A leading industry expert outlined key trends such as big data, cloud computing and disaster recovery, which are set to make an impact on business strategies in the coming year, said an expert.

Business leaders in the region need to keep pace with the relentless rise of big data and cloud computing, remarked Andrew Calthorpe, CEO of Condo Protego, a leading data storage and protection company.

He also noted that with collaboration among system integrators on the rise, the challenges of bridging the region’s industry skill-gaps will remain a concern.

Global big data market will grow 40 per cent per year, around seven times faster than the rest of the IT industry, said Calthrope citing a report by leading IT market research and advisory firm IDC.

"Most of that cost will come from infrastructure-investment-calibre storage projects that are set to drive spending in the storage market to growth rates above 61 per cent through 2015," he added.

Another research firm Gartner predicted the Mena region will experience one of the highest global growth rates for public cloud services, increasing from 2012 to 2013 by 24.5 per cent to $462.3 million.

The UAE’s cloud market in particular is primed for annual compound growth of 43.7 per cent until 2016, according to IDC.

“Cloud computing in Mena will take on a number of forms - public, private or hybrid applications.  Adoption must be carefully planned and implemented. Cloud computing can be powerfully augmented with existing infrastructure and embraced as appropriate. It shouldn’t be seen as a drastic, scary change - it should be a gradual to greater efficiency, flexibility and cost-savings,” said Calthrope.

“In 2013, we saw increasing numbers of Middle Eastern SMEs start to take on serious disaster recovery and business continuity solutions. We expect 2014 to continue this trend in a much bigger way,” he stated.

Calthrope pointed out that skill shortage was a pressing problem for everyone in the industry.

"Businesses need to invest in training, they need to invest in people and they need to understand they are building future industries and laying the groundwork for the Middle East to flourish," he stated.

"The industry also needs to be better at retaining talent – both for long-term project execution and knowledge transfer. Awareness needs to be raised that some of the most challenging, rewarding work the IT industry has to offer is taking place here, and the best is yet to come,” he added. - TradeArabia News Service