Amazon Web Services has been working in the Middle East to serve a growing base of customers since the early days of cloud computing. In January 2017, AWS opened offices in the region to serve this rapidly growing customer base and now has a presence in UAE & Bahrain.
With AWS recently announcing new data centres in Bahrain in 2019 and its first AWS Edge Network Location for the Gulf in the UAE, can you please elaborate on your upcoming plans and preparations in the region?
The announcement of the data centres in Bahrain, to be available in 2019, will bring flexible, affordable, reliable, and secure cloud computing technologies close to end users in the Middle East, and will help organisations speed up their digital transformation initiatives and more rapidly innovate for the citizens of the region. The AWS Edge Network Location in the UAE will be available in 2018, and will bring access to key services to improve end user experience including faster content delivery and cybersecurity protection solutions to the region.
AWS is also supporting the advancement of technology education across the Middle East, making AWS Training and Certification pro-grams available to customers. In the education sector, AWS is supporting the development of technology and cloud computing skills at local universities through the AWS Educate and Academy programs, providing students and educators with the resources needed to accelerate cloud-related learning.
Can you highlight any major customer wins across the region in 2017 (highlighting existing customers), and what are the key solutions and services that you provide for these organisations?
Organizations across the Middle East have been increasingly moving their mission-critical applications to AWS. Middle Eastern start-ups like Alpha Apps, Anghami, Careem, DevFactory, Dubizzle, Fetchr, Genie9, Mawdoo3.com, Namshi, Payfort, and Tajawal are building their businesses on top of AWS, enabling them to scale rapidly and expand around the world. Enterprises in the Middle East, such as Actel, Al Tayer Group, Batelco flydubai, MBC, Silah Gulf, Union Insurance, and United Arab Shipping as well as government originations such as the Bahrain iGA, Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Justice, are also using AWS to drive cost savings, accelerate innovation, and better serve the citizens of the region.
One of the key reasons that customers use AWS is the breadth of functionality that exists in AWS. AWS has more than 90 services that range from compute, storage, networking, database, analytics, application services, deployment, management, developer, mobile, IoT, Artificial Intelligence (AI), security, hybrid, and enterprise applications.
Can you share your thoughts on the future of AI in the Middle East and how AWS is helping to drive this technology trend to customers and businesses?
In the past, anyone who wanted to use this technology had to start from scratch. Today, AI and ML technologies are available on the AWS cloud, at the click of a mouse, and they can be called up according to individual requirements. Even users who are not specialists can very easily and affordably incorporate the building blocks into their own services. In particular small and medium-sized companies can benefit as they do not have to learn any complex AI or ML algorithms or technologies and they can start experimenting straight away without incurring high costs. Similarly, cloud technologies, including AI, can help governments that are looking to innovate and develop new ways for engaging and serving citizens.