Following NTT's acquisition, the subsequent restructure and combination of assets in 2018 as part of NTT Ltd, Dimension Data MEA (including its subsidiary brands), while part of the NTT Group, retains its brand and this week in Johannesburg launched a new security services subsidiary – Dimension Data Security.

Dimension Data Security is going after a potential US$3.6-billion market across MEA said Tony Walt, managing executive of security, who heads up the newly established business.

He said based on the geographies in which the company operates, 60% of this market (US$2-billion) is an addressable market for Dimension Data Security, which equates to a potential R30-billion opportunity, in excess of 50% of which is managed services.

"There is a very clear distinction between securing what we sell and selling security. What we've been doing to date is essentially securing what we sell, securing by design. What we are doing in conjunction with that - with the launch of this new business, is selling security services as well," said Walt.

"In our emerging market, security plays a critical role for any business. We've built Dimension Data Security to make sure we're offering world-class solutions to our Pan-African and Middle Eastern clients, while making sure they suit the unique needs of our clients operating in these markets. Further to this, we have a deliberate plan to focus on local skills development specifically in the threat intelligence space."

According to Dimension Data, the business will be divided into four key practices including consulting, secure infrastructure, secure access and secure multi-cloud.

The company is emphasising the consultancy facet and according to Walt there is a strong governance, risk and compliance 'flavour' to the business – particularly given the relevance of GDPR and POPI legislation.

This service will run alongside the security solution and secure infrastructure practices to address daily threats and vulnerabilities.

The company named malware, vulnerabilities, web application attacks, credential theft and compliance as among the top security challenges businesses face.

"We know that the use of automated cyber weapons has resulted in many orgs not being able to respond quickly enough... response has to be automated. Never before has there been so much malicious software, a large reason for that is all the applications that have come about. Web-based application attacks are probably one of the most dangerous attacks our clients currently face – part of the reason for that is clients are taking their applications into a multi-cloud environment."

Walt added that Dimension Data Security will also be incorporating the services of wholly-owned subsidiary, ContinuitySA, to its clients.

"This means that in addition to the standard cyber security offerings, Dimension Data Security will be able to provide services related to business continuity, disaster recovery, work area recovery and regulatory compliance in order to achieve overall organisational resilience for our clients," the company added.