Data Center Resilience Must Now Extend Beyond Infrastructure, Says Al Dhow ENGIE Solutions

Abdullah Sibai, General Manager of Al Dhow ENGIE Solutions KSA, discusses how AI, localization, regulatory expectations and regional risk are reshaping the operational demands placed on data center providers.

As Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC accelerate investment in cloud, AI and digital infrastructure, the operational expectations placed on data centers are becoming more complex. High-density workloads, stricter data sovereignty requirements, rising energy demands and the need for uninterrupted service are pushing operators to rethink what resilience means in practice.

For Al Dhow ENGIE Solutions, resilience is no longer limited to backup systems and redundant infrastructure. It now depends on mature governance, predictive maintenance, skilled local teams, strong incident response and partners that are embedded closely enough to act quickly when conditions change. In this interview, Abdullah Sibai, General Manager of Al Dhow ENGIE Solutions KSA, explains how the company is approaching these challenges and what regional providers must do to support the next phase of data center growth.

Q: Data center environments are increasingly complex. From your perspective, what does resilience mean for an operator today, and how has that definition shifted over the past few years?*

Until recently, resilience was often viewed through a narrow lens: redundant power, backup cooling and a tested business continuity plan. That was adequate when most data centers were discrete, single-site environments.

Today, the operational landscape is fundamentally different. Modern data centers support distributed digital ecosystems, AI-driven workloads, hyperscale environments, cloud interconnectivity and increasingly stringent regulatory requirements. As a result, resilience now goes beyond avoiding infrastructure failure. It is about maintaining operational continuity across the entire ecosystem, under any circumstances.

For operators, this means having mature governance, real-time monitoring, predictive maintenance, rapid incident response, cybersecurity awareness, skilled teams and disciplined change management processes working together. Even with fully redundant infrastructure, operational instability can still occur if the environment is not managed proactively by experienced teams.

The industry has also seen a major shift in regulatory expectations around data sovereignty, localization, compliance, sustainability and energy efficiency. Operators are now expected to manage physical, operational, regulatory, environmental and business continuity risks at the same time.

Q: When a critical incident occurs, how much does having a managed services partner embedded in operations affect outcomes compared to managing response in-house?*

The difference is significant, especially in two areas: how quickly the issue is diagnosed and the quality of the first response.

An embedded managed services partner brings deep knowledge of the facility, including maintenance history, known vulnerabilities and system behavior, combined with a structured incident response framework. This usually reduces the time between alert and effective action. Without that framework, an in-house team may be diagnosing the issue and deciding how to respond at the same time, which can slow the process.

The second difference is escalation. A managed services partner operates across multiple facilities and is exposed to a wider range of incident types. When something unusual happens, that cross-facility experience becomes valuable.

Across the data center environments we manage, structured operational governance and proactive incident management have helped minimize operational risk and maintain service continuity. For example, across our TCOS Gold-certified facilities, our teams manage thousands of preventive and corrective maintenance activities every year within large-scale critical environments. Through disciplined processes, 24/7 monitoring, defined escalation procedures and trained response teams, we have been able to minimize disruptions while maintaining high uptime and operational sustainability.

Q: There is a growing skills gap in the data center sector, with experienced engineers becoming harder to attract and retain. How are you navigating this challenge?*

It is one of the sector’s key operational challenges, and the GCC is not immune to it. In some ways, the speed of infrastructure development in the region has made it more acute.

Our approach has several components. The first is retention through technical development. The range of facilities we manage across power generation, water infrastructure and data center environments gives our people variety and technical depth that is difficult to replicate in a single-site in-house team.

The second is knowledge systemization. Relying only on individual expertise creates risk when people leave. To address this, we focus heavily on structured operational processes, documentation control, maintenance histories, incident records, SOPs, MOPs, training records and standardized governance frameworks. This ensures continuity and consistency during personnel transitions.

The third area is localization and workforce development. Building technically capable national talent is a long-term strategic priority across the region. We support localization through training, mentoring, operational exposure and structured development programs that help build sustainable in-country expertise for the future of digital infrastructure operations.

