FEATURE
A new era of governance
Microsoft has been working closely with
Abu Dhabi Digital Authority (ADDA) and
Dubai Electronic Security Center (DESC)
to enable compliant adoption of cloud
services by the UAE government and
semi-government entities. Microsoft is
also the first cloud service provider in
the UAE to achieve DESC’s Cloud Service
Provider certification.
TO HELP MEET
THE COMPLIANCE
NEEDS OF OUR
CUSTOMERS, WE
HAVE ENGAGED
VERY CLOSELY
WITH THE LOCAL
AUTHORITIES TO
ENSURE THAT
OUR CLOUD
SERVICES ARE
COMPLIANT WITH
RELEVANT LOCAL
STANDARDS AND
CERTIFICATIONS.
already benefiting from the new cloud
regions. These include Dubai Airports,
Etihad Airways, Mubadala Development
Company, Mashreq Bank, The First Group,
Network International and Shelf Drilling.
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Issue 05
“To help meet the compliance needs of
our customers, we have engaged very
closely with the local authorities to ensure
that our cloud services are compliant with
relevant local standards and certifications,
as well as the global and industry
standards with which our services already
comply. Microsoft would like to recognise
the efforts made by the TRA, DESC and
ADDA to ensure an enabling environment
for data centres and cloud services in the
country,” said Hashish.
Job creation, economic growth
and skills building
Microsoft also anticipates the cloud
services delivered from the UAE will
have a positive impact on job creation,
entrepreneurship and economic growth
across the region. The International Data
Corporation (IDC) predicts that cloud
computing and the Microsoft ecosystem
is set to bring more than half a million
jobs to the Middle East, including Egypt,
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the UAE
between 2017 and 2022.
The World Bank has reported that for
every job created in technology, more than
four jobs are created across all occupation
and income groups.
With a pool of Microsoft engineers, data
scientists and experts contributing to the
Digital Transformation journeys of Middle
East customers and their migrations to the
cloud, Microsoft continues to help bridge
the skills gap amongst the IT community
in the region and enhance their technical
acumen for cloud services.
Through Microsoft Cloud Society, which
has trained over 150,000 IT professionals
in the Middle East and Africa, companies
will further benefit from the increased
availability and performance of cloud
services delivered from the UAE to help
realise the business benefits of cloud and
upskill them in migrating and managing
their cloud infrastructures.
Opportunity for partners
In past research, IDC found that the
Microsoft partner ecosystem earns more
than US$9 for every US$1 of Microsoft
revenue. The new cloud regions in
the UAE bring a massive opportunity
for partners in the Gulf to grow their
revenues and customer bases. More
than 1,800 certified Microsoft partners
from the region will play a pivotal role in
government and private organisations to
embark on their cloud journeys.
As a strategic partner, Etisalat is
collaborating closely with Microsoft in
line with its goal to provide end-to-end
digital solutions to its customers and
breadth of expertise in managed services.
By offering cloud-based solutions to the
country’s government institutions, large
enterprises, small-medium businesses
and start-ups, Etisalat is enabling them to
drive Digital Transformation by migrating
to the cloud faster.
As one of the world’s leading telecom
groups in emerging markets, Etisalat
continues to focus on digital innovation
to ‘drive the digital future to empower
societies,’ leading to investments in
superior and state-of-the-art technology
solutions on the network.
“Microsoft cloud services delivered
from the UAE are another milestone in
the transformative journey our partners
and customers are taking,” concluded
Hashish. “We are looking forward to
continuing our journey with them,
committed to the growth of the region
and the future employability of our
young people.” ◊
www.intelligentdatacentres.com