TECHNO LOGY O PPO RT UNIT IES FO R B RIT IS H BUSIN ES S IN THE KINGD OM OF SAUD I A RABI A. A STUD Y O F T HE IN FO RMAT ION ECONO M Y CO MMISS I ON ED B Y TRAD E P ART NERS UK .
advanced integration skills that these require are in short supply and are likely to act as brake on efforts to integrate and connect business in the Kingdom. Open Source computing in the shape of Linux has yet to make a visible impact, even though IBM has a strong presence in the Kingdom.9 In several different conversations across the finance and security sectors, Linux was raised in conversation. With governments across the world examining the relative cost and development benefits of Open Source computing, it has undoubtedly a place in the emerging Saudi market. As regards the security aspects of the Open Source environment, a number of those interviewed were aware of its extensive use outside the Kingdom but commented that the skills and the applications were not present in Saudi Arabia and suggested that approaches from companies with vertical solutions built around secure architectures, would be welcomed. In the UK many businesses suffered as a consequence of investing in web-based technology that was oversold and frequently under performed. IT vendors made great promises for eBusiness software, which offered little in the way of return on investment. Saudi companies have had similar experiences and while the technology has now matured to a level of acceptable performance, Saudi businessmen interviewed have stated that they need to see a clear business proposition rather than a glossy marketing brochure.
9 IBM wants to catch the wave of server consolidation for print, file, and Web serving by providing Linux-only configurations for its zSeries mainframes and iSeries midrange servers that carry a lower price tag than plain vanilla zSeries or iSeries machines. IBM says that 11% of the mainframe processing power that was shipped in the fourth quarter of 2001 were dedicated to supporting Linux workloads.
ZE N TELLIGEN CE 2002
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