ICT priorities in the Middle East - MarketResearch · Figure 1: Middle Eastern enterprise ICT survey industry breakdown Source: Kable X% X% X% X% X% X% X% X% X% X% X% X% Middle Eastern

ICT priorities in the Middle East

Enterprise ICT investment plans to 2013

July 2013

ICT priorities in the Middle East www.kable.co.uk / © The iD Factor Ltd / + 44 (0) 207 936 6997

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 Enterprise ICT investment trends ...................................................................... 5

1.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 5

1.2 Survey demographics .................................................................................................. 5

1.3 ICT budget changes ..................................................................................................... 9

1.4 Strategic objectives .....................................................................................................11

1.5 Core technology investment priorities ..........................................................................13

2 Detailed ICT investment priorities ................................................................... 16

2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................16

2.2 Enterprise applications ................................................................................................16

2.3 Business intelligence ...................................................................................................19

2.4 Security .......................................................................................................................21

2.5 Content management ..................................................................................................23

2.6 Mobility ........................................................................................................................25

2.7 IT systems management .............................................................................................27

2.8 Communications & collaboration .................................................................................29

2.9 Green IT & virtualization ..............................................................................................31

2.10 Cloud computing solutions ..........................................................................................33

3 Summary ............................................................................................................ 35

3.1 Middle Eastern enterprises are planning to increase their spending on advanced

technologies such as mobility and cloud computing ....................................................35

4 Appendix ............................................................................................................ 36

4.1 Definitions ...................................................................................................................36

4.2 Further reading ...........................................................................................................36

4.3 Contact the authors .....................................................................................................37


List of Figures

Figure 1: Middle Eastern enterprise ICT survey geographical breakdown ................................................ 4

Figure 2: Middle Eastern enterprise ICT survey industry breakdown ........................................................ 5

Figure 3: Middle Eastern enterprise ICT survey breakdown by size band (number of employees)............ 6

Figure 4: Recent and expected ICT budget changes among Middle Eastern enterprises ......................... 8

Figure 5: Current strategic objectives of Middle Eastern enterprises ...................................................... 10

Figure 6: Current and future investment priorities of Middle Eastern enterprises across

core technologies..................................................................................................................... 12

Figure 7: Enterprise applications – Middle Eastern enterprises’ current and future investment priorities 15

Figure 8: Business intelligence – Middle Eastern enterprises’ current and future investment priorities ... 18

Figure 9: Security – Middle Eastern enterprises’ current and future investment priorities ....................... 20

Figure 10: Content management – Middle Eastern enterprises’ current and future investment priorities 22

Figure 11: Mobility – Middle Eastern enterprises’ current and future investment priorities ...................... 24

Figure 12: IT systems management – Middle Eastern enterprises’ current and future

investment priorities ............................................................................................................... 26

Figure 13: Communications & collaboration – Middle Eastern enterprises’ current and

future investment priorities ..................................................................................................... 28

Figure 14: Green IT & virtualization – Middle Eastern enterprises’ current and


Figure 15: Cloud computing solutions – Middle Eastern enterprises’ current and


List of Tables

Table 1: Middle Eastern enterprise ICT survey geographical breakdown.................................................. 5

Table 2: Middle Eastern enterprise ICT survey industry breakdown ......................................................... 6

Table 3: Middle Eastern enterprise ICT survey breakdown by size band (number of employees) ............. 7

Table 4: Recent and expected ICT budget changes among Middle Eastern enterprises .......................... 8

Table 5: Current strategic objectives of Middle Eastern enterprises ........................................................ 10

Table 6: Current and future investment priorities of Middle Eastern enterprises across

core technologies...................................................................................................................... 13

Table 7: Enterprise applications – Middle Eastern enterprises’ current and future investment priorities .. 16

Table 8: Business intelligence – Middle Eastern enterprises’ current and future investment priorities .... 18

Table 9: Security – Middle Eastern enterprises’ current and future investment priorities ......................... 20

Table 10: Content management – Middle Eastern enterprises’ current and future investment priorities . 22

