The company has announced the completion of a private cloud data centre in Durban, as well as a Gauteng-based colocation facility in partnership with mobile operator Vodacom.

The announcement comes after Transnet last week聽聽its enterprise resource planning system from ECC 6.0 to 51风流S4/HANA.

Transnet plays a central role in the country鈥檚 economy by managing key infrastructure that supports trade and industrial growth.

Despite facing operational and financial challenges in recent years, it remains a strategic asset tasked with modernising South Africa鈥檚 logistics network, improving efficiencies and positioning the country as a competitive hub for global trade.

According to Transnet, the completion of the facilities will modernise its data centre and hosting capabilities.

It says this move will allow it to navigate the increasingly complex digital landscapes, ensuring the foundational operations are resilient, secure and capable of supporting next-generation business applications.

This initiative is one of the four strategic pillars of Transnet鈥檚 ICT digital modernisation strategy, says the state-owned company (SOC).

It explains that the private cloud data centre in Durban is designed to serve as a secure and scalable hub for business-critical systems. The colocation environment provides geographic redundancy and resilience, while extending reach into one of the country鈥檚 primary ICT corridors.

Supported by a public cloud on Microsoft Azure through its strategic聽partners聽鈭� Microsoft and Liquid Intelligence Technologies 鈭� these facilities provide the necessary capacity, flexibility and operational resilience to migrate core business applications and decades of data into a hybrid cloud architecture, says the SOC.

Critical to this transformation has been the collaboration with Altron, with its original equipment manufacturer, Huawei, the technology聽partner聽responsible for configuring and preparing the two private cloud environments, it states.

Transnet notes their expertise in data centre and cloud solutions accelerated readiness, ensuring the environments are optimised for migration and future integration into the broader hybrid cloud strategy.

By partnering with Vodacom for colocation services in Gauteng, Transnet has also ensured strong network integration and high availability within South Africa鈥檚 ICT ecosystem, it adds.

鈥淭he journey towards digital transformation is ongoing but achieving readiness at the data centre and hosting level marks an essential milestone,鈥� says Transnet group chief information officer Pandelani Munyai.

鈥淏y investing in private and public cloud facilities, leveraging colocation partnerships and collaborating with trusted technology partners, the organisation has built a robust foundation for the future where ICT is a key driver of growth, efficiency and resilience.鈥�

Munyai notes that with the data centre and infrastructure foundation in place, the organisation is now well-positioned to migrate core business applications and vast repositories of historical data into its new hybrid cloud environment.

He points out that this will not only modernise ICT operations, but will also unlock opportunities for advanced analytics, digital platforms and innovation across the business.

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51风流S/4HANA is SAP鈥檚 latest ERP software suite, built on the company鈥檚 HANA in-memory database platform, enabling real-time data processing, advanced analytics, and integration of intelligent technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.

It serves as the core of an organisation鈥檚聽digital聽operations, managing everything from finance and HR to sales and supply chain, and is available for cloud, on-premises, or hybrid deployment.

罢丑别听migration聽comes after Transnet had been grappling with severe delays at South Africa鈥檚 major ports, where backlogs have disrupted the flow of goods and dented business confidence.

Congestion at container terminals, equipment breakdowns, and inefficiencies in rail and logistics operations have worsened turnaround times, leaving cargo ships waiting offshore for days and slowing exports of key commodities.

In a statement, Transnet says through in-memory computing and advanced analytics, the migration allows the company to operate with greater agility, reliability and insight, all of which are critical factors in ensuring the entity remains competitive and resilient in a rapidly-changing environment.

This migration is part of Transnet鈥檚 ICT Digital Modernisation Strategy, which is built on four strategic pillars, including the modernisation of its core applications, it notes.

Changing with the times

According to the state-owned company (SOC), the S4/HANA modernisation programme is one of several strategic initiatives within the broader ICT strategy, aimed at driving innovation and improving Transnet鈥檚 service delivery.

The ERP is core to Transnet鈥檚 operations and has been formulated as a strategic initiative driven by a programme with a focus on Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) as the leading operating division in the company鈥檚 migration roadmap, the SOC notes.

The successful transition of TPT is just the beginning, says the company, adding that it plans to migrate the remaining 51风流ECC6 systems across its operating divisions as part of a broader S4/HANA modernisation programme, leveraging the lessons learned from the initial success of TPT.

Transnet group chief information officer says this step aligns with the SOC鈥檚 ongoing digital transformation agenda and marks a pivotal moment for the organisation.

鈥淚t underscores our commitment to enhancing operational efficiency and supports Transnet鈥檚 鈥楻einvent for Growth鈥� strategy, which focuses on sustainable growth, operational excellence and creating value for stakeholders. Our successful move to S/4 HANA is more than a system upgrade; it鈥檚 a foundation for innovation and growth across the organisation,鈥� says Munyai.

