Women entrepreneurs attending Huawei SA’s digital skills training course say they are now open to embracing cloud technology, according to the technology company.
This follows the three-day Women in Tech entrepreneur digital skills training programme, showcasing the value of cloud for women-led SMMEs.
Now in its second year, Huawei’s free digital skills course provides an introduction to cloud computingand how it benefits SMMEs, digital marketing for business success, as well as leadership development.
It’s aimed at helping local women advance their skills and use new technologies to grow, improve, digitise their businesses, as well as give them an edge in the digital economy, according to Huawei.
For the cloud stream, some 100 women received training in the basics of cloud computing and how to leverage it in their businesses moving forward.
According to Huawei, at the start of the three-day session, delegates’ knowledge of uses and application of cloud computing revealed low scores, based on a survey.
However, by the end of the third session, the scores had soared, with many committing to join further Huawei training and accreditation opportunities.
Vanashree Govender, media relations and communications manager at Huawei SA, says: “After the success of last year’s inaugural women in tech training, we were excited for this year’s edition, receiving a fantastic response.
“Whilst Huawei brings expertise and infrastructure to the digitisation of businesses, South Africa faces a skills deficit. Women in particular are most affected and this training is aimed at bridging that digital gender divide, and we hope it will give them an edge in the digital economy.”
A range of business sectors were represented during the cloud session, which Huawei believes is an indication of the appetite among female entrepreneurs for knowledge of how to grow their small enterprises into larger, thriving businesses.
Sandi Sobahle, senior manager of business development for Huawei Cloud – who presented on day one – took delegates through what, why and how cloud computing could be relevant to different business models.
Siphiwe Matore, senior manager solutions architect for Huawei Cloud, presented on the scalability of cloud computing: “Growing businesses require growing technology.
“That is what this course was designed to illustrate. It demonstrated that a small business could entrust the migration, upgrade and maintenance of its data delivery, storage and retrieval to a cloud provider, leaving them to focus on their core expertise.”
Matshidiso Jabane, partner development manager at Huawei Cloud, adds: “The cloud is already part of our everyday lives, even if people don’t realise it. These three days of training demystified cloud computing and gave women the confidence to confront and embrace the future and incorporate cloud computing into their respective businesses.”
Delegate Kgomotso Motshidi, of black female-owned consulting company The Zora Group, states: “What stood out for me is that there’s investment in security, as well as infrastructure that provides assurance to ourselves and clients. We fully envisage providing managed services, as well as digital migration for our clients.”
Mala Makan-Giasi, airtime account manager, concludes: “This has been most insightful. I work in a full-on cloud environment at Telkom, so now at last I have a frame of reference to talk from.
“I plan to be more involved with cloud solutions and ideas for my customers, for their efficiency, ease of business and security.”
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