Cloud use case · Modernise
Cloud storage for business
Somewhere safe for your team's files and your archives, priced for how often you open them, in a region your rules allow.
Why companies ask us about storage
Microsoft Solutions Partner for Modern Work
and Google Cloud Premier Partner. We are also an AWS partner and a Huawei Cloud partner.
Since 2007
with 1,500+ active cloud customers across the Middle East.
Offices in Dubai, Muscat (head office) and Doha
serving all six GCC countries.
350,000+ users migrated
In short
Cloud storage for business means keeping company files and archives on a cloud provider's storage instead of office disks. It comes in two kinds: team storage inside Zoho Workplace, Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, and object storage on Azure, Huawei Cloud, Google Cloud or AWS. Gulf Infotech, in Oman and the wider Middle East since 2007, sizes, sets up and supports both.
What problem does cloud storage solve?
What buyers tell us:
What buyers tell us
"The NAS is full again and staff keep files on personal Dropbox and WhatsApp."
"We must keep invoices and contracts for years, and they sit on one external disk."
"Our app writes thousands of images a day and the server disk fills every month."
Those are two different jobs. People sharing and editing documents need team storage with permissions, version history and sync. Backups, scanned records, media and application data need object storage, priced by the gigabyte and by how often you read it.
Who is it for?
Staff share and edit documents
- Fits
- Any company size
- Where to start
- Team storage in Zoho Workplace, Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace
Replace an office file server
- Fits
- 10 to 300 staff
- Where to start
- Cloud file server
Keep records for years, rarely opened
- Fits
- Finance, legal, healthcare, government suppliers
- Where to start
- Archive tier object storage
Off-site copy of backups
- Fits
- Anyone running servers
- Where to start
- Object storage with immutability, see server backup
App or website files at scale
- Fits
- Software, e-commerce, media
- Where to start
- Standard tier object storage
Which storage options are there in the GCC?
Object storage tiers and minimum storage periods, from each provider's documentation in October 2026.
| Provider | Object storage service | GCC regions | Tiers (minimum storage period) | Lock against deletion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Azure | Blob Storage | UAE North (Dubai), Qatar Central (Doha); UAE Central restricted | Hot (none), Cool (30 days), Cold (90 days), Archive (180 days, offline, rehydration can take up to 15 hours) | Immutability policies |
| AWS | Amazon S3 | me-central-1 (UAE), me-south-1 (Bahrain) | Standard and Intelligent-Tiering (none), Standard-IA and One Zone-IA (30 days), Glacier Instant and Flexible Retrieval (90 days), Glacier Deep Archive (180 days) | S3 Object Lock, governance or compliance mode; in compliance mode nobody can delete, including the root user |
| Google Cloud | Cloud Storage | me-central1 (Doha), me-central2 (Dammam) | Standard (none), Nearline (30 days), Coldline (90 days), Archive (365 days) | Ask us |
| Huawei Cloud | Object Storage Service (OBS) | Riyadh; Abu Dhabi (UAE) upcoming | Standard (none), Infrequent Access (30 days), Archive (90 days), Deep Archive (180 days) | Ask us |
Microsoft Azure
- Object storage service
- Blob Storage
- GCC regions
- UAE North (Dubai), Qatar Central (Doha); UAE Central restricted
- Tiers (minimum storage period)
- Hot (none), Cool (30 days), Cold (90 days), Archive (180 days, offline, rehydration can take up to 15 hours)
- Lock against deletion
- Immutability policies
AWS
- Object storage service
- Amazon S3
- GCC regions
- me-central-1 (UAE), me-south-1 (Bahrain)
- Tiers (minimum storage period)
- Standard and Intelligent-Tiering (none), Standard-IA and One Zone-IA (30 days), Glacier Instant and Flexible Retrieval (90 days), Glacier Deep Archive (180 days)
- Lock against deletion
- S3 Object Lock, governance or compliance mode; in compliance mode nobody can delete, including the root user
Google Cloud
- Object storage service
- Cloud Storage
- GCC regions
- me-central1 (Doha), me-central2 (Dammam)
- Tiers (minimum storage period)
- Standard (none), Nearline (30 days), Coldline (90 days), Archive (365 days)
- Lock against deletion
- Ask us
Huawei Cloud
- Object storage service
- Object Storage Service (OBS)
- GCC regions
- Riyadh; Abu Dhabi (UAE) upcoming
- Tiers (minimum storage period)
- Standard (none), Infrequent Access (30 days), Archive (90 days), Deep Archive (180 days)
- Lock against deletion
- Ask us
Team storage sits inside your productivity suite instead: Google Workspace includes 30 GB pooled per user on Business Starter, 2 TB on Business Standard and 5 TB on Business Plus. Google Workspace can pin covered data to the United States or Europe only, not to a GCC country.
