Why is the Middle East cloud cautious?
Authors
Alhaj Mohammed, Aws
Issue Date
2016
Degree
MBA in Cloud Computing
Publisher
Rights holder
Rights
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Abstract
Cloud computing is the new big trend in the IT industry, providing companies with the latest cutting edge technology and infinite computing resources at the press of a button in a new efficient pay per use cost effective model, reducing the upfront costs requirements out of the way of businesses and entrepreneurs. Research suggests that despite all the progress and growth cloud computing have made over the years, specially in the SMEs market, The region of Middle East is still among the lowest globally in terms of cloud adoption rates and technology maturity. Kuwait is a country with high GDP, and the third largest computer market in the region, moreover, the country has average peak Internet speed of 36.4 Mbps, Kuwait is among the top 20 worldwide. The recent shake in the oil and gas prices have lead local SMEs to search for new ways to help them optimize the costs and expand there market reach to ensure business continuity. The purposed of this dissertation is to identify the reasons behind having the Middle East region lagging behind the global market in terms of cloud adoption. This research is aimed for setting a foundation for further academic work, that could be extended to cover the region as a whole, and clear some ambiguity around the market, moreover, the research is aimed for companies and more specifically SMEs to help them overcome the fear of the cloud by clarifying the adoption obstacles and how they could be addressed from different perspectives and experiences, by finding the factors that influence the adoption and the reasons why the Middle East is still cautious about the usage of the cloud yet in 2016. Author keywords: Cloud computing, emerging markets, adoption, SME, adoption, MENA, Middle East, Kuwait, ISP