With Saudi Arabia one of the most promising markets for cloud computing products and services being the biggest information technology (IT) market in the Gulf region, according to the latest report of Saudi Communications and Information Technology Commission, AWAL IT Services - a leading IT services provider in the Kingdom - announced the launch of AWAL Cloud, a dedicated cloud computing service that enables customers to manage their hosted applications, services and platforms based on their specific business requirements. With AWAL Cloud, customers will be able to decrease pressure resulting from services management, as it works as an independent and flexible service and its cost is limited to the customer needs and usage. AWAL Cloud programs' updates are also automatically executed and the service level control process is easy and flexible. Cloud computing is a marketing term for technologies that provide computation, software, data access, and storage services that do not require end-user knowledge of the physical location and configuration of the system that delivers the services. AWAL Cloud allows organizations to eliminate the substantial costs involved in maintaining their own servers and applications, giving in-house IT engineers greater flexibility to focus on essential projects that bring value to the business. AWAL also offers a range of suitable plans/packages tailored to different business profiles, with the option of upgrading the plan as the business grows. AWAL Cloud delivers premium-quality cloud services through its locally managed data centers, enabling organizations to respond faster to the needs of their business, while driving greater operational efficiencies. AWAL further pointed out that several Saudi companies are now tending to adopt cloud-based services such as Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), as part of a long-term strategy to improve efficiency and boost cost savings. Commenting on AWAL Cloud launch, Nabil bin Ibrahim Alomar, CEO, AWAL, said: “AWAL continuously strives to keep pace with the surge of the local IT market through offering IT services that support its growth. Launching AWAL Cloud highlights our keenness towards providing Cloud Computing solutions that offers a new outlook in developing IT services market. This step further strengthens our position as a unique provider of comprehensive and integrated IT services that addresses all clients' requirements at every stage of their work to increase their efficiency and productivity levels.” A recent study by Hewlett Packard and Coleman Research Group said 85 percent of Saudi companies are expected to adopt cloud technologies during 2012, with the local IT market expected to reach SR29.7 billion by the end of the current year and SR 46.3 by 2015. Moreover, the global cloud computing market continues to gain momentum as it is projected to reach $241 billion in 2020, according to a recent Forrester report. Commenting on AWAL Cloud launch, Nabil bin Ibrahim Alomar, CEO, AWAL, said: “AWAL continuously strives to keep pace with the surge of the local IT market through offering IT services that support its growth. Launching AWAL Cloud highlights our keenness towards providing Cloud Computing solutions that offers a new outlook in developing IT services market. This step further strengthens our position as a unique provider of comprehensive and integrated IT services that addresses all clients' requirements at every stage of their work to increase their efficiency and productivity levels.” Cloud computing is the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices as a utility (like the electricity grid) over a network (typically the Internet). At the foundation of cloud computing is the broader concept of infrastructure convergence (or Converged Infrastructure) and shared services. This type of data center environment allows enterprises to get their applications up and running faster, with easier manageability and less maintenance, and enables IT to more rapidly adjust IT resources (such as servers, storage, and networking) to meet fluctuating and unpredictable business demand. AWAL is a subsidiary of Saudi Telecom Group. It offers a range of services including consulting, managed IT solutions, building IT infrastructure and data center services.
