< PreviousGlobal cloud providers expand Middle East presence THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION WILL RUN ON CLOUD 31www.commsmea.com CLOUD SPECIAL REPORT MARKET FOCUS CommsMEA September 2019TThe region aspires to be at the forefront of the global digital revolution now underway, driven by artificial intelligence (AI), IoT and blockchain and other advanced platforms. These technologies, however, require extensive compute power as well as vast storage space. AI, for instance, has to be trained using large amounts of structured and unstructured data. Recent investments in local datacentres by global cloud providers in the region should help regional organisations pursue their digital efforts while complying with data residency laws. Microsoft recently launched two new cloud datacentres in the United Arab Emirates. The new cloud regions (as they are referred to) in Abu Dhabi and Dubai join Microsoft’s global cloud infrastruc- ture network to provide organisations, enterprises and developers in the UAE with access to scalable, and highly avail- able cloud services while fulfilling data residency, security and compliance requirements. The two data centres are connected to Microsoft’s global network global footprint, which now numbers a total of 54 regions, explains Necip Ozyucel, regional business group lead for Cloud and Enter- prise, Microsoft Gulf. “For our customers, we are delivering ‘global reach with local presence’. Since they are connected to a global network, our customers can either use UAE data centres, or other data centres in the US, Europe, or Asia depending on what meets their business requirements,” says Ozyucel. The new UAE locations will also deliver better performance for applications to Middle East customers and partners through the Microsoft cloud platform Azure. Azure is an expanding set of cloud services, offering computing, networking, databases, analytics, artificial intelligence and Internet of Things (IoT) services. The Microsoft investment also avails Microsoft Office 365 locally through the new cloud regions in the UAE. BI tools Dynamics 365 and Power Platform, will 32www.commsmea.comCommsMEA September 2019 CLOUD SPECIAL REPORT MARKET FOCUSbe available from the cloud regions in the UAE by the end of 2019. Infrastructure region This May, AWS launched AWS Middle East infrastructure Region in Bahrain to serve regional businesses. The AWS Middle East Region consists of three availability zones (also known as AZs). AZs consist of one or usually more separate data centres, each with redundant power, networking, and connectivity, housed in separate facilities. The AZs provide customers the ability to operate production applications and databases which are more highly available, fault-tolerant, and scalable than would be possible from a single data centre, says Vinod Krishnan, head of MENA, AWS. AWS has two AWS Direct Connect locations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that make it easy for customers to establish a dedicated private network con- nection between AWS and its datac entre, office, or co-location environment. AWS also has two Amazon CloudFront Edge locations in the UAE, providing faster content delivery and added cybersecurity protection. Customers in the region have embraced cloud like few others. Between them, the two cloud providers count some of the most prominent businesses in the region as customers, a figure that will only ex- pand with the new data centres. Customers in the Middle East are using any one of the 165 AWS services, such as machine learning, database, analytics, security, applied for a variety of use cases, observes Krishnan. Careem uses a number of managed data- base services from Amazon DynamoDB and Amazon Elasticache to store locations and calculate ETAs and fares; to Ama- zon RDS for customers and rides data; to Amazon Elasticsearch Service for logging and analytics. OSN uses AWS Lambda to deploy images created by AWS CodeBuild to AWS Fargate, which has enabled them to automate the continuous delivery pipeline. Since the migration to AWS and a microservices architecture, OSN has increased its anti-piracy capabilities by 98% and detected and acted on more than half a million infringements. Aramex uses Amazon Sagemaker to train machine learning models to predict transit time for shipments. MBC relies on AWS data analytics services for Shahid such as Amazon Redshift, Amazon Kinesis and AWS Glue to collect, store and analyse viewer behaviour. Another example is Since they are connected to a global network, our customers can either use UAE data centres, or other data centres in the US, Europe, or Asia.” Microso is delivering global reach with local presence, says Necip Ozyucel, Microso Gulf. 