Opennet - an Open Source Expert in the Middle East

Open Source Software has a had a major impact on Enterprise Computing in Europe and the Americas. Many organisations have gained substantially in terms of cost saving and the creation of an adaptive computing platform to serve the needs of today and anticipate those of tomorrow.

This article summarises the development of Opennet and its capabilities and also points to some key resources on Red Hat technologies for those companies interested in making further study of the benefits to be gained from Open Source deployments.

Today Opennet MEA is the leading centre of expertise for Red Hat Linux and its associated products and services in the Middle East and North Africa. Based in Dubai it has been responsible for the introduction of hundreds of commercial deployments of Red Hat technologies with leading companies in the region.

A brief history of the company and its areas of expertise are detailed below.
Opennet MEA was established in 2003 as the Master Distributor & Training Center for Red Hat Linux products for the Middle East & Africa regions. The company’s strategy is to work closely with channel partners to assist them in providing best-of-breed Open Source technology & services to its customers. Opennet's key contribution has been to provide high-end technical skills to complement the leading technologies produced by Red Hat, which in turn have enabled channel partners to deliver and support Red Hat solutions.

Opennet MEA aims to transfer its expertise in deploying Red Hat Linux by providing a full range of consulting, support and educational services available in the Middle East & African regions. The company also assists organizations with the assessment, design, and implementation of professional Linux solutions to ensure high availability, reliability, performance, scalability and manageability within their IT environments.

Opennet MEA today not only distributes Red Hat subscriptions but is responsible for the first line support for Red Hat's Middle East customers through its (Opennet’s) Middle East Support Centre. It has also enhanced its support and service portfolio to provide an increasing number of clients with on site support contracts to give them 24 x 7 access to experts supporting their Red Hat based systems.

Opennet MEA's training facility has been responsible for the certification of over 400 RHCE's (Red Hat Certified Engineers) and operates scheduled courses from premises in Dubai Internet City. For organisations with a number of candidates who need to be trained at the same time, Opennet also offers on-site training options or dedicated classroom sessions at its training facility.

Opennet Milestones
1999: OPENNET Software is founded in Tunisia.
2000: OPENNET Software named as the exclusive Master Distributor in North, West and Central Africa by Red Hat Inc.
2001: OPENNET Software wins a public tender for training and certifying 200 people from different ministry and governmental agencies in Tunisia.
2003: OPENNET Software is authorized to distribute Red Hat Linux and services in the Middle East region.
2003: OPENNET MEA was established in Dubai Internet City FZ (UAE) as headquarters for the Opennet Middle East & Africa operations.
2004: OPENNET MEA wins the Red Hat Training Award & is named the best Red Hat training partner in the regions.
2005: OPENNET MEA has the largest share of the open source solutions in the enterprise & large enterprise market.
2006: OPENENT MEA opens an office based in Jeddah to support its operations in the KSA region It joins offices in Dubai and Tunisia, delivering local support to partners.
2007: OPENNET MEA appointed distributor for the JBOSS family of middleware products from Red Hat
2007: OPENNET MEA announces 24x7 local support centre

About Red Hat
Founded in 1993, Red Hat is the premier Linux and open source provider. Rated as CIO Insight Magazine's “Most Valued Vendor” for the second consecutive year, Red Hat maintains the highest value and reliability rankings among its customers, and is the most recognized Linux brand in the world.

The company serves global enterprises through technology and services made possible by the open source model. Solutions include Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating platforms, sold through a subscription model, and a broad range of services: consulting, 24x7 support, Red Hat Network. Red Hat's global training program operates in more than 60 locations worldwide and features RHCE, the global standard Linux certification.

Why Red Hat?
Red Hat is the recognized leader in enterprise solutions that take full advantage of the quality and performance provided by the open source model. It provides enterprise hardware and software vendors with a standard platform on which to certify their technology.

Together with its partners, Red Hat brings the vast benefits of open source computing into an enterprise environment where cost-effective performance is absolutely at its most critical. Red Hat also assures the necessary scalability and security of open source software. It makes mission-critical Linux deployments possible.

For the past 4 years CIO Insight Magazine has conducted a vendor value survey to assess the vendors bringing most value to their customers. For the fourth-straight year, IT executives have said that Red Hat delivers more value than any other software vendor. And for the third time in four years, Red Hat ranked number one overall. Click here to read the full study. From deployment, to management – organizations can rely on Red Hat expertise at every step. It offers a full range of Enterprise Linux operating systems, backed by Red Hat Network and comprehensive services.

Opennet and Red Hat Today
Working together Opennet and Red Hat are able to bring Middle East based organisations the many benefits of Open Source based computing solutions. Whether it is migrating systems from a proprietary UNIX environment or hosting new applications on leading Intel and AMD platforms, Red Hat technologies and associated services from Opennet can deliver locally sourced solutions to meet the most demanding situations. For further information or an informal discussion on the possibility of deploying Open Source solutions or training and certification, please study the resources below or email sales@opennet.ae or training@opennet.ae.

Some useful online resources
http://www.opennet.ae/
www.redhat.com
www.jboss.org

Contact details:
Opennet MEA FZ LLC
Dubai Media City, Building 09, Office 237
PO Box 500366, Dubai, UAE
T: +971 (4) 391 0686