ManageEngine, a division of Zoho Corporation and a leading provider of enterprise IT management solutions, is deepening its commitment to the Middle East as digital transformation accelerates across energy, industrial and infrastructure-driven economies.
ManageEngine and Zoho recently inaugurated two new data centres in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, backed by an initial investment of $10 million, part of a broader plan to invest $100 million in the region over the coming years.
The move underlines ManageEngine’s confidence in the Middle East as one of the world’s most strategically important digital markets, driven by large-scale energy projects, industrial modernisation, regulatory complexity and ambitious national visions, such as the UAE’s digital economy agenda and Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.
OGN/TradeArabia spoke with Rajesh Ganesan, CEO of ManageEngine, on the sidelines of the Dubai data centre inauguration, to understand how the company is aligning its technology roadmap with the region’s evolving energy and industrial landscape.
GROWTH OF A GLOBAL ENTERPRISE PLATFORM
In the early 2000s, when enterprises worldwide began grappling with the first wave of large-scale digitisation, ManageEngine was born on the founding idea was disarmingly simple: enterprise software should be accessible, usable and affordable; and it should not be the exclusive preserve of Silicon Valley, reflected Ganesan.
ManageEngine emerged from that philosophy, focusing on practical IT management challenges such as network monitoring, service desks and system visibility. Over time, as cloud computing, virtualisation, mobility and now AI reshaped enterprise IT, the company evolved into a full-stack IT operations, security and compliance platform.
Today, ManageEngine serves more than 2,000 customers in the Middle East alone, and tens of thousands globally, positioning itself not as a reseller, but as a technology builder with end-to-end control over its software stack, he said.
EVERY ENERGY BUSINESS IS NOW A DIGITAL BUSINESS
According to Ganesan, the distinction between 'traditional' and 'digital' enterprises has effectively disappeared, particularly in the Middle East’s energy and industrial sectors.
Oil and gas companies, utilities, petrochemicals producers and manufacturers are no longer defined solely by physical assets. Their operations now depend on complex digital ecosystems spanning IT systems, operational technology (OT), cloud platforms, remote workforces and third-party partners.
'In energy and industrial environments, software is now embedded everywhere—from production floors and pipelines to logistics, trading and compliance reporting,' he says. 'That changes how enterprises must think about visibility, security and governance.'
THREE PILLARS OF MODERN INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISE
The launch of data centres in Dubai and Abu Dhabi is a response to rising concerns around data sovereignty, regulatory compliance and latency
ManageEngine frames the modern digital enterprise around three interconnected pillars: Workforce, Workplace and Workload.
The workforce now extends far beyond permanent employees to include contractors, gig workers, system integrators and external vendors, common in large energy and infrastructure projects. All require secure, governed access to systems.
The workplace is no longer a refinery control room or corporate headquarters. Engineers, supervisors and executives increasingly access systems from remote sites, offshore platforms, hotels or airports.
The workload encompasses everything that enables operations: servers, cloud platforms, industrial control systems, virtual machines, mobile devices and specialised applications running across hybrid environments.
'None of this sits within a neatly controlled perimeter anymore,' Ganesan notes. 'That reality is particularly acute in energy and industrial enterprises.'
SECURITY, COMPLIANCE & ZERO TRUST BY DESIGN
For sectors such as oil and gas, utilities, manufacturing and BFSI, security and compliance are not optional, they are existential requirements.
Regulatory frameworks demand complete visibility into who accessed what system, from where, and under what authority.
ManageEngine’s approach is rooted in context-aware, zero-trust security, where access decisions are based not just on credentials, but on behaviour, device health, location and risk signals.
An engineer accessing a production system from a known site may face minimal friction, while an unusual access attempt — from an unfamiliar device or location — triggers additional verification automatically.
'This is the same intelligence model banks use for fraud detection,' says Ganesan. 'We are bringing that level of sophistication to enterprise and industrial IT.'
