Is the Middle East The Next Big Market For Cloud Computing?
March 12, 2013
Grazed from Forbes. Author: Reuven Cohen.
As cloud computing technology reaches a saturation point in North America many in the space are beginning to look at other markets to supplement growth prospects. According to IDC, the Middle East could be the next major market to adopt cloud computing. A recent report by IDC expects total spending on cloud delivery in Saudi Arabia to increase 34.86 percent year on year in 2012 with long term spending to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 49.7 percent between 2012 and 2016.
In a story published in the Saudi Gazette, Hamza Naqshbandi, senior research analyst for IT services with IDC Saudi Arabia said, “Organizations across the kingdom have traditionally preferred to manage their IT operations internally, however, there has been growing interest in outsourcing models, with organizations increasingly using hosting and managed services. This growing adoption of outsourcing services is seen as a first step toward moving to a cloud-based model, as companies become more comfortable with the concept of remote services delivery.”…
Another great example of the opportunities found in the region is the January announcement from Virtustream that it has partnered with Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), the largest telecom operator in the Middle East and Africa to provide cloud services. The joint partnership will provide enterprise cloud services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) as well as other parts of the region with a suite of cloud based tools and services. The public and hybrid cloud services will be jointly provided by Mobily and Virtustream and will offer world-class cloud services to enterprises and small-to-medium businesses (SMBs)…
Read more from the source @ http://www.forbes.com/sites/reuvencohen/2013/03/12/is-the-middle-east-the-next-big-market-for-cloud-computing/