Infotech Lead Middle East: Escalating number of attacks on web services in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is one of the most spammed countries worldwide, has lent impetus to the cloud computing security market in the country.
The growing use of cloud services in the next few years, especially in non-traditional verticals such as retail and logistics, will drive the demand for cloud computing security solutions in the country.
The cloud computing market in the UAE earned revenues of more than $8.7 million in 2012 and estimates this to reach $72.3 million by 2019.
Large enterprises are set to be the chief revenue generators for cloud security suppliers in the long run.
Though the UAE is yet to witness a shift to cloud computing, a number of benefits offered by the new model of delivering IT will eventually encourage its adoption among businesses in the country. This will boost demand for cloud security solutions, particularly in sensitive verticals such as public sector, oil and gas, and banking, financial services and insurance sectors.
“The popularity of social media and the substantial increase in social website threats, such as identity thefts, have prompted several companies to scout for security applications capable of meeting their security needs,” said Frost & Sullivan Information and Communication Technologies Research Analyst.
Nearly 1.5 million victims of cybercrime in the UAE in 2011 were chiefly scammed through social networking websites; hence, the implementation of cloud security systems is expected to go up.
The profit margins of third party security service providers are also on the rise as the lack of regulations and official standards for cloud computing compel users in the country to turn to third party solutions. On the flip side, the absence of regulations results in security issues and transparency concerns that affect consumer confidence.
Low awareness among enterprises further contributes to the challenge, and providers must educate local businesses on the benefits of cloud security services to sustain uptake. Cloud providers need to market their security capabilities, which involve physical security as well as the protection of customer data from various risks including corruption and cyber-attacks.
To overcome security concerns at various levels, vendors in the UAE should direct their attention to the integration of robust security enforcement tools. Building partnerships with key local and international cloud service providers will widen market reach.
Due to widely spread opinion that private cloud has better security layers and latency, private cloud solutions will become the dominant cloud model in the UAE. Therefore, focus on private cloud security solutions will pay dividends for cloud solution providers.