33www.commsmea.comCommsMEA September 2019 CLOUD SPECIAL REPORT MARKET FOCUSBahrain Bourse, which started its migra- tion to AWS by moving backup and disas- ter recovery solutions to the cloud. Regional organisations of all sizes from across various industries are using Mi- crosoft cloud. These include the Emirates Group, Emaar Properties, Majid Al Fut- taim, Jumeirah Hotels and Resorts, Land- mark Group, Abu Dhabi Global Markets (ADGM), Miral, Daman Insurance, RAK Ceramics, Imdaad, Gulf Air, Viva, Kuwait Finance House, and Dubai World Trade Centre. Entities from sectors such as government, aviation, financial services, manufacturing and healthcare are among those that are already benefiting from the new cloud regions. These include Dubai Airports, Etihad Airways, Mubadala De- velopment Company, Mashreq Bank, The First Group, Network International, and Shelf Drilling. Skills shortage The global IT skills shortage is real and is acute for cloud technologies. AWS has made its Training and Certifi- cation programs available to customers to help them in their cloud journeys and has also grown its regional training team, says Krishnan. “We see significant growth in the number of AWS certifications, and it’s not just growth in the volume of certifi- cates, but also a steady growth in higher- level Professional certifications,” he adds. The Microsoft Cloud Society, on the oth- er hand, has trained over 150,000 IT pro- fessionals in the Middle East and Africa. Customers will further benefit from the increased availability and performance of cloud services delivered from the UAE to help realize the business benefits of cloud and upskill them in migrating and manag- ing their cloud infrastructures. as opposed to 10 to 18 weeks it takes for most on-premises companies to spin up servers, it is also about giving customers infrastructure services at their fingertips - to get from idea to implementation faster than they could before,” Krishnan adds. Hybrid cloud In the fullness of time, the vast majority of companies will run almost all of their IT workloads in the cloud. In the meantime, it pays to embrace hybrid infrastructure for those still on the fence. “We see our role in hybrid as working with and for our customers to develop Since they are connected to a global network, our customers can either use UAE data centres, or other data centres in the US, Europe, or Asia.” This agility... is about giving customers infrastructure services at their fingertips - to get from idea to implementation faster than they could before.” “Half of all enterprises in the region have already adopted Azure and Office 365. The availability of the facilities lo- cally should help those in the other half that wish to migrate, without having to worry about data residency concerns,” says Ozyucel. Although cost is almost always the con- versation starter as far as moving to the cloud is concerned, the number one reason customers choose to move to the cloud is the agility and the speed that they get in the cloud, says Krishnan. “This agility is not only the ability to spin up thousands of servers in minutes According to Vinod Krishnan, head of MENA, AWS, sevreal leading regional compa- nies are using its services. 34www.commsmea.comCommsMEA September 2019 CLOUD SPECIAL REPORT MARKET FOCUSintegrations between their existing infra- structure and AWS, so our customers can easily use AWS as a seamless extension to their existing infrastructure investments. We’ve built out the broadest and deepest set of hybrid architecture functional- ity to enable customers to do everything from integrating networking, security and access control to powering automated workload migrations, and controlling AWS from their on-premises infrastructure management tools,” says Krishnan. AWS also maintains partnerships with players in the on-premises data centre space such as VMware, Intel, Microsoft, SAP, and others, to allow customers to run more traditional data centre enterprise applications on AWS, says Krishnan. Hybrid cloud is the reality, says Ozyucel. “Customers can still use their own data centres, move some of their applications or start new applications on Azure either in UAE data centres or other data centres. We have all the tools, processes, skills and partners to help them create a hybrid experience that is secure and built for high performance,” he adds. “We have some customers already migrated 100% of their IT environment to Azure and Office 365. We also have some customers who are using hybrid cloud, but have started to get benefits of these advanced services such as AI. We then see this as the right time to have this kind of presence in this region,” says Ozyucel. Microsoft anticipates the cloud services delivered from the UAE to have a positive impact on job creation, entrepreneurship and economic growth across the region. According to IDC cloud computing and the Microsoft ecosystem is set to bring more than half a million jobs to the Middle East, including Egypt, 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. More and more organisations in the region are embracing cloud services. 