Microsoft To Open Its First Data Centers In The Middle East As Cloud ...

Mar 16, 2018

Image source: Microsoft

With competition heating up among cloud computing service providers in the Middle East, Microsoft has revealed plans to establish data centers in Abu Dhabi and Dubai by 2019. The data centers would be Microsoft’s first in the region, making the U.S. tech giant the latest cloud service provider to invest in the digital infrastructure in the Arab world.

“Driven by strong customer demand for cloud computing, local datacenters were the logical next step given the enormous opportunity that the cloud presents,” says Sayed Hashish, regional general manager, Microsoft Gulf.

Last year, the Redmond,Washington-based company announced it was building new data centers in South Africa, from which it planned to serve cloud customers in the Middle East by 2018. However, now the company is making a larger investment specifically targeting the region.

Several big cloud computing players have revealed plans to establish data centers in the region recently, including Oracle and Amazon Web Services. Meanwhile, China’s Alibaba has already established a data center in the U.A.E.

Microsoft’s new regional data centers will improve access to its cloud computing service Azure for local customers. The company’s cloud technology allows its enterprise customers large and small to access a variety of computing processes online—from storage to server space and more. Microsoft’s cloud customers in the region include companies such as Emirates Group, Etihad Airways, Majid Al Futtaim, Jumeirah Hotels and Resorts and Landmark Group, among others.

Although Microsoft does not reveal earnings by region, last year it reported that the Middle East and Africa is one of the fastest growing regions in the world for its cloud computing business.

Cloud computing has become a major focus area for Microsoft, which long-enjoyed its status as the dominant software provider in the PC era. But as the industry requirements change, the software giant has been on the lookout for newer outlets for revenue generation. Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella has reinvented the company since taking over in 2014, aggressively pushing into new business lines like cloud computing and Artificial Intelligence.

Source: Forbes Middle East