Dubai Airports uses Microsoft's Azure cloud service for the Wi-Fi it offers travelers. But for most other applications, it spends a lot of money and uses precious square footage to run its own servers.
The airport company is partly owned by the United Arab Emirates government, and local law requires data related to government entities to be stored in the country.
"We'd rather use that space and energy for airplanes and passengers and bags than for data centers," says Michael Ibbitson, the company's executive vice president for technology and infrastructure.
His wish will soon be a reality.
Next year, Microsoft is expected to cut the ribbon on a data center in Dubai, a move that will potentially bring in a lot more business from existing clients, including the airport operator.
Ibbitson says that as soon as the Azure center is open, the airport will consider transferring files there, including financial data.
_________
Read more:
Microsoft boosts cloud belief and shares with results
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The Middle East’s largely untapped frontier for cloud services will see even more activity in 2019. Microsoft is also planning a data center in Abu Dhabi next year. And Amazon Web Services (AWS), the No. 1 cloud provider globally, will open a center in Bahrain.
"The region is one of the fastest-growing public cloud services markets," says Megha Kumar, an analyst for IDC Research Inc. in Dubai. "The potential is huge given the ambitions of the public sector and their drive for innovation."
The Middle East and Africa regions are worth $2.2 billion (Dh8.07bn) to cloud vendors, IDC says. That's projected to grow 24 per cent a year on average, reaching $9 billion in 2022.
And the public sector in the Middle East is a major backer of technology investments, including artificial intelligence or blockchain.
"We see a lot of potential in the Middle East as countries are going through economic transformations, where cloud technology can be a key enabler for advanced citizen services and smart city initiatives," says Zubin Chagpar, head of Middle East and Africa for AWS.
"This is also a region with a young and tech-savvy population."
In a poll conducted last year by Microsoft, 51 per cent of almost 1,000 companies in the Gulf Cooperation Council, a group that includes Bahrain, Kuwait, and the UAE, said cloud computing will be a 2018 priority. Some smaller companies have already moved in: Alibaba Group has provided cloud services in the region since 2016. The real growth will come next year, says Tiny Haynes, an analyst at Gartner. He also expects upcoming data centers in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Amazon. already has dozens of clients in the region, including ride-hailing startup Careem; Saudi Arabia's Al Tayyar Travel Group; and the Dubai-based broadcaster MBC Group.
Bahrain's Information and EGovernment Authority is moving all government services online and working with AWS to store data and provide computing power for its websites and applications.
Saurabh Verma, associate director for the digital transformation practice at consultant Frost & Sullivan
says there's little local competition. Given that the market is small—the U.S. cloud market is worth $99 billion—Amazon and Microsoft have the chance to establish themselves early and show
a commitment to the region that will help them win more business.
"We are making decades-long bets. Some of them are more about future growth than current market size," says Julia White, vice president for marketing at Azure.
Geopolitical tensions could complicate plans. That's a risk tech companies have to weigh as they enter these markets, says Matt Scott, vice president for strategy and alliances at Cloudability, a
partner of both AWS and Microsoft. "You do have this constantly evolving political situation in that region, and they will have to make a political calculation," he said.
“But the customers are there.”
More coverage from the Future Forum
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Founders: Ines Mena, Claudia Ribas, Simona Agolini, Nourhan Hassan and Therese Hundt
Date started: January 2017, app launched November 2017
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Private/Retail/Leisure
Number of Employees: 18 employees, including full-time and flexible workers
Funding stage and size: Seed round completed Q4 2019 - $1m raised
Funders: Oman Technology Fund, 500 Startups, Vision Ventures, Seedstars, Mindshift Capital, Delta Partners Ventures, with support from the OQAL Angel Investor Network and UAE Business Angels
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
MATCH INFO
Syria v Australia
2018 World Cup qualifying: Asia fourth round play-off first leg
Venue: Hang Jebat Stadium (Malacca, Malayisa)
Kick-off: Thursday, 4.30pm (UAE)
Watch: beIN Sports HD
* Second leg in Australia scheduled for October 10
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Company%C2%A0profile
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
THE%20SPECS
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Chef Nobu's advice for eating sushi
“One mistake people always make is adding extra wasabi. There is no need for this, because it should already be there between the rice and the fish.
“When eating nigiri, you must dip the fish – not the rice – in soy sauce, otherwise the rice will collapse. Also, don’t use too much soy sauce or it will make you thirsty. For sushi rolls, dip a little of the rice-covered roll lightly in soy sauce and eat in one bite.
“Chopsticks are acceptable, but really, I recommend using your fingers for sushi. Do use chopsticks for sashimi, though.
“The ginger should be eaten separately as a palette cleanser and used to clear the mouth when switching between different pieces of fish.”
Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)
What is THAAD?
It is considered to be the US' most superior missile defence system.
Production:
It was first created in 2008.
Speed:
THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.
Abilities:
THAAD is designed to take out projectiles, namely ballistic missiles, as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".
Purpose:
To protect high-value strategic sites, such as airfields or population centres.
Range:
THAAD can target projectiles both inside and outside of the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 93 miles above the Earth's surface.
Creators:
Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.
UAE and THAAD:
In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then deployed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.
The specs: 2017 Dodge Viper SRT
Price, base / as tested Dh460,000
Engine 8.4L V10
Transmission Six-speed manual
Power 645hp @ 6,200rpm
Torque 813Nm @ 5,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 16.8L / 100km
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
yallacompare profile
Date of launch: 2014
Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
Based: Media City, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: 120 employees
Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)
