Cloud technologies and solutions are gaining trust from almost every industry vertical. This is becoming a mega trend for the enterprise computing. Kamal Bhojwani, Managing Director of Cloudwave Technologies FZE, explained the insights on cloud adoption among the enterprise and SMB segment of the Middle East. Kamal emphasized on the key demands from the market and also expressed his futuristic vision.

Excerpts:

How is the acceptance level of Cloud solutions in the Middle East region?

The growth predictions by major industry analysts suggest cloud uptake is on the rise, it’s a multi-billion dollar industry segment and will continue to make significant gains in the coming few years. In fact, the growth predicted in the Middle East market is higher than developed countries.

Cloud infrastructure is now available locally through regional providers as well as by established international players and is the platform of choice for upcoming infrastructure projects.

Surveys conducted show tight correlation between adoption of the cloud and increase in revenue and profit margin. Enterprises which are still considering their first move,risk losing competitive advantage.

Which are the industry segments that are showing great interest in the cloud based solutions?

Leading industry segments in private sectors are Retail, Technology, Media, Healthcare, BFSI and Education.

Cloud is central in every company’s IT strategy and you will find early adopters in every segment. It’s on every CIO’s agenda to explore how to maximize benefits from cloud technologies.

Cloud-based Services are growing exponentially and this will accelerate consumption by sectors which sparingly use cloud computing today, maybe just for collaboration, communication or sales productivity.

What are the drivers of Cloud computing solution?

For enterprises, Cloud provides business agility to deploy in new markets and also flexibility to conform to local legal, regulatory and compliance guidelines. Enterprises can concentrate on growth and not worry about overcoming resource challenges in terms of systems, technical personnel and datacenter premises.

Cloud is a game changer for SMB segment as it provides a level playing field to compete with large enterprises by giving access to enterprise grade infrastructure and applications. Instant scalability provides computing power to take care of peak workloads and at the same time keeps operational expenses within budget.

New startups benefit from quick deployment and with managed environments they have accessto technical expertise and also save on hiring administrators. Cloud gives flexibility in the choice of computing power and monthly service charges reduce initial investment burden.

Fusion of Business and Technology is happening at a rapid pace. How do you look at the challenges that arose from this fusion? What kind of solutions does your organization offers to such challenges?

Strategic alignment of IT and business is vital to succeed. Enterprises are recognizing how new disruptive technologies have the power to drive business and the importance of CIOs to take center stage and be involved in business strategy.

Initially, it was perceived that business functions could procure cloud solutions without involvement of IT, however this assumption has been laid to rest. Today, IT is in control of selecting cloud technologies as it involves tackling complex issues of security, governance and interoperability.

We provide consultancy services to align IT strategy with business needs. We have the technical expertise to harness cloud technologies, address business challenges and provide competitive advantage.

Do you still experience security as a challenge in the adoption of cloud computing?

Security continues to be the top concern in adoption of cloud computing. Cloud providers are addressing it by complying with various security standards, certifications and showcasing how their operations are geared to ensure data security.

Enterprises moving to the cloud need to put policies and procedures in place, ensure secure access, authentication and identity management, data protection and perform security audits. Organizations can have better control over security if they build their own private cloud.

What are the key business priorities for Cloudwave Technologies?

Our top priority is to establish presence in the region and target growth. Our goal is to provide value to our clients, collaborate with technology and service providers and to expand our Service offerings portfolio.

How do you foresee next one year of business from the perspective of Cloud adoption?

The hype about cloud technologies has now become a reality. Enterprises are no longer talking about cloud strategy they are moving ahead and deploying cloud solutions. Cloud adoption in the next one year will gather momentum and more business functions will move to the cloud.

How do you witness the acceptance of hybrid cloud environment?

Hybrid cloud is inevitable because on one hand there is an urgency to procure cloud-based applications to gain competitive advantage, at the same time there are critical applications for business that are yet to be ported on cloud.

Hybrid cloud environments are ideally suited for business continuity and establishing disaster recovery site in the cloud.