Cloud Migration Manama Final — multi-cloud

Data residency

There is no general requirement to keep personal data inside Bahrain; the PDPL restricts transfers to jurisdictions not on the approved list unless the Authority authorises them. Separately, Bahrain's 2018 cloud computing law (the 'data embassy' law) provides that data hosted in Bahrain by foreign customers remains subject to the law and courts of the customer's home country.

What shapes cloud procurement here

Financial services dominate technical procurement, so cloud deals are commonly gated by the CBB Rulebook's outsourcing and cloud provisions, which drive detailed due diligence, audit-rights clauses and regulator notification for material outsourcing. Because AWS operates a generally available Bahrain region with three availability zones, in-country residency is usually achievable without a private data centre — which is not the case in neighbouring Kuwait or Oman. Bahrain is a small domestic market and many buyers run regional workloads serving Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province across the causeway, so cross-border latency and Saudi residency rules often shape architecture as much as Bahraini rules do. English is standard in commercial and technical documentation, with Arabic used for official filings.

Sector regulators