35www.commsmea.comCommsMEA September 2019 CLOUD SPECIAL REPORT MARKET FOCUSBIG BLUE, RED HAT & THE HYBRID CLOUD CommsMEA: What is Red Hat’s play with What is Red Hat’s play with cloud software?cloud software? Adrian Pickering: In the Middle East, migration to hybrid cloud has been sluggish due to data sovereignty issues and a lack of clear regulations. Red Hat is the world’s leading enabler of hybrid cloud as most of our customers want to retain infrastruc- ture on premise, but also have the flexibil- ity to scale out to the cloud. Red Hat Cloud Suite has everything you need to deploy an enterprise cloud and be productive once you get there. It includes an open source operating system, software- defined storage, virtualisation tools, a pri- vate cloud platform, public cloud interop- erability, a app-development platform and our unified management system. CMEA: What Red Hat is doing in the Middle What Red Hat is doing in the Middle East and North Africa with cloud software?East and North Africa with cloud software? Pickering: We are helping customers get the best from a hybrid cloud environment where viable and secure cloud offerings are available. In MENA, we are working with cloud providers to help them create and of- fer effective cloud service offerings to their target customer base. We help telecommu- nications service providers transform their network using our software to implement NFV/SDN. In some instances, we enable custom- ers to build an easy-to-manage OpenStack private cloud to deliver public cloud-like scalability. Red Hat Cloud Suite gives you a common interface and technology stack for development, operations, IT administra- tors and lines of business. After the $34 billion acquisition by IBM, Red Hat is promising a bigger and brighter future for the hybrid cloud, says Adrian Pickering, Red Hat Regional General Manager, Middle East The telecommunica- tions industry is changing, and many service provid- ers are adding modern network technologies and transforming their net- work infrastructure and services.” Adrian Pickering, Red Hat, Regional General Manager, Middle East CMEA: What big trends do you see with What big trends do you see with cloud software?cloud software? Pickering: Enterprises have always run a heterogeneous set of technologies, and they will continue to do so as they move to the hybrid cloud – emerging as one of the biggest trends in the cloud software space. Just as today’s data centres run a mix of other technologies across physical, virtual and cloud topologies, so will tomorrow’s hybrid cloud environments. For an enterprise to realise the value of a hybrid cloud, that hybrid cloud needs to work across that enterprise’s entire busi- ness and IT—not just a portion that is run- ning on a homogeneous software stack. Red Hat’s cloud portfolio provides enter- prises the ability to build a comprehensive, cohesive cloud that spans across a diversity of technologies and topologies. CMEA: How will the IBM acquisition change How will the IBM acquisition change things for Red Hat?things for Red Hat? Pickering: The acquisition redefines the cloud market for business. Red Hat’s open hybrid cloud technologies are now paired with the scale and depth of IBM’s inno- vation and industry expertise, and sales leadership in more than 175 countries. Together, IBM and Red Hat will acceler- ate innovation by offering a next-genera- tion hybrid multi-cloud platform. Based on open source technologies, such as Linux and Kubernetes, the platform will allow businesses to securely deploy, run and manage data and applications on-premises and on private and multiple public clouds. CMEA: What will cloud software in the Mid-What will cloud software in the Mid- dle East could look like in five years?dle East could look like in five years? Pickering: As organisations seek to in- crease their pace of innovation to stay com- petitive, they are looking to open source and a distributed cloud environment to 36www.commsmea.com KNOWLEDGE PARTNER RED HAT CommsMEA September 2019enable a new wave of digital innovation that wasn’t possible before. Over the next five years, IDC expects en- terprises to invest heavily in their journeys to the cloud, and innovation on it. A large and increasing portion of this investment will be on open hybrid and multi-icloud environments that enable them to move apps, data and workloads across different