Author: Ismail Patel

Iranian Attacks on GCC Data Centers Put Tech Infrastructure Investment Risks into Sharp Focus

by Ismail Patel, posted in Big Data
A person with a beard speaking into a microphone at a conference, with an audience in the background.
I. Patel

Summary Bullets:

• Military strikes by Iran damaged AWS data centers in the UAE and Bahrain, highlighting vulnerability of the region’s data centers.

• Foreign investors, local tech decision makers, and insurance firms are now revisiting the calculus of risk in the data center boom.

Earlier this week, AWS data centers – two Availability Zones (AZ) in the UAE and another in Bahrain, all part of the AWS ME-Central-1 Region – suffered physical damage in escalatory strikes by Iran. The attacks disrupted 73 core services in the Bahrain AZ; at the time of writing, as per information shared by the AWS Health Dashboard, AWS stated that only 33 services were resolved. In the UAE, of the 112 impacted AWS services, only three have been resolved while others still face severe disruption or degradation. AWS strongly advised customers to enact disaster recovery plans and migrate workloads to unaffected AWS Regions in Europe, APAC, and the US.

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Safaricom’s Deal with SaaS Company tappi Highlights Importance of Startups in Africa’s Tech Ecosystem

by Ismail Patel, posted in Cloud Enable, Mobilize
I. Patel

Summary Bullets:

  • Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) startup tappi teamed up with Safaricom’s mobile platform M-PESA to improve the digital presence of M-PESA’s small and medium business (SMB) users.
  • The partnership provides SMBs with tools that scale their operations, enhance their customer engagement, and boost their online visibility in the digital space.

tappi, a Kenyan e-commerce SaaS startup, teamed up with Kenya incumbent and African operator group Safaricom to support its mobile payments platform M-PESA’s network of 650,000 Kenyan SMBs to improve their digital presence. The partnership provides SMBs with tools that scale their operations, enhance their customer engagement, and boost their online visibility to capitalize on the opportunity in the digital space.

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Tencent is Eyeing Overseas Markets as the Chinese Tech Market Fast Approaches Maturity

by Ismail Patel, posted in Big Data, Cloud Enable
I. Patel

Summary Bullets:

• Tencent is looking to expand globally to increase revenues. It is targeting a variety of industries in South-East Asia and the Middle East & Africa.

• As a software-only company, Tencent is less susceptible to western regulation potentially curtailing its activities.

Tencent’s recent Analyst Day and subsequent Ecosystem Summit this month was the vehicle used by the company to announce it is looking beyond China in earnest to expand and deploy its cloud and software solutions. Two regions were highlighted as key expansion areas: South-East Asia ex-China and Middle East & Africa.

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Turkcell’s Initiatives Will Play a Central Role in Turkey’s Ambitions as a Regional Data Center Hub

by Ismail Patel, posted in Big Data, Cloud Enable, IT Leader
I. Patel

Summary Bullets:

• News of Turkcell’s $27 billion investment over its 30-year span will spur further development in the country’s technology infrastructure as the operator seeks to sell a quarter of its shares, possibly to a wealthy Gulf player.

• With this announcement, Turkcell is positioning itself strategically in Turkey as the go-to operator for enterprise solutions for government and large enterprises, and it is presenting itself as an indispensable partner for B2B services.

Turkish telecoms operator Turkcell disclosed it has invested $27 billion in communications and technology since its founding in 1994, of which $350 million have been allocated to data center technology. While this represents a meager 1.3% of the total investment, GlobalData expects the figure to ramp up significantly as the telecoms operator moves away from legacy products, services, and solutions to B2B and enterprise. GlobalData’s revenue forecast for Turkey’s data center and hosting market is growth from $551 million in 2023 to $729 million, representing a CAGR of 6.8%. The telecoms operator says its objective is to make the country a ‘global data hub.’ In order to maximize this opportunity, on July 11, 2024, Turkcell announced a new data subsidiary, TDC, which now operates as a standalone entity. Turkcell states it has evolved from a telecoms operator to an end-to-end technology provider.

Continue reading “Turkcell’s Initiatives Will Play a Central Role in Turkey’s Ambitions as a Regional Data Center Hub” →

Significance of Ooredoo-Nvidia Tie-Up Extends Beyond the Deal Itself

by Ismail Patel, posted in Big Data, Cloud Enable
I. Patel

Summary Bullets:

• Qatar-based telecoms group Ooredoo and US chipmaker Nvidia signed a deal for Ooredoo to buy and deploy thousands of Nvidia graphic processing units (GPUs).

