Absa launches cloud skills incubator with AWS

Absa Group said on Thursday that it is launching a skills incubator in partnership with Amazon Web Services to train employees in cloud computing skills.

The “AWS Skills Guild” agreement is the first such initiative in Africa, the banking giant said in a statement. Skills training will take place across Absa’s operations on the continent.

“As one of the largest cloud adopters in Africa, Absa is promoting cloud fluency as part of its broader efforts to promote learning, experimentation and innovation across the organisation to enhance the banking experience for its customers,” the banking group said in the statement.Cloud has already improved our ability to manage and access data and will enable us to bring products to market faster

“Cloud is rapidly becoming the norm for large companies, a trend that was accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, which prompted a step-change in digital solutions,” said Absa Group chief technology officer Andrew Baker.

“Using cloud allows us to store much more data cost-efficiently, compared with physical data centres. Cloud has already improved our ability to manage and access data and will enable us to bring products to market faster.”

The cloud incubator initiative will equip about 1 500 Absa employees with advanced cloud computing skills this year.

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