environments. With the acquisition of Red Hat, and its commitment to Red Hat’s independence, IBM is well positioned to help enterprises differentiate themselves in their indus- try by capitalising on open source in this emerging hybrid and multi-cloud world. CMEA: How does the IBM deal change Red How does the IBM deal change Red Hat’s offering in the local market and make Hat’s offering in the local market and make it better able to serve telecoms customers?it better able to serve telecoms customers? Pickering: Joining forces with IBM gives Red Hat the opportunity to bring more open source innovation to an even broader range of organisations and it will enable us to scale to meet the need for hybrid cloud solutions that deliver agility. Red Hat will operate as a distinct unit within IBM and will be reported as part of IBM’s Cloud and Cognitive Software seg- ment. Both companies have already built leading enterprise cloud businesses with consistent strong revenue growth by help- ing customers transition their business models to the cloud. IBM’s offerings have evolved to reflect customer needs and drive greater growth. The acquisition of Red Hat further strengthens IBM as the leader in hybrid cloud for the enterprise. CMEA: How large was Red Hat’s business How large was Red Hat’s business with telecoms before the deal with IBM? with telecoms before the deal with IBM? Has Red Hat already got a large ‘cloud-Has Red Hat already got a large ‘cloud- based’ business in the region?based’ business in the region? Pickering: Red Hat [has] a considerable cloud-based business in the MENA region and we work with all major incumbent and alternate telecommunication operators as well as enterprise customers. Red Hat’s fiscal year 2019 revenue was US$3.4 billion, up 15% year-over-year. Fis- cal first quarter 2020 revenue, reported in June, was $934 million, up 15% year-over- year. In that quarter, subscription revenue was up 15% year-over-year, including revenue from application development- related and other emerging technology offerings up 24% year-over-year. Services revenue also grew 17%. CMEA: One of the main appeals of Red Hat One of the main appeals of Red Hat Linux was that it was cost effective. Is this Linux was that it was cost effective. Is this going to change after the multi-billion dollar going to change after the multi-billion dollar acquisition by IBM?acquisition by IBM? Pickering: No – both IBM and Red Hat have deep open source values and experi- ence. The two companies have worked together for more than 20 years to make open source the default choice for modern IT solutions. This includes the importance of open governance and helping open source projects and communities flourish through continued contribution. With Red Hat, IBM has acquired one of the most important software companies in the IT industry. IBM has committed to scaling and ac- celerating open source and hybrid cloud for businesses across industries, as well as preserving the independence and neutral- ity of Red Hat’s open source heritage. This includes its open source community leadership, contributions and development model; product portfolio, services, and go- to-market strategy; robust developer and partner ecosystems, and unique culture. CMEA: What application partners has Red What application partners has Red Hat been working with specifically for the Hat been working with specifically for the telecoms sector?telecoms sector? Pickering: The telecommunications indus- try is changing, and many service providers are adding modern network technologies and transforming their network infrastruc- ture and services. The Red Hat network ecosystem brings together industry-leading partners and trusted open source communities to deliver innovative, validated, integrated so- lutions—like network functions virtualisa- tion (NFV), multi-cloud deployments, and environments for transforming monolithic applications to cloud-native micro-servic- es— to the telecommunications industry. CMEA: How will Red Hat and IBM work How will Red Hat and IBM work together to build the volume of Linux skills together to build the volume of Linux skills in the Middle East market?in the Middle East market? Pickering: We are already collaborating effectively on new customer opportuni- ties and this will lead to healthy business growth across the MENA region. We must emphasise that Red Hat remains com- mitted to our entire partner and channel community and the IBM acquisition has not changed the nature and approach of our go-to-market strategy across the region and around the world. Red Hat’s mission and unwavering commitment to open source will remain unchanged, and Red Hat will continue to offer the choice and flexibility inherent to open source