South Africa recently faced connectivity disruptions due to multiple undersea cable breaks, impacting internet users and cloud service providers like Microsoft.
Connectivity Challenges in SA Highlight Risks of Cloud Reliance
The cable breaks, caused by seismic activity, affected crucial cables carrying international bandwidth, including Wacs, Ace, MainOne, and Sat-3, with repairs estimated to take five weeks.
This isn’t the first time South Africa has experienced such disruptions, underscoring the country’s vulnerability to cable breaks and the challenges faced by cloud providers and users.
The reliance on a limited number of cables for international bandwidth exacerbates the impact of such incidents, disrupting businesses and highlighting the need for redundancy and stability.
While rerouting international traffic through alternative cables like Google’s Equiano line provides temporary relief, it’s not a long-term solution.
Companies that have migrated business applications to the cloud for redundancy and stability are now confronted with new challenges, as demonstrated by the recent outage.
Cost Spikes Leading to Repatriation From the Cloud
Despite the benefits of cloud services, South African CIOs face ongoing challenges, including major vendors transitioning to all-cloud models, cost spikes leading to repatriation from the cloud, and unexpected business risks.
Dollar-based cloud services can become expensive for local companies, prompting some to consider moving applications back on-premises.
Moreover, many organizations lack the technical expertise to mitigate risks associated with cloud usage, such as ensuring business continuity in case of cloud service loss or ransomware attacks.
Security concerns persist, with breaches often attributed to user error and malicious insiders.
Navigating the Complexities of Cloud Adoption
As businesses evaluate their cloud strategies, they must weigh the risks and cost implications carefully.
While cloud adoption offers advantages, the recent outage underscores the importance of considering alternative approaches and making informed decisions based on comprehensive risk assessments.
In navigating the complexities of cloud adoption, businesses must prioritize stability, resilience, and security to safeguard their operations in an increasingly digital world.
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