Mobily’s new cloud computing service will offer its customers enhanced security and efficiency at an attractive price, Marwan Al-Ahmadi, Mobily’s chief business officer (CBO), said in Riyadh.

Al-Ahmadi was speaking at a press conference held in Riyadh following the launch of advanced public and hybrid cloud computing services for the business sector in the Kingdom, in cooperation with Virtustream.

Rodney J. Rogers, Virtustream chairman and CEO, was also present at the event.

The conference comes following the strategic alliance agreement signed by both companies earlier this year in which public and hybrid cloud computing services were jointly built and provided by Mobily and Virtustream.

“Under the program, the data center is located in the Kingdom and also the cloud space is available within the country, hence there is no chance for information to be leaked out to other parties,” the Mobily official said.

He said the data is further encrypted to ensure secrecy of the data. He also said the new program would also offer training opportunities for Saudi youths to become specialists in cloud computing.

“We have hired some specialists, who will be able to handle the project successfully,” he said.

Al-Ahmadi stressed that eventually people will be benefited from this program because of its efficiency and reduced costs.

“Mobily has a clear vision of the needs of the business sector in Saudi Arabia. Hence, partnerships with leading providers of world-class services support our vision to deliver the best services and enhance the operational productivity of the Saudi business sector,” he added.

“Virtustream was chosen by Mobily as a strategic partner for their extensive enterprise cloud business experience in the Middle East, Asia, the US and Europe,” he said.

He said the rapid growth in industrial investments in the Kingdom depends heavily on information and communication technology (ICT) and it is accelerating business agility in the country.

To remain competitive in business, he stressed, there is a need to adopt cloud computing service.

“We see this as the perfect time for cloud services in the region, and the alliance of Mobily and Virtustream in the Kingdom presents tremendous opportunities,” Rogers said.

He stressed that Mobily is a leader in the ICT industry and the best possible partner for Virtustream.

“The power of Mobily’s fiber and mobile networks and world-class data centers behind Virtustream’s proven enterprise class cloud solution makes this agreement truly unique,” he added.

Cloud computing services can reduce information technology’s costs by up to 50 percent, so it is becoming a necessity for the business sector, he said.

Under the program, Mobily and Virtustream would provide a complete portfolio of public and hybrid cloud services to be available for all enterprise applications – with extensive backup, disaster recovery and meeting high security and compliance standards.

“Now Saudi businesses can move all their enterprise applications to the cloud, even critical applications like SAP, Microsoft and Oracle,” he said.

Mobily was one of the first companies in the region to provide cloud computing services to the business sector back in 2010.

Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) was established in 2004 by a consortium led by Etisalat, the UAE-based telecom conglomerate. Mobily is the official brand name of Etihad Etisalat, renowned as the second mobile service provider in the Kingdom.

The 25-Year telecommunication mobile license awarded to Mobily was complemented by a subsequent purchase of a 3G license.

Mobily is the first Saudi communications company to get an operation license for 3rd generation services and beyond.

In December 2004, Mobily was listed on Tadawul Stock Exchange. Today, Mobily equates to 40 percent plus market share of the mobile subscriptions in the Kingdom.

In March 2008, Mobily was granted approval by CITC (Communication and Information Technology Commission) to acquire Bayanat Al-Oula, which was a licensed data service provider for a price of SR 1.5 billion.

In November 2008, Mobily acquired absolute majority stakes in Zajil, a major Saudi ISP (Internet service provider).

Mobily owns vast majority shares in the Saudi National Fiber Network (SNFN) composed with 12,800 km of structured fiber cable, panned into 7 fully protected rings covering 35 Saudi cities plus access to 60 major hub sites for telecommunications prime points of presence, and complimented with 20 inter-metropolis fiber loops in major Saudi cities.

Furthermore, Mobily is a lead investor in prime global submarine cable projects that are expected to be operational in the near future.