Table 11: Mobility – Middle Eastern enterprises’ current and future investment priorities ....................... 24

Table 12: IT systems management – Middle Eastern enterprises’ current and future

investment priorities ................................................................................................................ 27

Table 13: Communications & collaboration – Middle Eastern enterprises’ current and

future investment priorities ...................................................................................................... 28

Table 14: Green IT & virtualization – Middle Eastern enterprises’ current and future



Table 15: Cloud computing solutions – Middle Eastern enterprises’ current and future


ICT priorities in the Middle East P a g e | 1 www.kable.co.uk / © The iD Factor Ltd / + 44 (0) 207 936 6997

1 Enterprise ICT investment trends

1.1 Introduction

This report presents the findings from a survey of X Middle Eastern enterprises regarding their Information &

Communication Technology (ICT) investment priorities. The survey investigates the core technologies which

Middle Eastern enterprises are investing in, including the likes of enterprise applications, security, mobility,

communications & collaboration, and cloud computing. The report also highlights Middle Eastern enterprises’

strategic objectives with regards to their ICT investments, in order to provide better insight to ICT vendors relating

to the positioning of their solutions. ICT investment trends are identified through to the second half of 2014

following feedback from respondents on their forthcoming investment plans.

The survey was conducted in September 2012 via an online methodology, with respondents all having ICT decision

maker responsibility (typically CIOs and IT Managers). Kable plans to repeat the survey in the second half of 2013,

in order to monitor ICT investment priorities on an ongoing basis.

1.2 Survey demographics

Figure 1: Middle Eastern enterprise ICT survey industry breakdown

Source: Kable

X%

X%

X%

X%

X%X%

X%

X%

X%

X%

X%X%

Middle Eastern enterprise ICT survey industry breakdown

Financial markets Utilities Education Retail

Manufacturing Insurance Government Healthcare

Energy Media Retail banking PharmaceuticalsX respondents


Table 1: Middle Eastern enterprise ICT survey industry breakdown

Industry Count Percentage of respondents

Energy X X%

Financial markets X X%

Utilities X X%

Healthcare X X%

Manufacturing X X%

Education X X%

Insurance X X%

Retail banking X X%

Pharmaceuticals X X%

Government X X%

Media X X%

Retail X X%

Total X X%

Source: Kable

Figure 2: Middle Eastern enterprise ICT survey breakdown by size band (number of employees)

Source: Kable

X%

X%

X%

X%X%

X%

X%

Middle Eastern enterprise ICT survey breakdown by size band (number of employees)

Over 10000 5000-9999 2000-4999 1000-1999 500-999 100-499 50-99

X respondents


Table 2: Middle Eastern enterprise ICT survey breakdown by size band (number of employees)

Employee size band Count Percentage of respondents

Over 10000 35 21%

5000-9999 25 15%

2000-4999 12 7%

1000-1999 20 12%

500-999 28 17%

100-499 35 21%

50-99 10 6%

Total 165 100%

Source: Kable


1.4 Strategic objectives

Figure 3: Current strategic objectives of Middle Eastern enterprises

Source: Kable

Table 3: Current strategic objectives of Middle Eastern enterprises

Strategic objectives Average rating

Improving security/privacy X

Systems simplification X

Standardizing infrastructure technologies X

Encouraging more IT self service X

Enhancing collaboration and data management X

Moving to a virtual infrastructure X

End-to-end business transformation projects X

Moving towards a shared services model X

Business process outsourcing X

Source: Kable

A large number of enterprises in the Middle East are using IT as a business enabler and

....................................................... (A brief description of the strategic objectives that are driving ICT investments in

Middle Eastern enterprises)

1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5

Business process outsourcing

Moving towards a shared services model

End-to-end business transformation projects

Moving to a virtual infrastructure

Enhancing collaboration and data management

Encouraging more IT self service

Standardizing infrastructure technologies

Systems simplification

Improving security/privacy

(1 = not an objective, 4 = top priority)

What are your major strategic objectives this year?

