At the SAP RISE on the Road event, held in Doha this week with strategic partners Deloitte and Google Cloud, SAP SE underscored the impact and importance of cloud computing which has taken precedence during the COVID-19 pandemic.
With digital transformation fueling change in Qatar’s business environment, both public and private sector organizations have seen a demand for agile and scalable IT infrastructures that are not only efficient but quick to adapt to changing scenarios, enable seamless adoption of new technologies and encourage new business models.
According to a recent survey in Qatar by SAP in partnership with YouGov, there has been a large-scale organizational shift towards cloud and digital transformation during the pandemic period, with more than 60% of respondents in Qatar stating that COVID-19 has significantly accelerated their digital transformation efforts. 80% of Qatar-based CIOs agreed that technology is vital to the improved delivery of customer and citizen services. In addition to this, 40% of CIOs in Qatar plan to invest in cloud solutions in 2022 and an equal percentage will also invest in artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies. More than half of the CIOs surveyed said that digital skills development is a major priority for their organization this year.
Commenting on these market trends, Alaa Jaber, Managing Director, SAP, Qatar, said, “Cloud computing and services is the crucial step in Qatar’s technological and resulting economic growth space today. With SAP, cloud is not just about infrastructure, but more about innovation. With SAP’s solutions, a growing number of organizations in Qatar are able to better modernize, standardize and digitize, resulting in new business models and revenue streams. With this new model, cloud services are the true enablers of tomorrow’s highest value solutions, today.”
Speaking at the RISE with SAP event, Ghassan Kosta, Qatar Country Manager, Google Cloud, also mentioned: “We believe in enabling smarter decisions across an organization and confidently building and investing into cloud services. Thanks to Google Cloud Services, our customers in Doha can successfully and efficiently manage their SAP workloads while using our infrastructure to deepen insights through statistical data analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning.”
Rohan Sawhney, Partner, Consulting, Deloitte Middle East, added: “We believe that cloud infrastructure is the ideal solution for both new and existing organizations. This approach reduces the total cost of IT ownership and simplifies it, all while scaling infrastructure, reducing maintenance, and accelerating business transformation. By working with SAP as our partner, Deloitte is delivering cloud solutions today that enable tomorrow’s more digital world.”
The RISE on the Road roadshow, which is making a stop at major cities across the Middle East as well as Europe and Africa, also saw Qatar-based leaders across industries and the eco-system coming together, with SAP showcasing its latest technologies and services targeted at organizations to better grow toward complete digital transformation.
