Riyadh, March 4, 2024 — Zoho Corp., today announced the opening of the first two Middle East data centres in Saudi Arabia to ensure local data is stored within the geographical boundaries of the Kingdom, in line with Personal Data Protection Laws (PDPL). Located in Jeddah and Riyadh, the two data centres are now fully operational. With this addition, Zoho Corp. now has 18 data centres worldwide. Zoho Corp. is a leading global technology company that encompasses prominent brands such as Zoho and ManageEngine.
This investment demonstrates Zoho Corp's commitment to data sovereignty and compliance with local regulations while further enhancing service quality and security for its Saudi customers. The announcements were made on the sidelines of LEAP, the region's largest technology conference taking place in Riyadh.
“Zoho Corporation has a strong R&D foundation, as we have invested in building our own full technology stack, including the data centres that are run using our proprietary patented technology. We have our robust solutions available in Saudi Arabia through our two established brands: ManageEngine and Zoho that are serving the local businesses. With our philosophy of transnational localism, we are committed to building strong roots here in order to serve the businesses and the community long term. We are here to stay, build and serve,” said Sridhar Vembu, CEO and Co-founder, Zoho Corp.
In a statement regarding Zoho Corp.'s recent investment, His Excellency Vice Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Eng. Haytham AlOhali, expressed his unwavering confidence in the digital investment landscape of Saudi Arabia. AlOhali emphasised that Zoho Corp.'s strategic move exemplifies the vast array of digital opportunities available in the country, thanks to its robust digital enablers and rock-solid infrastructure. Highlighting the significance of Zoho Corp.'s new data centres, AlOhali underscored their pivotal role in driving Saudi Arabia's future digital progress and reinforcing the nation's digital capabilities. These developments align closely with the ambitious objectives outlined in Vision 2030, positioning the kingdom as a thriving digital hub connecting three continents.
Contributing to the Saudi Vision 2030, Zoho Corp., will be investing a total of about SAR 500 million, focusing on digital infrastructure development and strategic partnerships with local government entities. The company has already partnered with Monsha’at, the SME authority in Saudi. Through the Monsha’at Academy and Thakaa Centre, Zoho Corp. is digitally upskilling businesses’ workforces to foster tech adoption.
Furthermore, as part of a long-term strategy set forth in cooperation with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), Zoho Corp. has allocated SAR 100 million in wallet credits yearly for the next 10 years, that can be utilised to access any of its 55+ cloud-based applications under the Zoho brand and for training. These partnerships will help ease the adoption of digital technologies for SMEs in Saudi Arabia and promote digital upskilling amongst local businesses.
Under the Zoho brand, the company offers cloud-based business applications that have been built on the same technology stack for all business functions—from sales and marketing to finance and HR management. Zoho's adoption in the Kingdom has been driven by Zoho One (unified platform of over 50 applications), Zoho Books (VAT-compliant, ZATCA-approved accounting software), Zoho CRM (customer experience platform), Zoho Creator (low-code application development platform) and Workplace (enterprise collaboration platform). Zoho serves thousands of Saudi customers such as Badael, Al Musbah group, Naizak and Leejam.
The ManageEngine division has helped over 2,000 Saudi organisations, both in government and private sectors, manage and optimise their IT infrastructure. ManageEngine's comprehensive suite of over 60 products, across domains like service management, identity and access management, and unified endpoint management (UEM), available through on-premises, cloud-native, cloud ready, and MSP models, helps Saudi organisations achieve digital resilience and securely navigate through the dynamic landscape. Saudi Arabia has emerged as one of the top 10 markets worldwide for ManageEngine; this growth is led by the tremendous demand for its UEM solution, Endpoint Central and IT service management (ITSM) solution, ServiceDesk Plus. The customer count has also increased, particularly across IT services and solutions, oil and energy, healthcare and pharmaceutical, tourism, government and non-governmental organisation (NGO) sectors.
"We welcome the launch of the data centres in Saudi Arabia, as it ensures increased availability, safeguarding of sensitive medical data, and helping us meet compliance-related requirements. The new facilities empower us in our mission of providing the best quality technology-based services. We look forward to building our relationship with ManageEngine and put in place a reliable and secure IT infrastructure for the healthcare sector," said Othman Al Jumaiee, Director, Information Services, Ministry of National Guard - Health Affairs.
“Thanks to Zoho Desk, we were able to significantly improve the quality and speed of our communication with our customers. Previously, the expected response time to customer tickets was 4-6 hours, but now we have brought it down to just 10 minutes. Having Zoho’s data centre in Saudi will help us ensure better security of our data, and support us in our goal to help Saudi businesses build exceptional brand loyalty,” said Ahmed Amasha, Director of Customer Support, Walaa Plus.
Zoho Corp. operates with a privacy-centric approach, where it respects user privacy and does not have an ad-revenue model in any part of its business, including its free products. The company owns and operates its data centres, ensuring complete oversight of customer data, privacy, and security.
Zoho Corporation is a privately-held, profitable technology company. Founded in 1996, it is headquartered in Chennai, India. Zoho Corp. has more than 15,000 employees globally. It is the parent company of prominent technology brands including ManageEngine, Zoho.com, TrainerCentral, and Qntrl.
Media inquiries:
Ahana Vissa
ManageEngine
ahana.g@zohocorp.com