Indian competitive strategy guru, professor Karnani, is to make a Gulf education debut in April, Dubai, where he will run a global business strategies programme
Author Archives: Staff Writer
Novell buys into IT consultancy market
Novell has announced it is planning to buy computer consultancy Cambridge Technology Partners in a stock swap worth about $266 million.
IP telephony proves to be out of this world
IP telephony’s promise to massively reduce long-distance call charges took on a whole new meaning recently as astronauts on NASA’s Space Shuttle used the technology to phone relatives on earth.
PricewaterhouseCoopers launches HR solution
PwC has teamed up with PeopleSoft to design a custom-made Arabic human resource mangement software solution (HRMS) for Middle East companies
Training pays off for New Horizons
New Horizons Dubai walks off with the Best Instructor Award for EMEA at the Authorised Sun Education Centre Summit held in South Africa.
Tech stocks continue downward spiral
Analysts are split over how long the tech-stock bear market will continue. The NASDAQ dropped a further 6% yesterday, taking it below 2000 for the first time in over 2 years.
Domino beats MS Exchange on application development platform
Lotus Domino R5 has outperformed Microsoft Exchange in a study to test suitability for application developmentrating as faster, more cost effective and providing more functionality.
Cybercrime costs US businesses $378 million
An FBI report has revealed that cybercrime cost US businesses and government departments $378 million last year, with 85% of respondents reporting security breaches in the last 12 months.
Compaq Middle East appoints new MD
A four-month selection process to find a new managing director for Compaq Computer Middle East ended today with the promotion of Joseph Hanania to the post.
Maktoob appoints Mirapoint to manage e-mail service
Maktoob has selected Mirapoint to support its increasing base of email subsribers using its turnkey solutions for message routing, switching and storage.
Weiss joins ITCC
Business strategist and technologist guru, Bill Weiss, is to join the advisory board of International Telecommunications Clearing Corporation (ITTC)
Master your PC for $99 per year
Gateway is targeting the Middle East with an online PC training facility. The company promises to teach you everything you need to know about PCs for $99 per year.
Credit Crunch
Distributors are tightening up their credit facilities in the face of more demand for finance from the reseller channel, forcing resellers to change the way they are paid by their customers.
On the streets of Dubai
Dubai’s Computer Street is in the heart of the city and features IT resellers of all shapes and sizes. But in the face of larger IT retail stores opening up, how are the resellers down on the street coping, and what makes their shop more desirable to customers than the one next door? CRN went down to the street to find out.
Is Linus killing Linux?
As leader of the free world of open-source computing, the Linux buck stops at the keyboard of 31-year-old Linux inventor and perpetual guardian, Linus Torvalds. But some open-source proponents question how long one man can control the technology’s evolution.
Freedom is a wireless world
Imagine the freedom of being able to take a laptop in to the conference room and not have to worry about finding a socket, just so the LAN can be accessed. Imagine sitting in an airport lounge being able to access the corporate Intranet, without having to use the business centre. Sounds far-fetched? Not anymore. Wireless technology is here and vendors have big plans to rid the world of cables. Are you ready for it?
One million credit cards stolen online
The FBI has warned that East European hacker gangs have stolen over a million credit card numbers from e-commerce and e-finance websites over the past year, each time using avoidable security vulnerabilities in Microsoft’s Windows NT to make their attacks.
Emulex and STME sign reseller agreement
Emulex, suppliers of Fibre Channel host bus adapters, have selected storage solutions provider, STME, as its authorised regional reseller for the Middle East.
Banks told to give customers what they want
The head of the Arab Bankers Association today told the industry that it must give its customers electronic banking services. But he acknowledged that e-banking comes at a cost…
Compaq and Oracle open solution centres
Businesses across the region now have access to sophisticated solution centres in Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Cairo, courtesy of a joint venture between Compaq and Oracle.
Zander: Technology spending downturn is unprecedented
Sun Microsystems President Ed Zander says he has never seen a technology capital spending downturn as “dramatic and sudden” as the current slump which has resulted in cutbacks at blue chip technology companies.
Mydsf.com gets 1 million hits in four days
The official website of the Dubai Shopping Festival is attracting record numbers of visitors, with over 3,800 people registering in the first four days since it was relaunched
Disposable mobile phones set to take off
People often make throw away comments but they have never had a throw away phone on which to make them. With the release of the world’s first phone card phone from pioneering inventor Randi Altschul a new age of mobile communications is on the way.
HP delivers newspapers to hotel guests
HP together with Newspaper Direct delivers guests at the Burj Al Arab hotel their favourite international newspapers at the same time they hit the stands.
Avaya simplifies IP telephony deployment
Avaya says that the long awaited explosion in demand for voice over IP networks is just around the corner and is betting that the small business market will move first.
