How the cloud is helping the UAE's digital transformation

Dubai - Cloud tech underpins all innovative technologies like IoT, blockchain and AI

The cloud sector has transformed in the UAE in recent years. Naturally, this has had a wide-ranging effect on corporates and individuals, who count on it to streamline their business and integrate it with other key technologies that are increasingly becoming more important in this fast-changing digital world.
UAE a role model
Cloud-led digital transformation is certainly on the rise in the UAE. Businesses now realise that cloud technologies enable agility, facilitate innovation and help achieve better return on investment.
IDC estimates that digital transformation spending in the Meta region will surpass $32 billion by 2021 and will be a key driver for ICT spending. Furthermore, IDC also suggests that building "digital business at scale" will lead to organisations in the Meta region adopting a 'cloud-first' or 'cloud-only' approach, with spending on public cloud services crossing $1.1 billion in 2018.
Digital transformation is also at the centre of key national strategies including the UAE's strategies for artificial intelligence, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, blockchain, data, the Internet of Things and autonomous transportation. These initiatives are aimed at driving the country's socio-economic growth by offering a world-class experience to citizens, residents and visitors, and creating a conducive environment for nurturing innovation, attracting investments and driving business growth.  

Security: What users need to follow
Oracle predicts that in 2018, enterprise security will become company job No.1 and much of it will be automated. With today's 'borderless enterprise', as a result of the cloud, mobile and edge technologies like IoT, there is a general consensus that there is no such thing as 'total security'. As a result, business information can no longer be protected by the IT team trying to create digital castles and restrict access.
The cybersecurity environment can be compared to having a nice house in a really bad neighbourhood. You would either want to invest in layered defense and protect your key assets or leave the neighbourhood altogether.
We will see an increasing focus on security amongst companies, especially with new regulations such as GDPR coming in with their associated penalties for failure.
We will also see more companies turning to the cloud for security. Oracle research shows that the more mature users recognize that cloud provides better security than on premise environments. In fact, we expect to see more and more CEOs to come from the cybersecurity space, because they know how to manage risk.
From a strategy perspective, it is recommended that an organisations' cyberdefence approach is aligned with the relevant security frameworks. Most of the spending in IT security is focused either on network or the endpoint security. If you know anything about IT security, antivirus and firewalls are going to be first thing that come to your mind. They are only part of the solution, however.
Oragnisations should practice defence in depth which means applying security controls to every asset and every level of your environment. This mapping needs to be efficient, and cost of the security control needs to be mapped to the value of the asset.
Put security controls as close to your data as you can and don't be afraid of the cloud. It is a shared responsibility model when it comes to the security and leading cloud vendors always put into place strong security measures.
Cloud with IoT, big data, etc
Cloud technology underpins all innovative 'edge' technologies like IoT, blockchain and AI. Some of these operate in on premise environment currently but going forward all enhancements and improvements will be done in the cloud. The advantages of the cloud are many: lower cost, lower risk, higher security and greater agility. The most transformational technology to emerge in the cloud is autonomous services: self-driving, self-repairing, self-securing. 
Autonomous technology is a game-changer. This would not be possible without the cloud being available and prevalent. A major percentage of worldwide business applications already reside in the cloud, and we estimate that by 2020, 50 per cent of enterprise data will be managed autonomously in the cloud, while more than 80 per cent of business applications will have a component of AI in them, all running in the cloud.
Myths debunked
One of the main reasons enterprises continue to resist the cloud is security of their data. Companies are worried that they have too many integration to smoothly move to the cloud, and/or are afraid that they may have reduced control over their data.
Although all these concerns are valid during the transition process, the focal obstacle that prevents cloud adoption is maturity and mindset. Businesses must take a bolder approach now by aggressively learning and seeking proper consultation for what their business needs, and which cloud solutions they should opt for. Once they venture into the world of the cloud, they will be able to innovate and transform their businesses and will certainly witness possibilities that weren't even possible without the cloud.
This long-term commitment by cloud providers has translated into massive investment to help organisations of all sizes, in public and private sectors, continuously develop and grow with innovative applications and technologies. The cloud, IoT, Big Data, AI, blockchain and autonomous technologies are some of the most advanced and recent innovations introduced in the region.
The writer is senior vice-president for business applications in ECEMEA at Oracle. Views expressed are his own and do not reflect the newspaper's policy.