Amazon has revealed plans to launch its first data centre in South Africa, with three availability zones due to become operational in Cape Town during the first half of 2020.

Although the company has a lot of business in South Africa, including the development centre it set up in 2004, it’s never run a data centre from the country. The company explained the announcement has been driven by demand in the region, recognising the tech talent of South Africans, particularly those situated in Cape Town.

AWS said its new AWS Africa (Cape Town) Region will offer lower latency to local businesses – particularly those in sub-Saharan areas – so they are able to make use of data-intensive technologies such as AI, machine learning, IoT and mobile services.

Adding an extra region in Africa also means businesses are able to store information in a local facility, rather than crossing the borders. This will be particularly important for businesses wanting to comply with the upcoming Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).

“Having built the original version of Amazon EC2 in our Cape Town development center 14 years ago, and with thousands of African companies using AWS for years, we’ve been able to witness first-hand the technical talent and potential in Africa,” the company’s CEO Andy Jassy said. “Technology has the opportunity to transform lives and economies across Africa, and we’re excited about AWS and the Cloud being a meaningful part of that transformation.”

To support the cloud infrastructure, AWS has also built up local teams for businesses to communicate with, making the cloud procurement process and cloud management a whole lot easier for South African businesses.  Local account managers, customer services representatives, partner managers and solutions architects are all on hand to help companies pursuing digital transformation doctrines.

Cloud has once again been a big earner for Microsoft, with the company posting Azure revenue growth of 76% over the last quarter. Server products and cloud services have grown by 28%, while its “intelligent cloud” division has increased revenues by a quarter compared to the second quarter of 2018.

However, the growth of Microsoft’s Azure-related products has slowed since the previous quarter, which stood at a hefty 89%. It’s not too much of a concern for analysts as it would seem because many are still predicting the company’s cloud-focused business will continue to be the most important part of Microsoft’s success.

Microsoft doesn’t detail individual revenue streams in its Azure division, making it hard to judge where the majority of growth is (ie., platform, server, services), but the company’s CFO Amy Hood said on its earnings call that the demand for hybrid services was one worth watching and Microsoft would continue to grasp the opportunity presented by businesses looking for hybrid set-ups in their digital transformation efforts.

“We are seeing larger and longer-term customer commitments to the cloud,” she told analysts on the call.

But it’s not just Azure performing well in the cloud space. The company’s cloud, server and Office departments combined generated $18.4 billion in revenue last quarter. Office 365 revenues, specifically in the commercial products and services sector rose by 17% and Office 365 commercial revenues grew 36% quarter-on-quarter. The company also added that active customers using its Office 365 services has grown significantly – topping 155 million at present.

The company’s total first-quarter revenue was up 19% over the previous year, reaching $29.1 billion, with its income rising 34% up to $8.8 billion.

Cloud has once again been a big earner for Microsoft, with the company posting Azure revenue growth of 76% over the last quarter. Server products and cloud services have grown by 28%, while its “intelligent cloud” division has increased revenues by a quarter compared to the second quarter of 2018.

However, the growth of Microsoft’s Azure-related products has slowed since the previous quarter, which stood at a hefty 89%. It’s not too much of a concern for analysts as it would seem because many are still predicting the company’s cloud-focused business will continue to be the most important part of Microsoft’s success.

Microsoft doesn’t detail individual revenue streams in its Azure division, making it hard to judge where the majority of growth is (ie., platform, server, services), but the company’s CFO Amy Hood said on its earnings call that the demand for hybrid services was one worth watching and Microsoft would continue to grasp the opportunity presented by businesses looking for hybrid set-ups in their digital transformation efforts.

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“We are seeing larger and longer-term customer commitments to the cloud,” she told analysts on the call.

But it’s not just Azure performing well in the cloud space. The company’s cloud, server and Office departments combined generated $18.4 billion in revenue last quarter. Office 365 revenues, specifically in the commercial products and services sector rose by 17% and Office 365 commercial revenues grew 36% quarter-on-quarter. The company also added that active customers using its Office 365 services has grown significantly – topping 155 million at present.

The company’s total first-quarter revenue was up 19% over the previous year, reaching $29.1 billion, with its income rising 34% up to $8.8 billion.

Check Point has acquired Israeli security firm Dome9 to boost the company’s cloud security portfolio, helping its customers secure their Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud multi-cloud environments.

Although Check Point already offers a range of cloud security solutions, taking on Dome9’s tech as well means it can bolster its Infinity architecture, designed for public cloud environments. The exact financial details of the deal have not been disclosed, although Times of Israel reports that $175 million was paid in a mix of cash, stocks and options.

Dome9’s multi-cloud security provides visualisation so businesses can view the weak spots in their deployment, automate their compliance and governance, offer privileged identity protection and analyse cloud traffic and events to see where they need to implement stronger safeguards.