• Ooredoo will build its AI cloud services platform and offer GPU-as-a-service to customers across its footprint: Qatar, Algeria, Kuwait, Tunisia, Oman, and the Maldives.

In one of the most significant moves made by any telecoms operator in MENA to turbocharge AI capabilities, Ooredoo Group is boosting its 26 data centers by incorporating Nvidia’s high-density GPUs. It is also becoming the region’s first Nvidia Cloud Provider. As a result, Ooredoo will develop an AI – and an ML-ready platform powered by Nvidia’s stack of software and services, including generative AI (GenAI).

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A Sino-Centric Approach by Gulf Nations and Telcos Should be an Alarm Bell for Western Tech

by Ismail Patel, posted in Big Data, IT Leader, Network, Secure
I. Patel

Summary Bullets:

• For China, brokering political stability in the Middle East means investment opportunities. It is working at both in tandem as an overture to its long-term strategic interests in the region.

• Policy and government diktat will not compensate for the fragmented approach by Western governments and tech companies when challenging the likes of Huawei in eastern markets.

After a seven-year stand-off that involved the Saudi and Iranian Embassies gathering dust in each other’s countries, Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) announced a rapprochement with Tehran (Iran) under the auspices of Beijing (China) on March 10, 2023. This was a surprise announcement made by representatives from the two countries attending a summit in China with analysts across all sectors pouring over what it means. Technology is one sector that is worthy of analysis comment to determine the wider implications for the international technology market.

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E&’s New Partner Networks Program Looks to Extend its Reach and Influence Globally

by Ismail Patel, posted in Communicate, IT Leader, Mobilize, Network
I. Patel

Summary Bullets:

• Etisalat by e& is making moves to share its expertise with telcos across the world that may not be able to afford next-gen B2B services.

• Etisalat by e& will look to increase its B2B credentials through a network of partners beyond its operational footprint without having to go through complex M&As.

UAE telecoms incumbent Etisalat by e& (e&) has launched its new business program called ‘e& Partner Networks.’ The move is an attempt by the operator, which is sitting on large piles of cash reserves, to increase its influence on the global stage as a credible B2B partner.

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With Atos Partnership, ZainTech Is Positioning Itself to Capitalize on Next-Gen Enterprise Services Boom in MENA

by Ismail Patel, posted in Cloud Enable, IT Leader, Secure
I. Patel

Summary Bullets:

  • After it consolidated its digital and enterprise divisions into ZainTech in late 2021, the deal with Atos is a signal of Zain Group’s strategic direction.
  • The partnership with Atos is part of Zain’s strategy to allow ZainTech to enter into deals with major enterprise vendors and grow organic revenue by selling next-gen enterprise services to regional clients.

Zain Group announced a partnership with French technology company Atos to provide digital transformation services to ZainTech enterprise customers in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The deal comprises the provision of the following three services: a round-the-clock managed cybersecurity solution, a cloud solution to help businesses deliver next-gen digital technologies, and an end-to-end video analytics platform for customizable AI models (e.g., Atos Computer Vision Platform).

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With DataRobot Partnership, e& Moves Forward with Its Strategy to Reform into a Tech Company

by Ismail Patel, posted in Big Data
I. Patel

Summary Bullets:

• The deal with DataRobot is the first major announcement after Etisalat Digital rebranded to e& enterprise.

• The AI-as-a-Service (AIaaS) solution targets customers in a variety of verticals, which will help e& achieve organic revenue growth and refashion itself from a telco into a tech company.

e& enterprise, part of e& (previously branded Etisalat Group), entered into a three-year partnership with US AI platform provider DataRobot, to launch enterprise AlaaS. DataRobot will enable e& enterprise customers to leverage AIaaS for deploying AI and ML solutions at scale without the need for deep data science expertise. AIaaS enables organizations to build and deploy AI solutions more quickly and at a lower cost compared to initiatives that rely primarily on in-house resources, thus accelerating ‘time-to-value.’ Customers of e& enterprise will be able to adopt the AIaaS offering, powered by a locally deployed DataRobot platform. Continue reading “With DataRobot Partnership, e& Moves Forward with Its Strategy to Reform into a Tech Company” →