Top 10 leading digital transformation providers in Saudi
When it comes to IT services and solutions, the same big-name companies tend to dominate global markets – Accenture, Cognizant, Capgemini, IBM, TCS, Wipro, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, to name but a few.
Not so Saudi Arabia.
The country, whose IT services and consulting market is the largest in the GCC, delivers a far more diverse mix of providers – that is mainly comprised of homegrown players.
Recent research from IDC found eight of the top 10 IT service providers in the Kingdom are Saudi-origin companies, with the other two – IT majors headquartered in India.
The unique value proposition of these companies is the combination of a locally-based, culturally aware workforce with comprehensive cross-industry solutions and strategic partnerships with global technology vendors.
As the Kingdom pursues ambitious initiatives, from smart cities to the digitisation of healthcare an education, and the private sector continues to adapt to an increasingly digital economy, we take a look at the leading IT services providers in the country.
1
Solutions by stc
CEO: Omer Al-Nomany
HQ: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Operating in Saudi for more than 25 years, Solutions by stc is credited with being the Kingdom’s leading enabler of digital transformation for the last six years.
With an estimated market share of 18.8% in 2022, profits surged 33.9% in the first half of 2023, compared to the year before, while revenues increased 24.3% to reach more than SAR 5.3 billion.
A subsidiary of Saudi Telecom Company (stc), the Saudi-listed ICT provider serves more than 25,000 clients across 35 Saudi cities with services including connectivity, cloud services, IoT digital, system and cybersecurity integration.
The firm, which has more than 1,500 employees, of which over 800 are certified in key tech domains, delivers digitisation and technology integration across multiple industries from education to oil and gas, telecoms to banking, as well as the government sectors.
Armed with an ambitious expansion and growth strategy, the firm is driving growth with acquisitions, including the 100% acquisition of the Kingdom’s leading business process outsourcing company (Contact Center Company) and most recently the taking of a 40% stake in Devoteam Middle East, one of the leading digital consulting agencies in the region.
What the CEO says: “Everything we do is guided by innovation and imagination, helping clients and customers understand and embrace their digital futures.”
2
Wipro Middle East
CEO: Anis Chenchah APMEA
Indian IT major Wipro began operations in Saudi in 2001 and more than 20 years later employs over 1,000 people of 20 different nationalities with offices in Riyadh, Jubail, Al Kobar. Saudi is the firm's biggest market in the Middle East. Overlooking the entire region is Anis Chenchah, CEO of APMEA (Asia Pacific, India, Middle East and Africa.
Operating in a joint venture with Dar Al Riyadh as Wipro Arabia Limited (WAL), the Saudi-headquartered firm helps clients harness the power of IT to achieve profitable growth, market leadership, customer satisfaction and sustainability.
WAL harnesses the power of cognitive computing, hyper-automation, robotics, cloud, analytics and emerging technologies to help clients adapt to the digital world.
Wipro’s strong commitment and alignment to Vision 2030 has been a key driver for its growth in the Kingdom. The IT provider leverages the power of technology help customers thrive in the digital world, with digital transformation, cloud, cybersecurity, data analytics, digital operations and platforms, IoT and artificial intelligence the firm's our top strategic areas in Saudi Arabia.
Wipro takes a leading position in the Kingdom when it comes to social and corporate responsibility. In partnership with Princess Nourah bint Abdul Rahman University, WAL started the Women’s Business Park in 2016, which is one of the largest knowledge process outsourcing centres in the Middle East region. The WBP has more than 95% localisation and contributes significantly to female employment in the technology sector.
3
Saudi Business Machines
CEO: Essam AlShiha
As IBM’s representative in the Kingdom since 1981, Saudi Business Machines is Saudi Arabia’s longest-standing enterprise digital transformation company and a key contributor to the Kingdom’s transformation efforts.
The ICT firm, which has a 17.8% Saudi market share in IT services, according to IDC, delivers end-to-end cutting-edge enterprise ICT solutions across every industry with its portfolio of products and services, from networking to cybersecurity.
