Tareq Hijazi, Country Manager for Microsoft, who was addressing the Press conference on the sidelines of the MS Open Door meeting, said that piracy remains a region issue and it affects the entire echo system of partners of Microsoft.
For example, he said, each dollar makes by the Microsoft generates $7 dollars across the echo system of partners and the issue of piracy affects everyone in the system.
Talking about Microsoft Open Door he said that over 1100 delegates representing the broad spectrum of users had registered according to pre event statistics, showing the success of such even. “Bahrain is one of the five countries in the Gulf region hosting the event this year and we will make this a regular yearly feature,” he said.
Held under the patronage of the Bahrain eGovernment Authority, Microsoft’s two-day Open Door kicked off on Tuesday at the Gulf Convention Center.
The event aims to bring the next generation of products and services to the Kingdom of Bahrain, and will give IT professionals in Bahrain an opportunity to experience a range of soon-to-be-released solutions from Microsoft and its partners.
Open Door Bahrain is one of five Microsoft experiential technology showcases taking place in the Gulf region in 2012, reaching people across five countries including Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
The Bahrain edition of the event is expected to gather industry leaders to provide them with the opportunity to experience new solutions and support technologically enabled economic development, in what is quickly becoming one of the fastest growing markets in the region.
“Information technology is constantly evolving to meet the ever-changing needs of our competitive business market. It’s also a significant factor in the performance of businesses and is increasingly becoming the backbone of their success. Therefore, it’s very important for IT professionals as well as the overall business community, government or private sectors, to stay up to date with the latest technologies and innovations that are not yet available in the market,” said Mohamed Al Qaed, the Chief Executive Officer of the eGovernment Authority Bahrain.
“A platform such as Microsoft Open Door presents an opportunity for IT professionals to hear about the latest innovations, discuss current challenges and share their own knowledge, experience and ideas in an interactive two day forum.”
The CEO of eGovernment Authority also reaffirmed that Microsoft is one of the main technology partners of the Government entities in the Kingdom with a longstanding relationship of more than 15 years. Al Qaed also mentioned that government entities use a wide range Microsoft innovations and solutions while stressing the importance of expanding the relationship between the government and Microsoft, particularly in light of the development of the technology field worldwide.
“We are very proud to bring Microsoft Open Door to Bahrain and are excited to collaborate with our partners to showcase a range of soon-to-be-released solutions while addressing the local market requirements from an IT perspective. As a company, we place innovation at the heart of everything we do and we are confident that technology will continue to contribute to the future development of the Kingdom. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Bahrain’s eGovernment Authority as well as our partners for their ongoing support and contribution to Microsoft Open Door,” Tareq Hijazi, Country Manager for Microsoft in the Kingdom of Bahrain and Sultanate of Oman said.
Microsoft Open Door’s regional sponsors are IBM and HP. The event will present an opportunity for IT professionals to experience technologies that are not yet available. Attendees will experience a sneak preview of Windows 8, which is not yet retailing. In addition, Open Door will have a special focus on cloud computing where the benefits that Microsoft Office 365, Windows Azure and Windows bring to business and consumers will be showcased. Other Microsoft solutions that will be highlighted at Open Door Bahrain include Systems Centre 2012, SQL Server 2012 and much more.
“At HP, we are always on the lookout for partnerships and collaborations that efficiently serve our customers and the IT community,” said Alaa Al-Shimy, Enterprise, Storage, Servers and Networking (ESSN) Director, HP Middle East. “Microsoft Open Door presents an opportunity for us to showcase the latest technology and solutions together with our partners and contribute to the growth of the IT industry in Bahrain.”
“IT is an essential component to any successful business and with the right mix of solutions and tools, businesses can simply enhance productivity and efficiency in the most cost-effective way,“ Guy England, Business Unit Executive, IBM Middle East, said.
“We are excited about the partnership with Microsoft Gulf for Open Door and see this platform as an opportunity to connect and engage with leaders from the Business in Bahrain.”