Egypt hires brand agency to buff up private tech firms - Technology - ArabianBusiness.com

Egypt hires brand agency to buff up private tech firms - Technology - ArabianBusiness.com

Egypt’s government is funding a $15m branding push to coach local technology companies on how to rival foreign IT firms, a top official said in an interview in Cairo.

Yasser El-Kady, the CEO of ITIDA, the Information Technology Industry Development Agency which serves as the government’s point-of-contact for foreign tech companies looking to enter the Egyptian market, told Arabian Business that branding firm Atos Origin is already working with 100 companies in his country.

The move forms part of the government’s continued long-armed support of its fledgling information technology sector. Outsourcing revenue is currently estimated at $1.1bn. El-Kady said he wanted to hit $3bn by 2015.

Part of how it will do that is by attracting more foreign investment. Another, crucial step is making its own locally-grown companies players on the global level.

“We’ve hired consultants to come focus on Egyptian companies – to brand them on a world standard level,” he said. “We’re looking at company structure, how they can build a business plan and focus on HR development.

“We want to take [their standard] outside of Egypt and put them on a level with Europe.”
The cost of the branding push is so far estimated at $15m.

He said the government was also hoping to start a ‘Go to Africa’ programme, similar to its previous scheme, ‘Go to GCC’, calling on technology companies in the Gulf to work with Egypt as an outsourcer.

“We want to help out IT companies grow and develop into bigger markets,” he said. “The Egyptian market has limitations, so I have to take them outside – to the GCC and [now] to Africa.”

He said the Egyptian government would throw its full support behind expansion of its technology sector
“They’ll have strategic political support – we are enabling the companies, trying to have them work together,” he said. “Are they going to go together or as a solo? If you go in together, you have a higher chance of success, and less risk.”

The Egyptian government began its quest to become an outsourcing hub just 12 years ago, in 1999.
Taha Khalifa, the general manager for Intel Egypt, said that he arrived in Cairo in 2001, with one assistant – as the company’s only employee. With government support, he said Intel had swelled to nearly 70 employees, all Egyptian.

He credited the government with the quick expansion.

“There’s a lot of collaboration in the IT community, and the credit for that goes to the MCIT [Ministry of Communications and Information technology] because they put us together and said, ‘work together first on outsourcing’ – and we succeeded at that – ‘and now comes the innovation.’ The feeling is that we’re all working.”

Atos Origin returns to ME market - Services - News & Features - ITP.net

Atos Origin returns to ME market - Services - News & Features - ITP.net

The French company has announced that it will set up operations in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, to target the GCC.

Atos Origin Middle East was one of the largest service providers in the region, employing around 500 people, operating primarily in oil and gas, telecoms, and security, with a client list including Saudi Aramco, Qatar E-Government, STC, Batelco and Emirates Airlines.

The business was sold in a management buy out in February 2006, with the parent company citing that the local operation did not "provide support for Atos Origin's international clients on a material scale." The local business was then bought up by HP in October 2007.

For the new operations, Atos will have offices in Egypt, with around 100 employees, and has formed a partnership with a local investment company, based in Riyadh, to serve the GCC region. The Saudi business is set to be established by the second quarter of 2011.

The new operations will be headed up by Samir El Awadi, who moves from a Sales VP role at Atos to become CEO for Egypt and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

"Atos Origin has an ambitious growth plan and setting up operations in Egypt and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries is a clear example. Samir's international sales experience and his extensive political and cultural knowledge of the region and its markets will be a considerable asset to accelerate growth in this strategic and growing market", said Charles Dehelly, Senior Executive Vice President at Atos Origin.

"My goal is to increase our business in this region achieving profitable growth," said El Awadi. "I look forward to working with our global and local experts to deliver the high quality services and solutions that will help organisations further accelerate business growth and stay one step ahead of the competition."

Analyst company Ovum said that Atos Origin may have to work hard to catch up with rivals in the region that have gained a head start, and to build trust with potential clients.

"Despite recent advances, the outsourcing market in the Middle East is still relatively immature, and as such vendors should not expect to see immediate returns on their investment. Atos Origin in particular might be hampered by the importance that end users in the region place on personal relationships, which take time to build up. The company will need to demonstrate not only that it is committed to succeeding in the region but also that it is willing to work hard at building up trust with potential clients," Ovum said in a statement.

"An important step for Atos Origin could be partnering with one or more local vendors, which would not only help to reassure a skeptical market but could also open doors with clients that might otherwise be unreachable," Ovum added.