landscape.
Third, the recent arrival of AWS in South Africa, means businesses can capitalise on even more on-demand cloud computing resources. Regulatory concerns relating to data sovereignty and latency issues are all addressed by having a hyperscale on local shores. This also provides companies looking to push ahead with IoT projects with the added advantage of lower upfront investment.
IoT and per implication, edge computing, provides more efficient ways of analysing data closer to the point of generation. In a real-time world where every millisecond counts, it is about improving the speed at which insights can be generated and sent back to cloud-based data centres. Business and technology leaders can then adapt product strategies in more agile ways.
Even so, developing bespoke IoT solutions in-house is still a time-consuming and expensive exercise. IoT platforms like Trinity’s Connect, allow businesses to reduce upfront costs and complexities associated with IoT. For instance, developing in-house IT expertise, building connectivity infrastructure, developing customised software and growing the operational layer, are all taken out of the equation for businesses subscribed to the platform. Instead, they can remain focused on delivering on their core strategy.
These all-in-one IoT platforms will increase in popularity as more businesses realise the benefits of going this route. By combining the best of edge computing, network management and local hyperscalers, they get a more integrated experience.
This is where leveraging the AWS partner network becomes important. AWS has introduced validated competencies in specific business areas to help companies accelerate their time to market. For its part, AWS is incentivising customers to adopt cloud solutions. The result? Businesses get to focus more on innovation and less on managing their own servers.
Every IoT project comes down to time-to-market, ability to scale, return on investment and the quality of real-time data the business pulls. Working with experienced local IoT partners can see companies reduce IoT rollout times from an average of 24 months to just six months. IoT is about more than just the application layer. It entails all the related technical elements such as cloud infrastructure, networking, remote management, SIMs and devices. To do so effectively and securely requires a trusted partner.
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