“Dome9 and Check Point’s CloudGuard together provide the best cloud security solution in the industry,” Gil Shwed, Check Point CEO said. “Dome9’s platform will add rich cloud management and active policy enforcement capabilities to Check Point’s Infinity Architecture, particularly complementing the CloudGuard security product family and make our broad solution even more differentiated in the rapidly moving Cyber Security environment.”

He added that adding Dome9’s tools to its own cyber security platform means it’s addressing the changing needs of organisations as criminals are increasingly targeting enterprise cloud environments. It means the company can boost the networks, endpoints and data centres associated with the cloud, offering even those customers using multi-cloud environments enhanced protection.

“Joining the Check Point family will make Dome9’s unique technologies an integral part of the industry’s most comprehensive Gen V cyber security solution, Check Point Infinity,” said Zohar Alon, Dome9 co-founder and CEO. “Combining forces allows us to offer the most comprehensive platform to protect customer cloud deployments as they grow and evolve.”

Check Point has become a notable name in the security industry, credited with discovering a number of exploits in some of the world’s most popular platforms, including WhatsApp.

Check Point has acquired Israeli security firm Dome9 to boost the company’s cloud security portfolio, helping its customers secure their Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud multi-cloud environments.

Although Check Point already offers a range of cloud security solutions, taking on Dome9’s tech as well means it can bolster its Infinity architecture, designed for public cloud environments. The exact financial details of the deal have not been disclosed, although Times of Israel reports that $175 million was paid in a mix of cash, stocks and options.

Dome9’s multi-cloud security provides visualisation so businesses can view the weak spots in their deployment, automate their compliance and governance, offer privileged identity protection and analyse cloud traffic and events to see where they need to implement stronger safeguards.

“Dome9 and Check Point’s CloudGuard together provide the best cloud security solution in the industry,” Gil Shwed, Check Point CEO said. “Dome9’s platform will add rich cloud management and active policy enforcement capabilities to Check Point’s Infinity Architecture, particularly complementing the CloudGuard security product family and make our broad solution even more differentiated in the rapidly moving Cyber Security environment.”

He added that adding Dome9’s tools to its own cyber security platform means it’s addressing the changing needs of organisations as criminals are increasingly targeting enterprise cloud environments. It means the company can boost the networks, endpoints and data centres associated with the cloud, offering even those customers using multi-cloud environments enhanced protection.

“Joining the Check Point family will make Dome9’s unique technologies an integral part of the industry’s most comprehensive Gen V cyber security solution, Check Point Infinity,” said Zohar Alon, Dome9 co-founder and CEO. “Combining forces allows us to offer the most comprehensive platform to protect customer cloud deployments as they grow and evolve.”

Check Point has become a notable name in the security industry, credited with discovering a number of exploits in some of the world’s most popular platforms, including WhatsApp.

Firefox has unveiled its latest browser update, which includes its “enhanced tracking protection” – essentially, stopping and websites being able to track your activity and therefore snooping on your purchase and search behaviour. Although it’s not switched on by default yet, the company expects to release this addition next year.

Although Firefox has pretty much always included the ability to stop cookies recording some personal data, this is the first time it’s allowed users to block tracking cookies.

“Maybe this seems like no big deal, but we think that you should have a say in how this data is used,” Mozilla said in a blog post. “After all, it’s more than just an annoying pair of shoes following you around, its data that can be used to subtly shape the content you consume or even influence your opinions.”

But, cookies can also be used to make some important parts of a website work and as such, some sites may appear broken if tracking cookies are switched off. Luckily, it’s easy to turn cookie tracking off on a case-by-case basis.

“You might see some odd behaviour on websites, so if something doesn’t look or work right, you can always disable the protection on a per-site basis by clicking on the Shield Icon in the address bar, and then clicking “Disable Blocking For This Site”, “ Mozilla continued.

Other features rolling out to Firefox users in the Firefox 63 update include search shortcuts with Amazon and Google now a permanent fixture on the new tabs page, an adaptable design that will change to dark or light depending on which theme you have activated in Windows and Siri shortcuts for iOS users.

Firefox has unveiled its latest browser update, which includes its “enhanced tracking protection” – essentially, stopping and websites being able to track your activity and therefore snooping on your purchase and search behaviour. Although it’s not switched on by default yet, the company expects to release this addition next year.

Although Firefox has pretty much always included the ability to stop cookies recording some personal data, this is the first time it’s allowed users to block tracking cookies.

“Maybe this seems like no big deal, but we think that you should have a say in how this data is used,” Mozilla said in a blog post. “After all, it’s more than just an annoying pair of shoes following you around, its data that can be used to subtly shape the content you consume or even influence your opinions.”