HP HQ moves into DIC
Hewlett Packard has become the first major multinational IT vendor to officially open a Dubai Internet City office
Intel predicts weak quarter
Intel has become the latest big technology company to say that it’s going to have a bad quarter. The company also plans to eliminate 5000 jobs over the course of the year.
Cisco confirms layoffs, cost cuts
Mighty Cisco proved it is mortal this week with an unprecedented round of layoffs which CEO John Chambers says is necessary if the company is to remain buoyant through what he describes as a much longer than anticipated slowdown.
STME increases enterprise storage portfolio with Emulex
Enterprise storage VAR, STME has signed an agreement with Emulex, making them the region’s authorised reseller for the vendor’s Fibre Channel host bus adapters and hubs.
Teen channel to court controversy ‘tastefully’
A new channel for Arabic teenagers is promising to tackle controversial issues on air.
Saudi company opens the door for African mobile network
Cell-C, the Saudi-owned operator with the license to run South Africa’s third mobile network has finally announced a deadline for infrastructure vendors.
The New Economy Kingdom?
Jordan is pulling apart its bureaucracy, rebuilding its legislation and overhauling its entire communications infrastructure in a bid to become a New Economy powerhouse. Can the country pull it off?
Comtrust boost to online security
Comtrust has announced the launch of its personal digital certificates and its digital server certificates to provide PKI infrastructure to e-businesses and consumers in the region.
Reuters moves to Dubai
Reauters news agency have chosen to move their Middle East headquarters to Dubai Media City.
Brokat makes e-business user-centric
Brokat Technologies has put forward a new strategy and introduced new product aids in a bid to facilitate the shift from an enterprise-centric to a user-centric approach for conducting e-business
Yahoo admits it’s experiencing tough times
It’s Internet doom and gloom time again as Yahoo tells Wall Street that this quarter’s financials won’t look pretty.
Online retailers hit by price tag hacking
About a third of all shopping cart applications have holes in the software that make them vulnerable to electronic price tag hacking.
Shariah investors enter Europe
A new fund applying Sharia guidelines is soon to be launched in order for the Middle East’s Islamic investors to gain exposure to European markets
Time for business to respect nature
The World Wildlife fund has set up an office in Abu Dhabi following the increasing awareness of how businesses affect the environment
Attract, addict and convert
New marketing consultancy, 121strategies.com has been set up to help companies achieve three goals when setting up a Web site
KSA software developers want more Arabic Web content
Software developers and ISPs in Saudi Arabia are screaming out for more Arabised Web content and Arabic applications, citing this as the main reason that Arabs are slow taking to the Internet.
INTEL to launch Pentium 4 Processor in Egypt
Intel Middle East is soon to launch the Pentium 4 chip at GITEX, Cairo in an attempt to speed up Internet download times for users
IBM embarks on high-end Linux push in the region
Big Blue wants customers to run Linux at the core of the enterprise. Open source OS offers greater flexibility and price performance, claims top executive
Mobile market in the Middle East continues to boom
The mobile phone market has boomed in the Middle East over the last two years, with the number of subscribers in the region nearing the seven million mark.
Islamic search engine launched
A specialised Islamic search engine, ‘Hamza’, based on search engines such as Altavista, Google and Excite, has been launched on www.bilalphilips.com/hamza.
Virus writers feed-off dirty minds
The latest e-mail-borne virus is luring people into clicking on its deadly attachment with the promise of a free glimpse at a naked wife.
Change will be the only constant over next five years
Internet madness has only just begun according to visitors of ITP.net. The next five years will see more dramatic changes than the last five, they believe.
Brokat releases user-centric software family
Brokat Technologies has released a new family of software products aimed at giving companies a user-centric approach to e-business through an m-infrastructure.
BBC to station OB Vehicle in UAE
The BBC is to become heavily involved in training in the region with an OB vehicle.
RSA unveils multipurpose smart card system
RSA Security has announced a smart card solution to integrate all the elements of smart cart deployment and management for enterprise security.
ArabTel launches web tracking for fleet cars
Wireless vehicle location system allows fleet managers to track cars over the Internet, as well as supplying navigation information and traffic reports.
Batelco boosts profits in 2000
Batelco, the sole telecoms provider in Bahrain, has announced a 9% increase in profits for the year 2000; taking the company’s net income to BD 52.5 million.
Gateway pursues opportunities beyond the box
With PC prices coming under pressure, Gateway seeks revenue opportunities away from its box shifting business
Omani corporate pirates brought to book
A major Omani company has been raided by Ministry of National Heritage officials in an action that saw the discovery of 62 personal computers with illegal software installed on them.