ALKHOBAR, 18 October 2005 — 3Com Middle East, a provider of secure converged networking technology, has boosted its presence in the region with new management, new offerings and a new focus on the Saudi market.
“The Middle East is becoming increasingly important to 3Com globally and Saudi Arabia represents one of our largest markets in the region. To help cement our presence there, we have built a strong country team and are now in a position to take full advantage of the growing demand for networking solutions,” said Wael Fakharany, regional manager, 3Com Middle East.
To lead the Saudi team, 3Com has appointed Issac Shihabi as Saudi Arabia country manager, reinforcing its commitment to its growing business in the Kingdom. Shihabi knows the Kingdom well, with 22 years experience in Saudi Arabia’s IT sector. After spending 18 years with the Al-Faisaliah Group, in 2002 Shihabi was part of the launch team of Ebttikar Technologies, the Kingdom’s second largest IT infrastructure solutions provider, as vice president.
“3Com is at an exciting time in its development — the regional team has tripled in the past 12 months — and I look forward to building on the company’s reputation and customer base in Saudi Arabia,” said Shihabi. “We have a number of new, market-leading technologies to bring to the region and I expect 3Com’s Secure Converged Networks to match a wide range of corporate IT needs in the country.”
3Com enjoys strong links with Saudi Arabia’s government sector and the company is planning to expand its enterprise business as more opportunities arise.
“With one of the most comprehensive product lines in the region, 3Com is looking to partner with government institutions and large corporations to provide the latest networking equipment,” said Shihabi. “3Com has an extensive range of security, voice, wireless, core switch and router products specifically targeted at large organizations. This, coupled with our extended team, will result in 3Com offering more tailored solutions with the highest standards of customer care to the enterprise sector.”
The company also intends to improve its distribution channel in the Kingdom. With that in mind 3Com has signed an agreement with Redington Gulf to extend its channel reach in Saudi Arabia. The terms of the deal call for Redington to stock 3Com’s full product portfolio and use its extensive reseller network to drive uptake of 3Com’s networking technology.
“Redington is one of the region’s leading channel partners and has a strong, direct presence in Saudi Arabia,” said Fakharany. “3Com decided the time was right to enhance its coverage in the Kingdom as demand for networking technology is on the rise among both enterprise and SMB customers. This agreement allows us to service this growing market with an established, reputable channel partner that enhances our value proposition.”
Through Redington, 3Com has access to more than 300 resellers around the Kingdom. This increased channel penetration raises awareness for its secure converged network offering.
“3Com’s Secure Converged Network offers organizations of all sizes the most comprehensive protection against all security threats while providing the very latest networking capability. We expect Saudi Arabian organizations to register strong interest as businesses look to update their network,” remarked Fakharany. “In addition, as 3Com continues to release innovative products — with Redington on board, organizations in Saudi Arabia can look forward to having easy access to 3Com’s new technology and excellent after-sales service.”
As one of the region’s leading IT distributors, Redington covers 33 countries across the Middle East and Africa. With offices in Jeddah, Riyadh and Alkhobar, Redington has one of the Kingdom’s largest networks and guarantees next day delivery of 3Com products anywhere in the country.
In another step to enhance enterprise market penetration 3Com and Siemens Communications have announced a new global strategic alliance and master reseller agreement to integrate and sell — via Siemens’ direct sales organization and indirect channels — a range of cost-competitive data networking and enterprise security products and a full suite of complementary services. The agreement includes edge-to-core switches and routers, Siemens’ portfolio of identity and access management solutions, and 3Com’s network security platform, the TippingPoint Intrusion Prevention System (IPS).
Under an existing agreement between the two companies, Siemens will continue to provide lifecycle maintenance services to current 3Com customers. Building upon this relationship, Siemens and its partners will provide a suite of lifecycle, professional and managed services to new Siemens enterprise customers, who purchase a combination of Siemens and 3Com products for integrated enterprise solutions.
The two companies will also collaborate to develop joint capabilities to enhance their combined enterprise applications and platforms. To help ensure ongoing synchronization and product synergies, Siemens, which is named a 3Com Strategic Alliance Partner and Master Reseller, will have active participation in strategic product development initiatives at 3Com.
New initiatives and increased presence are alone not enough. Leadership is required to capitalize on available opportunities and spur market growth. To achieve such goals, 3Com has promoted Raul Ros to the position of vice president and general manager of the company’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, reporting directly to James M. Fieger, senior vice president, Worldwide Sales and Service. In this position, Ros is responsible for all enterprise and small and medium business (SMB) sales, service and channel management in EMEA.
“I am extremely pleased to promote one of our strongest sales leaders to a position that is critical to 3Com’s success in a region that has tremendous potential for growth,” said Fieger. “Raul has an outstanding track record of success in international sales and since joining 3Com he has consistently outperformed corporate sales goals, led large teams and improved Latin American operations significantly. His experience and leadership will be integral to improving our overall performance in EMEA.”
During his tenure, as 3Com’s vice president and general manager of Latin America, Ros led revenue growth in the region through direct touch sales and partner development, in addition to improving its services and channel offerings. Prior to joining 3Com, Ros held executive leadership positions at Redback Networks, Lucent Technologies, GE Capital and IBM.
“I look forward to accelerating 3Com’s traction in the large enterprise and SMB markets,” Ros stated. “With one of the broadest and most competitive product portfolios in the industry and a vast network of loyal channel partners, we have a tremendous opportunity to not only improve our performance in the region, but to demonstrate the value 3Com can bring to organizations of all sizes.”
