Google Enterprise invests in MENA with the appointment of a regional sales team

MENA's digital native employees drive demand for flexible and collaborative IT tools

Dubai, UAE 17 October 2010: Google Enterprise today reinforced its commitment to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) by announcing the appointment of Abdel Bendaoua as Head of Google Enterprise for MEA, Russia and SEE and establishing a dedicated team for the region.

Google Enterprise offers the innovation and ease of use of Google's consumer products with the features, security and support needed for organisations of all sizes, including:

- Google Apps for Business, Google's web-based suite of communication and collaboration tools, which promotes new ways of working and helps organisations become more innovative and efficient. With Google Apps, hosted online in Google's secure cloud, employees can collaborate in real-time within Google Docs, improve internal and external communication using Gmail with integrated Google Talk (IM), share and manage calendars with Google Calendar and publish and share information using Google Groups, Google Sites and Google Video.

- Google Geo Enterprise solutions, allowing businesses to import corporate data into Google Maps and Google Earth to be shared quickly and easily with colleagues and clients.

- Google Search Appliance, which takes Google's core search technology and optimises it for business use, delivering fast, relevant and secure access to information and increasing business productivity

- Google Message Security and Discovery Products, offering anti-spam and anti-virus services delivered 'in the cloud', as well as advanced e-mail archiving technologies

Abdel Bendaoua comments on the company's new focus in the region and is particularly optimistic about the future of Google's cloud based products and the benefits Google Apps can offer to MENA organisations.

"The Middle East has a young and ambitious population of 'digital natives' who grew up in the era of the Internet." said Mr. Bendaoua. "This promotes a dynamic and international culture of entrepreneurship. For these new young companies, flexibility, cost efficiency, accessibility, constant innovation and the opportunity to collaborate are of paramount importance as they strive to remain competitive and agile. This is exactly what Google Enterprise and Google Apps offer and, by building our dedicated local team, we are hoping to bring these benefits to more businesses in the region."

Abdel Bendaoua is joined in the regional office, based in Dubai, by Girard Moussa, head of MENA for Enterprise, and Nasser Saleem Ahmed, Head of Enterprise Sales Engineering. Google Enterprise has already engaged with customers across the Government, media, finance and real estate sectors in the Middle East, demonstrating the benefits its products offer across a variety of industries and organizations.

Google Apps has been adopted by more than three million businesses worldwide, with over 3,000 new businesses signing up every day.

Visit Google Enterprise on the FVC stand (Stand Z-H1, Zabeel Hall) at GITEX Technology Week from 17th to 21st October 2010

For more information about Google Apps for Businesses, visit: http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/index.html

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