The right solution

By Emirates Computers

BM speaks with Khaldoun Al Shamaa, Marketing and Business Development Director, Emirates Computers and the company’s GM and VP in Abu Dhabi, Dani Diab, to get their views on the Middle East market.

BM. How does EC feel about the Middle East market and the opportunities it presents?
Dani Diab. Over the years, ICT has become both pervasive and mainstream which represents a unique opportunity for a broad-focus company like Emirates Computers:

• Gulf consumers are very savvy and rely heavily on technology for better communication, access to information and entertainment. EC’s Smart Living solutions give users the ability to strike a balance between leisure and work in a manner suiting individual preferences.
• Enterprises and government bodies appreciate “quality” and “support” over initial costs, and rely heavily on technology to support their growth and expansion plans. Judging by what enterprises in the Gulf have set out to achieve, and the fact that ICT is integral to their plans, the outlook seems quite strong.

BM. In what way do converged data, voice and media networks support these solutions?
KS. Convergence is all about consolidation of existing resources and therefore helps control costs and reduce environmental impact by helping companies do more with less – which is an important aspect of Smart Living Solutions. Also, convergence enables simplicity and practicality while improving the overall security and connectivity of systems, people and processes.

BM. How can businesses benefit from these solutions in terms of video conferencing and unified communications solutions
KS. Basically, it’s a combination of business advantage and environmental efficiency. TelePresence enables ‘live’, face-to-face communications with virtual meeting experiences so you can communicate with people from across the globe as if you’re in the same room - enabling accurate business decisions without expensive travel. Unified Communications provide a single network to empower the organization with a host of technologies including IP Telephony, rich media conferencing, IM, presence, mobility and unified messaging. So employees don’t waste money with toll calls and can reach each other and information quickly – in effect improving productivity and lowering costs.
 
BM. How would these solutions benefit companies to face the economic crisis?
KS. Smart Solutions effectively lower operational expenditures and provide a higher ROI in relatively short periods – so companies can make the most of what they have and cut out extras without affecting the bottom line. In terms of cost-efficiency, one should think about a faster ROI, rather than focus on the actual cost. That’s because the idea is to enable sensible choices that help save money and cut costs quickly – not to simply pinch pennies by avoiding investment in the right solutions.

BM. How does Emirates Computers feel about the Saudi Arabian market?
DD. Over the last few years, Saudi Arabia has made remarkable progress in different ICT fields including connectivity and access, sector reforms, national IT initiatives and e-Services. The Saudi market is undoubtedly the largest market in the region and is developing at an unprecedented rate. Saudi Arabia accounts for almost 50 percent of the region's IT spends and the demand for related IT services is increasing rapidly.

BM. How has e2 progressed since its inception?
DD. We launched e2 last year during Gitex and in our very first year of operations, we have achieved so much. We sincerely thank our customers and partners for helping us get here. We can also attribute our performance to the growth and development that is happening in Saudi. Customers are looking for best in class technologies and services and we were able to meet their requirements with the help of our global vendor partners such as Dell, Cisco, EMC, Oracle and Sun. Emirates Computers’ knowledge and expertise in the IT services field also helped us win some major contracts.

BM. How does e2 view its success and what are its future anticipations?
DD. e2 covers all the regions in Saudi and offers end-to-end solutions catering to both enterprises and SMBs. In our first year of operations, we were able to capitalise on Alesayi’s strong local market presence and experience in Saudi as well as Emirates Computers’ track record for implementing some of the largest projects in the region. We are pleased with our achievements this year and look forward to surpassing our record next year.