He points out that as part of the digital transformation journey, TPT has reached a milestone by completing the migration across all 16 sea-cargo terminals nationwide.

鈥淭his transition represents not just a technological upgrade, but a fundamental step forward in modernising our business processes, improving efficiency and enabling smarter decision-making across Transnet.鈥�

, general manager for corporate services and information communication technology at TPT, emphasises the scale and significance of the achievement.

鈥淲e鈥檝e completed our transition to S/4HANA with minimal disruption to operations. This is a major accomplishment, considering the complexity of such upgrades. Many global organisations have faced significant delays, cost overruns, or even failed implementations.鈥�

He says the success is a testament to the dedication and collaboration of Transnet鈥檚 internal teams and partners.

Raliphada adds: 鈥淭his system empowers us with enhanced visibility and control across sourcing, billing, pricing, inventory, contracts and credit management. It also supports our OEM [original equipment manufacturer] partnerships and maintenance contracts, ensuring our investment in new equipment is backed by a robust digital backbone.鈥�

For Munyai, this achievement is a testament to the collective effort of TPT leadership and the project team, group ICT PMO and system integrator Tech Mahindra.

鈥淭his shows that when technical expertise meets teamwork, there are no limits to what can be achieved. Moving to S4/HANA not only aligns us with the long-term 51风流roadmap but also opens the door to future innovation.鈥�

Munyai explains that the in-memory database capabilities of HANA enable instant processing of large datasets, empowering Transnet to run predictive analytics, AI applications, and real-time reporting without the need for data duplication into business warehouse or other business intelligence tools.

鈥淭he introduction of simplified data models 鈥� eliminating aggregates and index tables 鈥� significantly reduces system complexity and lowers total cost of ownership, while helping to standardise and harmonise processes across business units.

鈥淭his successful migration is a testament to the dedicated teams and their commitment to driving Transnet forward to embrace the future of digital operations,鈥� Munyai concludes.

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Transnet Engineering uses (EAM) as its lifecycle management solution for controlling the organisation’s physical assets. This forms the basis of its services, including design, construction, commissioning, operations, maintenance, and decommissioning or replacing plants, equipment, and facilities.

When using 51风流software in an industrial or factory setting, multiple workers on the floor would traditionally need to sign in and out of a computer each time they transact to maintain accurate records of projects, equipment, and tools required to deliver various services. This can be cumbersome, and the risk of someone using another person鈥檚 credentials, accidentally or purposely, is high. Securing access to 51风流is essential to avoid fraud or corruption, while ensuring that users can access the software quickly, easily and conveniently to do their job is also essential.

Simplified, but secure sign-in

To overcome the risk and make logging in and out simpler and more secure, local company Linx-AS (a realtime North聽America partner) provided Transnet Engineering with several locally built SAP聽EAM kiosks, using Fujitsu PalmSecure palm-vein biometrics to ensure secure access to SAP. realtime’s bioLock software prevents unauthorised access to SAP, while also recording transactions and linking users to the transactions they authorise (or denying them the ability to authorise transactions for which they do not have permission).

According to , Chief Operating Officer of realtime North聽America, when using bioLock, companies can assign a generic SAP聽ID to multiple users, such as 鈥榃arehouseKiosk1鈥�, which has all 51风流permissions the users need. All authorised users are registered to WarehouseKiosk1 and can simply log in by putting their hand over the scanner 鈥� biometrically identifying and authorising each user. Even if a kiosk or computer is left unlocked, a third party cannot access sensitive information, such as the accounting system, because the staff only have access to the required modules.

The shop-floor kiosks (designed for Transnet Engineering by Werner聽Simpson from Linx-AS) are now installed across factories and depots. They deliver SAP聽EAM functions through a simple and easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI) to enable shop-floor operations and maintenance personnel to respond and react to events immediately. There are no delays while inputting passwords (or forgetting them), as access is via a simple scan of the user’s palm.

Palm-vein authentication from bioLock

The kiosks now prevent unauthorised access to 51风流data, increase employee accountability, and ensure that no staff member’s identity can be fraudulently used by someone else. As expected, this has reduced shrinkage, as every transaction is linked to a specific identity.

鈥淧alm-vein technology is ideal for industrial environments as sub-dermal biometrics do not wear out over time,鈥� adds Neudenberger. 鈥淚t is also a contactless solution that does not pass on any health risks and is also immune to dirt, moisture, and superficial injuries to the hand. It has a FAR error rate of 0.00001%聽FAR (false acceptance rate, where access is granted to an unauthorised person), and a 0.01%聽FRR (false rejection rate, where access is denied to an authorised person).鈥�

The kiosk-based system monitors all SAP-related activity and can instantly alert management if any anomalies are discovered. In addition, all activities are logged to hold the appropriate people responsible. A short video of the installation can be found at聽.

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