The majority of Saudi Arabia’s organisations (59 percent) plan to increase cloud spend in 2019, driving their digital transformation journeys, according to landmark new research launched by YouGov.
Running on the cloud is approaching a “tipping point” over the next year, as two-thirds (66 percent) of Saudi Arabia’s organisations plan to accelerate cloud-based digital transformation journeys in 2019. Impressively, 29 percent of Saudi organisations will increase cloud spend by at least 29 percent in 2019, the survey adds.
Enabling the Kingdom’s digital transformation, global technology company SAP is seeing strong demand on its Digital Hub, the centerpiece of its 4-year SAR 285 million Saudi investment plan. The Digital Hub includes Saudi Arabia’s first live cloud data center set up by a multi-national enterprise application software company.
“In Saudi Arabia, 2019 will be the year of the ‘cloud first approach,’ with the majority of organisations investing in cloud and fueling cloud-based digital transformation,” said Khaled Alsaleh, Managing Director, SAP Saudi Arabia.
“Running on public or private clouds can optimise costs, scale up services, and free up staff for core business innovation. Our Digital Hub can provide the foundation for Saudi Vision 2030, Smart Cities such as NEOM, and enterprises of all sizes and verticals.”
Cloud is a front-and-center discussion in Saudi Arabia’s boardrooms, from startups up to government agencies. Survey findings also reveal that the majority of Saudi organisations say they are “comfortable” running their IT applications in private cloud (53 percent) and public cloud (60 percent) environments.
“Saudi Arabia is a fast-growing cloud market in the Middle East, with the majority of survey respondents indicating that they will increase their cloud spend and digital transformation in 2019,” said Kerry McLaren, Director – Omnibus and Agency Sales, YouGov. “That more Saudi organisations are comfortable running their IT applications on public rather than private clouds indicates the growing knowledge about the business benefits of public cloud platforms in the Kingdom.”
The YouGov survey covered 306 CIOs and IT decision-makers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
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