IDC to Hold New Roadshow for Datacenter and Cloud Computing

More than 35% of Middle East CIOs are weighing up the implementation of cloud computing projects for 2011, according to International Data Corporation (IDC) as it marked the launch of its inaugural Cloud Computing and Datacenter Roadshow series on 3rd April at Jeddah's Hilton Hotel.

The latest research from the world's premier IT and communications market intelligence and events firm shows that a further 19% plan to implement cloud services, such as infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and software as a service (SaaS) during 2011, with collaboration applications, email, and IT helpdesk proving to be the most popular functionalities for deployment via the cloud.

This all points to a rapid acceleration in the adoption of cloud computing as it reshapes the IT marketplace, creates new opportunities, and catalyzes changes in traditional IT offerings. Indeed, IDC expects spending on public IT cloud services worldwide to grow at five times the projected rate for traditional IT products, reaching $55.5 billion by 2014.

"With cloud computing undoubtedly becoming a market force, it is now widely recognized as one of the most important transformation processes for today's organizations, enabling new businesses to start life unimpeded by the traditional burden of IT and helping existing organizations improve their agility, reduce costs, and closely align their IT functions with the wider business goals," says Margaret Adam, research director for IT services at IDC Middle East, Africa, and Turkey. "With the increasing pressure placed on budgets, the need to consolidate and rationalize infrastructure, and the growing desire to economically and quickly provide services to a mobile, widely distributed workforce, it comes as no surprise that cloud computing is becoming a major consideration in the region."

It is against this backdrop of intense interest and staggering growth that IDC adds the Cloud Computing and Datacenter Roadshow to its portfolio of cutting-edge industry events. Hosting more than 1,400 of the region's most prominent IT decision makers as it travels across the Middle East, Africa, and Turkey over the next six months, the conference series will feature senior industry thought leaders from the world's most pioneering vendors addressing a wide array of critical issues in the field of cloud computing and datacenter adoption, including:

• The benefits and perils of moving beyond virtualization and into the cloud
• Process management and getting the most out of server virtualization
• Desktop virtualization and the compatibility of mobility and business continuity
• The ability of storage virtualization to tame data growth
• Managed datacenter services and the adoption of private cloud technologies
• Security and its impact on the selection of cloud suppliers
• The provision of a secure power supply to the datacenter

IDC is teaming up with a host of leading vendors for the Cloud Computing and Datacenter Roadshow 2011, ensuring that the conference series covers all the very latest technology developments. APC by Schneider Electric, Accenture, Dell, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Mobily, NetApp, with Trend Micro as Platinum Partners, while BMC Software, Cisco, Oracle, and Devoteam are all Gold Partners. Global Knowledge has signed up as a Silver Partner, and the Exhibition Partners are made up of Brocade, SquareOne Technologies, and Open Text. The full tour train is scheduled for Lagos Nigeria on the 18th of May 2011 at the Eko Hotels Victoria Island.