and hybrid IT environments. Red Hat also will continue to build and expand its partnerships, including those with major cloud providers, such as Ama- zon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and Alibaba. CMEA: What key feature does Red Hat Linux What key feature does Red Hat Linux bring to the cloud environment?bring to the cloud environment? Pickering: Agility!! With Red Hat’s cloud solution, the customers cloud platform can provide dynamic, flexible and scalable solu- tions. It allows the cloud service provider or the enterprise to be more nimble and quick in delivering services to the organisa- tion or customer base. As the world’s leading enterprise Linux platform, Red Hat Enterprise Linux is an open source operating system. It forms the foundation from which you can scale exist- ing apps—and roll out emerging technolo- gies—across bare-metal, virtual, container, and all types of cloud environments. The acquisition rede- fines the cloud market for business. Red Hat’s open hybrid cloud technologies are now paired with the scale and depth of IBM’s innovation and industry expertise.” 37www.commsmea.com KNOWLEDGE PARTNER RED HAT CommsMEA September 2019Why hybrid cloud is the de-facto computing environment for the digital age As many forward-thinking organisations have realised, not everything belongs in a public cloud, which is why hybrid cloud environments are today the most sought after networking platforms. A study commissioned by Nutanix, the Enterprise Cloud Index, measured enter- prise plans for adopting private, hybrid and public clouds found out that enterprises plan to increase hybrid cloud usage, with 91% stating hybrid cloud as the ideal IT model. 87% of respondents said that hybrid cloud as an IT trend is having a positive im- pact on their businesses, and more hybrid cloud users reported all their needs were being met (49%) compared to single public cloud users (37%). In essence, companies are both switch- ing on to the benefits of the public cloud – on-demand scalability, pay per use economics and so on - and, at the same time, becoming wise to the fact that not all clouds are the same. Indeed, putting all their application eggs in one basket might be counterproductive, observes Aaron White, regional director, Middle East at MIX AND MATCH 38www.commsmea.comCommsMEA September 2019 SPECIAL REPORT HYBRID CLOUDNutanix. “Most CIOs have now moved beyond simple “all on-prem” or “all cloud” strategies to realise that both are powerful tools in delivering on their IT strategies. They are opting instead for a hybrid IT approach with a real commitment to using both, on-prem and cloud,” says White. Hybrid cloud enables businesses to build and run applications anywhere, with the freedom to deploy applications in the cloud environment optimised for apps and the business, observes Ihab Farhoud, director, systems engineering, METNA, VMware Middle East, Turkey, and North Africa. Hybrid cloud also reduces complexity with consistent policies, skills, teams, and it al- lows organisations to leverage their proven model and existing investments in the cloud, he adds. Hybrid cloud can also meet complex requirements for performance and compli- ance, and it can run apps – where needed – to protect data and reduce latency globally, Farhoud observes. “One of the most compelling cases for hybrid cloud for many organisations is that it reduces the risk and cost of cloud migra- tion, as consistent infrastructure enables seamless migration between clouds with- out rewriting apps,” says Farhoud. Finally, hybrid cloud opens up access to innovation from any cloud provider, Most CIOs have now moved beyond simple “all on-prem” or “all cloud” strategies to realise that both are powerful tools in delivering on their IT strategies. Aaron White, regional director, Middle East at Nutanix allowing organisations to take advantage of cloud services from global cloud providers to modernise and enhance applications, Farhoud adds. In an ideal world, a hybrid cloud envi- ronment should offer the best of worlds. This, however, is easier said than done, and hybrid cloud poses some challenges for businesses. First, most enterprise applications run on-premise, and migrating them to the cloud can be tricky. By that same token, most web scale applications are built in the cloud and so migrating them on-premise can be equally difficult, observes White. “Today’s organisations cannot afford disruption or downtime, making simple and agile movement of applications across different clouds a business necessity. The data that supports these applications can be a challenge to move in a controlled and efficient manner, on-premise and cloud 39www.commsmea.com SPECIAL REPORT HYBRID CLOUD CommsMEA September 2019Next >