Saudi Arabia is set to claim $9 billion worth of cloud-based government services, according to a recent report.

Riyadh-based Technology Control Company (TCC) and SAP said managed cloud as a service (MCaaS) will enable service providers to deliver a secure partner-owned private cloud, essential for the delivery of innovative e-government and mobile government services.

Cloud and managed services present an opportunity of $8.9 billion in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa for SAP partners, according to the IDC study “Cloud & Managed Services: Growth Opportunities for SAP Partners”.  

Tarik A AlGain, chief executive officer of TCC, said: “Managed cloud services will provide the secure platform for the next generation of government services for citizens, visitors, and businesses in the Kingdom’s Smart Cities.”

“MCaaS will drive inter-department government collaboration, increase sharing of data, lower IT costs, and enhance employee productivity.”

As SAP’s first MCaaS partner in Saudi Arabia and Mena with prime focus on the public sector, the Technology Control Company (TCC) will primarily provide the deployment, application, and management for the kingdom’s government services, from smartphone apps to government business applications.

Saudi Arabia’s IT sector is set to grow 23 per cent from $11.5 billion this year to $14.2 billion in 2017, according to IDC, with government the fastest-growing vertical, with a average rate of 12.9 per cent.

Ahmed Jaber Al-Faifi, managing director, SAP Saudi Arabia, said: “As the ‘third platform’ of computing ramps up in Saudi Arabia, key software components such as cloud, big data, mobility, and social media will be essential for communication between government departments and users, and unlock a new era of service delivery and ROI.”

The IDC estimated that from 2013 to 2020, 25 trillion gigabytes of new data will be generated, with most of it ‘living’ in the cloud. By 2016, approximately 25 percent of all software revenue will be subscription-based.

SAP’s cloud applications total subscribers now exceed 36 million, the most of any vendor in the industry. - TradeArabia News Service