Oracle expands in Middle East with new cloud region

Oracle has just launched a new cloud region – a complex that is home to at least two data centres – in Abu Dhabi that offers storage capacity to regional corporations as demand continues to soar. This marks the second cloud region of the Austin, Texas-headquartered company in the UAE and its third in the Middle East.

A statement by the firm’s chief information officer Jae Sook Evans to The National noted that the UAE specifically and the Middle East in general are “priority regions” and the firm has made “significant investments” to improve its infrastructure, locational presence, human resources and other support capabilities in the region.

“This long-term commitment from Oracle has translated into massive investments to help organisations of all sizes achieve their digital transformation projects,” said Ms Evans, without disclosing the value of the investment.

The cloud industry has seen a significant boom worldwide. The GCC’s public cloud market is hoped to US$2.4 billion by 2024, marking a value increase of well over 100% and a huge improvement on the previous year’s US$956 million. This was revealed in data published by the International Data Corporation.

For regional corporations, transiting to a cloud system hosted by a specialised provider – such as Oracle, Amazon Web Services or SAP – is a more cost-effective option than establishing their own infrastructure of servers, hardware and security networks. It also cuts the overall cost of ownership.