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Businesses slow to adapt cloud 'could risk losing out’

Riyadh, May 28, 2014

Cloud computing can prove transformational for Saudi Arabian businesses and those slow to adapt could risk losing out, warned a senior Mobily official.
 
Taher Al Dabbagh, executive general manager – Alliance Develop and Implementation at the Saudi Arabian telecom operator, said: “Cloud computing has immense transformational potential for businesses in Saudi Arabia.
 
“Applied with strategy and vision, the benefits of de-coupling from traditional infrastructural constraints and embracing more scalable, flexible and nimble ways of working cannot be underestimated. From SMEs to huge corporations, cloud will clearly inspire new levels of innovation, competitiveness and profitability in the coming years.”
 
The warning follows IDC’s recent prediction that spending on cloud services in the kingdom is expected to increase by 52.9 per cent during the year. 
 
Meanwhile, Garner estimates that from 2013 to the end of 2017, $3.8 billion will be spend on cloud services in the Mena region, while Cisco Global Cloud Index points out that the MEA region is set to post the world’s-strongest cloud traffic growth rate from 17 exabytes in 2012 to 157 exabytes in 2017.
 
SAP’s cloud deals in the region increased by more than 300 per cent between 2012 and 2013, echoing Mena’s growing receptivity to the benefits of cloud computing.
 
Mobily is currently collaborating with SAP to increase business pick-up of cloud solutions across the kingdom, with an agreement, which was signed last year, to establish a framework for Mobily to introduce a host of cutting-edge SAP innovations to its end-users.
 
The key offerings will include SAP BusinessOne in the Cloud (integrated enterprise resource planning for small and medium-sized businesses), SAP Hana in the Cloud (an in-memory computing platform), SAP Managed Mobility as a Service (cloud-based mobility management solutions for the enterprise), SAP Business Application in the Cloud (migration packages to the Mobily Cloud) and Analytics and Database as service (rapidly deployable, easy to integrate business analytical solutions).
 
Mobily, which achieved the certification to host and provide SAP Cloud solution earlier this year, can now deliver cloud-hosting services across the entire lifecycle of SAP Business Suite applications, including test, development, quality assurance, staging and production.
 
It also provides enterprise-class cloud services, including assessments, on-boarding, operations and embedded backup and disaster recovery services.
 
Mazen Jabri, head of Channel and General Business at SAP Saudi Arabia, said: “Cloud computing is very much moving from hype to reality in Saudi Arabia.
 
“The shift is exciting and driven by pragmatism. Mere ‘business as usual’ is no longer an acceptable mindset for the most ambitious business-leaders here, and cloud’s strategic agility, short deployment times, and low cost is starting to appeal more than ever before.” - TradeArabia News Service



Tags: Saudi | business | SAP | Risk | Cloud |

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