GITEX Technology Week 2012 will host Cloud Confex under the theme “Business Innovation through Cloud Computing – From Hype to a Must-Have Service Model”.
Organisers expect participation at Cloud Confex to grow by 25% this year having already established itself as largest and most influential conference and exhibition of its kind in the Middle East.
The event takes place at GITEX Technology Week, which runs from October 14–18, 2012, at Dubai World Trade Centre. Cloud Confex will consolidate its reputation as the premier route to market via two days of intense conferencing and a five-day exhibition graced by leading international players (last year 80% of the top global cloud computing brands were present), the company said.
According to The Five Faces of the Cloud study recently released by global business consulting firm Bain & Company, cloud computing product and service revenue is set to rise from approximately $20 billion today to nearly $150 billion by 2020, which will constitute around 8% of all technology spend. The study also notes that faster growing companies (greater than 10% per year) use 144% more cloud services than slower-growing companies. In addition, CIOs entering their position within the last year will have 141% more of their environment in the cloud than a longer tenured CIO (greater than six years), and that for certain workloads over the next three to five years, cloud pricing will be 30% to 40% lower than legacy technology.
Similarly, an IDC report commissioned by Microsoft recently indicated that cloud computing will create nearly 14 million new jobs globally by 2015, including over two million in Europe, Middle East and Africa. IDC’s research also estimated revenues from cloud innovation could reach $1.1 trillion per year by 2015, which, combined with cloud efficiencies, will drive significant organisational reinvestment and job growth. In the MEA region itself, another IDC study notes that 73% of polled decision makers acknowledge that the cloud offers significant, tangible benefits, and anticipation at its sheer potential is mounting ahead of Cloud Confex’s ambitious agenda.
According to organisers, Cloud Confex will feature insights on pressing issues, keynotes led by cloud computing thought leaders, panel discussions and exclusive networking break-out sessions. Topics tackled will include the state of the cloud today, the next stages in its evolution, evolving market trends, dominant market player insight, privacy challenges and a spotlight on cloud computing technologies, it was reported.
As in previous years, Cloud Confex will feature a host of speakers such as Tareq Alemadi, head of IT at the Private Office of Her Highness Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser, Qatar’s First Lady and the Chairperson of Qatar Foundation. He will be joined by a line-up of fellow experts, including Nigel Hattersley, Middle East regional director of IT at Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Dr Jassim Haji, director of IT at Gulf Air and Daniele Catteddu, MD for Cloud Security Alliance’s EMEA operations, among others.
Prominent vendors such as HP and Dell, other key cloud computing sponsors already signed up for Cloud Confex include Emerson, F5 Networks, Symantec and Wyse, it was reported.
“Cloud computing has the potential to change the way every single organisation across the world functions,” said Trixee Loh, senior VP at Dubai World Trade Centre, which organises GITEX. “The MEA region in particular, with its wide-ranging development plans and ambitious economic diversification agendas, is likely to benefit from these massively influential trends. GITEX Technology Week is proud to be at the cutting-edge in this respect, highlighting the key players, shaping the conversation and laying the foundations for the future.”
