Oracle, a global provider of cloud computing and technology solutions, has opened its second Cloud Region in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The new Riyadh Cloud Region is part of Oracle’s US$ 1.5 Billion investment to cater to the needs of an economy undergoing rapid digital transformation.
Saudi Arabia has an existing Oracle Cloud Region in Jeddah and another one is expected to come up in the futuristic city of NEOM. With the new Riyadh Cloud Region, Oracle’s footprint has now increased to eight Cloud Regions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
In a LinkedIn post, Nick Redshaw (SVP, Oracle Technology Cloud MEA), said, “Saudi organizations can take advantage of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure’s high performance and built-in security, powerful data, distributed cloud, and disaster recovery capabilities to accelerate AI innovation and enhance business resilience.” He further said, “Oracle’s Saudi cloud regions play an important role in enhancing data sovereignty, driving digital transformation, and empowering businesses across the Kingdom to achieve greater agility and growth.”
Readers would recall the plans for the Riyadh Cloud region and the aforementioned investment had been originally unveiled in February 2023. Oracle had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT).
A lot of the digital transformation in Saudi Arabia is enabled by its favourable business and technology policies, as exemplified by Saudi Vision 2030 which is the Kingdom’s ambitious plan for economic diversification, attracting foreign investment, developing high tech modern infrastructure in exclusive business and leisure zones, as well as building futuristic cities such as NEOM.
Saudi Arabia also has a Cloud First policy which will fuel the growth of Cloud in the Middle Eastern Kingdom. The policy launched in 2020 mandates, “For any new IT investment, civilian government entities should consider Cloud solutions as opposed to internal / traditional solutions.”
Saudi Arabia ended 2023 as the fastest growing data center market in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Today, it has close to two dozen data centers established and operated by major global and regional players such as Gulf Data Hub (GDH), GO Datacenter (Etihad Atheeb Telecom), NourNET, Mobily, etc.
According to Mordor Intelligence, “The Saudi Arabia Data Center Market size is estimated at 345.31 MW in 2024, and is expected to reach 854.81 MW by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 19.88% during the forecast period (2024-2029).”
