Enterprise Strategy Shifts Amid Rising Costs
Dean Wolson, general manager of Lenovo Southern Africa’s Infrastructure Solutions Group, stated that the era of exclusive "cloud-first" strategies is ending in South Africa. In an article published on October 5, 2026, Wolson wrote that rising cloud operational costs and artificial intelligence requirements are altering enterprise decision-making across the region.
Wolson noted that chief information officers (CIOs) are moving beyond simplistic debates between cloud and on-premises solutions. Instead, they are adopting more pragmatic infrastructure strategies to address escalating costs, AI-driven demands, data sovereignty concerns, and the need for operational resilience.
The shift marks a departure from previous years when "cloud-first" dominated enterprise technology strategy. Wolson described the current landscape as a "more complicated reality" for IT leaders managing unpredictable environments.
Survey Data Reveals Widespread Architectural Adjustments
Data from PwC’s 2025 Africa Cloud Business Survey supports the observation of changing infrastructure priorities. The survey found that nearly 98% of African organisations are currently adjusting or expanding their cloud architectures.
Cloud maturity levels have also risen significantly. According to the PwC report, 86% of organisations reported medium-to-high cloud maturity, an increase from 61% in 2023.
Despite the shift away from exclusive cloud models, investment remains strong. The survey indicated that 88% of organisations plan to increase their cloud budgets. PwC identified AI adoption as a leading driver of this continued cloud investment across Africa.
Economic and Regulatory Pressures
Enterprises are reassessing the economics of cloud computing due to several specific factors. Wolson cited rising operational expenditure driven by data egress charges, unpredictable consumption patterns, the high compute requirements of AI workloads, and underutilised resources.
Regulatory environments are also influencing these decisions. PwC’s survey found that 45% of organisations say geopolitics and regulation are directly influencing their infrastructure choices.
In South Africa, the National Data and Cloud Policy increasingly emphasises sovereignty and localisation principles for sensitive data environments. Additionally, obligations under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) continue to shape how enterprises manage cross-border data movement and governance.
Emergence of Cloud Repatriation
A trend described as "cloud repatriation" is emerging in the region. This involves moving workloads back to private or hybrid environments to improve cost control and performance.
This move allows organisations to retain the benefits of cloud infrastructure while addressing the limitations of exclusive cloud-only strategies. The approach aims to balance operational resilience with financial predictability as AI requirements continue to evolve.