Ultimately, addressing the skills gap is about creating a culture focused on continuous learning, technical excellence, knowledge retention and long-term workforce sustainability.

Q: Global AI hyperscalers are rapidly building large AI data centers in the Middle East. How well are regional providers prepared to support such complex facilities?*

The first issue is infrastructure readiness. Many electrical and cooling systems serving hyperscale AI facilities differ not only in size, but in nature, from those used in traditional enterprise data centers. Service providers need engineers with direct experience in these systems, and that experience base is still developing across the regional market.

The second issue is supply chain readiness. AI environments rely on specialized equipment, including high-density cooling technologies, advanced power management systems, GPU-intensive infrastructure and specialized spare parts with long global lead times and limited regional stock. A regional partner must have procurement relationships and spares management strategies that reflect this reality.

The third issue is speed. Hyperscalers operate on compressed timelines compared to what the regional construction and commissioning ecosystem has traditionally been used to. Service providers that cannot match that pace will find it difficult to compete.

Another critical factor is operational sustainability. AI hyperscale environments cannot rely only on infrastructure redundancy. They require mature processes, predictive maintenance, advanced monitoring, strict change management, emergency preparedness, cybersecurity awareness and highly trained teams that can manage continuously evolving infrastructure environments.

Q: AI workloads demand higher power density, intensive cooling and minimal downtime. What must a service provider have ready to support AI-grade environments?*

On the technical side, the immediate priorities are power and cooling. AI workloads increase rack densities beyond traditional enterprise requirements. Service providers need engineers skilled in liquid and immersion cooling, as well as power management for high-density computing. In these environments, errors are extremely costly.

On the operational side, real-time monitoring must be supported by predefined and rehearsed response protocols. AI workloads do not wait for maintenance windows. Monitoring must detect anomalies early, and response frameworks need to be activated within minutes, not hours.

On the organizational side, there must be a governance model with clear accountability. SLAs in AI-grade environments are directly linked to the client’s business performance. A service provider must be willing to take accountability, not just execute the work.

Q: The region faces geopolitical uncertainty. How should data center operators, especially those managing mission-critical infrastructure, handle risk and continuity planning?*

Geopolitical uncertainty has elevated operational resilience and continuity planning from a best practice to a business-critical requirement, particularly for mission-critical infrastructure such as data centers. Operators must plan not only for technical failures, but also for supply chain disruption, regional instability, travel restrictions, logistics limitations, cybersecurity threats and restricted access to international support.

This is where a locally embedded partner becomes essential. We have people, equipment and operational structures in place that do not depend on international logistics or the ability to fly in specialists from another region. When conditions on the ground change, we are already there.

Dhow Engineering, our parent company, has operated through periods of regional volatility before. The group’s track record across power and water infrastructure in Kuwait, where continuity is a national priority, reflects a capability that translates directly to data center operations.

During a recent external disruption, we implemented a structured contingency plan across all facilities, including dedicated response teams, emergency support teams, escalation structures and continuity procedures. Teams were distributed strategically to ensure continuous coverage, rapid response and operational stability across critical infrastructure environments. This enabled us to maintain continuity, manage risks proactively and support uninterrupted operations.

Q: How are sovereign data and localization requirements shaping conversations around where data lives, who manages it and what compliance obligations apply?*

Sovereignty requirements are creating demand for service providers that are not only operationally capable, but locally accountable. In some configurations, a foreign-headquartered managed services provider operating a sovereign data facility can become a compliance risk. Conversations with clients increasingly focus on the provenance of the operational team, data-handling protocols and the audit trail.

Across the GCC, localization requirements differ by market. For example, Saudi Arabia’s National Data Governance Interim Regulation differs from frameworks in the UAE or Kuwait. Clients operating across multiple jurisdictions need a partner that can navigate this regional complexity.

We have also supported multiple client environments in achieving and maintaining compliance readiness through external audits and internationally recognized standards, including ISO 45001, ISO 14001, ISO 9001 and Uptime Institute TCOS Gold certifications.