Issue 14, February/March
FOCUS NEWS MEA
AFRICA
The market for cloud computing is becoming heated in Africa, with companies including Microsoft, IBM, Google and HP all trying to take advantage of increased Internet speeds across the region. According to a report by Business Daily, computer software and hardware vendors now have a way to offer online applications to users that still require a lower cost of computing and a market that still lacks a number of vital IT skills required for business. Banks and hospitals and other organizations dealing with sensitive information have shown interest, and companies such as Skype,
Salesforce.com and Silanis have also seen a lot of interest from the corporate market in Africa.
MIDDLE EAST
IBM Middle East has taken its Portable Modular Data Center (PMDC) to the Middle East, showcasing it in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The company also plans to showcase the all-in-one data center solution, which includes shell, interior equipment and installation services, at coming events in Jeddah, Riyadh, Cairo and Casablanca. The PMDC is
essentially a shipping container that comes with its own power and cooling systems and remote monitoring. IBM said businesses in the Middle East are fi nding it diffi cult to keep up with IT demand there and have been forced to install and operate high density computing operations – a challenge given that the majority of pre-existing data centers are unable to support such capacity.
adoption for cloud computing in the Middle East, according to Diab, and an earlier report by The Jordan Times said the use of shared computing resources in Jordan, for example, was still classed as weak.
IBM’s Portable Modular Data Center
Businesses in the Middle East have been encouraged to
take
up cloud computing to reduce IT-related costs and increase effi ciency. Microsoft North Africa,
Eastern Mediterranean
and Pakistan (NEPA) business marketing and operations director Michel Diab said the Middle East is ripe for cloud adoption given its increasing connectivity. No fi gures currently exist on
Market research fi rm RNCOS said it expects that the number of 3G subscribers in the Middle East will have reached more than four million by the end of last year, a 60% increase in its compound annual growth rate. Countries such as Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE have the highest household broadband penetration, while Saudi Arabia is also posting high amounts of mobile growth. It said in future, cloud computing is expected to further drive the need for connectivity in the Middle East.
Ciena and Reliance Globalcom have signed a deal
to link
Europe with the Middle East which will increase bandwidth to over 2 terabits per second. The upgraded route adds 2.4 terabits per second on a submarine route and will carry traffi c between the Atlantic and Asia sections of the Reliance
Globalcom network.
Reliance Globalcom is a provider of managed network services for
multinational enterprises, carriers and service providers.
RIYADH
Citrix has opened a new offi ce in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in a move to expand services in the Middle East. It hopes to tap into the potential growth of cloud computing and virtualization in the region and plans two more offi ces, one in Doha, Qatar and another in the Omani capital Muscat later this year.
SYRIA
Turkey’s largest mobile phone operator Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS said it could be looking to build in Syria. It recently announced plans to build a US$70m data center near Istanbul and said it is looking for similar investments in Syria, Libya and Iran. According to a report by news wire Bloomberg. Turkcell plans to become a cloud computing company, providing its own service through the Internet. The data center, which Microsoft has already committed to working on, will be situated at Gebze town, near Istanbul.
See full articles at www.datacenterdynamics. com/mea
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