Dubai, UAE, 22 April, 2015: Equinix, the global interconnection and data center company, addressed the challenges and opportunities facing the Takaful industry in the region by taking part in the recently held World Takaful Conference, the world's largest gathering of Islamic insurance leaders, held in Dubai.

James Maudslay, Global Head of Insurance, Equinix spoke about trends in the Takaful market with a key address on 'Sustainable market growth - Looking at opportunities for innovating the Takaful market offering'. Maudslay explained how technology can transform and grow the Takaful market by assisting with data recording, process control, reporting, regulatory inconsistencies, maximising data collection and storage. More innovation can be achieved by making use of cloud computing and outsourcing of services to control costs, and re-architecting IT infrastructure, he said.

According to a recent report, the Takaful industry in GCC has witnessed a stable growth at 18.5 per cent annually since 2008. UAE has been noted to offer the most diversified suite of family and general takaful products. However, experts predict that a major challenge facing the Takaful industry going forward will be to boost top line growth levels whilst focusing on technical profitability. Readiness of industry players to adapt to evolving opportunities and formulate and execute gainful strategies will be crucial in determining the success of the industry.

"The insurance industry today faces increased complexity, more regulation and heightened consumer expectations, and that is straining IT systems. By moving IT infrastructure inside the Off-Shore Zone of the Dubai IBX Data Center, insurers can gain access to leading colocation facilities, guaranteeing the highest levels of data center security and operational reliability worldwide. Market participants can directly connect to one another, enhancing the consumption of cloud technologies, while lowering IT, bandwidth and network connectivity costs" said Jeroen Schlosser, Managing Director, Equinix MENA. 

Equinix operates International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data centers in 32 markets across 15 countries in the Americas, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific. It helps companies accelerate business performance by connecting them to their customers and partners inside the world's most networked data centers. The Dubai colocation center serves as an interconnection hub for the Middle East as it houses the UAE Internet Exchange (UAE-IX), which is a neutral Internet traffic exchange platform that interconnects global networks, network operators and content providers.

For more details about Equinix, visit www.equinix.ae/

About Equinix:
Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), connects more than 4,500 companies directly to their customers and partners inside the world's most networked data centers. Today, businesses leverage the Equinix interconnection platform in 32 strategic markets across the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific. www.equinix.com.

Media Queries for Equinix Dubai:
Rijosh Joseph
Associate Account Director
DABO & CO
+971502818849
rijosh.j@daboandco.com

© Press Release 2015