Takeaway: a minimum storage period means you pay for that many days even if you delete earlier, so cold tiers suit data you will keep, not data you will churn.
What does Gulf Infotech do?
Assess
we measure how much you store, how fast it grows, how often each kind of data is opened and how long you must keep it.
Design
we choose team storage, object storage or both, the region, the tiers and lifecycle rules that move old data to cheaper tiers on their own.
Migrate
we move data from NAS, external disks, old file servers or another cloud, and check counts and sizes after each batch.
Run
we monitor capacity and cost, review access and sharing, and support users in English or Arabic.
Which option should you pick?
Google Drive shared drives
- Best when
- Your team uses Google Workspace and needs to edit together
- Trade-off
- Data regions are US or Europe only
SharePoint and OneDrive
- Best when
- Your team uses Microsoft 365
- Trade-off
- Folder structures need some redesign
Azure Blob in UAE North or Qatar Central
- Best when
- Data must stay in the UAE or Qatar, or you run on Azure
- Trade-off
- Archive tier is offline; reads take hours
Amazon S3 in the UAE or Bahrain
- Best when
- You need Object Lock in compliance mode for backups, or build apps on AWS
- Trade-off
- No Qatar or Oman region
Google Cloud Storage in Doha or Dammam
- Best when
- Data must stay in Qatar or Saudi Arabia
- Trade-off
- Archive class has a 365-day minimum
Huawei OBS in Riyadh
- Best when
- Saudi data must stay in-country on Huawei Cloud
- Trade-off
- One region per country
How is cloud storage priced?
Team storage is priced per user, inside your Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace plan. See Google Workspace pricing and Microsoft 365 pricing.
Reading and moving data out
on Azure, data leaving a region is billed per GB, and colder tiers add retrieval costs. Charges differ by provider and tier, so we model them for your read pattern.
Minimum storage periods
deleting cold data early still bills the minimum.
Requests
very large numbers of small files cost more to handle than a few large ones.
Object storage is priced per GB per month, and the rate drops as the tier gets colder. Three other items move the bill:
We size your data and growth, then show the monthly cost per tier on two providers before you choose.
What are the typical steps?
- Step 01
Measure
total size, growth per month, file counts and retention rules.
- Step 02
Classify
active, occasional, archive and backup data.
- Step 03
Choose
team storage, object storage tiers and region.
- Step 04
Set rules
lifecycle policies, immutability for backups, access by group.
- Step 05
Move
copy in batches with verification.
- Step 06
Review
monthly cost and capacity report.
Cloud services in your country
Cloud services in Oman
no in-country hyperscale region; UAE, Qatar or Saudi regions instead.
Cloud services in the UAE
Cloud services in Qatar
Google Cloud in Saudi Arabia
Frequently asked questions
How much cloud storage do we need?
Start from what you store today plus one to two years of growth, split by how often each kind of data is opened. For team files, Google Workspace Business Standard gives 2 TB pooled per user, which covers most offices. For archives and backups, we measure current size and monthly growth, then put each kind of data in the cheapest tier that still meets how fast you need it back.
Is our data stored in-country?
It can be in the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Azure has UAE North and Qatar Central, AWS has the UAE and Bahrain, Google Cloud has Doha and Dammam, and Huawei Cloud has Riyadh (Abu Dhabi upcoming). Oman and Kuwait have no region from these four. Google Workspace team storage can be pinned only to the United States or Europe.
Cloud storage vs file server: which do we need?
You need cloud storage when the goal is keeping data safe and cheap, and a cloud file server when people or software must open files as shared folders every day. Many companies use both: team files in SharePoint or Google shared drives, and archives and backups in object storage. If software opens files by drive letter, see our cloud file server page.
How is cloud storage backed up?
Cloud storage is durable, but durability does not protect against deletion or ransomware, so you still need copies. For object storage we turn on versioning and, for backups, a lock such as S3 Object Lock so nobody can delete data before its retention date. For Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace we add a separate SaaS backup.
Is archive storage slower?
Yes, colder tiers trade speed for price. Azure Archive is offline and can take up to 15 hours to bring data back. We put data you might need urgently in a tier with fast reads, and only truly dormant records in deep archive.
Can we move our storage between providers later?
Yes, data in object storage can be copied between providers with standard tools. The costs to watch are data transfer out of the old provider and the minimum storage periods on cold tiers. We keep a record of buckets, tiers and retention rules so a later move is planned, not discovered.
Get a storage plan sized to your data
Tell us how much you store and how long you must keep it. We will reply with a tier plan and a monthly cost estimate.