The outlook for the UAE’s managed services industry remains bright, with average growth expected in the double-digit level this year and the coming years, according to STME, a leading solutions provider and systems integrator in the Middle East.

Managed services involve the outsourcing of specific IT operations to a third party, which takes the responsibility of delivering and managing network-based services, applications and equipment to enterprises, said a statement.

Ayman Albayaa, chief executive officer of STME, said: “The managed services sector is growing aggressively worldwide and in the UAE we see an increased uptake of this business.

“For STME, our managed services division is being driven by growth sectors such as banking and finance, oil and gas, telecoms, and government services.”

“More and more companies today are recognising the cost-effectiveness of offloading their IT operations to service providers, who have the skills, manpower and resources to oversee network management operations and other IT-related tasks. This way, companies do not have to invest in maintaining an in-house IT department or hiring technical staff,” Albayaa explained.

STME, which has offices in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Qatar and Kuwait, achieved a 64 per cent growth rate last year compared with 2013.

Aside from managed services, the company offers backup and recovery infrastructure, virtualisation infrastructure, disaster recovery and data storage solutions, as well as consultancy and support staff services.

The company will focus on promoting and strengthening its cloud and data security offering across the Middle East and Africa region this year, Albayaa added. - TradeArabia News Service