The company not only boasts the largest local team of IT experts, comprising 900 certified consultants and project managers – but has full access to IBM’s Competency Centers, comprising the world’s largest pool of consultants.
Armed with a strong financial track record (the firm receives 50% revenue share of Cisco technology in the Kingdom) SBM is passionate about fostering innovation and R&D regionally and recently opened TECHXAGON, the first national Center for Digital Transformation, Research, and Information Technology Development. The idea is to “empower local talent, foster technology localisation and develop a world-class Saudi technology solution with global competitiveness”, says CEO Al Shiha.
Among partnerships, SBM recently collaborated with global tech firm Software AG, enabling them to deliver solutions based on Software AG’s IoT, Integration, API Management, Business & IT Transformation technologies to Saudi clients.
4
Arabic Computer Systems
CEO: Khalid AlShamlan
Not only does Arabic Computer Systems have a long history of digital leadership in the Kingdom, at 35 years, but it remains among the largest ICT companies with more than 3,000 IT professionals covering 23 Saudi cities.
Established in 1984 by Engineer Mohammed Al Ballaa as one of the pioneer IT companies in the Kingdom, ACS has grown into a leading provider of IT and digital transformation.
Inspired by Saudi Vision 2030, ACS has developed stacks, solutions and services to help clients digitally transform – serving both government entities and delivering cutting-edge enterprise technology to some of the Middle East’s leading private-sector companies.
Among the firm’s many technology, solutions and service provider partners are Huawei, IBM, Symantec, Cisco, HP, Amazon, Automation Anywhere, Zoho and Fortinet.
5
Ejada Systems
CEO: Fawaz Abou Nasr
A leading IT services provider in the Middle East and Africa, Ejada has been enabling enterprises and public-sector organisations to accelerate their digital transformation journey with innovative IT solutions for the last 25 years.
The ICT provider, which is now 100% wholly owned by Riyadh-based Al-Rajhi Bank, has established leadership in domains including customer experience and engagement solutions, analytics, ERP, and payments, finance, regulatory and compliance solutions.
With some 1,400 professionals, the firm has undertaken more than 700 large-scale transformation projects for more than 300 enterprise clients.
With a focus on innovating and designing pioneering solutions, Ejada is embracing the latest technologies from AI to blockchain to the Internet of Things.
Indian IT major Wipro began operations in Saudi in 2001 and more than 20 years later employs over 1,000 people of 20 different nationalities with offices in Riyadh, Jubail, Al Kobar. Saudi is the firm's biggest market in the Middle East.
Operating in a joint venture with Dar Al Riyadh as Wipro Arabia Limited (WAL), the Saudi-headquartered firm helps clients harness the power of IT to achieve profitable growth, market leadership, customer satisfaction and sustainability.
WAL harnesses the power of cognitive computing, hyper-automation, robotics, cloud, analytics and emerging technologies to help clients adapt to the digital world.
According to CEO Turki Al Nader, Wipro’s strong commitment and alignment to Vision 2030 has been a key driver for its growth in the Kingdom. "We leverage the power of technology with a passionate global talent base to help our customers, communities, and planet, thrive in the digital world," he recently told Arab News. "Digital transformation, cloud, cybersecurity, data analytics, digital operations and platforms, IoT and artificial intelligence are our top strategic areas in Saudi Arabia."
Wipro takes a leading position in the Kingdom when it comes to social and corporate responsibility. In partnership with Princess Nourah bint Abdul Rahman University, WAL started the Women’s Business Park in 2016, which is one of the largest knowledge process outsourcing centers in the Middle East region. The WBP has more than 95% localisation and contributes significantly to female employment in the technology sector.
7
Tata Consultancy Services MEA
Regional Director: Sudhir Sreedharan
The Indian-headquartered IT services, consulting and business solutions company has been partnering with many of the world’s largest businesses in their transformation journeys for over 50 years.
