Move To Cloud Is Fuelling An It Services Spending Boom In South Africa

Local research firm BMIT said the IT services market will "extend its growth streak" in the coming years: estimated IT spend of R104.9-billion in 2024 will jump to R182-billion in 2028, an increase of 73.5 over the period - that's a compound annual growth rate of a strong 14.8.

BMIT's latest IT Services Report shows that the growth will be fuelled mainly by increasing demand for cloud services. Custom application development and other IT subsectors, while growing more slowly, will also contribute to the improved picture in the coming years, the company said.

MD Christopher Geerdts said in a statement on Wednesday that cloud-driven digital transformation initiatives are "reshaping the IT landscape" in South Africa.

Generative artificial intelligence tools will also "gain traction rapidly" and have the potential to "revolutionise content creation, customer service and various other business functions, further driving cloud service consumption", Geerdts said.

Spending on information security will remain a top priority as these tools have become "essential in mitigating the threat of cyberattacks, which are growing in frequency, intensity and sophistication".