GCC Data Center Market - Investment Analysis & Growth Opportunities 2024-2029

MARKET OVERVIEW

The GCC data center market size will witness investments of USD 7.22 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 10.14% during the forecast period. Cloud operators like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have started ramping up their investments in this region with their cloud regions and local zones. The increased number of constructed facilities also leads to a rise in the need for sophisticated infrastructure. In February 2023, Microsoft announced its plans to launch an Azure cloud region in Saudi Arabia.

The GCC data center market is booming because of the significant rise in AI, 5G technology, digitalization, expanding undersea cable connectivity, adoption of sophisticated technology, smart city initiatives, formation of free trade zones, government plans, and other factors that have driven the market expansion. Further, the GCC region has a solid fiber network and rising investments in underwater cables and internet exchange points. There are around seven submarine cables that are presently under development. In existing submarine cables, the UAE has the largest network of submarine cables, with over 15 submarine cables connected.

In GCC, diverse sectors like agriculture, smart cities, the public sector, and healthcare are adopting IoT innovations. For instance, the UAE police force used its surveillance system, Oyoon, to track authorized movement permits, and the Royal Oman Police has used drones to enforce social distance policies during COVID outbreaks. Also, GCC has several FTZs in each city that provide substantial incentives to investors, such as tax breaks, import/export tax exemptions, and local labor recruiting, such as Dubai's DMCC, Al Mazunah, Salalah, Sohar, and Duqm in Oman, AL-Mazara'a Industrial Park in Bahrain, Kuwait Industrial Technology Park (KITP), the Al Mazunah Free Zone, and the Salalah Free Zone.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

• The GCC country governments announced various projects, including the Dubai Metaverse Strategy, the UAE Digital Government Strategy, the Cloud-First Policy, Kuwait's Renewable Energy Policy, the Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL), and others, to accomplish the market's digitization, security, and adoption of renewable energy.
• The internet-using population and internet penetration rates across the GCC region have risen, especially in the past few years. Saudi Arabia leads that list, followed by the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, and other countries.
• GCC has developed strategies to achieve significant results by generating power from renewable sources in the coming years. For instance, the UAE has committed over USD 160 billion to renewable energy projects as a part of its ambition to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
• Smart cities are rising in the GCC region, with the UAE and Saudi Arabia leading the way. UAE’s Dubai and Abu Dhabi are among the world's smartest cities, with a global smart city index ranking of 17 and 13, respectively. They have several existing and upcoming smart city initiatives. The NEOM is one of the world’s highly anticipated smart cities that will cost Saudi Arabia about USD 500 billion and is set to take the world by storm when it becomes operational by 2025.
• The UAE and Saudi Arabia lead on this front, using AI to control the power grid and distribution. It is also helping operators identify the best time to generate, store, and use the energy produced. This gives them the added benefit of handling power generation and supply remotely.
• Governments of the GCC countries have taken initiatives to educate people and upgrade their skills for data center operations. For instance, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has collaborated with Kuwaiti government organizations to provide cloud computing training and certification programs to aid workforce development.

WHY SHOULD YOU BUY THIS RESEARCH?

• Market size is available in terms of investment, area, and power capacity.
• Study of the macroeconomic and microeconomic factors across the GCC region.
• An assessment of the data center investment in the GCC region by the data center operators.
• Investments in the area (square feet) and power capacity (MW) across locations in the GCC region.
• A detailed study of the existing GCC data center market landscape, an in-depth market analysis, and insightful predictions about market size during the forecast period.
• Snapshot of existing and upcoming third-party data center facilities in the GCC
  • Facilities Covered (Existing): 79
  • Facilities Identified (Upcoming): 73
  • Coverage: 6 Countries
  • Existing vs. Upcoming (Area)
  • Existing vs. Upcoming (IT Load Capacity)
• The GCC data center market investments are classified into IT, power, cooling, and general construction services with sizing and forecast.
• A comprehensive analysis of the latest trends, growth rate, potential opportunities, growth restraints, and prospects for the industry.
• Business overview and product offerings of prominent IT infrastructure providers, construction contractors, support infrastructure providers, and investors operating in the market.
• A transparent research methodology and the analysis of the demand and supply aspects of the market.

