BIOS Blog

DUBAI, UAE – July 20, 2022 – BIOS Middle East (BIOS), the GCC’s local cloud and managed services provider, has achieved the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) Security Trust Assurance and Risk (STAR) Level 2 certification, a stringent third-party assessment of the security of a cloud service provider.

BIOS owns, operates and manages its own cloud called CloudHPT, with datacentres in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Jeddah and Muscat. It offers fully managed IaaS and Gartner-recognized DRaaS for over 500 customers in the GCC and beyond.

Did you know that email is the most common gateway for cyberattacks? And given their widespread use, Microsoft 365 (M365) has some startling statistics that clearly demonstrate why M365 email security and protection are important.

⦁ 85% of organizations using Microsoft 365 have had an email data breach in the last 12 months.
⦁ Organizations using Microsoft 365 have seen a 67% increase in data leaks via email since March 2020 t
⦁ With 60% of data breaches attributed to poor patch management, there were 1,220 new CVEs across Microsoft products in 2020 in the common vulnerability and exposures (CVEs) database.

Whether you are a new business or an existing company, achieving business growth now depends on improving system reliability, supporting hybrid work models, modernising work environments, staying secure and adapting to changing market requirements.

Moving to a cloud infrastructure can help achieve these benefits with a single move. Indeed, in most industries, companies now acknowledge the storage, accessibility and flexibility benefits of moving to the cloud. Gartner forecasts that this demand will continue to grow, with end-user spending on public cloud services estimated to grow 21.7% in 2022 to reach aggregate volumes of $482 billion from $396 billion last year. In fact, by 2026, Gartner also predicts that cloud spending will exceed 45% of all enterprise IT spending.

Businesses around the world are being wooed by hyperscalers and cloud vendors of all kinds. But not all cloud services are equal. Unfortunately, customers often have to wade through the (significant) marketing claims to formulate an accurate “apples to apples” comparison.

The research team at BIOS Middle East, the GCC's local cloud provider has created a whitepaper where you can see the key differences between its managed cloud and Hyperscalers.

Moving to the cloud can deliver strategic advantages in terms of cost and risk reduction while strengthening disaster recovery and delivering scalability in an uncertain business environment. But while the benefits of cloud adoption are inarguable, doing so at the right time is crucial to business success.

3 occasions to embrace the cloud
Internal BIOS data shows that companies gain the most value when they make the transition to the cloud at specific moments during the business lifecycle. Some of these include:

Watch DemoThe term Disaster recovery (DR) extends to much more than a simple backup. It helps organizations regain access and functionality to their IT infrastructure after a disaster.

In today’s fast-paced, global IT environment, unplanned downtime can result in irrecoverable, long-term damage to your organization. Whether from cybercrime, hardware failure, or natural disasters, the impact of a disaster event can often be felt for years in terms of revenue loss, customer churn, or the inability to continue business operations.

Hence DR requires a targeted, bespoke solution that minimizes service disruption and protects your brand’s reputation while achieving compliance.

With 2022 likely to continue to be a year of uncertainty, businesses across the GCC and elsewhere are now being forced to re-examine costs and streamline operations expenditure – all while complying with new regulations.

Lessons from other players in the region can inspire leaders to find new solutions in these trying times. Leading mortgage provider Abu Dhabi Finance serves individuals as well as companies with innovative flexible finance solutions. But it needed an innovative IT solution to avoid major CapEx, streamline OpEx, facilitate remote working, and ensure compliance with Central Bank regulations.

Start as you mean to go on, they say. Here at BIOS, we’ve taken that maxim to heart. Barely two weeks into the year, we’re delighted to share some phenomenal, five-star news with you.

BIOS has been ISO certified not once, not twice, but four times – with an extra award to take our total to five awards.

The accreditations confirm our leadership in quality management, cybersecurity processes, Managed Secure Cloud (IaaS) and Managed Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) on CloudHPT. The credentials are valid for our operations in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman

As we turn the chapter on another year, cloud will continue to support the business world’s transition towards the new normal. Gartner expects global spending on cloud services to reach over $482 billion in 2022, up from $313 billion this year.

For us at BIOS Middle East, the moment is a cause for celebration. We have completed 20 years in the region. It also marks eight years since we brought the concept of managed cloud to the GCC, by launching CloudHPT in 2013.

BIOS Middle East announced it has established a new cloud footprint in Muscat, Oman, to serve customers in the Sultanate. In addition to serving customers in Oman, the cloud footprint will also provide customers in surrounding GCC countries such as Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar with the ability to do out of the country in region Disaster Recovery as a Service.

“As well as having strong internal demand for cloud services that we are keen to serve, Oman has long been considered the Switzerland of the Middle East when it comes to telecommunications, making it an excellent location for in-region out of country Disaster Recovery for companies around the Gulf,” said Adam Wolf, Technical Director, BIOS Middle East.