ALKHOBAR, 11 March 2003 — The Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry has sent out a notice to all businessmen in the region highlighting major points in a recent directive issued by the Minister of Commerce.
The directive states that government bodies should depend on national products when implementing government projects. This also applies to companies receiving contracts for government projects. National products must fulfill the description and price competitiveness requirements of the project. However, if they do, then the national products must be chosen over products brought in from other markets.
Why is this important in the area of information technology? Well, it should create an incentive for local software developers and local assemblers and manufacturers of IT hardware. Software is a product and local developers should target the IT needs of the government as a way of jump-starting the use of their applications.
There is also a considerable amount of IT hardware that is sold annually to the government. This could be anything from smart card technologies to PCs. Companies should look into the requirements and gear up to meet them.
Particularly for niche products, this Ministry of Commerce directive could provide an opportunity for a real national IT industry to get off the ground.
And speaking of getting off the ground, I came across a publication called, “Safar.” It is the staff newspaper of Emirates and DNATA. Within the pages of “Safar” were several articles highlighting IT news of general interest to the staff of Emirates and DNATA. There was one article though, “Have laptop, will travel (safe),” that was of importance to anyone taking a computer loaded with corporate data out of the office. Here is an excerpt from that piece:
“Your laptop is more than a physical device to assist you in working outside your office. It contains important company information. Remember, we use the words ‘Information Assets’ to describe the company data held electronically, as well as the device. So while laptops are useful to help you work away from base, you have to give thought to the question of protecting the Information Assets they contain.
“When away from the office, assume that everyone is interested in what you are doing on your laptop, however mundane or obscure you may think it is. You are responsible for safeguarding the Information Assets you have access to.”
The article went on to emphasize the importance of securing the laptop and its contents. How much damage would be done if the laptop were lost? Would clients’ personal information be exposed? Would confidential e-mail messages become public? Could the data be replaced?
The article also advised individuals on how to protect Information Assets. Password and user ID information should not be affixed to the machine. The laptop shouldn’t be loaned to others. The laptop should be carried in a proper case, with the bag’s strap on one shoulder and the bag on the opposite hip. The machine should never be left unattended when traveling — the bag simply being “in sight” is not enough.
The points made by the article were very valid in these days of economy class corporate travel. In the past, when most executives flew business class, they were often cocooned in special lounges where the chances of a snatch and run theft were remote.
They also had a reasonable amount of privacy as well as room to work both in lounges and on planes. For many executives, business class is now only a dream, but they still persist in old work habits.
I have seen executives reviewing client presentations on their laptops while seated in economy class. All the passengers in their vicinity could read the displayed information. One executive sitting next to me created his monthly sales report on a flight to Dubai. Another man typed e-mail concerning a corporate network problem. Get a grip, folks! Industrial espionage is alive and thriving in the economy class sections of airplanes everywhere.
Let’s stay with the subject of travel for a few more minutes. I had an excellent interview last Tuesday with Abdullah M. Abo Khamseen, executive general manager, Kanoo Travel. He spoke about the changes confronting the travel industry. The Internet, is having a huge effect on the travel business globally.
Through the Internet, customers can easily get information about destinations, accommodation, prices, transportation and many other travel products. People used to rely on travel agencies for such information but not anymore. Even worse, for travel agencies, customers can purchase almost all travel products over the Internet, completely cutting out middlemen from the revenue cycle.
“Technology has been a huge factor of change,” said Abo Khamseen. “Not only has it improved travel services but it has made them timely and responsive to customer needs. Customers have been empowered with knowledge and access to cross-border sales. Travel agencies in Saudi Arabia are no longer competing with travel agencies in their own town or even with agencies in the Kingdom. Local travel agencies are now competing globally, and I really am not sure how many of the Kingdom’s travel agents understand that.”
Abo Khamseen went on to explain that despite the changes required by globalization and new technology, with the exception of a few firms, the travel industry in the Kingdom is still functioning at a very basic level and soon many agencies may not be functioning at all.
“Across the Kingdom we are now seeing a wave of defaulters not paying their dues and going under,” he pointed out. “Some agencies are downsizing. Even so, change is not happening fast enough, but it will come. Right now there is enough business to keep most travel agencies going.
After all, we have about seven million expatriates living and working in the Kingdom, and those people still need tickets to go home. However, the margins for this type of travel are very thin. I believe it is in leisure travel where we will see the most change the soonest. The borders are down and the spread of Internet connectivity and e-commerce in the Kingdom will apply considerable pressure to the operations of travel agencies in the leisure sector.”
Abo Khamseen is preaching the message of the e-age, “evolve or die,” to all his colleagues in the travel trade. How many are listening is a matter of conjecture. The closures and consolidation are already underway. I wait with bated breath to see real change.
In the Kingdom, we are currently seeing change of another sort, and it’s definitely not change for the better. Over the past two weeks outside consultants have been packing up and scuttling back to the perceived safety of their home offices in Europe.
This is despite the fact that crime and violence in Saudi Arabia are still very limited. I suspect that the annual number of violent acts in the entire Kingdom are fewer than the number of violent acts in most European capitals.
What is of the utmost importance to these consultants is that their insurance coverage has been pulled by insurers back home. So the consultants are ditching their local clients and racing for the exits. It doesn’t matter that their work isn’t finished. It makes no difference to them that they are leaving Saudi firms in the lurch. I know of one British consultant who volunteered to stay, but his home office refused to consider obtaining insurance coverage from an insurer within the Kingdom and they insisted that he leave. Then the company fired him because they had to downsize due to a loss of business from the Middle East.
In the midst of this ridiculous situation, Tom Edwards, senior geopolitical strategist at Microsoft, paid a visit to Riyadh.
“What are you doing here?” I asked Edwards. “Shouldn’t you be hiding out back in the US with all the other senior IT executives of so many supposedly international firms?”
Edwards just laughed and then explained that there had been a few questions about his coming over to the Middle East right now but that, “based on information provided by Microsoft Arabia, he didn’t see any problem with the visit.” In fact, after finishing his meetings in Riyadh, he was continuing on to Dubai.
“Mark Twain made the comment that travel is fatal to prejudice,” Edwards said. “With my background in geography and in my current position at Microsoft, it is really important for me to get out and see where we’re doing business. Transnational businesses must understand local markets. In many markets such as this one the personal touch is important.”
Edwards indicated that there were several purposes for his visit to the Gulf region. First, he wanted to strengthen connections between people working for Microsoft in Redmond and those based here in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. He was also working on certain aspects of contingency planning for Microsoft.
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the Geopolitical Strategy Group, of which Edwards is a member, is now part of Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing Group. Edwards asserted that Trustworthy Computing is more than code. Content is also essential, and content is all wrapped up in the concept of business integrity.
“Microsoft could come out with the most secure code, but if there was something in the product that was offensive to a local market, it might kill the application there,” he said. “For example there could be an icon or screen graphic that did not take local sensitivities into account in a certain market. Despite the product being excellent overall, we could find that the software was shunned.”
Edwards felt that this focus on understanding the varied needs and requirements of Microsoft’s customers, wherever they might be, is one aspect of building business integrity. He had already found that his visit to the Kingdom had resulted in valuable insights, which could only serve to strengthen and further the goals of the Trustworthy Computing initiative.
We can only hope that for the good of the Kingdom’s business community, other international IT firms follow Microsoft’s lead and become more interested in truly serving this market, instead of just pushing products.
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