Almost 90% of enterprises have adopted cloud strategies in some form to reduce costs, become more agile, increase cybersecurity and innovate faster. To support the migration of businesses to the cloud, Vodacom Business has achieved the status of the first Amazon Web Services (AWS) Direct Connect Service Delivery Program partner in South Africa.

Following a rigorous validation process, Vodacom Business is now authorised to supply AWS Direct Connect Hosted Connections with capacities greater than 500Mbit/s. This means that Vodacom Business can now provide specialised technical proficiency and successful delivery of AWS Direct Connect services to all its enterprise clients.

“AWS clients are seeking vetted and validated AWS partners to help them with the process of moving to the cloud platform with ease and convenience. With Vodacom Business’s status as the only AWS Direct Connect Service Delivery Program partner in the country, clients have peace of mind that they will benefit from access to state-of-the-art cloud expertise from a world-class leader in technology, while being supported by a local, trusted service provider,” said Kabelo Makwane, managing executive for cloud, hosting and security at Vodacom Business.

AWS introduced its Service Delivery Program so that clients are able to identify Access Point Name (APN) partners that have experience and a deep understanding of specific AWS offerings, such as Direct Connect.
AWS Direct Connect is a fundamental service solution in the migration of a business to AWS as it establishes private connectivity from a client’s premises, such as a data centre, office or remote working location, to the cloud platform. The possible benefits for businesses in adopting AWS include a reduction in network costs, an increase in bandwidth, and a more stable network experience compared to Internet-based connections. The network is also easily scalable to suit the needs of each client in supporting mission-critical application workloads.

Leveraging

Vodacom is leveraging its existing network infrastructure reach and connectivity mediums, such as fibre, microwave, LTE and SD-WAN, and complementing them with secure, reliable and high-speed access to AWS to assist organisations with their digital transformation journeys. Vodacom Business worked with AWS Professional Services to develop customised solutions, accompanied with the needed skills that can help smooth the transition to the cloud. Vodacom Cloud Connect delivers the AWS Direct Connect Service much faster to clients.

“Vodacom has been using AWS for its own cloud migration, and now with the approval of AWS that we’re a certified AWS Direct Connect delivery partner, we are happy we can offer the same benefits that we are experiencing to our clients,” concludes Makwane