By: Tariq Salameh Solutions Engineer Manager, Middle East & Turkey, Cloudera

Control and efficiency, market regulation, and data location may prevent companies from using the public cloud, especially regarding data ingestion at the petabyte scale. These companies have instead opted to leverage their existing data centre investment. Turning the data centre into a private cloud brings the agility and flexibility of the public cloud to the control of on-premises infrastructure. With the private cloud capability in place, organisations can directly address the drawbacks of the traditional cluster deployments and move to data services.

While the majority of IT decision-makers (86%) in the Middle East plan to migrate more data to the cloud over the next three years, even more (90%) plan to repatriate data back on-premises. IT complexity and integration challenges (60%), non-compliance-related cybersecurity concerns (58%) and data and compliance concerns (49%) are cited as the main reasons for organisations not moving more of their data to the cloud, according to a Cloudera study.

Instead of the “cloud first”, we’re now in the “workload-first” era. Workload analytics can help determine if a workload is more suitable for an on-premises or public cloud environment. And 76% of organisations currently store data in a hybrid environment, meaning they utilise both on-premises/private cloud and the public cloud. Hybrid environments are the new de facto standard.

However, two-thirds (66%) of IT decision-makers in the Middle East agree that having data across different cloud and on-premises environments makes extracting value from all the data in their organisation complex. Siloed data prevents organisations from making fast decisions, so they need the capability to securely extract value from their data, regardless of where it resides. With the emergence of modern data architectures, organisations can optimise their cloud costs and drive more value from their data. At the same time, the data is AI-ready for enterprises to benefit from current and future developments in AI.

Many companies also need help with their cloud costs and unlocking continuous value from cloud investments. With enterprise data stored both on-premises and potentially across multiple public clouds, it becomes difficult to track and manage cloud consumption across various departments and cost centres, keep the platform stable and controlled, and troubleshoot issues across these different infrastructures. Companies need visibility into workload and resource utilisation to better control and automatically manage budget overruns and improve performance.

By Qasem Noureddin – Managing Director, Eaton Middle East

The Middle East is on the brink of a digital revolution, with its data center industry poised for significant expansion. According to Mordor Intelligence, the Middle East data center market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 8% from 2021 to 2026. This growth is driven by the rapid adoption of cloud computing, edge computing, and artificial intelligence (AI), alongside substantial investments in digital infrastructure, particularly in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

In response to these dynamic trends, Eaton has implemented three strategic initiatives designed to position us as the ideal partner for data center solutions in the Middle East: the investment in NordicEPOD, the acquisition of Exertherm, and the launch of the 9395X UPS.

Eaton’s strategic investment in NordicEPOD AS, a former subsidiary of CTS Nordics, is a crucial step toward enhancing the development of large modular data centers in the Middle East. NordicEPOD’s expertise in designing and assembling standardized power modules will enable Eaton to reduce complexity, costs, and lead times.

This partnership is particularly vital as the region undergoes rapid digital transformation. By leveraging NordicEPOD’s capabilities, Eaton is better positioned to meet the increasing demand for scalable and efficient data center solutions, reinforcing our commitment to supporting the Middle East’s infrastructure development and digital economy.

The modular design of NordicEPOD’s power modules allows for rapid deployment and scalability, which is essential for the fast-paced growth in the Middle East. By standardizing power modules, NordicEPOD helps reduce the overall cost of building and maintaining data centers, making it more feasible for businesses to expand their digital infrastructure. Additionally, the pre-engineered systems minimize lead times, allowing data centers to become operational more quickly, meeting the region’s urgent demand for digital services.

The acquisition of Exertherm, a UK-based leader in continuous thermal monitoring solutions, significantly enhances Eaton’s portfolio. Given the Middle East’s unique climate challenges, Exertherm’s advanced thermal management solutions are particularly relevant. Now integrated into Eaton’s Brightlayer software suites, these solutions will assist regional customers in optimizing operations and enhancing business performance. Exertherm’s innovative technology ensures that critical electrical infrastructure operates safely and efficiently, addressing one of the most pressing concerns for data center operators in the Middle East.

Exertherm’s technology provides real-time thermal monitoring, crucial for maintaining the reliability and safety of data centers in the Middle East’s harsh climate. By identifying potential issues before they become critical, Exertherm helps reduce downtime and maintenance costs. Integrating thermal monitoring with Eaton’s Brightlayer suite allows for more informed decision-making, leading to better overall performance and efficiency.

The launch of the 9395X UPS, produced at Eaton’s state-of-the-art campus in Helsinki, signifies a major advancement in power management technology. Designed for hyperscale and colocation data centers, the 9395X UPS features silicon carbide converters, delivering superior energy efficiency and a compact footprint. This is particularly significant for data centers in the Middle East, where space and energy efficiency are critical. The 9395X UPS’s grid interactive capability allows operators to participate in energy markets, reducing total cost of ownership.

