The majority of Saudi Arabia’s organizations (59 per cent) plan to increase cloud spend in 2019, driving their digital transformation journeys, according to new research launched by YouGov at the ongoing Digital Saudi 2030 in Riyadh.

Running on the cloud is approaching a “tipping point” over the next year, as two-thirds (66 per cent) of Saudi Arabia’s organizations plan to accelerate cloud-based digital transformation journeys in 2019. Impressively, 29 per cent of Saudi organizations will increase cloud spend by at least 29 per cent in 2019, the survey added.

Enabling the Kingdom’s digital transformation, global technology company SAP is seeing strong demand on its Digital Hub, the centerpiece of its 4-year SR285 million ($76 million) Saudi investment plan. The Digital Hub includes Saudi Arabia’s first live cloud data centre set up by a multi-national enterprise application software company.

“In Saudi Arabia, 2019 will be the year of the ‘cloud first approach,’ with the majority of organizations investing in cloud and fuelling cloud-based digital transformation,” said Khaled Alsaleh, managing director, SAP Saudi Arabia.

“Running on public or private clouds can optimize costs, scale up services, and free up staff for core business innovation. Our Digital Hub can provide the foundation for Saudi Vision 2030, Smart Cities such as NEOM, and enterprises of all sizes and verticals.”

Cloud is a front-and-centre discussion in Saudi Arabia’s boardrooms, from startups up to government agencies. Survey findings also reveal that the majority of Saudi organizations say they are “comfortable” running their IT applications in private cloud (53 per cent) and public cloud (60 per cent) environments.

“Saudi Arabia is a fast-growing cloud market in the Middle East, with the majority of survey respondents indicating that they will increase their cloud spend and digital transformation in 2019,” said Kerry McLaren, director – Omnibus and Agency Sales, YouGov.

“That more Saudi organizations are comfortable running their IT applications on public rather than private clouds indicates the growing knowledge about the business benefits of public cloud platforms in the Kingdom.”  - TradeArabia News Service