Despite the costs and manpower it’s supposed to save, cloud computing will lead to the creation of 68 000 new jobs in SA this year, and a further 82 000 in 2013, a new research study predicts.

The research, conducted by analyst firm IDC on behalf of Microsoft, suggests the effect will be more pronounced with companies moving to public (external) rather than private (internal) “clouds”. Microsoft SA MD Mteto Nyati says this is because the money saved by using public clouds will be channelled to other parts of the business and will create jobs in the process.

“With the cloud, the barriers to entry for people who want to get into developing software have also been lowered dramatically,” Nyati says. “This means with a laptop and Internet connection you can create your own applications and set up your own business in the cloud with minimal capital outlay.”

But in the current economic climate, won’t companies simply hoard any savings they might realise? Nyati reckons that a move to cloud computing will result in companies spending more on “writing solutions for customers”. Though many businesses, particularly smaller ones, outsource development, Nyati says this creates jobs, too.

As corporate computing moves online, Nyati expects the most jobs to come from the telecommunications space. “There’s a huge opportunity to generate new revenue through increased data use.”

He warns, however, that simply having a cloud offering is not enough for attracting new, more digitally adept customers. “You must differentiate your offering if you want a competitive advantage. In public cloud services, there’s little to no differentiation, companies need resources that will make this ‘standard product’ more useful.”

This, he says, is where applications come into play and offer companies the chance to “take those standard, vanilla offerings and create commercial advantage”, whether it’s allowing customers to interact with customers more readily or by providing them with access to services and information.

The retail industry is an aggressive adopter of cloud offerings, according to Nyati, because of already-tight margins and the promise of reducing operational expenditure. Government, he says, is another early adopter and is expected to embrace cloud services to improve efficiencies.

Although banking and financial services companies also stand to benefit from the cloud, Nyati says that the effects may be less pronounced than in other sectors as they tend to adopt private rather than public clouds — moving to the latter is expected to create more jobs — because they are subject to broader, more intrusive regulations. — Craig Wilson, TechCentral