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cross the GCC and the wider region,
organisations of all sizes and
industry verticals are ramping up
their Digital Transformation with a focus on
leveraging technology to enhance employee,
citizen and customer experiences.
As a result, the Middle East and North
Africa’s digital customer experience market
is set to reach a record high of US$800
million, according to a recent report by Micro
Market Monitor.
“Saudi Vision 2030 is catalysing growth in
transport and logistics, including with Smart
Cities; expansion of ports, airports, and
urban transit infrastructure; and malls and
travel – all key for customer experiences,”
said Mohammed Alkhotani, Managing
Director, SAP Saudi Arabia. “The Middle East’s
record-high customer experience market
shows how Saudi firms can leverage GITEX to
prioritise the end-to-end customer experience
to optimise costs, productivity, scalability, and
business competitiveness.”
Intelligent CIO spoke to Ahmed Al-Faifi,
Senior Vice President and Managing
Director, SAP Middle East North, about the
company’s activities in the region.
What has SAP been doing in the
Middle East in the past 12 months?
SAP laid the foundations a couple of years
ago and year on year we are growing in the
cloud around 40% to 60%.
And with SAP putting data centres in the
region in the UAE and Saudi, we will now
focus on the public sector in this region
because they insist on having their data
hosted in the region.
Cloud can also enable digital business
innovation. For example, recent YouGov
surveys of the region’s IT decision-makers,
including 83% in Saudi Arabia and 76%
in the UAE, indicated that having a cloud
foundation is mandatory to move on to the
next technologies like Artificial Intelligence
and Blockchain.
What are the reasons for the rapid
adoption of cloud in the region?
Number one. There has not been enough
investment in the past in digital systems across
www.intelligentcio.com
Ahmed Al-Faifi, Senior Vice President and
Managing Director, SAP Middle East North
“
BUSINESSES ARE
BECOMING VERY
COMPETITIVE
WHICH MEANS
THEY ARE
LEVERAGING
DIGITAL
TECHNOLOGIES.
many industries and customer segments. The
lack of IT application legacy has also created
the opportunity for Middle East organisations
to move to the cloud directly.
The second reason is businesses are
becoming very competitive which means
they are leveraging digital technologies to
become competitive.
What are the requirements of your
Middle East customers?
They are no different to any customers in
any other region because the challenges are
the same.
INTELLIGENTCIO
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