Present in the Middle East and Africa for 25 years, TCS has a diverse team of more than 9,000 associates spread across nine countries including Saudi offering a consulting-led, cognitive-powered, integrated portfolio of services and solutions
In the Kingdom, TCS works with more than 120 leading corporations and government entities to drive adoption of advanced technologies. Among these, TCS partnered with The National Water Company to roll out ERP across all clusters as it looked to digital transformation to address many challenges. Most recently, TCS facilitated the digital transformation of Banque Saudi Fransi – transforming domestic and international real-time payments processing using TCS BaNCS for Payments.
In line with the Saudi Vision 2030, the Indian IT major has set up the TCS Innovation Lab in Riyadh and collaborates with universities and startups to provide a platform for students to explore and create innovative solutions to address pressing industry needs.
In Saudi, TCS has been awarded a top employer for eight consecutive years and is actively investing in empowering women through the All Women Digital Services Centre based in Riyadh, an initiative providing employment to almost 1000 skilled women in the country. While
8
MDS SI Group
President: Sami Abi Esber
MDS System Integration Group is a leader in the IT services market not just in Saudi but across the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
Forming part of the Midis Group, a tech conglomerate of 170 companies across EMEA, the MDS SI Group boasts 60 companies, a presence in 13 countries, and more than 2,600 professionals as it looks to drive digital and business transformation for more than 5,000 clients. The Saudi company has 10,000 employees.
In helping to fulfil the digital transformation aspirations of clients, MDS focuses on developing capabilities around the key technologies of cloud, cybersecurity, big data, analytics and AI – and partners with tech providers such as Cisco, Dell, Google Cloud, HP, Huawei, IBM, Intel, Apple, APC by Schneider Electric and Autodesk.
“Our solutions help enterprises streamline and reorganise their strategy around the customer journey in the face of change,” the website states.
Working across industries including telecoms, energy healthcare and aviation, MDS SI has worked with clients including Ooredoo and Riyadh Airports Company and in Saudi has seen its IT services revenue increase significantly – almost doubling revenue in 2021 to US$145.04 million.
According to IDC’s report, the group’s strong financials and zero debt position means it is “able to acquire companies to strengthen its services portfolio”.
9
Mobily
CEO: Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Badran
One of the youngest companies on the list, Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) was founded in Riyadh by Etihad Etisalat and has since grown to become one of the largest and most advanced portfolios of ICT solutions in the Kingdom.
The company offers integrated services across Saudi for three main sectors – individuals, businesses, and carriers – and boasts a portfolio that includes datacentres, enterprise cloud, security, managed services, IoT and infrastructure solutions.
With a vision to accelerate digitsation of the Saudi enterprise market, Mobily is increasing its partnerships, recently collaborating with Cisco to develop new cybersecurity capabilities, with Tencent Cloud to launch the next-generation of cloud solutions and services in KSA, and with AWS to establish an AWS Cloud Center of Excellence and launch a portfolio of cloud services, from Industry 4.0 solution to AI and ML services.
The company has one of the largest wireless networks by coverage in Saudi as well as the region, and one of the widest FTTH networks, as well as one of the largest datacentre systems worldwide.
Last year, Mobily generated net profits after tax worth SAR 1.65 billion, higher by 54.57% than the year before, while revenues increased by 5.63%.
In 2019, the company unveiled the Kingdom’s first ICT academy in partnership with Huawei.
10
Ebttikar Technology Company
CEO: Khalid Al-Shangiti
Founded in 1983 as a subsidiary of the National Technology Group, Ebttikdar has grown to be one of the leading IT infrastructure solutions providers in the Kingdom `– with four main offices, 24 service centres and around 2,000 professionals.
Leveraging strategic partnerships with world-class technology vendors, including Huawei, IBM, Microsoft, Cisco, EMC, HP and Juniper, Ebttikar provides a full spectrum of services that includes consulting, design, implementation, integration and a whole host of outsourcing services. They were the first regional company to receive Cisco Gold Partner Certification in the Midlde East.
In short, they address the entire cycle of a typical IT undertaking, from consult to build to deploy to manage.
The multi award-winning company serves over 250 customers across various industries and counts the Saudi stock exchange (Tadawul), Saudi Hollandi Bank and the Ministry of Health among clients.
