Cloud computing has turned from an innovative concept into a permanent fixture in both our daily personal and professional lives.
The past year has been pivotal for the cloud as it played a lead role in enabling organisations with the resiliency, scalability, flexibility and speed that they need to adapt and thrive in this new remote work environment. It has become an essential part of ensuring business continuity and unlocking new opportunities for organisational growth.
Driven by the advances in certain technologies, software and services associated with it, the cloud industry continues to flourish. According to global research and analyst firm Gartner, spending on public cloud services will reach $396 billion in 2021 and grow 21.7% to reach $482 billion in 2022.
“It’s important to note that the usage and adoption of cloud that served enterprises well during the ongoing crisis will not look the same in the coming years,” said Nag. “It will further evolve from serving pedestrian use cases such as infrastructure and application migration, to those that combine cloud with technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, 5G and more. In other words, cloud will serve as the glue between many other technologies that CIOs want to use more of, allowing them to leapfrog into the next century as they address more complex and emerging use cases. It will be a disruptive market, to say the least.”
In the Middle East, organisations are ramping up their investments in cloud computing projects and cloud applications to develop and build knowledge-based economies. A tremendous opportunity that major cloud players have increasingly recognised. As a result, data centres from major players including Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Oracle and IBM have cropped up across the region over the past few years to support governments, financial and banking sectors in their digital transformation while adhering to the region’s data residency regulations.
Subsequently, governments in the Middle East are also working to encourage organisations to embrace the cloud. Initiatives such as the UAE’s Smart Dubai and Smart Abu Dhabi, as well as Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 have well-defined initiatives focused on cloud technologies.
It is undeniable that the cloud market will continue to grow. More than that, it will be exciting to see how it will pave the way for new opportunities for industry players to develop innovations around cloud-adjacent trends such as smart cities, Internet of Things, blockchain, 5G and AI among others.
To explore the exciting opportunities in the cloud, over the next few days ITP.net will bring you a wide array of content focused on the latest advances and emerging trends that are driving investments and empowering the next disruptors in the industry. So, make sure to keep checking the ITP.net for the latest updates.
