Intel Roadshow to Tour 10 Cities
Intel Corporation has kicked off a month-long series of conferences across the Middle East that will bring its channel partners together to update them on its latest innovations and to launch a new partner program into the region.
Starting in Muscat, the Intel Channel Conferences (ICC), themed under the title of “Connect,” will hit 10 cities across the region targeting systems integrators and resellers. The conferences will focus on Intel’s shift to dual core technology, Intel’s new microarchitecture, the Intel Interchangeability Initiative for mobile business, and the latest updates on Intel Channel Partner Program.
“The ICC series is an opportunity to educate our expanding customer base in the region on the latest platforms and our shift to dual core across our entire products stack: Through desktop, server and mobile,” said Nassir Nauthoa, Intel’s reseller channel manager for the GCC. “The conferences will also help systems integrators to leap ahead with the company’s new programs and initiatives, including a completely revised channel partner program.”
Intel’s new Channel Partner Program replaces all existing programs. The new program will drive Intel’s competitive advantages with relevant marketing, business and technical support and is scalable, offering channel organizations a clear path to upgrade membership levels.
One of the most innovative programs to be rolled out during the conferences will be the Intel Interchangeability Initiative. Designed to establish industry standards in common technology building blocks, the initiative will provide its channel partners significant potential for additional revenue opportunities through the standardization of components such as spare battery packs. Components will be supported with a “Verified by Intel” marketing promotion targeted specifically to channel resellers who plan to carry bare-bone stock keeping units enabled with the seven common building block components.
“We are introducing the Intel Interchangeability initiative as an enabler for the channel to build and brand their own range of notebooks and thereby benefit from the fast-expanding mobile market,” said Nauthoa. “The program will provide channel partners with the choice of selling either pre-configured or build-to-order notebooks and offers more flexibility in product specifications. The standards are backed up by the tagline ‘Verified by Intel’ which certifies that Intel has worked with each of the component suppliers to ensure their products are compliant with its interchangeability specifications.”
Catch the Intel Channel Conference on the following dates: May 20 Manama, May 22 Doha, May 24 Kuwait City, May 29 Abu Dhabi, May 31 Dubai, June 3 Jeddah, June 4 Riyadh and June 6 Alkhobar.
Lenovo Sets Up Shop in Kingdom
Lenovo has opened two representative offices in Saudi Arabia, in Riyadh and Jeddah, to take its local customer service and support to a higher level.
“The move to set up offices in Saudi Arabia aims to support Lenovo’s growth plans and to add value to its products and services in the country. Saudi consumers and corporate users are long-standing Lenovo customers, as they are familiar with the ThinkCenter desktops and ThinkPad notebooks. This milestone coincides also with the launch of the new Lenovo-branded products, Lenovo 3000. Local presence in the Kingdom will enhance levels of customer service and help in driving the PC penetration in this largely untapped market,” said Mohamed Sharaf, marketing manager of Lenovo Middle East, Egypt and Pakistan.
Zakaria Al-Sayed has been appointed as the Saudi office manager for Lenovo. Al-Sayed has 15 years of experience in the Saudi IT industry and will help to boost Lenovo’s presence in Saudi Arabia. The office address is: Arabian Business Center, Office No. 502, Wali Al-Ahd St., P.O. Box 136858, Jeddah 21313.
Saad Medical Center Upgrades IT Services
Saad Medical Center has acquired from Silicon Graphics an SGI Altix 350 high-performance computer (HPC) based on the Intel Itanium Processor Family, to handle the heavy load of radiology image transfers around the hospital. Scaling to 32 Intel Itanium 2 processors in a single platform, the Altix 350 leverages the powerful SGI NUMAflex global shared-memory architecture to derive maximum application over 6.4GB per second of sustained I/O bandwidth.
“Saad Hospital has always been among the first to embrace new technological innovations,” said Karim El-Alami, CIO at Saad Hospital. “Our requirements centered on a picture archive and communication system (PACS) that could withstand the pressures of increased radiology image traffic. SGI servers are easily the best performing servers in the industry, and hence were an obvious choice. SGI’s Altix 350 is highly resilient and provides 24/7 non-stop operation, which is critical to ensuring the efficacy of our hospital operations.”
Gilbert Soufan, GM, SGI Middle East and North Africa, added, “The system’s advanced capabilities allow Saad Hospital to transfer any number of radiology images, thereby facilitating the provisioning of faster and more efficient health care service to patients.”
HP Appoints Channel Manager
HP has appointed Gilles Lambinet as the Solution Partners Organization manager in Central/Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa. Lambinet replaces Christoph Schell, who is continuing his career with HP as vice president of the Imaging and Printing Group in the South Pacific region, based out of Sydney, Australia.
Previously, Lambinet was the category and marketing manager for the HP Personal Systems Group (PSG), in Central/Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa. During this time, he contributed to the growth and profitability of the company’s complete line of personal computing solutions, including business and consumer notebooks and desktops, workstations, thin clients, handhelds and Internet appliances.
The transition will take place immediately and Lambinet will be reporting to Antoine Maury, VP, PSG Central/Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa and Jos Brenkel, VP, HP Solution Partners Organization, EMEA.
