The tide is turning inside the information technology industry and it’s good news for home grown Arabic-speaking professionals who want to make their mark on both the enterprise and consumer IT markets. This changing tide represents a fundamental shift in the way things are done has been driven largely due to cloud computing.
Of course there is no real cloud full of computers. The term explains our notion of a massively scaled and centralised datacentre where machines are gathered together in one space to offer customers a chance to buy as much or as little computing capacity - connected over the Internet - as they want. The term originates from schematic diagrams of networks, where the Internet was traditionally depicted as a cloud shape – cloud computing simply means Internet-based computing. Rather than being held on a local machine, applications and data alike are stored, run and managed from the remote datacentre. The move to remote computing has been made possible by today’s always-on, highly fault-tolerant Internet infrastructure.
The move means we can buy just as much technology power and storage as we need, when we need it. We can have massive storm bursts, or just occasional wisps and fleecy strands – much of today’s computer technology is bought as a service.
A new backend
This backend concept is fundamental to the new opportunities for Arab IT entrepreneurs. The backend is already there, it’s dealt with, it’s provided and it’s in place. This means we can start relying on the same backend computing engines that drive new innovations like Amazon, Über, AirBnB or even Facebook. But, crucially, we can use that power for ourselves here in the Middle East.
“The Middle East is emerging as a hub for tech startups and business incubators and we are already seeing innovative businesses such as the Über-like service Careem. This is a chauffeur driven car booking service built on applications developed here within the region,” said Ayman ElSheikh, manager for solution architects Middle East & Africa at Red Hat
The cloud backend is there, right across the Arab League. Website datacentremap.com confirms that Morocco already has five datacentres with two in Casablanca and one in Fez. The Gulf states are obviously also well served. The fact that we no longer need to look after the IT plumbing (so to speak) creates a very important opportunity for Arab IT workers with big ideas.
Piracy waives the rules
One of the single biggest opportunities is contained in the fact that we no longer buy software packages to run on our computers, we buy access to remotely located software. That means ‘software piracy’ – the copying of software without paying the developers – is no longer possible. The single most debilitating factor in the growth of Arab software developers has been removed almost overnight. These days, developers can get paid for their work without fearing that their ideas and hard labour will simply be copied and used for free. Almost for the first time in history, a young software developer in the Arab World can not only be paid for their software, they can be as free to build on their skills and hard work as any software developer in the West. Software piracy, which has for so long retarded the development of the Middle East’s technology industry, is a thing of the past.
A happy divorce
With the plumbing backend in place, we can start to move from what we call ‘systems of record’ (all the IT guts needed to make anything work), to now focus on what we call the ‘system of engagement’ (all the IT that the user actually sees and interacts with). In fact, the two systems are now quite happily divorced from each other.
“Technology today, especially focused on systems of engagement and systems of innovation, has become a big business differentiator. In this digital age, Arab technology start-ups that focus on developing applications in these areas are the ones that are seeing meteoric growth,” said Red Hat’s ElSheikh.
For another Arab IT indicator, ElSheikh also cites his firm’s work in open source technologies where software code is openly shared to that all users can positively advance the DNA of functionality. Red Hat is taking the lead in partnering with local universities in both Saudi and the Emirates to establish the ‘Red Hat Academy’ with the aim of equipping the next generation to gain the right open source skills.
“We want to develop local software development talent within the Arab region by educating the next generation in open source technologies so they can contribute to open source innovation. This no doubt will fuel an organic growth of highly specialised and skilled software developers across this market,” said ElSheikh.
Cloud skills, it’s what matters
Where this gets us to is a new place on the IT development curve. But there is still a skills consideration to be addressed. We have the cloudy backend plumbing ready to pump, but do we know how to use this power, do we understand its capabilities… and, in fact, do we even know how to turn it on?
Marita Mitschein is senior vice president and managing director of the SAP Training and Development Institute for MENA. The lengthily titled Ms. Mitschein has said that she recognises the Middle East and North Africa territory now has strong startup potential thanks to its governments’ visions, robust technology infrastructure and its strong educational base.
“As one of the world’s largest technology companies, SAP MENA is developing public-private-academic partnerships that exchange global best practices to enable local university graduates, ensure academic curricula have technology at their core and support tech entrepreneurs,” said Mitschein.
Founded in November 2012, SAP’s Training and Development Institute (TDI) offers training programmes tailored to bring SAP business skills to those who have a cultural and social understanding of a local region: to help them starting their career and to support organisations with the right resources.
Design thinking mindset
SAP confirms that 950 local entrepreneurs have already built software on the SAP HANA Cloud Platform. Mitschein explains that her firm’s current local focus is one dedicated to developing what she calls the value of so-called ‘design thinking’.
“SAP works closely with its customers, partners and other stakeholders on utilizing creative methodology designed to help solving complex problems and ultimately embed an innovation DNA across the region,” said Mitschein.
The takeaways here are clear to see. We have international firms locating in the region now looking to work with Arabic-speaking locals in order to bring their cultural and social understanding of the local market’s needs. These firms want us to build open software with a heavy emphasis on design that works for the particular nuances and niches of this market. These same firms want Arab technologists (as well as those with non-technical business brains) to use the cloud to create IT products so well engineered to the Middle East market that they would fail to work in Europe or the rest of the world.
Ultimately, what we all want is for the Middle East to create the next Über, the next Twitter and the next Facebook here in the region. Connected cloud technology could very arguably allow us to do that. When the West starts to emulate our own original technologies, then we will know the cloud has really worked.
Despite it being cloudy, the future for Arab software development talent is bright indeed.