Saudi CIO’s envisage bigger budgets

Saudi CIO’s envisage bigger budgets

More than 80% of Saudi-based CIOs expect their IT budgets to increase over the next 12 months, according to a survey conducted by International Data Corporation (IDC) ahead of its Saudi CIO Summit 2014, which was held to wide acclaim in Riyadh on September 9 and 10. Designed to ascertain the IT spending priorities of Saudi CIOs and understand the challenges they face during this period of ongoing IT transformation, the survey assessed the impact of emerging IT trends on the buying behavior of a wide range of vertical markets.

“The rising budgets will inevitably translate into an increase in overall ICT spending, with the primary drivers being investments in the so-called 3rd Platform for innovation and growth, namely cloud, mobile, social, and big data technologies,” says Hamza Naqshbandi, senior manager for IT services at IDC Middle East, Turkey and Africa. “Additionally, the survey found that Saudi organisations are gradually opening up to the idea of engaging third parties to take over the management of their IT environments.”

Private cloud remains one of the top priorities of Saudi CIOs, with 22% of the respondents planning to implement such solutions in a bid to drive organisational efficiency and productivity, and thereby gain a competitive advantage. The most common drivers of cloud adoption include cost savings due to better resource utilisation, quick deployment and maintenance, and scalability.

On the other hand, demand for public cloud remains low, with CIOs still put off by the numerous associated security risks. However, demand is expected to pick up slowly as international public cloud providers strengthen their focus on the Saudi market and work to assuage the fears that currently hamper adoption. Mobility also features high on the list of CIO priorities in the Kingdom, with 15% of the survey respondents citing plans to mobilise enterprise applications over the coming 12 months.

While the immediate outlook for CIO budgets is certainly promising, the future may not be so plain sailing. Just over half of the CIOs questioned by IDC expect it to become much more difficult to secure bloated IT budgets in the years to come as organisations increasingly strive to become leaner.

Meanwhile, 67% identified the management of IT security as a key concern for the future, with the constantly evolving threat landscape only serving to heighten the risk profile of many Saudi organisations. Another commonly cited cause of frustration was the scarcity of advanced IT skills in the region, with CIOs facing extreme difficulty in finding and retaining qualified talent for critical emerging technologies such as mobility and analytics.

About the Research

IDC’s Saudi CIO’s 2014 Agenda: Opportunity for IT and Cloud Services (IDC Doc # CEMA21651) report offers a detailed overview of CIO priorities for the coming years. The study provides highlights from the results of the survey, as well as in-depth analysis of the key challenges related to IT and cloud services.

 

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