Francesco Serafini, senior VP & MD TSG HP EMEA, visited Saudi Arabia, the number one country in the Middle East in technology and communication, as part of HP’s long-term commitment to the region and to increasing its activities there.
As part of its efforts in growing HP’s activities in the Middle East region, HP has entered the Saudi market with a number of services that would cope with the IT boom, which Saudi is currently witnessing. During his visit to the kingdom, Francesco Serafini has discussed the various activities/ services offered by HP to the different sectors in Saudi, such as telecom, banking, postal services, as well as the new economic city in the kingdom.
“IT is one of the main priorities in the Saudi government’s agenda, which makes HP as a global leader in IT take part in the long-term development of the IT sector in the kingdom" said Serafini
Serafini added that the key objective of HP, the fifth largest software company in the world, is to meet its customers’ needs globally, while shifting more money for innovation in respective countries and cutting down the operational costs. HP is committed to work on this in three directions: innovation, technology, and software. Moreover, HP provides optimum services for customers especially in the business sector as its main focus is on helping customers optimize and get the best from IT to support their business objectives. Moreover, HP has sent its experts to the Gulf region to share its experiences and develop new strategies aiming at fulfilling customers' needs.
In addition, HP is trying to expand its software basis and its acquisitions, such as the acquisition of Mercury. HP plays a crucial role in restoring technology for a number of financial companies. Investing in technology by setting up data centers for businesses worldwide is another factor HP intends to reign on.
Moreover, HP offers an array of advanced data storage facilities as most of the large projects nowadays are based on information and storing data, which is vital for both governmental and non-governmental institutions.
HP also intends to develop its governance of IT as well as application testing in operational businesses. HP is the only company that has a very strong state-of the-art solution to optimize operation boost in the application path.
Regarding the Saudi telecommunication market, Serafini said that telecom companies today encounter a lot of challenges from the aggressive competition in the market. Thus, HP’s role is to help these companies face those challenges through its software and technology solutions. HP is expected to accelerate its growth in the telecom market as over 30 percent of its business comes directly from the telecom industry; telecom companies, telecom providers and operations.
Another objective of HP is sustaining long-term growth, as well as transferring and developing the skills of the Saudi citizens to be productive and contribute to the development of their nation. That’s why most of the employees in the management team are Saudi citizens.
This came as part of HP's efforts in the human resource development in many countries worldwide, especially in emerging countries in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and India.
Serafini said that 50 percent of HP's corporate business was from Europe, the Middle East and Africa. However, HP is currently seeking to invest more in services and partnerships.
HP also intends to sustain growth by generating $5 to $6 billion in business revenue worldwide. Innovation and customer proposition on long-term development strategy are two aspects in HP's strategies for sustainable growth and development.
Commenting on the company's performance last year and the new projects this year; Serafini said that 2006 was a very fruitful year for HP as it offered an array of different services to its customers worldwide.
Regarding the newly formed MEMA region, Serafini said that the Middle East market is growing massively, especially the Saudi’s, where HP is identifying key potential areas of growth in order to offer its various IT services. He added that HP aims to assist the kingdom in its medium and long-term investments in the IT sector.
The senior vice president said that during his short visit to the Kingdom he was overwhelmed with the hospitality of its people. He took particular interest in Saudi Arabia's heritage and culture.
About HP
HP focuses on simplifying technology experiences for all of its customers – from individual consumers to the largest businesses. With a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure, HP is among the world’s largest IT companies, with revenue totaling $94.1 billion for the four fiscal quarters ended Jan. 31, 2007. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at www.hp.com.
About HP Middle East
HP is the largest technology and solutions provider in the Middle East with 670 employees and subsidiaries in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Jeddah, Khobar, Cairo, Ramallah, Oman and 2 service Joint Ventures in Kuwait and Bahrain servicing the GCC, Egypt and the Levant. HP has been present in the Middle East since 1968 and opened its first regional office in 1994. HP Middle East is the market leader for enterprise, small and medium business and consumer technology products and offers a large portfolio of solutions and services in various business domains.
More information about HP in the Middle East is available at www.hp.com/me
More news about HP in the Middle East is available at www.hp.com/me/press
