Author: Chris Anu

Amazon and Google introduced a jointly developed multi-cloud networking service on Sunday to meet growing demand for reliable connectivity, the companies said in a statement, at a time when even brief internet disruptions can cause major outages. The initiative will enable customers to establish private, high-speed links between the two companies’ computing platforms in minutes instead of weeks. The new service is being unveiled a little over a month after an Amazon Web Services outage on 20 October disrupted thousands of websites worldwide, knocking offline some of the internet’s most popular apps, including Snapchat and Reddit. That outage will cost…

Shawn Bruwer, Managing Director of Paratus Botswana. Paratus Botswana has updated its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) packages and pricing. The company continues to set itself apart by offering uncapped home internet with low contention ratios and no fair usage restrictions versus the market norms. FTTH services are available in most parts of Gaborone, subject to a feasibility assessment. These adjustments reflect broader market trends, with households demanding faster speeds at lower prices with shorter or no contractual commitments. In line with this, Paratus has discontinued 36-month terms and moved to a standard 12-month contract, with a 24-month option available for customers seeking…

A domain name is not just your website’s URL. It forms part of your brand’s online strategy and it’s also the first clue visitors can get about the purpose of your website. That’s why the name and extension you eventually decide on shouldn’t be taken lightly. There’s a world beyond .com or a .co.za. If your goal is to inform, guide and educate, consider a .info domain name extension. With more than 20 years in the domain name ecosystem and over four million registrations globally, .info has become one of the world’s most recognisable and credible generic top-level domains (gTLDs).…

Ezanne Grobler, Head of Quality Assurance competency, iOCO. iOCO has launched one of the first locally developed ISTQB-aligned AI testing e-learning courses in South Africa, to upskill quality assurance testers on the latest best practices in AI systems testing.Designed by iOCO subject matter expert Aysha Sassman, the course is aligned with the International Software Testing Qualification Board (ISTQB) Certified Tester-AI Testing (CT-AI) syllabus, which is the globally recognised benchmark for testing professionals. iOCO is in the process of having the Testing AI Fundamentals course accredited by SASTQB.Meeting a need for AI-specific testing skillsThe new course addresses a growing market need…

Stellenbosch University has built an ecosystem encompassing education, research, investment and commercialisation that is helping start-ups in the Western Cape town thrive. Standouts include Praelexis, Spacialedge and CubeSpace, which has reached a R1-billion valuation. According to Prof Brink van der Merwe, head of computer science at the university, infusing entrepreneurial expertise into the teaching environment and maintaining close relationships with industry players have contributed the success of its alumni in business. “Computer science should interact better with local industry,” Van der Merwe said in a recent interview with TechCentral. “Something we have been doing in the department is getting entrepreneurs…

Devon Remmington, Director at Brilliant Cloud. For South African retailers, Black Friday and the December holiday season offer a chance to cash in on a countrywide shopping spree that is expected to generate over R150 billion in sales over Black Friday weekend alone this year. However, without effective ERP to streamline fulfilment, a seasonal bonanza could be a once-off win for local retailers.This is according to Devon Remmington, Director at Brilliant Cloud, who says ensuring a successful festive season should start well in advance of the season, by getting the right tools and processes in place to optimise the opportunity.…

The National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA) has received approval from energy regulator Nersa for its market operator licence. The licence allows the NTCSA to operate and administer a new electricity market platform in accordance with the Electricity Regulation Amendment Act. It said this marks the next step in establishing a “fair and competitive” electricity market. “This is a significant milestone for South Africa’s evolving electricity sector. A competitive market will unlock economic and societal benefits over time by broadening participation, stimulating investment in new capacity and enhancing long-term system resilience,” said CEO Monde Bala in a statement. An electricity…

Hakware launches official certification programme. Hakware, the all-in-one cyber security platform designed to simplify security operations, today announced the launch of its official certification programme: Certified Hakware Admin. The programme will be available globally starting January 2026.The Certified Hakware Admin designation is designed for IT administrators, cyber security professionals and security engineers who want to deepen their proficiency across Hakware’s platform, including vulnerability management, SIEM/SOAR workflows, firewall and endpoint integrations, OSINT monitoring, phishing simulation, compliance scoring, automated threat detection and more. This certification validates an individual’s ability to deploy, configure, manage and optimise Hakware environments across enterprise and multi-tenant deployments, demonstrating…

Users were struggling to access the FNB app and website on Friday as Black Friday coincided with pay day for many South Africans. A presumed surge in online activity from Black Friday shopping coinciding with usual pay day activity appears to have toppled FNB’s banking app, with FNB-related complaints on incident monitoring website Downdetector spiking shortly before 10am. The bank’s website was also under severe pressure, with slow loading times impacting the ability to conduct banking transactions. The website was also under severe pressure, with slow loading times impacting the ability to conduct transactions When TechCentral attempted to log into…

Riaz Moola, CEO and founder, HyperionDev SA. SA’s skills crisis is evolving: a hiring shortage is not the biggest problem for employers, it’s that too many new hires take too long to become productive.This is according to research presented by online education provider HyperionDev.Reflecting on the findings of the company’s Graduate Impact Report 2024, Riaz Moola, CEO and founder of HyperionDev, said rather than a pure shortage of candidates, employers are now grappling with how quickly new hires can deliver value and how long they stay in their roles.“Despite unemployment rates among the highest in the world, South African businesses…