Dubai, UAE, 4^th November 2003

Comtrust, the e-solutions business unit of Etisalat, today announced the latest signing to its Comtrust Solution Partner (CSP) programme. The UK-based company is the first open source specialist to join the CSP programme. According to Openia, the time is ripe to drive the open source concept through the Middle East. “The Middle East is very much ready for the open source concept, which provides significant steps towards freedom from proprietary ties to corporate giants,” said Ali al-Azzawi, Managing Director, Openia. The term open source refers to open availability of the source code that makes up software programmes. As its name implies, open source code is free to be used by anyone.

Openia said the growing interest of regional business in open source technology had spurred the UK-headquartered company to enter the Middle East market. The company sees its entry into the Comtrust’s Solutions Partners’ programme as key to its regional ambitions. “As part of the CSP programme we gain access to Comtrust’s cutting edge e-infrastructure providing us with a solid hosting and security foundation to base our unique offerings upon,” said al-Azzawi. He went on to say Comtrust’s geographical positioning; regionally tuned product suite and expanding partner network provides an excellent platform for rapid implementation of applications and solutions aligned to the open source movement.

Through its association with Comtrust, the open source specialist gains access to the region’s most comprehensive e-business resource. In turn Openia provides a unique ‘open source’ skill set to the CSP community. Comtrust and Openia believe the new collaboration will provide a solid and viable foundation for the implementation of open source technologies in the region. “The combination of Openia’s extensive open source experience with Comtrust’s state-of-the-art infrastructure and regionally tuned portfolio of e-business solutions makes for a strong commercial offering,” said Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar, General Manager, Comtrust.

Etisalat’s e-business specialist said the new CSP signing was part of its continuing efforts to anticipate market demands. “To date, open source technologies have mainly been taken-up by the public sector in other regions. However, the Middle East’s public and private sectors are becoming increasingly aware of the direct commercial benefits to be had from using open source products. Our relationship with Openia will allow us to broaden the application of Comtrust’s e-business solutions to include the open source sphere,” said Julfar.