Online Distribution Road Show
To provide direction for regional companies planning to manage their data centers, applications, servers and the network from a central point, networking distributor Online Distribution is organizing a road show across the Gulf Cooperation Council states in December.
The seven-city road show kicks off in Abu Dhabi on Dec. 5 and covers Dubai, Riyadh, Dammam, Manama, Kuwait City and Muscat. Seminars at the road show will present delegates with new tools to redesign core data center architectures to cope with evolving business models. As part of its strategy to provide resellers and end-users with value-added support, the event is partnered by vendors such as Avocent, APW, Corning, APC and Ortronics. The half-day event comprises five sessions and an “open house” session post-lunch with the vendors, where delegates can meet providers for one-to-one meetings. For further information on the road show, log on to: www.online-dubai.com.
TNS Extends Direct Market Access to Gulf Exchanges
Transaction Network Services, Inc. (TNS) and the Kuwait and Middle East Financial Investment Company (KMEFIC) have signed a deal which will allow traders to establish direct links with the growing financial markets in the Gulf.
KMEFIC’s new FIX Gateway service offers direct market access (DMA) to exchanges in Kuwait, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Doha and Bahrain. Trades are conveyed via a managed, highly secure connection into TNS’ Secure Trading Extranet. This new deal allows TNS’ customers, who are already on TNS’ extranet, to access the KMEFIC FIX Gateway.
“Linking into the TNS network gives KMEFIC a great opportunity to connect to world markets and makes trading with the Middle East easier and more profitable for brokers through a single point of connection,” said Abdul Mohsin Qarooni, GM of IT and online trading at KMEFIC.
The TNS network connects over 1,000 financial community end-points, representing more than 450 buy-and-sell institutions, market data and software vendors, exchanges and alternative trading venues. Financial institutions using TNS’ network can exchange a variety of trade-related messages, including indications of interest, order routing and trade executions.
Al-Fahim Implements SAP for Retail
SAP Arabia and Al-Fahim Enterprises have completed the preliminary rollout phase of the SAP for Retail solution portfolio. SAP’s retail software solutions will support Al-Fahim Enterprises’ aggressive regional growth and manage its brand portfolio to maximize profitability.
SAP for Retail is an industry-specific solution set that creates value by enabling retailers to become more agile with the SAP NetWeaver platform. SAP applications will support all aspects of the business, including product development, merchandising, customer relationship management, supply chain and inventory management, store operations as well as financial reporting. The software will also support customer loyalty programs and provide real-time business visibility and operational excellence across all core retail processes while enabling top-line revenue growth and cost reductions. Initially serving approximately 400 users, the SAP deployment is one of the largest retail implementations in the region.
Al-Fahim Enterprises will adopt the SAP NetWeaver platform as its information and business process foundation. The platform will provide greater process agility system flexibility and the capability to extend in their IT investment in the future. The initial rollout of the new application covers the group’s companies in the UAE including Paris Gallery.
According to Mohammed Al-Fahim, CEO, Al-Fahim Enterprises, the initial phase of implementation will include mySAP ERP 2005, SAP NetWeaver Business Intelligence and SAP NetWeaver Portal. This will be followed by the implementation of applications including mySAP Customer Relationship Management, SAP Forecasting and Replenishment and SAP Extended Warehouse Management. On completion of the initial phase of the implementation in the UAE, Al-Fahim Enterprises will roll out the retail solution set in Saudi Arabia and Qatar based on its global rollout template.
KPMG is the implementation partner. In addition to IT resources, key business stake holders of Al-Fahim Enterprises have been assigned to the project team on a full-time basis.
