EDITOR’S QUESTION
NECIP OZYUCEL, CLOUD
AND ENTERPRISE BUSINESS
SOLUTIONS LEAD,
MICROSOFT GULF
D
igitalisation has become
imperative for companies
worldwide as smart
adoption of technologies can
help organisations reinvent their
business models, achieve major
operational and cost efficiencies,
and become more relevant to
their customers. While UAE
companies lead their GCC peers
in going digital, organisations
in the Middle East must do
more to engage consumers in
their market, and stay relevant
in an age of disruption. Many
companies in the region have not
yet fully embraced digitisation
as they are held back by legacy
systems, an absence of partners
implementing digital projects,
cybersecurity concerns, an
insufficient talent pool and skills
gap, as well as lack of a digital
adoption strategy.
However, despite the challenges,
we have seen encouraging
adoption rates across MEA. CIOs
in the region believe that digital
solutions will serve a lot in terms
of performance, operations,
security, control and business
growth and have been actively
working toward it. They have a
primary role to play in identifying
which parts of the business
could be transformed and which
emerging technologies would be
the best fit. The CIOs also
ensure that ultimately the
technologies are integrated
in the enterprise IT platform
ensuring existing systems are
transformed into a flexible and
optimised IT infrastructure fully
capable of supporting a truly
digital enterprise.
www.intelligentcio.com
security R&D. Our protection measures
are industry leading, because Azure
has been built from the ground up with
security embedded in every layer. The
below examples demonstrate the region
addressing digitisation challenges and
embracing technological transformation,
ensuring end-user experiences are
optimised for successful outcomes.
“Despite the
challenges,
we have seen
encouraging
adoption rates
across MEA.”
CIOs also act as change agents to
innovate with businesses and create a
change enterprise. According to Frost
& Sullivan , the Gulf’s cloud computing
market will post seven-fold growth
and expand at a CAGR of 32.8% to
reach $668.5 million by 2020. Gartner
forecasts a global cloud services market
that will be worth more than $380
million by 2020, and Infrastructure as a
Service will be $71bn of that.
Organisations which are reticent in
making the digital transformation
journey are often times simply unaware
of the benefits. For example, the majority
of security concerns can be addressed
through the cloud. Microsoft alone
spends around $1bn annually on cyber-
• In the UAE, Dubai-based Majid
Al Futtaim Ventures has adopted
Microsoft Dynamics 365, Office 365
and a range of supporting apps, as
a means of enhancing customer
engagement and optimising internal
efficiencies across the group’s many
business units.
• Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts adopted
Microsoft Dynamics 365 to create
personalised, targeted and relevant
marketing experiences for each
customer that drives an increase in
revenue year-on-year.
• Dubai Electricity and Water Authority
(DEWA) adopted the Microsoft
HoloLens to enhance its operations,
improve productivity, accelerate
innovation, and fully efficient services
to its customers.
• Kuwait Ministry of Finance is using
Microsoft technology, SharePoint Server
and Office 365, to create a custom
digital signature and document-
management solution for increasing
efficiency and enhanced mobility.
• Dubai Electricity and Water Authority
(DEWA) launched the Rammas
service recently, becoming the first
government organisation to launch
an online chatbot in both Arabic
and English, to communicate with
customers and respond to
their enquiries.
• Bahrain Olympic Committee
leveraged Azure cloud platform to
address its operational concerns. n
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