Survey Indicates 89% of Business Leaders Worry About Cloud Security, While Skill Deficiency Hampers
A recent survey involving 500 CTOs, directors, C-suite executives, and business owners in South Africa highlights the growing unease among business leaders regarding cloud security. An overwhelming 89% expressed major concerns about the security of cloud infrastructure, revealing a prevalent worry within the tech sector.
Insights from the survey underscore the challenges faced by businesses in adopting cloud technologies, with cybersecurity issues (37%) and a shortage of technical skills (39%) emerging as significant barriers. This skills deficit hampers the effective utilization of cloud strengths, limiting the business’s ability to harness the full potential of cloud computing.
Gary Peel, Cloud BDM, Africa at Fortinet, notes, “The same things that are happening in security from a global perspective are happening in South Africa.” He emphasizes that security challenges are not confined to geographical boundaries, with similar threats affecting systems worldwide.
Interestingly, the Fortinet 2023 Global Cloud Security report identifies the biggest global threat to be the security of public clouds, accounting for 59%. In contrast, South Africa ranks this issue fourth at 39.8%, suggesting a predominant focus on more basic security risks compared to more mature markets.
Despite being a relatively late adopter, South Africa’s cloud computing market has seen rapid growth, fueled by the entry of major cloud infrastructure players like AWS in 2018 and Microsoft Azure in 2019. Peel points out that despite this growth, challenges persist, particularly in acquiring and retaining skilled professionals to manage and secure cloud platforms.
The study reveals that 35.8% of South African businesses host over 50% of their workload in the cloud, indicating a significant move towards digitization. Peel emphasizes the need for collaboration between cloud and security teams, addressing the clash of cultures between legacy security and the agility demanded by cloud teams.
While South African businesses stand to gain benefits like improved performance, flexibility, and scalability from cloud adoption, the major impediment remains the lack of technical skills. Global competitiveness and opportunities abroad are drawing security engineers away from South Africa, creating a talent deficit in the local market.
Addressing the skills gap through upskilling in cybersecurity can unlock several benefits, including enhanced performance, flexibility, scalability, and improved availability and business continuity. The study highlights the intention of both South African and global organizations to allocate more resources to cloud security, with cost savings being a key driver in South Africa, while global priorities focus on better scalability.
Peel emphasizes the importance of having robust frameworks in place for secure cloud platforms, including identity and access management policies. He underscores the need to foster a culture of cost and security ownership for successful cloud migration amidst the complex and evolving data environment.
