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9/8/25, 10:46 AM Inside UAE’s shift to hybrid cloud infrastructure – Executive Bulletin
The cloud ecosystem in the Middle East, particularly in the UAE, has shifted dramatically in the last 12 to 18
months. Global hyperscalers like AWS, Microsoft, and Alibaba have entered the market and expanded their
regional availability, creating a competitive landscape with greater service diversity and localized capabilities.
Alongside them, sovereign cloud providers such as G42 in Abu Dhabi and Moro Hub in Dubai have emerged with
offerings tailored specifically for the country’s regulatory and operational needs.

This transformation is further catalyzed by the strategic national visions set out by countries in the region,
including the Saudi Vision 2030 and the UAE Centennial 2071. These ambitious plans outline specific goals for
technological advancement and digital transformation, driving investment and innovation in cloud infrastructure.
By 2028, the global cloud market is poised to reach a value of USD 1.266 trillion, a significant increase compared
to USD 626.46 billion in 2023.
Organizations in the Middle East are increasingly finding innovative ways to harness cloud technology to support
their growth and digital strategies. Research has shown that around 90 per cent of companies in the region have
moved beyond the ‘lift and shift’ strategy – where existing applications are simply transferred to the cloud – and
are now focusing on modernizing their applications and creating new cloud-native solutions.

For Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and IT leaders, this marks a turning point. For the first time, they have a
genuine choice – the ability to align infrastructure decisions not just with technical requirements, but also with
strategic priorities like data sovereignty, compliance, commercial offers, and service needs. Hybrid cloud, once
viewed as a hypothetical, future-state aspiration, has become a practical and increasingly popular model.

Key Drivers of This Shift
One of the major drivers of hybrid cloud adoption in the region is cost efficiency. The economics of traditional
data centers are becoming less viable. Between hardware investment, cooling, staffing, and security, the costs are
stacking up, especially as businesses scale. The second factor is speed to market. In a post-COVID world, speed to
market is no longer a competitive advantage but a necessity. Organizations need to launch, iterate, and scale
digital services without the bottlenecks of traditional IT infrastructure.
Security and compliance are also among the factors shaping cloud strategies. Industries handling sensitive or
classified data must operate within strict guidelines. Public cloud adoption for these sectors is not always
straightforward, which is where sovereign clouds play a critical role. Lastly, flexibility is another important factor.
Enterprises aim to avoid being ‘locked in’ to a single vendor or architecture. They are looking for architectures
that support freedom of movement, shifting workloads across platforms based on changing business needs.

The Hybrid Advantage
The hybrid cloud delivers a unique value proposition by balancing performance, cost, compliance, and agility.
Unlike pure public or private models, a hybrid cloud gives organizations the freedom to optimize infrastructure
without being constrained by a one-size-fits-all approach. It also allows businesses to reduce their dependency on
any single provider. This model supports long-term resilience and strategic autonomy, enabling smarter decisions
as demands shift.

An open hybrid cloud approach takes this one step further, allowing for seamless movement of applications and
data across environments. This is not just about convenience; it’s about building a resilient foundation that can
adapt to the future.
Rise of Sovereign Cloud and Open Innovation

Over the next 12 to 24 months, we can expect both enterprise and public sector adoption of hybrid cloud to
accelerate. Sovereign platforms will be a key enabler in this growth. There is already a strong interest from
ministries and municipalities in the UAE, aiming to reap the benefits of the cloud without compromising on
national data sovereignty.

At the same time, innovation in cloud-native technologies continues to gain ground. Containerization and cross-
platform automation are enabling organizations to operate at scale with greater efficiency.

Looking Ahead

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