Saudi Arabia’s Businesses Set to Benefit from Hybrid Cloud Potential

Hybrid cloud deployments are set to have a big impact on Saudi Arabian organizations in the coming years, according to F5 Networks (NASDAQ: FFIV).

The Global Application Delivery Networking leader today highlighted Saudi businesses’ increasing appetite for the potential of the technology, and revealed details of its new enhanced security and cloud offerings.

Highlights include new F5® software that enables hybrid technologies through dynamic on-premises and off-premises deployments, and the extension of its hybrid cloud Silverline services platform to incorporate web-application firewall capabilities.

“The ongoing migration of applications to the cloud, increased user and resource mobility, and the emergence of ever more sophisticated threats have led to the dissolution of the traditional enterprise perimeter,” said Mamduh Allam, Saudi Arabia General Manager, F5 Networks.

“This is pushing organizations to pursue a unified services platform that spans integrated data center and cloud deployments.”

According to IDC, the Saudi cloud market is set to grow 53.8% this year compared to 2014, hitting $77.5 million. The upward trend is echoed by a recent survey by market research company Dun & Bradstreet, which found that 44% of Saudi companies have already or are planning to deploy a cloud computing model in their offices. 28% are planning to implement an advanced hybrid cloud model.

Globally, the hybrid cloud market is estimated to grow from $25.28 billion in 2014 to $86.67 billion in 2019, at a CAGR of 27.3%1, according to MarketsandMarkets. The Middle East and Africa (MEA) is set to play a big role in that growth, with the Cisco Global Cloud Index (2013-2018) noting that the region is set to post the world’s highest cloud traffic growth rate, increasing more than eight-fold from 31 exabytes in 2013 to 262 exabytes in 20182.

However, the transition to the cloud is not without its challenges. A recent survey commissioned by F5 Networks in Saudi Arabia found that 48% of Saudi IT decision-makers claimed that the top cybersecurity challenges was managing the shift from datacentre-focused infrastructure to the cloud.

“Corporate borders are expanding and they must include all cloud environments. These cannot continue to be disconnected operational islands,” said Allam.

“If the future is hybrid – and we very much believe it is - we need to be able to manage such environments much more seamlessly, so that it benefits performance and the bottom line in an obvious and compelling way.”

Extended Hybrid Application Services for Optimized Performance in All IT Environments

BIG-IP® version 12.0 is a major software release that expands F5’s hybrid platform of services, and greatly improves the agility, security, and performance of cloud application deployments

 It takes advantage of F5’s application delivery services fabric, extending the F5 Synthesis™ model by combining physical and virtual resources to better support cloud and hybrid scenarios. This approach allows customers to more easily transition workloads to cloud environments as needed and incorporate technologies like HTTP/2, while maintaining the same visibility, security, and control of traditional infrastructures.

F5 accelerates cloud migrations, enabling customers to integrate security, management, and orchestration capabilities for their evolving on-premises and off-premises deployments. Moreover, F5’s programmable, extensible architecture and growing ecosystem of technology partners make its application services an ideal fit for emerging IT trends such as SDN, NFV, and converged systems offerings.

F5 supports customers deploying cloud and hybrid IT architectures, with BIG-IP virtual edition solutions becoming available in the Azure Marketplace. 

“Organizations are seeking the same confidence level with applications and services in cloud/hybrid deployments that they’ve seen in the data center,” said Allam. 

“Our BIG-IP software is instrumental in helping customers take advantage of the benefits of the cloud without sacrificing security, flexibility, or savings.”

Silverline™ Web Application Firewall

The Silverline™ Web Application Firewall service offering, meanwhile, provides quick web application firewall (WAF) implementation and unified, scalable policy enforcement capabilities. The service also includes 24x7 support from highly specialized F5 security experts with the company’s Security Operations Center (SOC) resources.

As the latest addition to F5’s Silverline cloud-based application services platform, the new WAF offering is built on the award-winning capabilities of the company’s BIG-IP® Application Security Manager™ product. F5 seamlessly provides leading WAF services in both on-premises and subscription-based cloud offerings. The company’s versatile, easy to deploy WAF solutions lets organizations confidently incorporate cloud resources while protecting apps and data from increasingly sophisticated security attacks, risks, and vulnerabilities.

“With security needs outpacing the number of qualified WAF experts in the industry, many organizations find themselves under-protected. Silverline solutions expand F5’s fabric-based Synthesis framework to include cloud-delivered services—giving customers the benefit of F5 experts proactively looking after WAF functionality,” explained Allam.