Outsourcing will continue to help companies become more agile and effective, according to Mohamed Fouz, CEO of eHosting DataFort, a member of TECOM Investments, the regional leader in IT strategy, outsourcing and managed services.
Following the successful GITEX Technology Week 2007, held in Dubai last week during which SmartCity revealed its new corporate identity and SmartCity Malta masterplan was launched, Fouz said: "Companies will have to overcome several challenges to even approach the outsourcing potential - develop enterprise outsourcing core competencies, take new approaches to vendor management to diversify and expand the vendor pool, and adopt new thinking about enterprise boundaries."
According to the global market research firm International Data Corporation (IDC), the outsourcing business in the Middle East is witnessing rapid growth. Outsourcing business in the UAE is projected to grow by 16 per cent in 2007 to reach AED347 million, compared to AED 298 million in 2006. Due to this market growth and the increasing number of companies providing outsourcing services, outsourcing providers are facing challenges in meeting their clients' requirements while warding off competition.
Outsourcing providers will need to include more flexible and new service capabilities, develop a new breed of partnerships with software and system providers, and seek new customers in the SMB and consumer spaces, as well as emerging markets with entirely new business models, according to IDC.
"These shifts, along with other key trends in the market, such as a customer's need to mitigate risks, drive productivity and cut costs, are creating fundamental changes in the outsourcing marketplace which require the key players to radically alter their delivery models," added Fouz.
Exhibiting under Dubai Internet City pavilion during GITEX Technology Week 2007, eHosting DataFort displayed its latest products and services to visitors and ICT industry professionals along with Schnabel AG, specialists in data centre planning and consulting, and Interoute, owner operator of Europe's most advanced and densely connected voice and data network, encompassing over 53,000 kms of fibre.