AWS Middle East data center affected by conflict, Amazon (AMZN.US) maintains cloud computing lifeline around the clock

Zhitong Finance APP learned that Amazon (AMZN.US) cloud services unit (AWS) CEO Matt Garman said Tuesday that the Iran war has brought ongoing challenges for the cloud services provider. AWS said in early March that drone attacks damaged its data center facilities in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. “Things are very difficult, and we are doing everything we can,” Garman said Tuesday at the HumanX conference in San Francisco. “In fact, we have the most professional cloud computing team in the world working around the clock to ensure we can keep the cloud computing infrastructure running normally for customers in the region.”

According to AWS’s status page, dozens of AWS services in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates are still unavailable. Last week, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy announced an attack on Amazon’s Bahrain data center infrastructure.

In addition, data centers—especially those that house chips capable of handling generative AI models—consume a large amount of energy, and since the conflict began in February, energy prices have become even more expensive.

“This has clearly caused massive disruption to the global economy, because we all rely so heavily on energy, and it has also diverted our attention across these industries,” Garman said. “You know, in the short term there won’t be any immediate results, but what we have to consider is the drag it creates for the global economy.”

AWS is a leading global cloud infrastructure provider, and businesses can rely on AWS to run websites and applications. Google, Microsoft, and Oracle are also working to build more data centers so they can provide cloud services worldwide.

Garman said the affected industries are not limited to the tech sector. “You just need to trace down the supply chain to find the problem—we’re no exception either,” he said.

In addition to crude oil, restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz have also pushed up helium prices, and helium is a key input for semiconductor manufacturing. It is estimated that Qatar’s helium production on the west side of the strait accounts for more than one-third of global total output.

However, Garman is optimistic about the Middle East market. “There is a great entrepreneurial spirit there,” he said. “People are happy to invest. So our—and my own—enthusiasm for long-term investment in the region remains as high as ever.”