But, cookies can also be used to make some important parts of a website work and as such, some sites may appear broken if tracking cookies are switched off. Luckily, it’s easy to turn cookie tracking off on a case-by-case basis.

“You might see some odd behaviour on websites, so if something doesn’t look or work right, you can always disable the protection on a per-site basis by clicking on the Shield Icon in the address bar, and then clicking “Disable Blocking For This Site”, “ Mozilla continued.

Other features rolling out to Firefox users in the Firefox 63 update include search shortcuts with Amazon and Google now a permanent fixture on the new tabs page, an adaptable design that will change to dark or light depending on which theme you have activated in Windows and Siri shortcuts for iOS users.

Gartner has predicted that cloud growth will be the primary reason IT spending will increase by 3.2% year on year in 2019.

The analyst firm expects IT spending to top $3.8 trillion next year, led by businesses wanting to boost their digital transformation efforts, despite there being a lot of uncertainty around the currency instability.

“While currency volatility and the potential for trade wars are still playing a part in the outlook for IT spending, it is the shift from ownership to service that is sending ripples through every segment of the forecast,” said John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner.

“What this signals, for example, is more enterprise use of cloud services — instead of buying their own servers, they are turning to the cloud. As enterprises continue their digital transformation efforts, shifting to ‘pay for use’ will continue. This sets enterprises up to deal with the sustained and rapid change that underscores digital business.”

Enterprise software will see the most impressive growth over the 12 months, with sending expected to increase by 8.3%. If this is separated out into its component parts, the true value of the cloud can be realised, with SaaS expected to grow by 22%.

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Cybersecurity software is the most popular projected investment for the enterprise, with privacy and securing businesses against the growing threat of attacks a primary concern for CIOs next year.

Data centre systems aren’t far behind software, with growth expected to top 6%, although this isn’t a huge jump from 5018’s anticipated increase of 5.7% compared to last year.

Spending on IT services and devices will also play a big part in the overall growth, with spending increasing by 4.7% and 2.4% respectively.

Gartner has predicted that cloud growth will be the primary reason IT spending will increase by 3.2% year on year in 2019.

The analyst firm expects IT spending to top $3.8 trillion next year, led by businesses wanting to boost their digital transformation efforts, despite there being a lot of uncertainty around the currency instability.

“While currency volatility and the potential for trade wars are still playing a part in the outlook for IT spending, it is the shift from ownership to service that is sending ripples through every segment of the forecast,” said John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner.

“What this signals, for example, is more enterprise use of cloud services — instead of buying their own servers, they are turning to the cloud. As enterprises continue their digital transformation efforts, shifting to ‘pay for use’ will continue. This sets enterprises up to deal with the sustained and rapid change that underscores digital business.”

Enterprise software will see the most impressive growth over the 12 months, with sending expected to increase by 8.3%. If this is separated out into its component parts, the true value of the cloud can be realised, with SaaS expected to grow by 22%.

Cybersecurity software is the most popular projected investment for the enterprise, with privacy and securing businesses against the growing threat of attacks a primary concern for CIOs next year.

Data centre systems aren’t far behind software, with growth expected to top 6%, although this isn’t a huge jump from 5018’s anticipated increase of 5.7% compared to last year.

Spending on IT services and devices will also play a big part in the overall growth, with spending increasing by 4.7% and 2.4% respectively.

The UK’s third-party data centre market is now the largest in Europe, according to DataCentrePricing.Com (DCP)’s latest report into data centre take-up around the world.

The UK’s data centres cover 840,000 sqm – that’s a substantial amount more than Germany’s with 509,000 sqm.

And this is set to increase every year, with DCP predicting an additional 40,000 sqm of data centres being added to the total every 12 months. Over the next year, for example, there are big plans to expand floor space at the Slough Data Centre, London, Farnborough and Cardiff clusters.

At present, Sloughs facility comprises 107,000 sqm, second only to London and the inner M25 area, which currently boasts 260,000 sqm dedicated to data centres.

New data centres are also planned, in major cities such as Edinburgh, Leeds and Newcastle, that will further highlight the UK as a European leader.

Although the UK has the largest data centre facilities in the whole of Europe, the cost of space is not the most expensive and this is why it’s so attractive to businesses. Average UK rack space rates are around €1,000, with Switzerland and Ireland charging higher premiums for space in their data centres

Unsurprisingly, these rates vary a lot across the UK, with those in London and within the M25 an average of 42% higher than Leeds and Newcastle.

“Increasingly, Data Centre Providers are competing to provide cloud connectivity to the key Cloud Service Providers via a cloud exchange aiming to attract the enterprise customer to the facility – which is driving the Data Centre clusters’ status as a connectivity hub,“ the report explained. “And the amount of connectivity available from a Data Centre facility helps determine whether a price premium can be charged – the more connectivity available the higher the price premium.”