BRIDGING THE IT–OT DIVIDE IN ENERGY & MANUFACTURING
One of ManageEngine’s fastest-growing focus areas in the Middle East is the convergence of IT and OT, particularly relevant for manufacturing plants, utilities and energy producers.
Production floors today are driven by software-controlled machinery, sensors and firmware. A vulnerability in an unpatched system can disrupt operations, compromise safety or trigger regulatory breaches.
ManageEngine enables enterprises to monitor and manage IT and OT environments together, tracking firmware integrity, patching vulnerabilities, controlling access rights and ensuring compliance across the entire digital estate.
'For industrial CIOs and CISOs, this unified visibility is no longer a ‘nice to have’,' Ganesan says. 'It is critical for operational resilience.'
THE MIDDLE EAST: STRATEGIC PRIORITY
ManageEngine entered the Middle East as early as 2005, well before the region became a global technology hotspot.
Even then, the company recognised the UAE’s ambition to diversify beyond hydrocarbons and invest in technology as a strategic enabler.
That early bet has paid off. Over the past five years, ManageEngine has recorded a compound annual growth rate of around 21 per cent in the region, including strong momentum in Saudi Arabia and across the wider GCC.
Today, the company serves more than 10,000 customers across the Middle East, spanning government, BFSI, oil and gas, utilities, logistics, manufacturing, hospitality and aviation.
DATA SOVEREIGNTY & LOCAL CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE
The launch of data centres in Dubai and Abu Dhabi is a direct response to rising concerns around data sovereignty, regulatory compliance and latency, particularly in regulated sectors such as energy, finance and government.
'Our cloud infrastructure now runs within the UAE,' Ganesan says. 'That allows customers to meet local data residency requirements while benefiting from cloud scalability.'
ManageEngine also customises its platforms to align with local regulations and approved digital ecosystems, ensuring compliance without compromising functionality.
While cloud adoption in the Middle East is accelerating, many energy and industrial organisations operate in hybrid environments, balancing on-premise systems with cloud platforms.
ManageEngine supports all three models: on-premise, cloud and hybrid. Notably, while overall regional growth stood at around 20 per cent, the company’s cloud products grew by approximately 35 per cent, reflecting strong momentum.
Crucially, ManageEngine does not merely host applications in the cloud — it also provides tools to manage, monitor and secure cloud infrastructure, from access privileges to data leakage risks, he says.
AI: OPPORTUNITY, RISK & GOVERNANCE
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly entering enterprise and industrial IT environments, promising automation, efficiency and predictive insight. But it also introduces new governance challenges, especially around sensitive operational and commercial data.
As data flows between users, applications and large language models, ManageEngine’s platforms help organisations monitor usage patterns, detect anomalies and flag potential data leakage in real time.
'In regulated sectors like energy and finance, AI adoption must be governed, not rushed,' Ganesan cautions. 'That’s where our monitoring and compliance capabilities become even more critical.'
A PARTNER-LED MODEL BUILT ON TRUST
ManageEngine’s Middle East strategy is firmly channel-driven, built around long-standing regional partners who understand local business culture and sector-specific needs.
In the UAE, the company has worked with its primary partner for nearly two decades. Partners provide first-level support, while ManageEngine’s teams collaborate closely on complex implementations.
Engineers undergo regular training and certification, often spending time at the company’s headquarters in India.
LONG-TERM VISION ALIGNED WITH REGIONAL AMBITIONS
Privately held and debt-free, Zoho Corporation and ManageEngine are not driven by short-term exits.
Their ambition is to become the technology backbone for every CIO organisation globally and the Middle East plays a central role in that vision.
As the region accelerates investment in energy transition, industrial automation, smart infrastructure and AI-driven economies, ManageEngine sees sustained demand for platforms that ensure visibility, security and compliance at scale.
'New technologies always create new problems,' Ganesan reflects. 'Our role has always been to solve those problems in a practical, reliable way. That philosophy has kept us relevant for more than two decades, and it’s what will drive our next phase of growth in the Middle East.'