VENDOR LANDSCAPE

• Some of the major data center providers in the GCC data center market include Gulf Data Hub, Equinix, Khazna Data Centers, center3 (stc), Ooredoo, MEEZA, Mobily, Moro Hub, Oman Data Park, TONOMUS (ZeroPoint DC), and others.
• Investors such as Edgnex Data Centres by DAMAC, Agility, and Quantum Switch Tamasuk (QST) are new entrants in the GCC data center market.
• Leading data center providers use green fuels such as biogas and biofuels for renewable energy. In October 2023, Khazna Data Centres are adopting biofuel for their UAE facilities.
• New entrants, such as real estate and investment firms, are investing in the GCC data center market, acquiring significant areas for growth. For example, Agility, a logistics real estate firm, has allocated over 100,000 square feet of land to develop data center facilities in the Agility Logistics Parks in Riyadh.

EXISTING VS. UPCOMING DATA CENTERS

• Existing Facilities in the Region (Area and Power Capacity)
  • UAE
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Bahrain
  • Oman
  • Kuwait
  • Qatar
• List of Upcoming Facilities in the Region (Area and Power Capacity)

REPORT COVERAGE:

This report analyses the GCC data center market share. It elaboratively analyses the existing and upcoming facilities and investments in IT, electrical, mechanical infrastructure, general construction, and tier standards. It discusses market sizing and investment estimation for different segments. The segmentation includes:

• IT Infrastructure
  • Servers
  • Storage Systems
  • Network Infrastructure
• Electrical Infrastructure
  • UPS Systems
  • Generators
  • Transfer Switches & Switchgear
  • PDUs
  • Other Electrical Infrastructure
• Mechanical Infrastructure
  • Cooling Systems
  • Racks
  • Other Mechanical Infrastructure
• Cooling Systems
  • CRAC and CRAH Units
  • Chillers Units
  • Cooling Towers, Condensers, and Dry Coolers
  • Other Cooling Units
• General Construction
  • Core & Shell Development
  • Installation & Commissioning Services
  • Engineering & Building Design
  • Fire Detection & Suppression
  • Physical Security
  • Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM)
• Tier Standard
  • Tier I & Tier II
  • Tier III
  • Tier IV
• Geography
  • UAE
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Bahrain
  • Oman
  • Kuwait
  • Qatar

VENDOR LANDSCAPE

• IT Infrastructure Providers: Arista Networks, Atos, Broadcom, Cisco Systems, Dell Technologies, Fujitsu, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Hitachi Vantara, Huawei Technologies, IBM, Inspur, Juniper Networks, Lenovo, NetApp, Oracle.
• Data Center Construction Contractors & Sub-Contractors: AECOM, AESG, Al-Balagh, Aldar Properties, ALEC Data Center Solutions, Al-Latifia Trading and Contracting, Arcadis, Arup, Ashi & Bushnag, ASU, Atkins, Black & White, Capitoline, Condor Group, Core Emirates, Critical Facilities Consulting & Services, Dar Group, DC PRO Engineering, Direct Services, Edarat Group, EGEC, Egis, Galfar Al Misnad Engineering and Contracting, Group AMANA, HATCO, HHM Building Contracting, Harinsa Qatar (HQ), Hill International, ICS Nett, INT’LTEC Group, JAMED, James L. Williams (JLW), John Paul Construction, Laing O’Rourke, Laith Electra Mechanical, Linesight, M+W Group (Exyte), Mace, Marafie Group, McLaren Construction Group, Middle East Modern Architecture (MEMA), Meinhardt Group, MIS, Qatar Site & Power, Raghav Contracting, RED Engineering, Rider Levett Bucknall, RW Armstrong, SANA Creative Systems (SANA Controls), Site & Power DK (Midis Group), STS Group, Sudlows Consulting, Telal Engineering & Contracting, Turner & Townsend, and UBIK.
• Support Infrastructure Providers: ABB, Airedale, Alfa Laval, Canovate, Caterpillar, Cummins, Delta Electronics, Eaton, Enrogen, Envicool, Grundfos, HITEC Power Protection, Honeywell International, Johnson Controls, Legrand, Mitsubishi Electric, Rittal, Rolls-Royce, Schneider Electric, Siemens, STULZ, and Vertiv.
• Data Center Investors: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Batelco (Bahrain Telecommunications Company), center3 (stc), Equinix, Google, Gulf Data Hub, Khazna Data Centers, Microsoft, MEEZA, Mobily, Moro Hub, Oman Data Park, Ooredoo, and TONOMUS (ZeroPoint DC).
• New Entrants: Agility, Edgnex Data Centres by DAMAC, and Quantum Switch.