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TCS+

TCS+

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TechCentral's TCS+ is a business technology show that brings you interviews with leaders in South Africa's technology industry - and further afield. It showcases the latest products and services available to businesses large and small. In short, it offers in a window into what's possible. Episodes of TCS+ are sponsored.NewsCentral Media Economía
Episodios
  • Cloud On Demand and Consnet: inside a real-world AWS partner success story

    Cloud On Demand and Consnet: inside a real-world AWS partner success story
    Jan 30 2026
    The cloud revolution has challenged businesses of all sizes by changing how IT teams go about implementing projects and managing infrastructure. IT service firms have been doubly challenged, having to sell a new computing paradigm to their clients while also practising what they preach and adopting cloud-first technologies in-house.
    Consnet is an IT solutions firm that leveraged the Amazon Web Services distribution model to accelerate its own journey into the cloud, enabling the company to do the same for its customers.
    In this episode of TCS+, Dion Kalicharan, MD at Consnet, and Xhenia Rhode, AWS partner development manager at Cloud On Demand, speak about the benefits of leverage the support structures in the AWS partner network.
    Rhode and Kalicharan delve into:
    • What the AWS distribution model is and how it benefits partners in the ecosystem;
    • Consnet’s 21-year history, the services it provides and how its journey into the cloud began;
    • How Consnet being supported by Cloud On Demand gave it the know-how to support its own customers on their cloud adoption journeys;
    • The technical and training support that helped guide Consnet to upskill its teams and gain cloud expertise;
    • How Cloud On Demand “marked Consnet’s homework” by double-checking the quality and efficiency of its cloud deployments; and
    • How Cloud on Demand strategically meets its partners where their needs are.
    Don’t miss this informative conversation!
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    25 m
  • Why cybersecurity is becoming a competitive advantage for SA businesses

    Why cybersecurity is becoming a competitive advantage for SA businesses
    Jan 20 2026
    Cybersecurity is undergoing a quiet but important shift in South African boardrooms: from a defensive cost centre to a strategic business enabler. That was the central theme of a recent TechCentral TCS+ podcast discussion featuring Vodacom Business acting executive head for cloud security Lukhanyo Zahela and KnowBe4 Africa senior vice-president for content strategy Anna Collard.
    Once seen primarily as an IT problem, cybersecurity is now recognised as a material business risk with direct financial, operational and reputational consequences. But the discussion made clear that security, done well, can also signal organisational maturity to regulators, investors and partners – and increasingly, become a source of competitive advantage.
    Collard likened strong security controls to having “good brakes on a fast car”. Without them, businesses cannot safely deploy emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence or scale digital platforms with confidence. Availability and resilience, she argued, are foundational: “Businesses are in business to stay in business.”
    That foundation is under growing pressure. Zahela said South Africa’s threat landscape is evolving rapidly, driven by a criminal ecosystem that is itself adopting automation and AI. Phishing attacks have become far more convincing, while ransomware continues to disrupt cloud migrations, often exploiting misconfigured environments rushed into production.
    Defenders, however, are also using AI. Vodacom Business has integrated AI-driven detection and response into its managed security services, reducing the time taken to detect and respond to threats from hours to minutes, or even seconds. Crucially, these systems are adaptive, learning continuously from global threat intelligence rather than relying on static rules.
    Despite advances in automation, human behaviour remains central to security outcomes. Many breaches still involve simple mistakes. Collard argued that well-trained employees can act as an extension of the security function, providing judgment and context that AI cannot. The challenge is that organisations must now secure not only people, but also the AI tools and agents they use – all of which can themselves be manipulated.
    This requires what Collard described as “digital mindfulness”: a security-aware culture led from the top. Executives must model good behaviour, while organisations adopt zero-trust principles that continuously verify identity and access rights across employees, partners and devices, enforcing least-privilege access by default.
    To turn security into an enabler rather than a blocker, it must be embedded from the start. “Security by design” – integrating safeguards into systems, processes and digital initiatives upfront – avoids costly retrofits later and allows innovation to move faster with clearer risk boundaries.
    The payoff can be tangible. A strong security posture can reduce cyber-insurance costs, improve business continuity and prevent expensive operational disruptions. More broadly, trust built through resilience and good governance can attract customers, partners and investors.
    The key message for business leaders, the speakers agreed, is to stop treating security as reactive. The more powerful question is no longer, “How do we protect what we have?”, but rather, “How does security enable us to do what we couldn’t do before?”
    Don’t miss this important conversation!
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    36 m
  • Africa’s digital transformation – unlocking AI through cloud and culture

    Africa’s digital transformation – unlocking AI through cloud and culture
    Dec 11 2025
    Africa’s digital transformation continues to accelerate, driven by growing cloud adoption and rising interest in artificial intelligence.
    Yet many organisations still face challenges in converting these ambitions into measurable business outcomes. According to Cliff de Wit, group chief innovation officer at Accelera Digital Group, the success of AI-driven initiatives depends as much on culture and governance as it does on technology.
    In this episode of TechCentral’s TCS+ podcast, De Wit outlines the practical steps leaders can take to reduce organisational friction, strengthen data foundations and enable cloud-led innovation at scale.
    “Cloud is no longer an IT decision. It is the foundation on which every modern AI strategy is built,” says De Wit. And technical readiness alone is not enough. “The biggest barrier is not the tech, it’s whether the organisation is prepared to manage change at the pace AI requires.”
    In this episode, De Wit discusses:
    • The concept of organisational drag and how it affects AI progress;
    ● Approaches to strengthening culture and governance within digital programmes;
    ● The role of the C-suite in accelerating cloud and AI adoption while demonstrating clear return on investment;
    ● What an AI-ready data foundation looks like and why it is essential;
    ● How strong data management practices unlock new sources of business value; and
    ● Why African organisations are increasingly well positioned to advance rapidly through cloud-first strategies.
    The discussion provides practical guidance for business and technology leaders seeking a clearer understanding of how cloud, data and culture intersect to enable enterprise-wide AI transformation. Don’t miss it!
    By Accelera Digital Group
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    40 m
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