• Huawei Women in Tech Entrepreneur Digital Skills training programme has a cloud stream for those looking to gain cloud skills.
• This year’s programme provides free online training in cloud computing, digital marketing and leadership development.
• A recent cohort of graduates say they are now embracing cloud technology on the back of it.

In recent months Huawei has been ramping up its skills development initiatives, one of which is focused on imparting more cloud skills, specifically when it comes to women entrepreneurs who head up SMEs.

To that end, the company has been pushing the cloud stream of its Women in Tech Entrepreneur Digital Skills training programme with positive results.

This as three-day course has been able to showcase the value of cloud for SMEs, according to Huawei. So much so in fact, that many entrepreneurs from the most recent cohort have noted that they are now open to embracing more cloud technologies on the back of it.

“The session opened with a survey amongst the women delegates of their knowledge of the uses and application of cloud computing. On a scale of 1 to 4, there was a resounding 0 or 1 response, but by the end of the 3rd session, this had soared to 3s and 4s, with commitments by many to join further Huawei training and accreditation opportunities,” explains Huawei in a press release sent to Hypertext.

“After the success of last year’s inaugural women in tech training we were excited for this year’s edition, receiving a fantastic response. Whilst Huawei brings expertise and infrastructure to the digitisation of businesses, South Africa faces is a skills deficit, women in particular are most affected and this training is aimed at bridging that digital gender divide, and we hope it will give them an edge in the digital economy,” adds Vanashree Govender, Huawei’s Media Relations and Communications manager.

Speaking on their own experiences during the three-day long course, some of the attendees noted the ease and value that cloud technologies potentially hold for their jobs and businesses.

“What stood out for me is that there’s investment in both security as well as infrastructure that provides assurance to ourselves and clients. We fully envisage providing managed services as well as digital migration for our clients,” highlighted Kgomotso Motshidi, of black female-owned consulting company, The Zora Group

“This has been most insightful. I work in a full-on cloud environment at Telkom, so now at last I have a frame of reference to talk from. I plan to be more involved with cloud solutions and ideas for my customers, for their efficiency, ease of business and security,” commented Mala Makan-Giasi, Airtime Account manager at Telkom.

Upon completion of the training course, Huawei gives attendees more information about its technical and commercial support, training and certification programmes, as well as its other initiatives such as the Cloud Spark acceleration programme for tech startups and SMEs. This latter initiative is set to provide support to more than 1 000 local SMEs over the next three years.

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