Businesses are seeing a massive rise in data centre needs for storage, app development and deployment, hybrid working needs and online customer platforms. It has also been well documented that data centres are getting smarter and more intelligent in order to reduce their carbon footprint while becoming more efficient.

When enterprise transformation is powered by hybrid cloud, organizations can exponentially increase the value they get out of their technology investments. In this session, you will:

• learn how the ability to change and digitally adapt have been a driver for business success in the past 18 months;
• explore current trends and benefits in shifting to hybrid and multicloud approach; and
• get guidance on how to reach new heights with your cloud and digital transformation investments.
• Let’s create new ways for business to do business.

The rising increase of hyperscale cloud providers has seen the need for cloud sovereignty gaining traction the world over. This coupled with the multitude of Compliance and Governance laws governing the protection and sovereignty of local data has seen the resurgence of Data Sovereignty as a topic of much contention and attention. This session will explore how the sovereign cloud ensures appropriate data residency and sovereignty across geographic regions and clouds and how this feeds onto data privacy and protection. The presenter will examine the following:

• What is a Sovereign Cloud
• Who needs a sovereign cloud
• The fundamental difference between data residency and data sovereignty
• How cloud sovereignty will provide a secure and trusted cloud for all organisations
• Why cloud service providers need to embed data sovereignty throughout their environments.

We will cover some of the things you need to consider when you are looking to migrate data solutions to the cloud. We will look at the following:

• Firstly, you need to start with the question of why and understand what benefits the new platform will bring you and whether it is worth the investment.
• Once you have made a good business case, what are some of the things you need to get into place before you even think about execution.
• What should you consider when evaluating different toolsets?
• This will be a playbook on how to do a full implementation based on personal experience.
• You will learn the do's and don'ts when it comes to a cloud migration that could save you alot of time, money and effort during your own personal journey.

One of the key drivers for organisations is to become more efficient in an effort to reduce cost and improve customer experience. Unfortunately, in an increasingly struggling economy, organisations are expected to do more with less. This directly impacts IT departments as they are expected to perform the proverbial miracles with fewer staff and smaller budgets. Cloud opens up many opportunities for those who are willing to change and explore the true power of cloud. Using Cloud as a technology driver, can assist organisations to overcome traditional IT (and business) pain points such as staffing and skills shortages, budget management and forecasting, technology refresh etc, to name but a few. This session will shed some light on the journey to use Cloud in creating and driving business efficiency. Some of the topics to be covered are:

• The Cloud value proposition.
• Efficiency vs innovation.
• Cloud as a workforce enabler.
• Building an agile organisation.
• Do we have the right skills?

Some of the biggest challenges to have faced the industry during the pandemic have been work from home and accelerated move to the cloud. Organisations have had to pivot to ensure infrastructure has been provisioned to cope with this challenge while dealing with the cyber risks. What are the challenges why do they occur, who is responsible and how can they be addressed?

Is access the alternative to ownership? In 2011, the sharing economy was dubbed by Time magazine as one of the ‘Ten ideas that will change the world’ and it has been widely hailed as a major growth sector, by sources ranging from Fortune magazine, to the World Economic Forum, to former President Obama. The sharing economy is a new economic model that focuses on access to assets or resources, instead of ownership. It has exploded in popularity over recent years and has disrupted a significant number of mature industries such as accommodation, automotive, and entertainment. The total value of the global sharing economy is estimated to grow from $14 billion in 2014 to $335 billion by 2025. With limited resources, the desire to become more environmentally conscious, the high cost and burdens of ownership, and a rapidly growing population, living increasingly in densely populated cities, consumers are faced with greater challenges and opportunities to fill their consumption needs. In this presentation, Kevin Govender shares his insights and expertise on the evolution of the sharing economy, consumer behaviour, and alternative business models, and empowers consumers to rediscover and realise the enormous benefits of access over ownership, and the potential savings in time, money, space and the opportunity. Access is a cultural and socio-economic phenomenon that is transforming businesses, consumers, the way we live, work, learn, consume, commute and play.