Introduction
Around 85% of Middle East companies are already using the cloud and 68% plan to migrate most of their operations to the cloud within the next two years. But with the convenience it brings, come serious risks that need to be addressed.
As cloud computing transforms the financial services landscape, regulators and institutions in the Middle East face growing challenges around data security, sovereignty and compliance.
This thought leadership provides a practical and strategic blueprint tailored to the region’s unique regulatory environment. It empowers central banks, financial institutions and cloud providers to lead with confidence and makes a strong case for adopting secure, scalable and sovereign cloud strategies amid intensifying regulatory scrutiny and increasing cyber risks.
The report explores the most critical challenges facing cloud adoption in the region and shows how to mitigate them. These include vulnerabilities in cloud infrastructure, misconfigurations in third-party services and gaps in shared responsibility models. At the same time, it underscores the importance of strong cloud governance and proactive security measures to ensure compliance.
PwC’s National Secure Cloud Framework helps financial institutions build trust and resilience by focusing on five foundational pillars:
- Regulatory governance and oversight
- Cloud leadership
- Operational security
- Data protection
- Continuous monitoring
Together, these pillars enable proactive compliance, strong governance and operational agility.
The actionable recommendations in this report will help financial institutions to strengthen their cloud posture - by embedding security-by-design enabling continuous auditing, upskilling teams and adopting flexible hybrid cloud models.
Read the full report here.
