Telecommunications group Vodacom Business has partnered with Accenture to broaden its digital transformation smart service offering through cloud, security and analytics capabilities.

Vodacom aims to create an industry-specific approach for clients that will enhance their business through digitalisation by providing digital platforms, tools, applications and services.

“Our partnership with Accenture will help drive our clients’ digital transformation journey by offering latest technology and innovative services . . .  [and] will fuel innovation and help solve our diverse clients’ critical problems at speed and scale,” says Vodacom Business COO Nadya Bhettay.

“Cloud technologies today offer new information technology potential through faster, more flexible and resilient capabilities,” says Accenture Technology MD in Africa Kirtan Sita.

“Through the next-generation industry experience, leading technologies and our scalable delivery network, Accenture provides a powerful range of capabilities that can be tailored to complex customer needs throughout the digital transformation journey.”

Meanwhile, Vodacom Business has welcomed enterprise cloud computing hyperscaler Amazon Web Services' (AWS's) launch of its next wave of data centres in South Africa.

Vodacom Business plans to grow its offerings further and deliver improved business, cloud and other solutions to its clients through the partnership.

“Vodacom is an AWS advanced consulting partner with operations across the African continent, so naturally we are very pleased that they have made the decision to invest in the South African market, as well as the broader African market, by opening these data centres in Cape Town,” said Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub.

The integration of AWS into the Vodacom network will enable its clients to transform their businesses into digitally-enabled, technology-first companies with a global reach through the AWS global footprint.

Vodacom selected AWS as its primary cloud provider and is migrating the core of its information services landscape, including over 4 000 workloads to the AWS Cloud, enabling the company to increase the automation of its services and business processes.

“The launch of the AWS Africa (Cape Town) Region will enable us to fully leverage AWS’s capabilities to execute an all-in strategy by 2023.

In addition, the launch of the AWS Region will allow us to deliver integrated solutions, such as our Internet of Things (IoT) offerings, expand our customer value propositions and drive new revenue streams,” Joosub explained.

The JSE-listed group has further created a Vodacom AWS Cloud Centre of Excellence to help small and medium-sized businesses, enterprises and public sector clients migrate to the AWS Cloud.

“This will ensure that Vodacom Business’s clients accelerate adoption and benefit from next generation technologies including fifth-generation, artificial intelligence, blockchain, mobile edge, IoT, robotics and mobile applications.

The centre is also expected to support Vodacom’s own internal migration to the cloud and will enable employee upskilling through the in-house AWS technical training and certification programmes, Joosub concluded.