While the migration to the cloud has been an ongoing trend for the past couple of years, the movement has really picked up its pace thanks to the increasing popularity of hybrid cloud environments.
From Condo Protego’s perspective, there has been a significant uptick in hybrid cloud demand from both medium and larger enterprises. Many organizations can move applications such as email to the public cloud, while retaining key business applications for data or security reasons within reach on-premise.
Additionally, the demand has not been exclusive to any one industry —customers from the oil & gas segment, education, retail, logistics, transport, and government, have been inquisitive towards a hybrid model. As a result, digital oilfields, digital student records, e-commerce platforms, connected transport, and e-government services are all blossoming across the UAE and the Middle East.
With Microsoft’s recent announcement that it will open its first data centre in the Middle East in the UAE has sparked interest from enterprises looking to push their cloud infrastructure to new heights.
Coupled with the recent expansion of its partnership with Dell Technologies, which saw VMware Cloud’s incorporation onto Microsoft Azure public cloud, opportunities are aplenty for the region’s cloud market.
According to a recent report from IDC, the UAE’s public cloud spend is on the path to reach AED 1.5 billion by 2022, while also generating AED 20 billion in net revenues and driving the generation of 55,000 jobs in the country.
However, the market intelligence firm also noted that not all UAE organizations should move solely to the public cloud, as a hybrid approach may provide opportunities for business innovation. Trusted channel partners are key for helping organizations plan their digital transformation strategies on the cloud, especially in identifying the business benefits from optimizing costs to business agility.
