Processing .....please wait.. 
The article has been forwarded.... 
IT firms prefer Middle East
By siliconindia
|
Thursday, 03 July 2008, 02:46 IST
Bangalore: IT companies in India are moving towards new destinations to explore profitable market. Due to the slowdown in the U.S. market, many of the Indian companies are looking to invest on Middle East, reported The Economic Times.
Some companies like Wipro Infotech, find themselves making good headway with their price advantage. A favourable time zone, a multi-lingual workforce and efforts by governments to diversify and liberalise are attracting companies into this untapped market.
Anand Sankaran, Chief Executive, Wiprotech says, "We expect triple digit growth from the region this year, that will be our major revenue driver over the next 12-36 months. Wipro Infotech had operations in the Middle East for seven years with offices in Saudi and Dubai. The market is bullish as IT requirements here are increasing. In one of its largest deals, the company has entered into a five-year contract, worth over $100 million, with Saudi Airlines, Wipro also has a multi-million dollar contract with Saudi Telecom after it was opened up to private players," he said.
Sankaran opines that some of the major areas driving up IT investments are the telecom and the realty sectors. "Various sectors have opened up of late. Many sectors, especially oil and gas companies, require a lot of infrastructure services, data centre management facilities and maintenance of applications. The realty scene is promising as the Saudi king is looking at creating five digital cities where a lot of IT infrastructure is required," he concluded.
Not only the big players, but also the startup companies like Vitage Technologies are also benefiting. "We have about $3 million worth of contracts from the Gulf. There are a lot of tax advantages and plenty of opportunities from the banking and financial services and realty verticals. We have even opened a sales and marketing unit there," says P Rangarajan, CEO, Vitage Technologies.
UAE government sources say that the market for IT in the federation was worth $2 billion in 2007 and is expected to reach $2.5 billion in 2010.
Identifying the potential growth of this country, networking player Cisco has announced a plan to invest $1.6 billion in the UAE over the next five years. This investment is expected to create up to 650 jobs by 2010, says the company sources. Headquartered in Dubai, Cisco Gulf and Pakistan has over 350 employees. It had started its operations in the Middle East in 1993, opening its first office in Dubai in 1994. A new regional headquarters is planned for Dubai soon, company officials say.
