IT industry in Gulf is seen growing up to 25% in 2013

The IT software and services sector in the Gulf Co-operation Council area is forecast to grow by 10%–25% this year, according to regional senior management representatives of some of the world’s leading organisations.

The projection was made in responses to a recent survey done by Omnix, a leading provider of technology-enabled solutions in the GCC region, which partners many prominent names in the delivery of IT services in the GCC and Mena (Middle East and North Africa) region.

The survey, which was aimed at key market strategists in the services top 100 IT companies, gauged the predictions for trends, priorities, challenges and driving forces for growth in the regional IT sector. Responses were received from such renowned global IT players as Microsoft, Cisco, Autodesk and Motorola Solutions, among others.

“Our core business is meeting the IT needs of public and private sector entities across the GCC and Mena regions, so it is important for us to establish what the major IT companies are predicting for growth,” said Jamal Abuissa, President and CEO for Omnix International.

“Our partners are representative of the major IT players, so their forecasts will be indicative of the direction of most of the industry giants. The unanimity of opinion on the growth of 10%–25% was very interesting - it certainly made us sit up and take notice,” he added.

The Omnix survey asked a number of specific questions related to the status of the regional IT sector, eliciting answers on trends, priorities and challenges, among other focus areas.

The trends identified included a continued shift towards e-services with a multi-channel engagement and an increase in both customer and citizen e-services, along with portal marketing sales. The priorities cited were cloud computing, big data, security and increased mobility.

Highlighted challenges included rapidly evolving technologies, a lack of IT training and skills - particularly in project management - long sales cycles (most notably with government projects) and limited budgets. Continued government spend and general economic growth in the region were mentioned as significant driving forces for the sector’s growth in 2013.

“It is promising to see that the GCC economy continues to be buoyant. Healthy oil prices, private sector expansion and an increased push towards government e-services is what will underpin the continued steady growth of the regional IT sector,” said Rabih Dabboussi, Cisco UAE managing director, one of the survey respondents.