Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud computing unit of Amazon, plans to open three data centres in Cape Town in the first half of 2020.
Amazon, the world’s second biggest public company revealed it would open its first cluster of data centres in South Africa. This comes months before Microsoft’s planned launch of two Azure data centres in the country. The company said its data centres will allow organisations to reduce data transfer speeds for end-users across Sub-Saharan Africa.
The data centres will also facilitate the adoption of technologies such as artificial intelligence, the internet of things, and mobile services.
According to the company, “local AWS customers will also be able to store their data in South Africa with the assurance that their content will not move without consent, while those looking to comply with the upcoming Protection of Personal Information Act will have access to secure infrastructure that meets the most rigorous international compliance standards”.
Sub-Saharan Africa regional manager of Amazon Web Services, Geoff Brown said the data centres “will bring with it a number of highly skilled, well-paid jobs to the local economy and drive growth in cloud technology jobs”.
To implement the project, AWS was looking to hire data centre engineers, support engineers, engineering operations managers, security specialists, account managers, solution architects and partner development managers.
AWS said companies such as Absa, Investec, MedScheme, MiX Telematics, Old Mutual, Pick n Pay, Standard Bank and Travelstart are already using its services to reduce costs and boost innovation.
Absa Chief Information Officer, Andy Baker said “AWS has been Absa’s primary cloud provider for the past three years. The reduction in latencies that will accompany their expansion to South Africa will further enable us to scale our cloud consumption”.