Across the Middle East, organisations are delivering on their promises to transform the region, by diversifying and driving economic growth. As a result of key national agendas, such as Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, Qatar’s National Development Strategy and ‘We the UAE 2031’, the Middle East is not just participating in the global narrative of progress; it is leading it. Entire ecosystems, including sports, culture, renewable energy as well as regional developments such as NEOM and Al Ula, are redefining the economic landscape of the region.
Organisations are delivering programmes at an unprecedented scale and speed, but they are also facing another urgent priority: reinventing themselves. Our 27th Annual CEO Survey shows that business leaders in the Middle East know their organisations need to evolve by diversifying their offerings, and embracing emerging technologies. Nearly half of CEOs agreed that their businesses would not be economically viable in 10 years (by the time Saudi Arabia hosts the FIFA world cup in 2034) if they do not reinvent themselves.
In this context, managed services providers can play a crucial role in helping organisations achieve their transformation initiatives, without losing sight of the needs of their core operations. Our work with organisations in the region has shown that partnering with managed services providers (MSPs) can be particularly valuable for accessing technology and skills.
The growing need for a strategic partner
The global managed services market was valued at nearly $279bn in 2022 and is expected to exceed $500bn by 2028. A recent PwC survey of 2,000 business leaders worldwide showed 67% of top performing companies are using managed services to gain a strategic advantage or to close capability gaps.
In the Middle East, partnerships and strategic alliances are already playing a crucial role, offering deep industry insights and technological expertise. Data from our latest CEO Survey indicated that more than half of CEOs in Saudi Arabia have formed strategic partnerships in the last five years, to ensure their businesses remain resilient and agile.
Building a more strategic set of managed services partnerships (MSPs) enables organisations to access talent and technology, with the goal of not only reducing costs but becoming faster and more innovative. In a rapidly changing environment like the Middle East, companies can accelerate their transformation and ensure their capabilities stay relevant. And by turning to MSPs to help access tech expertise and global pools of talent, organisations can focus on their competitively differentiating activities.
Unlike in the past, today’s organisations do not have to struggle to build the capabilities they need by themselves. By having the right partner, they can receive support in knowledge transfers, industry expertise, and talent upskilling. A current priority, for example, is building capability in industry-specific analytics and Generative AI (GenAI).
Our CEO Survey findings indicate that almost three quarters of Middle East CEOs believe that GenAI will significantly alter how their companies create, deliver, and capture value over the next three years. Furthermore, almost half of those surveyed said that their organisations had changed their tech strategy last year due to GenAI.
Organisations want to leverage the benefits of this new technology, but may lack the internal capabilities or access to investment that would allow them to implement it and reap the full value that it can deliver. By working with an MSP, organisations can access existing expertise and without bearing the full cost (and risk!) of adding GenAI capabilities. The right MSPs will also be using GenAI in their own processes, to deliver their partners’ needs faster and more cost effectively.
Future-ready organisations
Organisations need partners who can offer them the right combination of talent and technology to move forwards faster, building resilience and agility to deliver outcomes at scale. In this context, managed services providers can play a crucial role in helping organisations achieve their ambitious plans above and beyond what was expected from legacy BPO players a decade or two ago.
The shift is not just about strengthening operational efficiency - it is a fundamental step towards embracing a future where agility and adaptability are paramount.
