As companies enter the interconnected era, Chief Information Officers (CIOs) are facing new challenges. With businesses becoming increasingly interdependent and cloud-enabled, they need more reliable, secure and instantaneous connectivity to clouds, networks and other enterprises to compete. At the same time, they are facing more users with more devices, needing increased amounts of data in more places across further distances and locations.
At GITEX Technology Week, Equinix, the global interconnection and data center company, is discussing Interconnection Oriented Architecture (IOA) framework, with a step-by-step playbook on how to redefine the edge and architect a digital platform.
According to a report by Accenture, the Middle East region is ideally positioned to take advantage of this new era of digital transformation. Research conducted by the company and the World Economic Forum predicts that digital activities will have an impact of USD 14 trillion dollars on global GDP by 2030, and that countries that want to take a share in that growth of GDP will need to take a number of important steps to ensure they can participate in digital economies.
In the Middle East, the combination of the high penetration of mobile devices and the readiness of the population to adopt new technology, and the vision from government leaders and companies are all factors that will position the region to make the most of digital transformation. Initiatives such as the Dubai Open Data law would also be an important part of the digital transformation efforts, says Paul Daugherty, Chief Technology Officer, Accenture.
“The digital economy is changing the nature of business world-wide and in particular in the MENA region, which is taking a ‘digital–first’ approach across all vertical markets, forcing IT to broadly transform. What businesses requires is a re-architecture of the IT platform, to be able to react in real time and adapt quickly to change, while securely connecting employees, partners and customers within a digital ecosystem,” said Jeroen Schlosser, Managing Director, Equinix MENA.
“We propose that topology, technology and design all favor building a digital business solution using co-location-based, programmable networking, which we will call ‘data center interconnect fabric,’ allowing dynamic interconnection between enterprise peers, cloud providers, communications providers and a growing marketplace of service providers. Through the assistance of an Interconnection Oriented Architecture – an innovative approach connecting people, locations, Equinix can make this reinvention possible. Also, as home of the interconnected cloud, with over 30 cloud service providers in its Dubai data center, Equinix can simplify migration of MENA enterprises to the cloud,” added Mr Schlosser.
