Saturday, Nov 13, 2010
Gulf News
Company to set up four permanent offices
Dubai Global computer services firm Computer Sciences Corp (CSC) says it believes in the Middle East’s rebounding economies to the point that it is setting up four permanent offices in the region.
Vivek Chopra, President of CSC Global Applications, said that in order to send a clear message to its customers, employees and governments in the region that it is here to stay as a long-term partner, the firm will register legal entities in the Gulf region.
“We’re setting up four legal entities in the region; in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia and Qatar — we’re putting a stake in the ground,” Chopra said in an exclusive interview with Gulf News at the Burj Al Arab yesterday during the IT Business Alignment CIO Summit.
“We no longer want just branch offices, we want full LLCs which will operate as per local laws and be compliant,” Chopra said, noting that the new permanent offices will mark the next generation for a company that has enjoyed a Middle East presence since 1978.
CSC does not produce hardware or software, rather it works in partnerships with computer giants to offer businesses and government a range of applications, infrastructure and business processing platforms to help save operating costs and streamline operations.
Low profile
Chopra said CSC has big plans for its expansion in the region including the bolstering of its 1,000-employee workforce by another 15 per cent in coming months with a renewed recruitment process to complement existing computer experts on the payroll.
“In the Middle East we have about 50 customers and do about $100 million [Dh367 million] in annual revenue in the region,” Chopra said. “Our objective is to double that in two to three years time. Fundamentally, we want to enlarge the footprint and make CSC a brand name in the UAE.”
He said that CSC “has not been a brand that is that visible in the Middle East” because the company has kept a low profile over the decades despite being a large corporate power globally with 92,000 employees overall in 90 countries generating, by last fiscal year statements, $16.2 billion in 2009 and early 2010.
Streamlined operations
Globally headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, CSC is involved in very large projects ranging from providing software to Air Traffic Control centres across the US, providing the application for the US Army’s Modernization Program as well as software for the Hubble Telescope.
In Dubai, CSC provides enterprise resource planning and core-source models for companies such as Emirates airline and Citibank.
The secret to CSC’s success is it’s business mantra that all aspects of computing should be aligned across the board to help provide an end-to-end business solution that helps the client streamline its operations.
“These are not just silos, they are all connected,” said Chopra. “Companies can be sure that this is something that is failproof. We want to make it seamless. We want to be a key player to help businesses transform their business.”
DEREK BALDWIN/Gulf News
We no longer want just branch offices, we want full LLCs which will operate as per local laws and be compliant.”
Vivek Chopra (above)
President, CSC Global Applications
By Derek Baldwin?Business Features Reporter
Gulf News 2010. All rights reserved.
