Industry Veteran Justin Doo Appointed Vice President for Sales and Marketing to Drive Channel and Geographic Expansion

Dubai-UAE: 28th October, 2008 - Sphere Networks, leaders in next generation network management systems, today announced it has strengthened its management team in order to oversee and consolidate the fast expanding region-wide operations.

As a part of this initiative, Sphere Networks announced the appointment of industry veteran Justin Doo as Vice President for Sales and Marketing. The Dubai-based company will leverage Justin's experience for building and reinforcing its presence in the region as the company prepares to establish a solid channel structure in the Middle East and eventually in other territories. Justin was previously Director for Middle East and North Africa with Trend Micro, the antivirus software vendor.

Launched three years ago, Sphere Networks is backed by Dubai Silicon Oasis (DSO), the region's premier integrated innovations hub for high-tech industries.

Mohamed Hamedi, CEO and Founder of Sphere Networks, said: "Network management solutions are becoming increasingly critical as organizations are growing more and more dependent on their networks for achieving enhanced business agility. A next generation network management solution must be extendable and scalable, light and intuitive. Sphere Networks Arena Architecture has been developed from the ground up, so is uniquely legacy free and offers scalability and manageability advantages that hugely benefit our customers in the current cost environment."

"Justin's presence on board the management team will help us confidently surge forward as the company moves into the next growth phase. His results-oriented experience will guide us to successfully forge relationships with service providers as well as traditional go-to-market partners equipped with outstanding implementation, consultancy and managed services skills," Mohamed added.

As Managing Director for the Middle East and Southern Emerging Markets (SEM) Business Unit at Trend Micro, Justin grew the business from a locally focused two-person venture into a sizeable regional unit with operations in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Justin's contributions as part of the management team successfully placed Trend Micro SEM as the fastest growing business unit in Europe Middle East Africa (EMEA).

Justin said: "Sphere Networks represents all that I respect about this region. The team is passionate about their technology and achieved enormous success so far.  Capitalizing on this agile technology and backed by a team of professionals, we will work towards identifying channel champions who will assist us in growing this business rapidly."

"Sphere Networks has evolved as a family and I envisage the channel will do the same.  The success we enjoyed at Trend Micro involved close relationships with a select group of likeminded partners; I anticipate a similar route for our channel expansion here."

Abdulsalam Al Bastaki, Director of IT & Services for Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA), said: "Dubai Silicon Oasis' strategy to support a promising company such as Sphere Networks is an evidence of our commitment to actively contribute to Dubai's knowledge economy drive and role in helping create Dubai's knowledge economy. The value that Justin brings, both from a regional perspective as well as his experience within a multinational organization, adds considerable strength to the Sphere management team."

"As an emerging company with strong fundamentals, we believe that the future holds an exciting time for Sphere's growth, regionally and internationally." Abdulsalam added.

Founded on the principles of extendibility, scalability and security, the Arena suite of network management products earned Sphere Networks the '2006 Networks Middle East Innovation Award' in the 'Best Newcomer' category. The Sphere R&D lab is currently developing next generation solutions for security, traffic management, wireless management and enterprise voice solutions.

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About Sphere Networks
Sphere Networks is the leading provider of the next generation modular Network Management System.  Ideal for End-Use Organizations and Communications Service Providers that want to manage their complex networks, its standards-based Arena Network Management System Platform allows partners and solution integrators to easily create and deploy sophisticated solutions that proactively manage any network attached device thereby ensuring uptime and saving operational costs.  For more information please visit www.sphere.ae

About Dubai SiLicon Oasis
Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA), a 100% owned entity by the Government of Dubai is a free zone, strategically placed on the Emirates road. DSOA's urban master-planned community spans 7.2 square kilometers of state of the art office towers, R&D and industrial zones, educational institutions, luxury apartments, villas, hotels, healthcare and a full range of lifestyle facilities which translate into a dynamic commercial and social environment. Businesses can flourish under the unrivalled package of incentives, including 100% ownership, and high end IT infrastructure that allows companies to begin operating immediately. Visit us at www.dso.ae 

For further information, please contact:
Mazen El Dirany
Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority
Associate Manager - Corporate Communications
Tel: (+971 4) 5015102
Fax: (+971 4) 5015200
meldirany@dso.ae

Press Release 2008