Oracle is opening more data centers in the UAE and Saudi Arabia to keep up with rising use of artificial intelligence, a senior executive said.
“We would have added a couple of new ones over the last six months, and there’ll be more coming in the next six months,” Cormac Watters, executive vice president of applications for Oracle Europe, Middle East and Africa, told The National at the Oracle AI World event in Las Vegas.
Watters declined to give the locations of the new sites, citing the regional security situation.
“We’re reluctant to explain where they all are because of the [geopolitical] situation,” he said.
Oracle already runs cloud regions in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and in Jeddah and Riyadh. It has also announced plans for a region at Saudi Arabia’s Neom project.
Sovereignty
Iran targeted Amazon data centers in the UAE and Bahrain in March, during the regional war that began on February 28, The National reported.
Watters said customers now raise data sovereignty first in every conversation. Some are asking about so-called digital embassies, under which a sovereign cloud could be moved to another country if a site faces a physical threat.
He said customers are delaying routine purchases but pressing ahead with strategic transformation projects.
The Middle East is the fastest-growing part of Oracle’s Europe, Middle East and Africa region, Watters said. He added that the company also sees opportunities in Qatar and Kuwait.
