Companies at the forefront of cloud computing business models will be heighted at a new annual conference at the upcoming Gitex Technology Week (Gitex) in Dubai.

Gitex, running from October 17 to 21 at the Dubai International Conference and Exhibition Centre, will launch the inaugural Gitex Cloud Confex, which will enable delegates to discuss the opportunities and benefits of cloud computing.

Enterprises in the Middle East are now opening up to the possibilities and potential offered by cloud computing, a statement said.

Research by Brocade, a leading networking solutions company, shows that 40 per cent of enterprises in the Middle East expect to have started the planning and migration to a cloud computing model within the next two years.

Key business drivers for doing so include reduced costs, improved business efficiency and enhanced business agility.

As with other transformational technologies, it will take some time for enterprises in the Middle East to make the full move to the cloud. However the adoption is expected to accelerate in the coming years as several companies are already piloting cloud based solutions, according to the statement.

Cloud computing is “a style of computing where massively scalable IT-related capabilities are provided ‘as a service’ using Internet technologies to multiple external customers,” said Gartner, a top IT research and advisory company.

The size of cloud computing is expected to increase to $44 billion worldwide by 2013 according to research company IDC. In 2009, spend on cloud-related technologies, hardware and software was valued at around $17 billion. – TradeArabia News Service