INTERVIEWS //
ARABIAN RESELLER - JUNE-JULY 2022
COMMITTED TO BUILDING A BETTER INTERNET Arabian Reseller speaks to Bashar Bashaireh, the newly appointed Managing Director for the Middle East and Turkey at Cloudflare, about his strategies for the region What factors prompted you to join as regional head of Cloudflare? Having worked in the domain of cyber security for more than two decades, I can see that Cloudflare is genuine in its mission of building a better Internet that is fast, safe, and reliable for everyone. Being part of this journey that touches everyone’s life is surely an exciting thing to do. Having spoken to so many customers in the region, I understand that nowadays more than ever, they need to be able to grow their operations by focusing on their core mission without having to worry about their technology. Cloudflare appears to me as one of the most innovative customer-centric companies in the market. More than just technology, we are on a mission to help to build a fast, reliable,
and secure Internet for a maximum number of people, businesses, and public organizations. Is the opening of the new office in Dubai Cloudflare’s first foray into the Middle East region? And can you give us some details about your intended operations in this region? Today, Cloudflare’s network currently spans over 75 cities in the EMEA region including 16 physical locations in the Middle East and Turkey. Cloudflare first invested in the Middle East in 2015. Now with data centres spanning more than 270 cities in more than 100 countries worldwide, the company continues to grow its presence to be even closer to Internet-connected users everywhere. Cloudflare has about 30 team members from
30
different functions covering the Middle East. We plan to have a team of approximately 20 people working in Dubai by the end of 2022 and are currently planning to grow that number to over 30 by the end of 2023. We are hiring! What are the opportunities that you see for Cloudflare in the region? Cloudflare has been associated with delivering fast content over the cloud in a most reliable and secure manner, accounting for at least 20% of the global Internet traffic. Cloudflare can cater to and support all types of organizations (businesses and public sector) including those with a social mission. The Middle East and Turkey as emerging markets are characterized by a relatively young population, with 70% of it being under the age of 30.
