Vodacom, Accenture tie-up for cybersecurity for South African SMEs

South African telecom services provider Vodacom and Ireland-based IT services and consulting global giant Accenture have joined forces to unveil Vodacom Managed Security services through Vodacom Business. The partnership was announced recently. Vodacom Managed Security Services is an extension of the existing Smart Service Offering partnership between Vodacom Business and Accenture.

South Africa ranks among countries that report the highest cybercrime cases in the world. It lacks the required investment in cybersecurity, and this has led to a crisis. Vodacom stated that its Managed Security services is an innovative, scalable, and tailored solution that creates custom cybersecurity modules for small businesses in South Africa.

For Vodacom, this solution is an evolution of the managed cybersecurity strategy the company has been building over the last few years. Combining Vodacom Business’s expertise and insights with Accenture’s cybersecurity strategies, forensics, and consulting services has resulted in a solution to protect small and medium businesses from cyber threats.

Vodacom said that the threat of cybercrimes was particularly true for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of South Africa that very often fall prey to such attacks. Owing to their small size, these businesses simply do not have the human capital, technology assets, and financial resources as larger businesses to ward off the threat of cybercrimes.

Vodacom Business and Accenture have fashioned the security services solution such that it can be offered and acquired on a modular basis. It is scalable to large enterprises as well, and can actively deal with cybersecurity and ransomware risk.

The companies have taken a differentiated approach to safety. They are offering ‘cybersecurity as a service, covering assessment, protection, detection, and response. Under these four tenets, clients can invest in seven modular offerings.

“Essentially, this solution brings world-class cybersecurity expertise to businesses that do not have the experience, time, or financial resources to keep up with the rapidly evolving threat landscape,” says Boland Lithebe, Security Lead for Accenture in Africa.