(MENAFN- The Peninsula) deepak john |
The Peninsula
Qatar has accelerated its digital transformation journey through continued investment in the latest technologies and the country is committed to supporting a strong and smart ICT sector discussed experts at the International Data Corporation (IDC) Qatar event.
The 2023 edition of the IDC Cloud & Datacenter Roadshow addressed the theme 'Leveraging the Economics and Sustainability of Cloud in the Digital Era' during which experts examined the current state of the Qatar cloud market. It explored topics such as cloud management, security, governance, orchestration, sustainability, and customer engagement as they present proven strategies for implementing digital-first business models, accelerating development and delivery, and enabling innovation.
Harish Dunakhe, IDC's research director for software and cloud in the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa delivered the keynote address outlining the latest developments in the Middle East's cloud landscape. He said,“Across the region, cloud is serving as a catalyst for the transition to digital business, and we are seeing an accelerated shift toward a 'tech-as-a-service' economy.”
“Cloud-centric operating models are becoming integral to the process of modernising IT environments, and digital transformation imperatives are increasingly driving organisations to embrace a multicloud approach. These multicloud platforms form the foundation of innovation; however, they also create fresh challenges for CIOs in terms of security and manageability,” he added.
During a panel discussion entitled 'Identifying the Building Blocks of Your Cloud Strategy', panellists discussed about leveraging cloud to shape a successful digital transformation journey. They highlighted the recent ICT Forum held in Qatar which discussed key topics about the development of the ICT sector, the latest digital trends and commitment for adopting technology like cloud to drive the Qatar's National Vision 2030.
Muneer Elakhras, Group Head of ICT, Qatar General Insurance & Reinsurance Co said,“When you start the cloud journey you need to find out the business-driven motive. The driver of the cloud technology is not for the sake of having the cloud as your service provider or technology but it has to be driven by business requirement which will lead to the basic building blocks.”
Chetiya Perera, Vice President, Global Methodology and Oversight, Global IT & IS Audit Group, Internal Audit Division, Qatar National Bank said,“Cloud adoption is not just a technology change, it is more than that, it changes your policies, procedures and tools. Also, cloud brings flexibility, speed, and agility.
“We are doing the cloud migration because it provides lot of benefits but the benefits depends on how much the employees embrace the change of this new technology.”
He added,“In terms of connectivity, cloud provides ease of connectivity which is one of the benefits of cloud environment. Each device or point that is connected is a source of data and this data can be accumulated in the cloud environment.”
A case study about cloud transformation was presented by John Mankarios, Vice President, Information Technology, QInvest. The second panel discussed on the topic 'Cloud Is Defining the Success of Your Digital Transformation Strategy' which included Amr Metwally, Assistant Executive Director, Itqan Clinical Simulation & Innovation Center, Hamad Medical Corporation; Fateh Abu Hijleh, Head of IT, Darwish Engineering; and Jeff Kersting, Director of Innovation & Technology, American School of Doha.