While the UAE is emerging as a significant source of demand for IT outsourcing services, it is struggling to compete with more established nations to become an outsourcing destination.
On Tuesday, the SS Lootah group, a local business conglomerate, announced its information technology division will open an offshore development centre in the Indian state of Kerala.
Lootah Information Technology Services (Lits) will use the centre to develop and maintain software systems for the company's GCC clients. The company joins businesses like Emirates airline and Dubai World in working with the Indian outsourcing industry on key technology projects.
Lits had been working with IT firms in India for some time, said Abdullah Saeed Lootah, the company's chief executive. "As a natural progression, we are now looking to establish our permanent base in India, known for its IT stronghold and skilled manpower," he said.
Authorities in the UAE have long spoken of their ambition to turn the country into a hi-tech hub that global companies turn to when looking for advanced IT services.
But the realities of a serious skills shortage, skyrocketing costs and increasingly competitive industries in nearby nations like Egypt and Jordan have challenged this vision. Instead, a new trend has arisen, with major Indian outsourcers opening local offices to offer closer customer support, regional customisation and increased sales efforts.
In 2005, the Government of Dubai, through its Tecom Investments wing, established the Dubai Outsource Zone (DOZ). Offering 100 per cent foreign ownership, no taxes and full repatriation of profits, the DOZ aimed to attract at least 200 companies to the free zone by 2010. Less than 50 are active there today.
The largest domestic outsourcing business is Injazat Data Systems, a joint venture between the Mubadala Development Company, an investment business run by the Abu Dhabi Government, and EDS, the US-based IT services company that recently merged with Hewlett-Packard.
"Of course the rising costs of inflation play a part in the cost of a service," said Eddie Cunningham, the head of marketing at Injazat. "But you can counter that by increasing the levels of automation and efficiency."
Injazat will open a new US$100 million (Dh367.3m) data centre in Khalifa bin Zayed city in the coming months. It will be considered a "Tier IV" centre according to industry standards, meaning it will essentially never need to close for maintenance, with data stored there being available 99.995 per cent of the time.
"That's how you keep your costs down," said Mr Cunningham. "Better technology will keep us competitive. And companies outsource for different reasons, not all of them cost-related."
@Email:tgara@thenational.ae
Specs
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Company profile
Name: Thndr
Started: October 2020
Founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: pre-seed of $800,000
Funding stage: series A; $20 million
Investors: Tiger Global, Beco Capital, Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, Global Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Plus VC, Rabacap and MSA Capital
Match info
Wolves 0
Arsenal 2 (Saka 43', Lacazette 85')
Man of the match: Shkodran Mustafi (Arsenal)
Day 1 results:
Open Men (bonus points in brackets)
New Zealand 125 (1) beat UAE 111 (3)
India 111 (4) beat Singapore 75 (0)
South Africa 66 (2) beat Sri Lanka 57 (2)
Australia 126 (4) beat Malaysia -16 (0)
Open Women
New Zealand 64 (2) beat South Africa 57 (2)
England 69 (3) beat UAE 63 (1)
Australia 124 (4) beat UAE 23 (0)
New Zealand 74 (2) beat England 55 (2)
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Profile of MoneyFellows
Founder: Ahmed Wadi
Launched: 2016
Employees: 76
Financing stage: Series A ($4 million)
Investors: Partech, Sawari Ventures, 500 Startups, Dubai Angel Investors, Phoenician Fund
SNAPSHOT
While Huawei did launch the first smartphone with a 50MP image sensor in its P40 series in 2020, Oppo in 2014 introduced the Find 7, which was capable of taking 50MP images: this was done using a combination of a 13MP sensor and software that resulted in shots seemingly taken from a 50MP camera.
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