Market Trends of South Africa Data Center Physical Security Industry
IT and Telecom to Hold Significant Share
- Data centers are responsible for maintaining prevention and safety protocols for physical threats. Attackers are becoming smarter and finding elaborate ways to phish information. It is preventable by installing protocols, technologies, and systems to safeguard sensitive data within the company.
- Telecom data centers are increasing in the country with expanding data traffic. South Africa's prominent data center providers include Africa Data Centres, Teraco, Vantage, Telkom's BCX, and MTN Business. Telecom data centers are owned and operated by telecom or service provider companies such as Deutsche Telekom AG, Verizon, or AT&T. As they are primarily responsible for content delivery and facilitating mobile and cloud services, telecom data centers require very high connectivity and security.
- Digital transformation has significantly increased in South Africa in the last couple of years. The country has made significant efforts in this area and has been actively trying to improve 5G legislation and regulations to remain prepared for the digital age. One recent instance is the launch of a three-stage 5G spectrum auction by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA).
- In September 2022, the US Department of Commerce's Market Development Cooperator Program (MDCP), run by the International Trade Administration, awarded the Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) a grant for its proposed Roadmap to 5G Success initiative. This project aims to accelerate the deployment of 5G in South Africa and boost business for US-based enterprises. South Africa has 109 million active mobile connections.
- With increasing data traffic, the demand for telecom data centers is expected to grow. This will lead to a major demand for physical security solutions.
Understand The Key Trends Shaping This Market
Download PDF
Access Control Solutions to Register Significant Growth
- Access control is one of the most efficient and scalable ways of securing data centers. Data center security through biometric access control is one of the trending security features in data centers.
- African data centers are designed and operated according to the highest standards demanded by today’s leading cloud providers, carriers, and enterprises. The physical security of the data and transactional computer processing remain front-of-mind from the physical layer up. Onsite security is guaranteed by multiple layers and is a combination of physical security, biometric access control, and CCTV systems.
- In South Africa, various biometric access control solutions are designed to meet stringent requirements from modern data centers. Combining the leading biometric technology, distributed system topology, and two-way CCTV integration, various providers deliver the most secure physical access control solutions for data centers.
- The demand for access control solutions is expected to increase with the increase in cloud startups. South Africa is also an important market for Chinese cloud providers such as Huawei and Alibaba. Huawei was aggressive in terms of its cloud expansion strategy in South Africa, targeting at least 15% market share by the end of 2023. Huawei’s approach to increasing its market share was to provide everything as a service. Similarly, Alibaba partnered with BCX in Q3 2022 to increase the uptake of its cloud solutions. It employed a similar strategy to that of Huawei, focusing on SaaS services to expand its market share.
- There are 13 cloud infrastructure startups in South Africa, including Snapt, Echo Service Provider, Nebula, Routed, and Wingu. With increasing data center construction due to cloud startups, the demand for access control solutions is expected to increase in the country.