As the region progresses towards sustainable energy solutions, the 9395X UPS supports these goals by minimizing carbon emissions and maximizing operational efficiency. The silicon carbide converters in the 9395X UPS provide exceptional energy efficiency, crucial for reducing operational costs and supporting sustainability goals. Its compact design allows data centers to maximize the use of their physical space, enabling more equipment to be housed within the same footprint.

The UPS’s ability to interact with the grid means data centers can participate in energy markets, creating opportunities for cost savings and revenue generation. With advanced load-sharing technology and self-monitoring systems, the 9395X UPS ensures high reliability and reduces the need for frequent maintenance checks.

According to a report by Arizton, the data center market in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) is projected to attract investments exceeding $7 billion in 2024 alone. The UAE and Saudi Arabia are leading this growth, driven by initiatives such as Saudi Vision 2030 and the UAE’s National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2031. Eaton’s strategic initiatives are interconnected efforts creating a robust ecosystem of solutions tailored to the Middle East’s unique data center needs. By expanding our reach into the European data center market, enhancing our thermal monitoring capabilities, and introducing cutting-edge UPS technology, we are fostering synergies that enhance efficiency, reliability, and sustainability.

Eaton’s trio of strategic investments underscores our holistic approach to addressing the challenges and seizing the opportunities in the Middle East’s rapidly evolving data center market. By continuously innovating and expanding our capabilities, Eaton is not merely keeping pace with industry growth but actively driving it forward. We are committed to maintaining our position at the forefront of delivering excellence in power management and data center solutions, ensuring that the Middle East’s digital future is both robust and sustainable.

By Charles Smith, Consulting Solution Architect, Data Protection, Barracuda Networks (EMEA)

The constant string of attacks organisations face is an ever-present reminder of how important it is to have an up-to-date, readily accessible copy of everything that matters to your business. Resilient backups allow you to recover more quickly from data damage, disruption, or loss, particularly if a ransomware attack has resulted in encrypted or deleted files.

These are well-known and widely reported benefits of backups — but there’s more. Immutable data backups can also protect you from the underrated threats of data tampering and malicious insiders, unpredictable activities that can significantly damage brand trust and reputation if they’re not addressed.

Data tampering and manipulation

Data tampering such as deletion and manipulation have been called the “next level of cyberattacks.” While attacks on data integrity aren’t new, their growing sophistication in the age of generative AI will make them harder to spot.

The perpetrators could be external, such as activists or nation-state groups, but more often they are internal, disaffected insiders with broad access rights out for revenge, mischief, personal, or financial gain.

Hypothetical external incidents could include an attacker successfully breaching a stock market’s IT system to alter share price updates, leading to panic selling and financial chaos. There are also reported examples of malicious insiders trying to alter data records within their current or former company, changing passwords, disabling servers, deleting files, or engaging in cyberespionage.

Companies need defences that will detect and prevent any attempt at data tampering inside the network, but also provide them with a robust and accurate version of the truth that can restore the original data and set the record straight.

The double defence against data tampering

Your first layer of protection should be a security solution that includes strong access controls, data encryption, secure communication protocols, and AI-driven measures to detect and respond to anomalies that could signpost attempted data interference. The combined impact should prevent external attackers from being able to access your network and alter or delete data, and it should also block internal malicious actions by authorised users.

There is a second, equally important layer of defence: an immutable data backup. Immutable data cannot be changed or deleted. This means that if an attacker does manage to tamper with or manipulate your communications, documents, and more — your backup files are unaffected and can be used to restore data and prove beyond doubt where content has been falsified.

The many benefits of immutable backups

Immutable backups can help an organisation to recover from any incident where data is encrypted, deleted, damaged, tampered with, or lost.

1. They offer an extra line of defence against determined bad actors. Despite the security measures in place, determined attackers may find ways to compromise or bypass security controls. Immutable backups provide an extra safeguard by ensuring that even if the primary data is tampered with, the backup remains intact and unaltered.

• They protect the company from insiders with ill intent.  No one likes to think about insider threats. These are your colleagues after all. But our own recent research suggests that malicious insiders were the root cause of around a third (39%) of data breaches in the last year. Immutable backups help to protect against insider attacks, as they prevent authorised users from altering or erasing data.

• They mitigate the impact of ransomware. Immutable backups can protect against ransomware attacks by ensuring that a clean, unaltered copy of the data is available for restoration, reducing the impact and potential need to pay the ransom.

• They protect you from accidental data corruption. Data can be corrupted due to hardware failures, software bugs, or human error. Immutable backups help protect against these scenarios by providing a point-in-time copy of the data that cannot be modified or corrupted, allowing for reliable data restoration.

• They are essential for compliance and data protection regulations. Some industry sectors and regulatory frameworks require organisations to maintain immutable backups for data retention and compliance purposes. Immutable backups ensure the integrity and authenticity of the data.

By combining security measures with immutable backups, organisations can implement a resilient data protection strategy that addresses both major, common cyberthreats such as ransomware and underrated, unanticipated threats that could do just as much harm. With immutable backups, you’re ready for them all.