Desktop virtualisation and cloud technologies will further penetrate into all sizes of enterprise and into new industry sectors. We will see a push towards building private clouds in larger enterprises that enable workforce mobility, flexibility and drive down overall operational costs of managing IT assets. Service delivery from IT to end users will come to the fore, and availability of these services on any device and access from any location will be the key to success.
More priority will be given to value added distributors and value added resellers as enterprises continue to expect more from their investments. Channel players who work around price will find it increasingly difficult to survive in a value-orientated marketplace. Smaller scale value added resellers will begin to undertake larger projects and hence will become more dominant in the market. Channel partners who realise this shift early will succeed over the medium to long term and will reshape the current mix of resellers and solution providers.
End user demands are predicted to vary as the market that followed the economic crisis demands more service for a lower price, creating a competitive market situation where the end user has chance to set the rules. This situation is likely to lead channel communities to explore alternative means of generating income in order to survive price challenges of the market.
Overall regional growth will most likely be flat or small positive. UAE as an IT market will continue to grow because of large infrastructure advancement in Abu Dhabi. Saudi Arabia will continue to follow its upward trajectory especially in sectors relating to government, education and healthcare. Egypt’s political volatility will affect businesses for the next 12 months making it a difficult market to predict, though it continues to retain its status as an important regional market along with Kuwait and Qatar.
Technology investment by government will balance reluctance of corporate to spend. Overall, governments will continue to spend on building the infrastructure to better service their citizens, while corporate will focus on reducing their overall costs and working on new initiatives that have a clear business benefit.
Desktop virtualisation and cloud technologies will further penetrate into all sizes of enterprise and into new industry sectors.
