During the Gitex Global 2024, Huawei Cloud Summit UAE 2024 was held where Huawei Cloud demonstrated how its industry-leading AI-native cloud drives digitalization and intelligence across various industries in line with the visions of regional governments. Senior Huawei executives also revealed Huawei Cloud’s significant progress in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, with its public cloud revenue growing 10-fold in the past year.
Under the theme “Leap to Intelligence with a Better Cloud”, the summit underscored Huawei Cloud’s commitment to boosting digital economy in the region by introducing open, equal, and accessible technologies and cultivating talent. During the event, Huawei Cloud launched its latest products and technical enhancements, and released joint solutions with ecosystem partners. These initiatives aim to introduce proven success in China to the region, turbocharging the development of local industries. The company’s efforts have yielded significant results, with Huawei Cloud providing innovative services to over 900 local customers and building a comprehensive ecosystem with more than 300 local partners.
In his keynote, Steven Yi, president of Huawei Middle East and Central Asia, emphasized, “Achieving a nation’s digital strategy requires vision, partnerships, and long-term commitment. Huawei believes in action, focusing on AI, big data, and cloud to drive innovation and help the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa progress toward a smarter future.”
Industry solutions initiative
Jacqueline Shi, president of Huawei Cloud Global Marketing and Sales Service, delivered a keynote speech virtually using Huawei Cloud’s virtual avatar technology. She stated, “Tech innovations built on industry know-how and ecosystems are crucial to digital transformation. On the digital journey, ecosystems matter.”
During the event, Joy Huang, vice president of Huawei Cloud and President of Huawei Cloud Strategy Industry Development, said, “Huawei Cloud has progressed rapidly over the past year. We couldn’t have done it without your support. Our job is to keep innovating to better serve you, with better infrastructure, better technology, and better experience. We aim to become your trusted partner for your digital and intelligent journey.” He detailed on the ecosystem services offered by Huawei Cloud to enable digital transformation in various regional industries such as e-government, finance, carrier, media & entertainment, e-commerce & retail, and Web3. Joy also launched the Huawei Cloud Industry Solutions Joint Announcement, an initiative that brings global experience and ecosystem knowledge to the Middle East to support intelligent growth.
Launch of Huawei Cloud Stack 8.5
During his speech, Hu Yuhai, vice president of Huawei Hybrid Cloud, highlighted that hybrid cloud has become the go-to foundation for digital transformation in government organizations and large enterprises today. He announced the release of Huawei Cloud Stack 8.5 for the Middle East and Central Asia, including a new Mainframe-to-Cloud Solution and more use cases of Hybrid Cloud for Large AI Models. He shared: “Huawei Cloud Stack provides a top-notch hybrid cloud for government and enterprise customers in the Middle East and Central Asia through more powerful cloud infrastructure, more diverse cloud services, and more extensive industry solutions. Currently, Huawei Cloud Stack provides more than 120 on-premises cloud services and 50 industry scenario-specific solutions. In the future, we will continue to invest in the hybrid cloud market and work with customers and partners to leap to new horizons and accelerate industrial intelligence.”
Leadership in key categories
According to the latest survey conducted by Omdia, a world-renowned consultancy firm, Huawei Cloud has become a key player in the hybrid cloud market of the Middle East. The survey showed that Huawei Cloud Stack was rated in the leadership group in categories, such as infrastructure, cloud architecture, and AI capability, for proactive cloud service experience optimization, for suitability in training AI workloads, and for higher cloud service reliability. Huawei Cloud Stack is highly recognized by many customers. Omdia predicts that government organizations and enterprises across the Middle East will be eager for rapid private cloud and hybrid cloud adoption. Huawei Cloud Stack’s leading solutions and compliance with local regulations will further drive this process.
Sebastian Shi, managing director of Huawei Cloud UAE, discussed in his keynote the competitiveness of Huawei Cloud in the Middle East and Central Asia region. He stated, “Huawei Cloud is dedicated to delivering innovative solutions, ultimate performance, and reliable customer-centric services to build a better MECA region together with our partners and customers.” Together with guests from client companies such as STARZPLAY and Omantel, he shared the proven success of Huawei and customers in various fields. Another highlight in this section was the signing of Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with multiple sales partners, demonstrating strong confidence in future partnerships with Huawei Cloud. Sebastian reiterated that these partnerships are crucial in building a holistic ecosystem that supports the digital transformation journey of businesses and organizations across the region.
Industry forums and roundtables
The summit also featured industry-specific forums and roundtables, exploring how Huawei Cloud’s solutions can address unique challenges and opportunities across different sectors. These sessions provided valuable insights into the practical applications of Huawei Cloud’s technologies in various industries, showcasing the company’s commitment to fostering innovation and growth across the region. In addition, Cloud Native Elite Club (CNEC), a community initiated by CNCF, CAICT, Huawei Cloud, and industry leaders to advance cloud native and AI technologies, was introduced by William Dong, President of Huawei Cloud Marketing, to Middle East and Central Asia.
Digital transformation acceleration
As digital transformation continues to accelerate across the Middle East and Central Asia, Huawei continues to provide innovative, secure, and efficient cloud solutions that empower businesses and organizations to thrive in the intelligence era. The company is focused on sharing industry know-how and ecosystem resources to enable digital transformation in industries such as e-government, finance, carrier, media & entertainment, e-commerce & retail, and Web3.
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