Partnership between Sizwe Africa IT Group, Boston IT Solutions brings HPC to SA

Itumeleng Mochocho, Executive, Technology Partnerships, Sizwe Africa IT Group.

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The need for deeper insights in today’s digital world is clear, and high performance computing (HPC) is being recognised as the go-to platform for those organisations seeking such knowledge. Known for its ability to perform complex mathematical calculations, HPC can, in fact, span an array of fields, while enabling users to analyse data, simulate processes and predict outcomes.

According to Itumeleng Mochocho, Executive for Technology Partnerships at Sizwe Africa IT Group, HPC can be applied across a range of verticals, from financial services – where it is ideal for fraud prevention – to healthcare.

“Think how important it has been to properly map the spread of the COVID-19 virus, and to model the disease to understand its growth and spread. HPC is the answer for something like this, where speed and accuracy are of paramount importance,” he says.

It is for this reason that Sizwe has formed a partnership with Boston IT Solutions SA, one of the key HPC players in the country. “We have a number of clients who operate in sectors that can derive enormous benefit from access to HPC, so our partnership aims to grow and develop the use of this technology in the country.”

According to Chris Coetzee, Business Director at Boston IT Solutions SA, HPC is still in its infancy in South Africa, so the organisation has made a commitment to the South African government to work on enabling and developing the HPC channel.

“Having Sizwe as a partner in this is the perfect fit, as they have a number of customers in the education and public sector arenas, which are both prime users of HPC. More crucially, alongside these long-standing relationships, they have the requisite skills in-house, so it is a natural fit,” he says.

“Having a skilled partner sitting next to us when scoping projects, and which can not only identify issues that need to be tackled, but also help with developing a relevant solution in conjunction with us, will be vital in opening HPC up to the broader market.”

Mochocho adds that from a Sizwe perspective, it is very important for the organisation to have a partnership of such relevance with one of the leaders in the HPC space. What Boston has to offer, he notes, will be of enormous value to many of the company’s clients.

“For example, the universities that are customers of ours usually have large research projects under way, and most of the students undertaking serious research require computers that are able to do high-speed calculations. Thus, having access to an HPC cluster will be of enormous value to them.

“Sizwe is certainly happy to be partnering with a world leader in the HPC space. Boston has a global reach and extensive experience in this space. To add to this, Sizwe has both local reach and local understanding of the market, coupled with the necessary technical skills and a significant and relevant customer base,” he states.

Finally, says Coetzee, it is worth noting that Boston also has a lab where customers can come to conduct tests on any type of hardware, adding that both Sizwe and its end-customers have full access to this. In other words, he points out, if a client wants to test a new processor, for example, they can work with Sizwe and have full access to this lab to undertake benchmarking and testing.

“Access to these state-of-the-art Boston Labs facilities will be granted remotely to businesses in South Africa wanting to test the latest technologies, solutions and services. Boston IT is excited for a future in which HPC can assist South African businesses to use speed, accuracy and processing power to solve increasingly complex challenges,” he concludes.