The days of managed services being solely a North American phenomenon are over. Officially! No where is this more demonstrable than in the UAE, where managed services are growing at an aggressive rate. According to Frost & Sullivan, the UAE managed services market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17% over the next five years. In 2011, the UAE managed services market grew by approximately 12.9%, totaling roughly $333M.
Much of this growth is due to the pre-existing infrastructure and reasonably priced labor markets available in the mid-eastern country. The UAE government is also making investments to further increase the managed services and cloud computing markets in the country.
While the underlying business reasons for the UAE's growth in managed services is not unique, it is nevertheless comforting that even in "non-traditional" markets we continue to see managed services becoming such a foundational element to a country's IT and financial health and well being. This is in stark contrast to some other perceptions of managed services as a outsourcing, and therefore, offshoring, threat to jobs. Obviously the UAE does not see it that way.
Something tells me that we will be seeing more examples similar to the UAE in the near future elsewhere in the world.
