The increased adoption of cloud services and Microsoft’s ecosystem is expected to create more than 15,800 jobs across the sultanate of Oman by 2024, says new research by market intelligence firm International Data Corporation (IDC).
The study finds that spending on public cloud services in Oman is expected to rise nearly 3.4 times, from approximately RO 6.5 million ($16.9 million) in 2019 to RO 22.4 million ($58.3 million) in 2024.
IDC’s whitepaper discusses the impact that IT, cloud services and the Microsoft ecosystem will have on Oman’s economy during the 2019–2024 period. The report finds that, together with investments in public, private and hybrid cloud solutions, the Omani economy will enable businesses to generate nearly RO 387 million ($1.007 billion) in net new revenues over the next five years.
IDC’s research also shows that the IT sector in Oman is expected to reach RO 406 million ($1.056 billion) by 2024, and that IT employment in the country is also projected to reach more than 60,900 at the end of 2024.
The pandemic has apparently been influential in accelerating this process. The Oman Daily Observer quotes Shaikh Saif bin Hilal al Hosni, country manager, Microsoft Oman & Bahrain, as saying: “We have seen years’ worth of digital transformation happen in a matter of months across Oman, as throughout the pandemic response and recovery has been enabled by the cloud.”
Manish Ranjan, program manager for software & cloud at IDC Middle East, Turkey and Africa, not only mentions local digital initiatives but also points out that “the increasing use of cloud services is certainly creating demand for cloud architects, datacentre administrators, and datacentre engineers, while security and governance requirements in regulated sectors such as government, healthcare, and banking are driving demand for skills in vendor management, IT governance, and data privacy”.
This prediction of IT growth in Oman coincides with the news of a multi-year agreement between operator Ooredoo Oman for IT managed services and security operations with Tech Mahindra, a leading provider of digital, consulting and business re-engineering services, to continue and enhance digital transformation in the sultanate.
The partnership, says Ooredoo, will allow the company to enhance its IT application development services and help create global best practices in its digital IT operations covering applications, infrastructure and security services, while enabling it to offer more value and lifestyle services to its customers.