Intelligent CIO Middle East Issue 36 | Page 75

INTELLIGENT INTELLIGENT BRANDS BRANDS // Data // Centres Cabling MENA data centre spend to reach record US$5 billion by 2020 ///////////////////////////// As the Middle East accelerates its Digital Transformation and Smart Cities growth, regional data centre spend will reach a record-high of US$5 billion by 2020, industry experts announced ahead of GITEX Technology Week. M iddle East and North Africa data centre spend is expected to reach a record high of US$ 5.1 billion by 2020, increasing by 8.5% from 2017, according to a recent report by market research firm Statista. Much of this spend will go towards enabling Smart Cities, aligned with the GITEX Technology Week theme of ‘Experience Future Urbanism’. Data centre modernisation ranks as one of the top digital business priorities for regional www.intelligentcio.com CEOs in the next two years, with technology infrastructure modernisation enabling new digital business models, argues Condo Protego, the UAE-based IT infrastructure and information management consultancy and solutions provider. “Record-high Middle East data centre spend shows that regional CEOs understand that modernising IT infrastructure can deliver a competitive advantage and enable Smart Cities,” said Savitha Bhaskar, COO, Condo Protego. “GITEX is an ideal platform to showcase how modernised IT can lead to real-time insights for better customer and citizen engagement, new revenue streams and greater efficiency and data protection.” Showing the strong opportunity for data centre modernisation, 81% of IT decision-makers agree that without IT transformation, their organisations will no longer be competitive, according to a recent Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) global survey commissioned by Dell EMC and Intel. Data centre modernisation can integrate servers, storage, information management and data protection and is an ongoing process rather than a one-off. In the Middle East, Condo Protego is seeing strong demand for the Dell EMC PowerMax solution, the world’s fastest storage array built for mission-critical applications. “Data centre modernisation is also the foundation for the Middle East’s organisations and Smart Cities to adopt emerging innovations such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Blockchain and the Internet of Things,” added Bhaskar. At GITEX Technology Week, Condo Protego will demonstrate and provide insights with the leading vendors on the latest data centre modernisation trends and solutions. n INTELLIGENTCIO 75