Dubai, UAE, 28^th January 2003

One of the first UAE-based companies to establish a world-class Internet presence has signed up to Comtrust’s dedicated eHosting solutions. Motivate Publishing, which first launched GulfBusiness.com in 1996, will now have all of its websites hosted by Comtrust at the Internet Data Center in Abu Dhabi. The hosting solution has been implemented by the technical team from Solutions Middle East, a member of Comtrust’s Solution Partner Program (CSP).

Ahmad Abdul Karim Julfar, General Manager Comtrust commented, “The Motivate Publishing deal is a flagship announcement for us, as they were one of the few ground-breaking organizations that realized the power of the Internet six years ago. Since then, they have continued to build their Internet presence and now have one of the most respected digital brands in the region. We are particularly proud of signing Motivate, as they chose to move from their hosting partners in the United States, so that they could take advantage of the world-class facilities and technical support that Comtrust has developed in the UAE.”

The deal ensures that Motivate’s websites, both linked to print publications and stand-alone brands such as BooksArabia.com, will be hosted by Comtrust in secure and reliable facilities, and under the supervision of well-trained and knowledgeable staff. Other websites that will be making the move to Comtrust servers include IdentityMag.net, Gulfpics.com (Motivate’s B2B photo-library and commercial photography service) and WhatsOnLive.com, an email newsletter distributing news compiled by the What’s On magazine team.

“Hosting our websites with Comtrust meets our business needs on a number of levels,” explains Motivate Publishing’s Managing Partner, Ian Fairservice. “With our plans for an ever-increasing web portfolio, we recognized the cost benefits of working with Comtrust.”

He continued, “Despite the claims that the Internet frees business of geographical constraints, as a UAE-based company we are, of course, delighted to be able to work with a partner based here in the country. It is an enormous help to have their support to hand when we need it and we feel it is important to play a role in developing the region’s technology infrastructure.”