IDC Middle East CIO Summit 2012 outlines critical factors that influence enterprise IT strategies

Mobilk - Cost optimisation, complexity and adding business value are becoming even more critical factors in the decision-making process as business enterprises continue to invest in technology game-changers such as cloud, mobility, big data, analytics and social according to a new study by International Data Corporation (IDC), the premier global market intelligence and advisory firm for the information technology and telecommunications markets.

 

IDC presented its findings during a panel discussion at the IDC Middle East CIO Summit 2012, which concluded today (February 21, 2012) at the Le Meridien Al Aqah Beach Resort, Fujairah, UAE.

 

More than 150 of the regions most influential ICT users took part in the exclusive, two-day Summit to discuss emerging challenges and opportunities for CIOs in the Middle East. Aside from the panel discussion, the final day of the Summit covered four other sessions: "Communication and Media Convergence in the Cloud Era" (featuring Huawei Technologies); "Datacenter Efficiency: Focus on Manageability and Reliability" (involving Schneider Electric and Mubadala); "Leveraging the Power of Business Analytics" (featuring SAP and Emirates Flight Catering); and "Exploring IT Best Practices in the Middle East" (featuring MBC, Royal Guard and Saudi Airlines).

 

Jyoti Lalchandani, vice president and managing director of IDC Middle East, Africa, and Turkey said: "IT investments will begin to increasingly focus on technology game changers such as virtualization, cloud, mobility, big data, analytics and social. There is certainly plenty of opportunity to adopt new technologies and strategies that boost business performance, but there are also significant challenges that need to be addressed, particularly in terms of complexity, manageability and skills. The IDC Middle East CIO Summit 2012 offered an ideal environment for eminent Middle East CIOs to discuss their business and technology challenges for 2012, helping them streamline their priorities and offering strategies to effectively address challenges."

 

The Middle East CIO Summit 2012 explored the ways CIOs in the region are using technology and emerging service delivery models to build efficiencies into their IT organizations and the business as a whole.

 

World-class technology pioneers signed up as partners for the Middle East CIO Summit 2012. Dubai Internet City (DIC) was the Summits ICT Partner; Dell, Intel, EMC, IBM, MATCO, International Turnkey Systems (ITS) and HP participated as Summit Partners; Huawei, SAP and Schneider Electric registered as Platinum Partners; and Riverbed, Kaspersky Lab, SonicWALL, Blue Coat, Cognizant, Citrix Systems and Wipro all partnered at the Gold level. McAfee and PCCW Global were Best Practice Partners, while Good Technology was the Summits Lunch Partner.