Hyperscale key benefits and risks
The hyperscale trend is progressing in South Africa. The announcements by Amazon and Microsoft are evidence of this fact. Digital transformation is a reality and hyperscale is an enabler of this evolution – a pillar of the IDC-coined term, ‘the third platform’ which comprises analytics, big data, hyperscale and mobile.
Defined, hyperscale computing refers to an architecture that expands and contracts based on the current needs of the business. A hyperscale facility provides businesses with a one-stop-shop, the scalability is seamless and involves a robust system with flexible memory, networking, and storage capabilities.
The risk is not architecting your network to be software-defined. The cloud is only as good as your network. You need to adopt a digital approach with an aim to build a network using the pillars of the third platform.
What skills do businesses need to handle big data analytics in the cloud?
The skills required need to mirror your architecture investment. Before looking at concepts such as data analytics, ensure you have a digital transformation strategy and a network that is scalable. In reality, a significant amount of the skills will be supplied by vendors or through concepts such as the gig economy.
The role of the incumbent CIO/CTO needs to be that of a creative, strategic big picture thinker if a true digital transformation is to take place.
Hyperscale data centres
As the demand for cloud computing solutions increases, so does the need for the supporting large scale data centre infrastructure. Hence, the rise of hyperscale data facilities that are substantially larger than the average enterprise data centre. At the end of 2019, over 500 data centres globally met the minimum classification threshold required of a hyperscale facility.
The hyperscale data centre has emerged as the physical platform fueling digital transformation, reshaping the global and African IT landscape and shifting data from on-premises facilities to massive centralised data centre hubs.
What are the advantages of running big data analytics in the cloud?
There are numerous advantages, but these can only be realised if the infrastructure and network are scaled and built with digital transformation in mind. It’s a reinvention of what exists. If a business wants to remain relevant and competitive, digital transformation is necessary.
Locally, there are still too many businesses that need to get the network and infrastructure right before considering the potential for big data analytics.
Read more about the Teraco Riverfields hyperscale data centre facility here: Hyperscale demand encourages African infrastructure investment.
Analytics on hyperscale requires a new way of thinking. These are some considerations companies will need to reposition themselves
The future is undoubtedly hybrid. It’s about software-defined everything. Multi-cloud hyperscale is a great consideration. Companies can deploy across multiple clouds, using the services they feel are better suited to meet the needs at hand. Knowing where the onramps to the cloud are for the enterprise is critical. Removing transit costs is also key to a strategic digital transformation.
The cloud is only as good as the network, so latency and sovereignty issues need to be addressed first. Then the network is architected and the enterprise finds a way to be as close to the cloud as possible, making interconnectivity possible. If situated within a data centre, for example, there are no onramp/transit costs. The Internet has no SLA.
‘You don’t move into digital transformation, you architect it’
Re-architecting and developing a software platform will govern how a company digitally transforms. Hyperscale cloud levels the playing fields much like the Internet did. Colocation helps remove the risk of achieving digital transformation. Business is no longer hardware dependent. There is total flexibility.
Public SaaS solutions have become more robust and sophisticated, which has attracted larger enterprises. This starts with less-critical services and carefully weighing the benefits of adopting public cloud services (such as scalability, cost optimisation, consistency, etc.) against the risks (business continuity, security, data integrity, etc.).
The adoption of cloud computing is being driven by industries such as financial services adopting public cloud platforms, and the deployment of advanced next-generation networks by telecommunications operators.
Cloud computing offers economies of scale that can dramatically reduce the cost to end-users. The use of shared data centre facilities, also known as multi-tenant data centres, improves efficiencies in infrastructural use as users effectively only pay for what they use.
Read more about hyperscale cloud and Nine data centre trends driving digital transformation in Africa.
The entry by large public cloud infrastructure providers such as Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Huawei into the African market, as well as recent public announcements by Oracle, has changed the cloud conversation from the relevance of cloud to the reality of a real offering for the African market.
Local businesses to benefit with big players opening data centres in South Africa
Digital transformation is beneficial to the market. South Africa is ranked 9th in the world in terms of its success in this regard. With numerous big players building cloud infrastructure, businesses need a network to get to the cloud. Colocation will remain a critical element of digital transformation, cloud access and the use of big data analytics.
Teraco Cape Town 2 (CT2) is a new 30MW hyperscale data centre facility. Read more about the major expansion for Teraco and this article.
Data centre walkthrough
Through its world-class data centre infrastructure and network-dense ecosystems, Teraco forms a vital part of Africa’s internet backbone, where the world’s largest cloud onramps are available and many of the leading internet companies peer. Take a virtual video tour through our world-class Isando data centre.
