The impact of cloud computing on the South African Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector as a result of offshoring the ICT functions.

Abstract

South Africa's Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector is heavily dependent on Information Technology (IT) services outsourcing. A study aims to find out how cloud computing affects the South African industry. The study also examined the social and economic implications of offshoring information technology operations. Cloud computing is distinct from typical IT outsourcing in that it incorporates one-on-one agreement terms between the customer and hyperscale cloud providers. That is, services that would have been provided by a local business are now shifted to hyperscale cloud providers' centres of excellence, which may be situated outside of the country. Research is essential for understanding the impact of cloud computing, as well as how offshoring of ICT services has changed the face of the South African ICT sector. The study used an inductive approach and a multi-method qualitative technique to attain the research goal, and an interpretivist perspective was chosen. The study yielded insights into the industry's particular challenges, such as a lack of digital skills, a lack of enterprise development, ICT regulatory frameworks, and an education curriculum that is not serving its intended purpose. The research also showed that hyperscale cloud providers benefited from lower labour costs in developing nations because of their IT offshoring business model. This offshoring feature has disturbed local governments, which are concerned that employment may be relocated to countries where these cloud corporations' centres of excellence are based. ICT firms in South Africa are increasingly looking to move up the value chain rather than focusing just on IT operations. This trend shows that, for the South African ICT industry to thrive, it calls for creative business models. The study also revealed that South Africa offers sensible policies with outstanding aims for enterprise development, but these regulations appear unsuccessful, because of a lack of effective monitoring and evaluation systems. The study comprised 15 people from diverse organisations and economic sectors who took part in semi-structured video conference interviews. In South Africa, just 14 people were questioned, and one person in Botswana. The Covid outbreak delayed efforts to expand the scope of the research to include other regions. As a result, generalizability across all places will be limited. This study draws on previous research to fill a gap in the literature by addressing the central topic of how cloud computing has transformed the face of the South African ICT industry. As a result, this research establishes the foundation for a few major contributions to research and practise