As South Africa works to contain a renewed wave of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), pressure is not only mounting on farms and export markets, it’s also reshaping the country’s digital backbone.
Behind the scenes, one livestock traceability platform has had to scale at speed, moving from servicing hundreds of users to preparing for hundreds of thousands, almost overnight, as per MyBroadband.
The surge has forced rapid decisions around infrastructure, data processing and resilience, decisions with real-world consequences for farmers, veterinarians and regulators alike.
‘Our client Buffalo & Livestock Analytics went from supporting a few hundred users to preparing for hundreds of thousands, and our infrastructure had to scale just as fast,’ said Jaco Kroon, who is the CEO of Ultimate Linux Solutions (ULS).
The growth came as reported FMD cases climbed across parts of the country, triggering intensified reporting, monitoring and data analysis. For platforms supporting outbreak management, the increase wasn’t incremental, it was exponential.
‘It has an incalculable effect on farmers and the broader economy,’ Kroon explains. ‘The red meat industry is under pressure, exports are restricted, and food prices are rising. It’s a huge issue.’
Buffalo & Livestock Analytics plays a key role in this ecosystem, as the platform enables livestock owners, veterinarians and industry stakeholders to log disease sightings, animal movements, symptoms and locations, all in near real time.
Using GIS mapping, the system consolidates reports into a national view, allowing patterns to emerge and potential hotspots to be flagged early, before disease spreads further.
As reporting volumes surged, so did the platform’s technical demands.
‘We went from a couple of hundred platform users to many thousands,’ states Kroon. ‘And now we’re preparing to onboard another 100,000 to 200,000. The growth over the last few months, especially in January, has been extreme.’
It wasn’t just user numbers driving the shift, as each new report triggered complex analysis, requiring additional compute power to process movement data, identify clusters and model possible spread scenarios.
‘When the reporting data comes in, there’s significant analysis required to identify developing hotspots,’ Kroon explained. ‘That meant more computing power and more sophisticated models to determine the where, what and when.’
At a certain point, ULS reached the limits of its existing virtualised environment.
‘Virtual machines simply weren’t cutting it anymore,’ outlined Kroon. ‘We needed more powerful physical infrastructure to handle the sudden demand.’
That turning point coincided with ULS’s recent move to host infrastructure at Digital Parks Africa (DPA). As requirements escalated in early January 2026, ULS flagged the need for additional capacity.
What followed was a rapid turnaround.
‘Within hours, we had clarity on pricing and configurations,’ Kroon said. ‘When we confirmed the requirement two weeks later, the additional capacity was deployed quickly and without disruption.’
By comparison, Kroon noted that similar upgrades elsewhere could take days or weeks just to allocate racks, power and space.
DPA’s willingness to adapt proved decisive.
‘They don’t box us into rigid limits,’ Kroon said. ‘If we need more density, they’re willing and able to make it happen. From the start, the approach was always, ‘Let’s figure out how to make this work.’
The onboarding process was equally direct. Instead of navigating ticket queues or automated systems, ULS worked with a dedicated account manager who could respond quickly and transparently.
‘There was genuine openness about what’s possible, what isn’t, and how we could design the best solution together,’ said Kroon.
That hands-on collaboration allowed infrastructure decisions to be made quickly, a critical factor as reporting volumes continued to climb.
While the technical achievement is notable, the wider impact sits beyond data centres and dashboards.
As FMD remains under close watch, Buffalo & Livestock Analytics continues working with farmers, veterinarians and industry stakeholders, while ULS delivers the infrastructure needed to keep the platform running at scale.
For Kroon, the experience has also shaped future decisions.
‘As a result of this process, DPA will become our preferred partner for high-performance infrastructure,’ he highlighted.
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