In a significant step towards transforming the AI landscape, Pinnacle is proud to leverage its status as the sole local distributor of AI pioneer NVIDIA’s products, which form a core component of its recently announced AI-focused offering.

The partnership is more than a business relationship; it’s a strategic alliance poised to revolutionise AI adoption across industries, explains Belinda Duke, Business Development Manager for NVIDIA at Pinnacle. She notes that, as a top-performing brand, NVIDIA’s market leadership, financial performance, and strategic positioning in key technology sectors make it an indispensable player in today’s technology industry.

“With careful planning and strategic implementation, AI can lead to valuable insights, improved efficiency and innovation, allowing organisations to adapt to the changing business landscape, stay competitive, and drive growth. AI will continue to gain traction as companies realise the benefits of automation, both financially and competitively.

“However, for many local businesses especially, the questions remain: where do they start on their AI journey and what do they prioritise?” she asks.

“Pinnacle understands that beginning an AI journey can be a significant endeavour for any organisation. We’re therefore pleased to announce that, alongside NVIDIA, and with the added integration of brands like Supermicro within the Pinnacle stack, we are now able to offer exemplary turnkey AI solutions to companies within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, helping them to find their feet within the AI arena.”

Accelerating AI implementations

Organisations have multiple pathways to explore:

  1. Using open-source software, which carries with it the risks of lengthy deployment times, complexity, lack of support, and non-optimised stacks.
  2. Making use of NVIDIA’s end-to-end Accelerated Computing stack, with certified hardware, certified software (AI workflows and pre-trained models), and 24×7 support and expertise.
  3. Leveraging NVIDIA developer partners who have developed point solutions for AI outcomes, offering the quickest route to market with minimal customisation.

NVIDIA’s partnerships with top-tier OEMs, like Supermicro, ensures that certified infrastructure solutions meet the demands of scalable AI projects. In addition to hardware, NVIDIA’s software ecosystem and expertise empower companies to deploy AI projects swiftly while maximising its potential.

“AI is not just about the computing platform; it’s about developing outcomes that benefit the business. NVIDIA provides the hardware, software and expertise to guide and assist customers in developing their AI journeys swiftly and effectively, giving them a competitive edge. In fact, the NVIDIA ecosystem is supported by over 4 million developers, all contributing to AI advancements,” explains Duke.

Building a greener future: NVIDIA’s commitment to sustainability

NVIDIA recently partnered with Teraco in South Africa as a DGX-Ready data centre facility and colocation provider to meet the demands of AI-powered applications, machine learning (ML), and virtual and augmented reality.

“Given the rise of AI, enterprises need to weigh several factors before selecting a data centre partner to execute and manage future-ready AI deployments. Sustainability is becoming an increasingly important consideration in the fields of AI and ICT in general. Overall, the trend towards sustainability reflects a growing recognition of the need to balance technological innovation with environmental and social responsibility,” she continues.

“Enterprise leaders aiming to reduce their environmental impact should consider their data centre partner’s commitment to sustainability, as the right collaborator will have the components in place to meet the energy demands for AI computing, while also increasing power density and monitoring the centre’s carbon footprint.

“These efforts should encompass elevating energy efficiency, reducing waste, decreasing water usage, aligning with sustainable building standards, accessing renewable and clean energy, and delivering asset value or lowering operating costs for their customers, and this very topic was very much emphasised at a recent joint Teraco/NVIDIA event.”

“NVIDIA is also constantly innovating and evolving products to meet ever-increasing demands from customers,” adds Duke. “Scaling down energy consumption is a priority to the organisation. As an essential element in addressing the growing adoption of AI in a sustainable manner, its GPUs deliver higher performance per watt, allowing data centre operators to pack more compute within the same power budget.

“Reducing the consumption of raw materials is another important consideration, with the physical resources required to build computing hardware having a significant impact on the environment. Data centres with NVIDIA GPUs require a fraction of the rack space and energy cost. Additionally, digital twins allow us to simulate before we build, leading to saved resources from physical prototypes or experiments.”

Start your AI journey with NVIDIA’s future-ready AI solutions

In partnership with NVIDIA, Pinnacle is dedicated to guiding organisations through their AI journeys with robust, sustainable solutions. “By maximising NVIDIA’s cutting-edge technology and Pinnacle’s strategic expertise, businesses can unlock the full potential of AI, driving innovation and efficiency while maintaining a commitment to sustainability,” Duke concludes.

For more information on the NVIDIA solutions available locally through Pinnacle, please contact Belinda Duke on belindad@pinnacle.co.za or +27 (0) 11 265-3000. Alternatively, please visit https://www.pinnacle.co.za/nvidia-networking