Author Archives: Staff Writer

Companies have overspent on application server technology solutions by $1 billion since 1998, Gartner Group has revealed. The research group is also anticipating a further $2 billion to be wasted on the solutions by 2003.

Batelco, Bahrain’s telecom monopoly, is celebrating a huge increase in profits for the first six months of this year.

Following the success of Dubai’s Internet City, the Investment Authority of Lebanon has appointed a consultancy agency to conduct a feasibility study into the idea of building one in Beiruit.

Etisalat, the United Arab Emirate’s telephone monopoly, is planning field trials of a next-generation voice service for the end of the year.

Struggling mobile satellite firm Globalstar has hired the Blackstone Group to restructure its operations in a last minute bid to fight off the threat of bankruptcy. The company lost $145 million in the second quarter of 2001.

Marconi has signed a deal to build a new fibre optic link for Jordan Telecom, proving that whatever the company’s financial difficulties, the Middle East office has not been affected.

In its most recent report the sovereign ratings group of the international rating agency, Fitch IBCA downgraded the Arab Republic’s currency to a BBB+ from an A-.

IBM is looking to grab a bigger share of the Unix server market with plans announced for a next-generation server, code-named “Regatta.”

The storage battle seems to be hotting up. Sun Microsystems and Hitachi are teaming up together to take on the high-end data storage market. While EMC has hit back at Compaq’s claims that it has been toppled from the top of the storage market.

The regions computer resellers are seeing their profit margins decline despite the strong and consistent growth of the local market for computers and upgrades.

Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer believes that Windows XP will be ready soon, even going as far as to comment that the new OS will be in production at the end of this week.

ACCPAC business partners can now add Linux to their product portfolios as the company pushes the penguin with Red Hat.

Laptops are finally making serious inroads into the desktop PC market, according to analysts IDC.

Cisco will be displaying its latest technology using from an unusual locale at Gitex this year. Namely, a giant articulated truck.

The deal with Jordan Telecom, comes on the back of other recent project successes in the country, such as the recently completed a broadband network services expansion.

Microsoft is teaming up with HP and Avaya to bring its OpenDoor roadshow to the region again. The roadshow will address IT development, investment and business objectives.

Oracle has acquired Strategic Processing Corp (SPC) in an effort to boost its e-marketplace portfolio.

Home movies may never be the same again. With new DVD-re-writable technology, you can edit out those embarrasing bloopers using your PC and transfer to your TV’s DVD player on a 4.7 Gbyte disk.

Chip and PC manufacturer Fujitsu has posted a $444 million loss for Q2, and is expected to announce a major restructure that will cost over 16,000 jobs.

Here’s a true or false question for you: “The availability of highly skilled IT professionals in the Middle East is inversely proportionate to the number of highly skilled IT professionals being made redundant in the West.” Come inside for the answer.

Banque Audi sal, the largest bank network in Lebanon, has announced the implementation of a complete IP Telephony solution from Cisco Systems, a leader in networking for the Internet.

PC manufacturer Gateway, which is currently considering the future of its operations outside of the US, is still in business in the Middle East, the company has stressed.

Ipsos group, the French based international research firm realised $198 million in revenue for the first semester of 2001, a 64% increase over the same period in 2000.

Jordan Kuwait Bank (JKB) was upgraded and assigned a BBB- by Capital Intelligence, the international bank analysis and rating firm. The upgrade coincides with JKB’s recent announcement of $6.25 in net profits at the end of June 2001.

Compaq Computer Middle East has unveiled of extensions to its enterprise network storage architecture (ENSA).

The Sharjah-based manufacturer of water purification systems is investing $9.9 million in a high-tech, state of the art Jebel Ali facility.

Gulf Craft has opened a Maldives manufacturing unit and marine service centre, which will be used to help it develop Asian markets.

After poor fourth quarter results, Cisco’s John Chambers at last has something to smile about. According to research from Dell’Oro Group, the vendor has managed to build its leadership cushion over Juniper Networks in the Internet routing market.

Palm has secured the rights to Be’s technology and intellectual property, as well as cherry picking its top engineers, through its $11 million purchase of the company.

www.mesteel.com, a regional business to business site focused on the steel industry, says it’s now grown to 600 members since its launch a few months ago.

Saudi ISP Atheer aims to boost its percentage of first-call closures and higher customer satisfaction by deploying a unified customer interaction system from Altitude Software.

Kuwait’s Ministry of Communication has insisted that all internet service providers in the Emirate develop content monitoring processes within the next two months.

Intel hopes that its Light Field Mapping (LFM) technology will make graphics more realistic, but will it succeed where MMX failed.

Microsoft Gulf and Eastern Mediterranean will select a new external PR consultant from a shortlist of five candidates.

According to reports from analysts at IDC, the demand for PC semiconductors has plummeted in the past year.

IBM has decided to stop using Advanced Micro Devices’(AMD) chips in PCs sold in North America. No word has been given on the Middle East as yet.

Spinneys is gearing up for a 200-user SAP R/3 implementation that will cover all areas of its business and prepare the organisation for e-commerce.

Cisco and Siebel Systems have unveiled an expanded set of validated, Internet Protocol (IP)-based contact centre solutions for companies migrating from legacy technology to IP-based infrastructures.

Nintendo answers complaints about the display on its otherwise widely-praised Game Boy Advance machine.

Jordan based SYNTAX Digital, the multidisciplinary strategic design and digital solutions company, has unveiled the corporate design and Internet site of Javna Inc (http://www.javna.com), a wireless software solutions company.

The PC-maker looks ready to decide whether or not it can afford to maintain its badly-performing international operations, which includes the Middle East.

Siemens IC Mobile Group beats off strong competition from six rivals to win Orascom Telecom deal for the construction and extension of GSM mobile networks.

Fujitsu has announced that it will cease production of 3.5″ hard disk drives, citing an unprofitable marketplace. The company will concentrate on the enterprise and mobile segments instead

Profits and revenues were up at Bahrain’s telecommunications provider as the company invested in customer service, extra capacity and new services.

Bahrain based Quest Middle East (QME) has unveiled plans to integrate ACCPAC’s range of financial modules into its hospital management information solution.

MMI’s business-to-business — www.mmi.grocer.com and www.mmi.hotelsandclubs.com — sites bring in the money just nine months after going live.

National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), the UAE’s largest bank has teamed up with Comtrust, the e-business infrastructure unit of Etisalat.

The Gulf Insurance Company (GIC) has ‘gone live’ with the first phase of its comprehensive Internet strategy.

The Egyptian Organisation for Biological Products and Vaccines (VACSERA), one of the largest vaccine producers in Egypt, has implemented of a state-of-the-art bar-coding system in its blood bank division

Almost 20% of customers in Kuwait will shift their accounts if their current bank fails to offer online banking services. An additional 58% of customers would open a second account, concludes a new study.

With only seconds remaining on the clock, FirstNet has scored a stunning victory over ShowTime to air this season’s English Premier League football.

Despite the wave of recent IT redundancies the skills deficit continues to grow at approximately 20,000 per year, says research from IDC.

ABN AMRO the Anglo-Dutch global bank has rolled out the fourth installment of the Premium Growth Unit Investment Series; a 3-½ year investment plan with a US denominated structured note.