Google officially activated its latest cloud region in Saudi Arabia, marking the kingdom’s inclusion in its network of 39 global regions.
Established in 2008, it provides a range of services, including computing, data storage, analytics, machine learning, and management tools. Research commissioned by Google suggests a significant impact on Saudi Arabia’s digital economy, projecting a $109B impact and the potential addition of 148,600 jobs by 2030.
CEO Thomas Kurian underscores Google Cloud’s commitment to meeting Saudi Arabia’s regulatory and security requirements, according to Gulf Business.
The launch event features key speakers, including the CEO of Aramco and SAP EMEA South Regional President Manos Raptopoulos, who announces SAP’s adoption of the new Google Cloud region for hosting workloads and making its flagship technology, Rise, available on the servers.
Google’s move into Saudi Arabia may signal a strategic expansion to capitalize on the country’s recent economic growth. Market estimates from AAG position Google as one of the major players in the cloud space, with a 10% market share in 2022, following AWS (33%) and Microsoft Azure (22%).
