ICT investment trends in the Middle East

1 Trends in ICT budgets

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Survey demographics

1.3 ICT budget changes

1.4 ICT budget allocation by core technology area

1.4.1 Hardware budget breakdown

1.4.2 Software budget breakdowns

1.4.3 Third party IT services expenditure

1.4.4 Communications expenditure

1.4.5 Cloud computing budget

1.5 ICT budget allocation by function

1.6 Outsourced IT functions

2 ICT investment priorities and vendor satisfaction

2.1 Introduction

2.1.1 Enterprise application

2.1.2 Green IT & virtualization

2.1.3 Internet of Things (IoT)

2.1.4 Cloud computing

3 ICT procurement trends

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Business objectives influencing IT investment strategy

3.3 ICT provider selection

3.4 Key decision maker for purchasing technology

4 Summary

4.1 Middle Eastern enterprises are upbeat about investing in various ICT domains

5 Appendix

5.1 Definitions

5.2 Further reading

5.3 Contact the authors

List of Figures

Figure 1: The Middle Eastern enterprise ICT survey industry breakdown

Figure 2: The Middle Eastern enterprise ICT survey breakdown by size band (number of employees)

Figure 3: Recent and expected ICT budget changes among the Middle Eastern enterprises

Figure 4: The Middle Eastern enterprises’ (external) ICT budget allocation, 2015 and 2016

Figure 5: The Middle Eastern enterprises’ average hardware budget allocation

Figure 6: Average allocation of software budgets in the Middle Eastern enterprise market

Figure 7: The Middle Eastern enterprises’ average IT services budget allocation

Figure 8: The Middle Eastern enterprises’ average communications expenditure

Figure 9: The Middle Eastern enterprises’ average cloud computing budget allocation by technology

Figure 10: The Middle Eastern enterprises’ average cloud computing budget allocation by implementation type

Figure 11: The Middle Eastern enterprises’ ICT budget allocation by function, 2015 and 2016

Figure 12: Outsourced IT functions – The Middle Eastern enterprises’ current and future outsourcing priorities

Figure 13: Enterprise application – The Middle Eastern enterprises’ current and future investment priorities

Figure 14: Enterprise application – selected primary provider and vendor satisfaction among the Middle Eastern enterprises

Figure 15: Green IT & virtualization – The Middle Eastern enterprises’ current and future investment priorities

Figure 16: Green IT & virtualization – selected primary provider and vendor satisfaction among the Middle Eastern enterprises

Figure 17: IoT – The Middle Eastern enterprises’ current and future investment priorities

Figure 18: IoT – selected primary provider and vendor satisfaction among the Middle Eastern enterprises

Figure 19: Cloud computing – The Middle Eastern enterprises’ current and future investment priorities

Figure 20: Cloud computing – selected primary provider and vendor satisfaction among the Middle Eastern enterprises

Figure 21: Business objectives which influence the Middle Eastern enterprises' IT investment strategy

Figure 22: Factors influencing the Middle Eastern enterprises' decision to choose an ICT provider

Figure 23: Role of key entities in making ICT purchasing decisions

ICT investment trends in the Middle East

Summary
The sharp fall of global oil prices hit the major revenue generation source for the Middle East, forcing the Gulf countries to reform their economies so as to weather further decline of the economic condition. While the oil prices are slowly becoming dearer, the Middle Eastern economy is gaining a bullish outlook as reflected by the ICT budget

Key Findings
The Middle East showed signs of possible economic turnaround as the global oil prices slowly started to inflate allowing the Gulf countries to be optimistic and increase their ICT investment

Kable’s survey shows that Middle Eastern enterprises plan to invest the highest proportion of their ICT budgets in the core domains of hardware, software, and services

Middle Eastern enterprises are fast embracing cloud computing technology and have allotted a sizeable proportion of their ICT budget towards this segment, while software as a service (SaaS) and hybrid cloud are the most preferred cloud solutions

Synopsis
This report presents the findings from a survey of 120 Middle Eastern enterprises regarding their Information & Communications Technology (ICT) investment trends. The survey investigates how the Middle Eastern enterprises currently allocate their ICT budgets across the core areas of enterprise ICT expenditure: hardware, software, IT services, communications, and consulting.

The report illustrates the core technologies that enterprises are investing in, including enterprise applications, business intelligence, and security products. The survey also highlights the approach to purchasing technology adopted by enterprises in the Middle East. Through Kable’s survey, the report aims to provide a better insight to ICT vendors and service providers when pitching their solutions to enterprises in the Middle East.

Reasons To Buy
Understand how the Middle Eastern enterprises' ICT landscape is set to change in 2016 to prioritize your target market

Comprehend how ICT money are being allocated by the Middle Eastern enterprises in specific geographies and size bands to improve your market penetration

Make effective business decisions by recognizing the opportunities within each of the core areas of ICT spend (hardware, software, IT services, telecommunications, and consulting)

Realign your sales initiatives by understanding the current strategic objectives of the Middle Eastern enterprises

Enhance your market segmentation with the included, detailed breakdown of opportunities within selected technology categories (Enterprise application, green IT & virtualization, IoT, and cloud computing)

Prioritize your focus areas by understanding which factors are influencing the Middle Eastern enterprises’ decisions when selecting an ICT provider

Understand the changes in customers’ priorities and identify the business and IT objectives that the Middle Eastern enterprises are looking to achieve through their ICT investment strategies