Kuwait: Zain, the leading digital service provider in Kuwait, announced a new collaboration with Boubyan Bank to host its IT infrastructure at Zain’s world-class datacenter facility via the company’s colocation service. Through this collaboration, Zain hosts Boubyan’s technology infrastructure and links it with all the bank’s branches and digital channels in order to achieve the highest levels of service availability.

The announcement came during the tour held at Zain’s datacenter facility in Subahiya, attended by Zain Kuwait CEO Eaman Al Roudhan, CTO Nawaf Al Gharabally, Chief Enterprise and Business Officer Hamad Al Marzouq, Facilities Management and Corporate Support Director Nasser Al Mudhaf, as well as Boubyan Bank CEO of Consumer, Private, and Digital Banking Abdullah Al Tuwaijri, COO Abdullah Al Mehri, Chief Data and Information Technology Officer Abdullah Al Nusef, and Deputy CIO Ahmad Al Shatti.

The step reinforces Zain’s continuous efforts to offer a portfolio of world-class, advanced datacenter solutions and cloud computing services to the local market, serving businesses of all sizes, including large enterprises, SMEs, startups, and government institutions. This comes in line with the company’s digital transformation strategy that aims at empowering a more efficient business sector in the nation under the New Kuwait 2035 vision.

Commenting on the partnership, Zain Kuwait’s Chief Enterprise Business Officer Hamad Al Marzouq said: “We renew our existing collaboration with Boubyan Bank to take our strategic partnership to a new level. We successfully completed such a large-scale project in a short period of time, and now Boubyan’s IT infrastructure is fully operated from Zain’s world-class datacenter facility via our colocation service, offering them the highest security and performance standards.”

Al Marzouq added: “Zain’s datacenter received the Tier III certification from Uptime Institute - the IT industry's most trusted and adopted global standard for the proper design, build and operation of datacenters, making it the first datacenter of a telecom operator in Kuwait to receive this certification from the prestigious global institute.”

Al Marzouq continued: “We recognize the importance of data technologies in driving digital transformation in Kuwait, and so we have partnered with renowned global providers in cloud computing, datacenter solutions, and IT services to bring best-in-class solutions to our business customers.”

Al Marzouq concluded: “Such a certification from one of the world’s leading advisory organizations comes to demonstrate Zain’s leadership and commitment in adopting the highest global standards for its datacenter, which ultimately reflects on the quality and efficiency of the services we offer to high-profile customers like Boubyan Bank.”

Abdullah Al Mehri, Chief Operating Officer of Boubyan Bank, said: “Boubyan Bank is looking to achieve the highest levels of bank service availability by hosting our technology infrastructure in Zain’s Tier III datacenter. This step will support Boubyan’s direction towards launching unique financial digital services and assuring the highest levels of customer experience that will directly support its position as a leader in the market.”

The Tier III certification, issued by Uptime Institute for datacenters around the world, certifies that Zain’s datacenter meets the highest global standards in regard to its service reliability and consistency, as well as its operational excellence. The certification also highlights that Zain’s datacenter facilities require no shutdowns when equipment needs maintenance or replacement, offering customers a continuous and uninterrupted service experience with the highest quality possible.

Zain’s datacenter was evaluated based on a number of standards and criteria, including its reliability as a service, up to date equipment, low risk, low human error, reduced downtime, operational efficiency, and more globally recognized standards.

Receiving such international certifications affirms Zain’s efforts in implementing effective policies and procedures to ensure its systems and operations are up to the best standards. Zain’s commitment in implementing such standards reflects its keenness on offering the most efficient services to the enterprise market as well as continuously developing its services in line with its digital transformation strategy.

During the past few years, the local business market witnessed an accelerated wave of implementing digital transformation within private sector companies, SMEs and startups, and government institutions. However, at the same time, many new challenges surfaced along with this wave, emphasizing the importance of preserving data and protecting the digital infrastructures of companies from security breaches. Zain took the responsibility to offer an all-inclusive and integrated portfolio of cloud services and digital solutions built on the latest world-class technologies and provide cybersecurity solutions to the local business community.