x respondents

Average ratingXX XX XX XX XX XX


1.5 Core technology investment priorities

Figure 4: Current and future investment priorities of Middle Eastern enterprises across core technologies

Source: Kable


Table 4: Current and future investment priorities of Middle Eastern enterprises across core technologies

Technology category

Have now (Count)

Have now (%)

Considering investment in next 2 years (count)

Considering investment in next 2 years (%)

Security X X% X X%

IT systems management X X% X X%

Green IT & virtualization X X% X X%

Enterprise applications X X% X X%

Communications & collaboration X X% X X%

Content management X X% X X%

Mobility X X% X X%

Business intelligence X X% X X%

Cloud Computing X X% X X%

Source: Kable

According to the survey, security technologies have the highest penetration rate, ...................(Brief description of

which technologies enterprises are currently investing in, as well as those that they are set to make the greatest

investments in, in the next couple of years)


2 Detailed ICT investment priorities

2.1 Introduction

In addition to identifying ICT investment priorities within core enterprise technology categories, Kable’s survey also

drills into depth as to how Middle Eastern enterprises are planning to make investments at the more detailed sub

category level. This section of the report focuses on enterprises’ technology investment priorities within the

Enterprise Applications, Business Intelligence, Security, Content Management, Mobility, IT Systems Management,

Communications & Collaboration, Green IT & Virtualization, and Cloud Computing categories.

2.2 Enterprise Applications

Figure 5: Enterprise Applications – Middle Eastern enterprises’ current and future investment priorities

Source: Kable


Table 5: Enterprise Applications – Middle Eastern enterprises’ current and future investment priorities

Enterprise applications

Have now (count)

Have now (%)

Considering investment in next 2 years (count)

Considering investment in next 2 years (%)

HR Management X X% X X%

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) X X% X X%

Financials X X% X X%

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) X X% X X%

Supply Chain Management (SCM) X X% X X%

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) X X% X X%

Marketing Automation & Customer Lifecycle Management (CLM) X X% X X%

Business Process Management (BPM) X X% X X%

Source: Kable

The demand for enterprise applications is growing in the Middle East; such applications enable enterprises to

manage their operations more effectively by providing ................................... (Briefly describe in which sub

categories enterprises are planning on making investments).


4 Appendix

4.1 Definitions

Enterprise technologies

Enterprise applications – core enterprise applications include the likes of Customer Relationship Management

(CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Financials, Supply Chain Management, HR Management, Product

Lifecycle Management, Business Process Management (BPM), Interactive marketing automation systems &

customer lifecycle management.

Business intelligence – covers Data warehousing/marts, Analytics, Real-time Business Intelligence, Social

sentiment analysis.

Security – includes Identity & access management, Security & vulnerability management, End-point security &

anti-virus, Network security, Content and web filtering (including firewalls), Application Security, Backup & archive,

Database security, Data Loss Prevention (mobile security).

Content management – covers Document Management, Records Management, Web Content Management,

Digital Asset Management, E-mail Archiving, and Enterprise Search.

Mobility – covers Mobile device management, Customer facing mobile applications/m-commerce, Employee /

supplier facing mobile applications & development/integration, Tablet computing.

IT systems management – covers Systems & network management, Storage management, Service

management, Database management, Transaction performance management, User experience management,

Virtualization management, Patch management & configuration.

Communications & collaboration – includes Internet Protocol-Private Branch Exchange (IP-PBX), IP-Contact

Centre, Unified Communications: VoIP/Presence/Instant messaging, Web/video conferencing.

Green IT & virtualization – covers Server virtualization, Storage virtualization, Network virtualization, Datacentre

power and cooling reduction technologies, Desktop virtualization, Power management tool for PCs and monitors,

Printing and paper usage management.

Cloud Computing – covers Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Software as a

Service (SaaS), Private Cloud, and Hybrid cloud (mixed cloud & on-premise models).

Documents

ICT priorities in the Middle East - MarketResearch · Figure 1: Middle Eastern enterprise ICT survey industry breakdown Source: Kable X% X% X% X% X% X% X% X% X% X% X% X% Middle Eastern