bits bits Citrix expands Middle East presence Citrix Systems has unveiled plans to significantly grow its Middle East presence with three new offices in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman. Citrix’s Saudi Arabian office, located in Riyadh, has become operational on January 1, 2011, followed by offices opening in Doha, Qatar, and Muscat, Oman, throughout the year. Middle East and North African (MENA) operations will continue to be led from the regional head office in Dubai, UAE. The network expansion reinforces Citrix’s commitment to better serve the region’s enterprise and government customers, as well as extends support to its channel partner community throughout the Middle East.
Milos Hrncar, Area Vice President of Eastern EMEA region at Citrix Systems said, “Technology is underpinning the Middle East’s dynamic economic growth and this is an incredibly exciting time for the region. Companies across all sectors are beginning to realizing the benefits of virtualization and cloud computing, and we recognize the need to have a network of local bases to operate most effectively. Starting 2011 with our new office in Riyadh reinforces Citrix’s optimism for the year ahead and our commitment to supporting customers and partners throughout the region.” The Middle East expansion strategy will be led by Nehme Mouchantaf, Citrix Regional Director for KSA, Qatar and Oman. Nehme Mouchantaf previously headed the Networking and Solutions Department at Mindware, the largest IT Distributor of Citrix Systems in the region.
EMC names new GM for Saudi EMC has appointed Mohamed Talaa as GM of the company’s Saudi
operations. Based in Riyadh, Talaat will be responsible for driving the overall strategic development of EMC business in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and will focus on continuing the growth of EMC operations, strengthening strategic customer and channel partner relationships in the Kingdom, as well as managing the entire business of EMC Saudi towards success. Talaat brings to EMC more than 19 years of collective experience in enterprise IT solutions and business management where he has held a number of senior positions in the region. “Talaat brings extensive experience in the IT Market and understands the Kingdom’s market very well. With his experience and leadership, I am confident that he will execute the 12 Network World Middle East February 2011
Mohamed Talaa
right vision and strategy for EMC’s business in Saudi Arabia and help bring our customers’ satisfaction to higher levels while broadening our relationships with local channel partners,” said Mohammed Amin, Vice President & General Manager of EMC Turkey, Middle East and Africa. “The
Du enters FMC world du, the UAE’s integrated telecom service provider, has converged its fixed and mobile
IP transport networks using the Cisco CRS Carrier Routing System. This will enable FMC (Fixed Mobile Convergence) on du’s network to meet the demand for highend broadband services and makes the company unique in its ability to rapidly deploy new high-bandwidth mobile applications and data packages. Cisco and du have collaborated previously to develop a portfolio of data and mobility services in the UAE. This new phase of network development will allow du to improve the speed, flexibility and scalability of mobilebased services to its customers. This is one of the first regional FMC projects where all the fixed and mobile services run on the same IP network with mobile (signaling and bearer), mobile data, residential internet, business internet, residential voice, enterprise voice, international voice, layer 2 VPNs, layer 3 VPNs and video running on a single IP/MPLS core powered by Cisco. This collaboration between Cisco and du also paves the way for future mobile applications and services to du’s customers in the UAE. By consolidating cores, du is able to offer its customers in the UAE a more scalable platform to deliver future services at a higher quality. The reduction in core equipment and moving to latest technology also reduces du’s energy consumption and reduce carbon footprint.
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a strategic market for EMC and we are very much committed to all our customers in the region”. Prior to joining EMC, Talaat worked with Microsoft Saudi as a Director, Enterprise and Partner Group, for four years where he, while managing the Enterprise Sales Division, developed effective customers and partners oriented strategies to enhance loyalty and the overall customer and partner satisfaction. www.networkworldme.com