Microsoft offers power of choice - hybrid model of on-premises and off-premises resources-to government CIOs

Doha, Qatar, April  18, 2011: Microsoft Qatar located in Qatar Science and Technology Park, today announced that it had held a Cloud roundtable for CIOs from across government department in Qatar to give them insights into the nature of cloud computing and offer them a perspective on the best approach towards moving government IT infrastructure into the Cloud. At the roundtable, Microsoft talked about how it is well positioned to help government departments leverage the benefits of cloud computing due to its deep understanding of government business and an extensive solution portfolio.

On this occasion, Mohammad Hammoudi, Country Manager, Microsoft Qatar talked about how Microsoft is helping government departments move to the cloud on their own terms. He said, "We very strongly believe that the choice to move to the cloud is not an all-or-nothing proposition. All our solutions can work with each other in a hybrid model between on-premises and cloud. This allows for responsible, phased migration of the workloads to move from traditional on-premises to public cloud."

 "Cloud Computing will transform the way we do business today thus our approach to the market needs to be altered accordingly," said Nabil Nuseibeh, GM Ebla which is a Microsoft partner. "Government entities are going through the awareness phases now and it is our commitment to the market to increase their knowledge on this subject matter.  They will have to feel comfortable with this new transition just like any other previous experience they have encountered.  Good partners will stand out in these situations and lead the customer to an optimum solution."

With government departments today looking for new ways to doing things to meet the challenges of a growing economy, shrinking resources and aspirations of its citizens, Mr. Hammoudi talked about how the emergence of cloud computing is opening up vast new opportunities  for government institutions to generate new efficiencies in how they operate, build new engagements with the citizens they serve and use technology to tap the potential of all of their citizens and better compete in the global economy.

The roundtable also provided the CIOs with insights into Microsoft's vision for Cloud Computing and specific government cloud solutions. Microsoft today offers a range of Government Cloud solutions that address Government-specific needs and requirements. These solutions utilize Private Clouds as well as

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© Press Release 2011