Dubai, UAE, November 5th, 2003 - Comtrust, the e-solutions business unit of Etisalat, today announced the latest signing to its Comtrust Solution Partner (CSP) programme. The UK-based company is the first open source specialist to join the CSP programme.
According to Openia, the time is ripe to drive the open source concept through the Middle East. “The Middle East is very much ready for the open source concept, which provides significant steps towards freedom from proprietary ties to corporate giants,” said Ali al-Azzawi, Managing Director, Openia. The term open source refers to open availability of the source code that makes up software programmes. As its name implies, open source code is free to be used by anyone.
Openia said the growing interest of regional business in open source technology had spurred the UK-headquartered company to enter the Middle East market. The company sees its entry into the Comtrust’s Solutions Partners’ programme as key to its regional ambitions. “As part of the CSP programme we gain access to Comtrust’s cutting edge e-infrastructure providing us with a solid hosting and security foundation to base our unique offerings upon,” said al-Azzawi.
He went on to say Comtrust’s geographical positioning; regionally tuned product suite and expanding partner network provides an excellent platform for rapid implementation of applications and solutions aligned to the open source movement.
Through its association with Comtrust, the open source specialist gains access to the region’s most comprehensive e-business resource. In turn Openia provides a unique ‘open source’ skill set to the CSP community.
Comtrust and Openia believe the new collaboration will provide a solid and viable foundation for the implementation of open source technologies in the region. “The combination of Openia’s extensive open source experience with Comtrust’s state-of-the-art infrastructure and regionally tuned portfolio of e-business solutions makes for a strong commercial offering,” said Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar, General Manager, Comtrust.
Etisalat’s e-business specialist said the new CSP signing was part of its continuing efforts to anticipate market demands.
“To date, open source technologies have mainly been taken-up by the public sector in other regions. However, the Middle East’s public and private sectors are becoming increasingly aware of the direct commercial benefits to be had from using open source products. Our relationship with Openia will allow us to broaden the application of Comtrust’s e-business solutions to include the open source sphere,” said Julfar.
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About the CSP programme
Comtrust launched the Comtrust Solutions Partner (CSP) programme in early 2002. Designed to gather the region’s leading providers of e-business solutions into a collaborative effort to drive growth in this industry, the CSP programme allows customers access to best-of-breed e-business solutions, combining local expertise, industry-specific knowledge and comprehensive end-to-end technology solutions needed to build and operate successful e-business initiatives. To date the programme has attracted 14 partners from across the UAE, Qatar, Jordan, Pakistan, Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and now the UK.
About Comtrust
Comtrust, the e-solutions business unit of Etisalat (Emirates Telecommunications Corporation - the national telecommunications company of the UAE), is the only comprehensive e-business enabler, providing business and government entities in the Middle East an all-encompassing suite of products and services for their e-initiatives. Utilising its state-of-the-art infrastructure based at data centres in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, a highly skilled technological and managerial taskforce and leveraging its wide-ranging alliances and partnerships, Comtrust offers customers in the Business-to-Business, Business-to-Consumer and e-Government spheres an array of e-business solutions. Comtrust provides services in the fields of eHosting, eRetailing, eSecurity, ePayment, eConsulting and specialised eTraining, backed up by round-the-clock professional technical support. Comtrust specialises in PKI-based online authentication solutions and is the UAE’s only Digital Certification Authority. Comtrust is also a regional provider of online credit card authentication technologies meeting the new Verified-by-Visa and MasterCard’s SecureCode standards. For more information log onto www.comtrust.ae
About Openia
Openia was formally established in 1999 (trading originally as Wey Valley Consulting Limited) and employs staff with Internet-related experience dating back to the late 1980s. Focussing on the adoption and implementation of the latest open source technologies such as Linux, Apache, and Zope, Openia helps clients to exploit the advantages of open source technologies offering excellent resources coupled with a wealth of experience enabling Openia to advise clients on initial concept design right through to full e-commerce solutions and Internet based applications. For more information go to www.openia.com
© Press Release 2003
