SAP World Tour for Riyadh and Dubai

The SAP World Tour 2006 will arrive in Riyadh today and will be in Dubai tomorrow. The SAP World Tour brings SAP top executives and experts directly to customers at local events to inform them about mySAP ERP, SAP NetWeaver foundation, and the role Enterprise Services Architecture will play in future IT ecosystems. Following last year’s successful SAP Best of SAP World Tour, the SAP World Tour 2006 is expected to reach nearly 100 cities over the course of the year.

The World Tour visits in Riyadh and Dubai will feature keynote and special presentations by several executives from SAP, including Kai Hessenmueller, vice president SAP AG; Mark Tate-Smith, director, Global Demo Systems, SAP AG; and Dr. Hichem Maha, director, SAP AG. For more information about the tour, please visit www.saparabia.com/sapworldtour06.

‘Castle Mountain’ to Be Connected by 2007

SYSTIMAX Solutions has been selected to provide a structured connectivity solution for the King Abdul Aziz Endowment Jabal Al-Qala (Castle Mountain) Project, currently under construction in Makkah, through its Saudi-based certified business partner, Hasoub. When completed in 2007, the 1.4 million square foot development will house the world’s largest iPatch Real Time Infrastructure Management System. With such an extensive network being contemplated, it was recognized early on that success would be dependent upon the ability to manage such an extensive infrastructure.

“The sheer size and scale of the planned network means that we face a real post-installation management challenge,” explained Amr Taher, president of BT-Applied Technologies, the project’s technology consultant. “In anticipation of this, we decided from the outset that the project would require a comprehensive intelligent infrastructure management solution to ensure smooth day-to-day operation of the network.”

The critical nature of the network led the development team to select the patching solution developed by SYSTIMAX Solutions called the SYSTIMAX iPatch Real Time Infrastructure Management System. The SYSTIMAX iPatch Real Time Infrastructure Management System offers interactive, real-time control over both copper and fiber connections. The results are more responsive network administration and better security. The system also cuts running costs by automating routine management tasks and assisting technicians in the completion of work orders and service provisioning. As a result, productivity is increased and managers achieve more efficient use of resources and cost control.

“The iPatch System will enable the Jabal Al-Qala management team to map out the entire 115,000-connection network in real time, allowing them to find the proverbial ‘needle in the haystack,’” said Dominic Morris, regional sales director, SYSTIMAX Solutions. “We expect the Jabal Al-Qala team to be able to ensure the maximum flow of information along its communication highway by instantly identifying and correcting any issues that block the smooth flow of data. The end result will be what we believe is the most technically advanced network in the Middle East, making this project the benchmark by which future regional development will be measured.”

Facing the Holy Mosque, the Jabal Al-Qala project will ultimately offer a range of technically advanced services to over 75,000 people. The towers that make up the development incorporate a mix of retail, residential and hotel usage. While the construction itself is certainly impressive, it will be the utilization of technology that will really set the project apart.

“All building management and communication services will be deployed on a single infrastructure,” explained. Taher. “Traditionally ten or more separate systems would be used to deliver various services, but we plan to use just one. We are building what we believe is the biggest and most sophisticated converged network the Middle East has ever seen, which makes the structured cabling component of the development critical to the success of the project.”

With the structured cabling system playing such a key role, Hasoub has a challenge ahead. Hasoub General Manager Sami Said Hassan commented: “Our goal was to design and implement a single, IP-based cabling infrastructure to support the entire voice and data network requirements. We also plan to integrate a total building management functionality incorporating elements such as security access, environmental and HVAC as well as more traditional services such as telephony and Internet connections. We are working closely with SYSTIMAX Solutions to ensure that the infrastructure solution we install will deliver the right mix of technical performance, reliability and robustness. This will provide the foundation for what we expect to be the Middle East’s most sophisticated converged network designed to support the latest in smart building management systems and other IP-based applications.”

The end result will be a predominantly fiber-optic-based network, with the main building and seven towers connected by a dual fiber-optic loop through two network operating centers (NOCs) located in the main building. From each NOC, dual fiber-optic connections will run out to each of the project’s nine building distribution rooms (BDRs). Two will be located in the building and one in each of the towers. The BDRs, in turn, are connected to the floor distribution rooms (FDRs) located on each floor of the towers, which will comprise some 450 floors in all. From each FDR, a copper network that is based on the SYSTIMAX GigaSPEED XL Category 6 copper UTP cabling solution will be designed to provide over 100,000 high-speed connections across the project.

“Work on the project has already begun,” said Ehab Kanary, business development manager, SYSTIMAX Solutions. “When the Hasoub installation team completes the network infrastructure component in 2007, some 350 km of SYSTIMAX singlemode fiber-optic cable, 25,000 reels of SYSTIMAX GigaSPEED XL UTP cabling in 18 different colors, 4,000 patch panels, 100,000 UTP outlets and 15,000 fiber terminations will have been used. This is a major undertaking.”

Net Must Be Better Harnessed by Banks

The Second Financial Technology Summit & Exhibition 2006 concludes today in Dubai. Organized by the World Development Forum, the summit is examining Middle East banking strategies towards technology-savvy customers and the huge potential for further business growth.

Discussing that growth, Taha Husseini, CIO, National Commercial Bank (NCB), commented: “Vital changes in terms of communications between the bank and the customer will put an end to the problems of place and time. Consequently this will allow customers to be connected to their banking information with the ability to complete transactions 24/7 without visiting the branch. This will not only drive banking sector growth, but also the entire economy.”

To illustrate this point, in a pioneering move NCB recently added telephone to the Internet and ATM — which constitute the electronic alternative channels (EAC) — to allow direct online access to Saudi stock market transactions, whether for buying, selling or simply browsing. Another feature which has recently been offered to the public, and which received a strong welcome, is to allow initial public offering (IPO) subscriptions through the EAC.

“The Middle East banking sector has traditionally lagged behind the US and western Europe in terms of technology, but through massive investment many of the region’s banks have now significantly closed the gap,” said Khaled Eid, MD, World Development Forum. “However, the region’s banks will still be forced to invest heavily in real-time solutions, which are essential if banks want to compete successfully for Internet accounts.”