Load-shedding, poor telecommunications infrastructure and a weak economy may force South African companies to get their heads out of the clouds when thinking of new ways to use information technology to drive their business. But it seems the cloud is exactly where business should be. Cloud-computing services have long been available in South Africa, helping to spur technological change and enable businesses to introduce new models of connectivity.Even greater use of cloud services could improve the way the economy functions."We can improve South Africa's performance, we can deliver better services to citizens, we can manage our limited resources more effectively, we can run our businesses more efficiently, we can control our borders," said Adrian Schofield, a manager at the Johannesburg Centre for Software Engineering.story_article_left1For Schofield, the South African Revenue Service's e-filing system is a model for the country to utilise cloud-computing technologies in overcoming poor data management systems. However, this has not been the path for manygovernment departments."We don't have the networks we need, it's still expensive to connect and it's not ubiquitous. Even in densely populated urban areas there are still places where it's not easy to get a good, reliable connection to the internet," said Schofield.Connection to the internet is a prerequisite for cloud-computing services, but these services come with security risks, such as the threat that personal data could be accessed.Simba Johnson Chimanzi, an equity analyst at JM Busha Investment Group, said the benefits of using cloud-based technologies were lower costs, the easy recovery of data, and unlimited storage capacity. "Cloud services offer rapid disaster recovery and therefore business is uninterrupted."Cutting costs will benefit South Africa's ailing economy."We recognise that the growth of the cloud industry in South Africa is paramount for growing the economy, so the more capability and functionality that's available to users in South Africa, the better," said Andrew Aitken, an executive director at Internet Solutions.South Africa's economy could diversify beyond its borders with the services provided by telecommunications company MTN. It has been supplying cloud-computing technology with the roll-out of an "Africa-wide cloud strategy".MTN South Africa CEO Mteto Nyati said the cloud allowed cost cutting that freed up resources. "We are making those resources available to everybody at affordable rates."Cloud computing may not be the sole answer to putting the economy back on track, but it will facilitate better functioning of businesses and give consumers better access to government services...