Cloud solutions allow for seamless collaboration and can assist organisations by contributing to cost savings, continuity, efficiency, flexibility and security.

That’s according to Charlene Oosthuizen, cloud solutions manager at Pinnacle ICT.

“Cloud has radically changed the way people do business on a day-to-day basis and impacted industries such as healthcare, education, the public sector, agricultural services and so many more, by not only simplifying collaboration, but by increasing productivity,” says Oosthuizen.

Looking at the healthcare industry as an example, she says doctors and nurses can access patient records faster by utilising cloud solutions. Accessibility of data and ease of sharing are key assets.

Cloud solutions have also assisted organisations in contributing to environmental sustainability through dematerialisation: replacing high-carbon physical products such as cardboard and paper, reducing energy use and carbon footprint, aiding in greener ecosystem.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has had crippling effects on numerous industries, causing many companies to shut down. One of the sectors that was greatly impacted, and where cloud adoption rocketed, was education.

“Cloud solutions have assisted schools and tertiary institutions to continue teaching and educating students regardless of where they’re located. Cloud solutions also opened many institutions up to the possibilities that are available when we embrace digital transformation.”

Students can attend virtual classes and access resources on a platform where performance can be sustained.

Disruption

“Of course, this was a signification disruption and adjustment for both learners and educators, but where would our education sector be today without utilising solutions such as Huawei Cloud?” asks Oosthuizen.

To a certain extent, cloud also allows everyone to maintain some form of normality during unusual circumstances; children were able to participate virtually in their extramural activities, friends joined each other for virtual coffee dates or happy hours, and psychologists and physiatrists were still able to conduct their sessions. “Cloud gave us a form of connection when we were forced to disconnect,” says Oosthuizen.

Pinnacle has embraced cloud and has been assisting resellers and their customers to transition to cloud with solutions like Huawei Cloud, as well as a team of specialists within the field, including Oosthuizen herself. “Generally, users find this transition daunting as they feel everything about their business is going to need to change, but what they fail to realise is that cloud solutions do not follow a ‘one size fits all’ approach and these solutions can be tailored to fit your business’s immediate needs and growth requirements, without the complexity and costs of legacy data centre infrastructure,” says Oosthuizen.