‘Better intelligence features key to our success’

ProCurve Networking Business unit of HP (Hewlett-Packard Development Company), the suppliers of enterprise networking solutions comprising wired and wireless networking products, services and solutions, recently organised its first-ever Middle East conference. The company announced the launch of a set of Layer 3 and 4 LAN switches that feature wirespeed performance and integrated Gigabit Power over Ethernet (PoE). Ahmed Khatib, the company’s Business Development Manager for the Gulf and Eastern Mediterranean region, in an interview with OER, talked about his company’s plans for the Middle East region, where it is growing at over 50 per cent. Excerpts:

What are your expectations from these new products?
In 1998, ProCurve launched some products - the 4000 and 8000 series - that disrupted the market. Three years later, we launched the 5300 series. We have been gaining market share with each and every such launch. We believe that the 2006 launch of the 5400 series, and all the other products that we are launching, will again make a disruption in the market and we’ll gain a considerable market share.

There is this perception that HP products are not targeted at high-end users in the Networking. Do you see this perception changing in the near future?
The definition of high-end users differs from region to region. We are not into home office connectivity and products. I think the perception in the Middle East region is totally different. We have been investing in the Middle East for the last two-three years. The perspective and the awareness level are changing. The numbers conclusively show that: our revenues have doubled in the last three years.

Let’s talk, for example, about the Omani market. We have very enterprising customers using ProCurve in Oman. ProCurve enjoys one of its best market shares in Oman.

Can you quantify the Omani figures?
We can’t but I can tell you that the growth in Oman is amazing. Our growth figures for the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region is around 25 per cent per year. But we are growing at more than 50-60 per cent per year in the Middle East.

How important is the Middle East market for ProCurve?
For ProCurve, it’s a very important market in the EMEA perspective. We want to up the ante in this market. And, we are investing in the region. When we started investing in the region, we had just a few employees here. But now, we are launching call centres; we have engineers; we have sales people dedicated for different countries.

Why did you host the ProCurve conference in Dubai last month?
Dubai is becoming the hub of the Middle East. It’s a future city. We believe that launching our products in Dubai is like launching them in the centre of the Middle East.

What kind of impetus will your new products give to ProCurve in the Middle East?
These products are positioned for the medium-end enterprises. For example, in the 5400 series, we are the only one in the networking market to offer products like 1200 and 1000, with power and Internet switches.

We believe that our products are no longer optional items for the customers. Intelligence is becoming more and more important in this age. That’s why we are having these functionalities integrated in our switches. This will obviously push up the demand for our networking solutions. Besides, we are offering the latest technology at affordable price. We believe our new products will make a real disruption in the market.

Is connectivity a challenge in the Middle East?
It’s a challenge everywhere, and not in the Middle East alone. Security is definitely an issue for medium-end enterprises with regard to wireless communication. That’s why we are trying to reinforce the message that our products are intelligent at the edge of the network and we provide security at the edge of the network.

We are launching products that will provide authentication and authorisation to the user at the edge of the network. This means we’ll protect the data centre, which, in turn, implies that we’ll protect the connectivity at the data centre. The solutions that we provide will enhance security at the wireless edge too.

Where is your focus likely to be in the coming years?
I am responsible for the Gulf and Eastern Mediterranean. We are eying a minimum 50-60 per cent growth in the market share this year.

What, according to you, are the USPs of ProCurve?
We have many USPs. Price performance leadership in the market, reliability and reduced complexity, choice of flexibility, security of the product as well as of the partner, and transparent standards are our strong points.

How important is intelligence in the networking solutions?
We believe that the future applications require better intelligence features. We make the rules and push them to the edge of the network. For example, authorisation and authentication will now happen at the edge of the network.

ProCurve enjoys a fair share in the Omani market in networking

solutions. What are your expectations this year?
We have been working in the Omani market with our elite partner for about four-five years now. We have been registering an annual growth of 30-40 per cent in the market share. I strongly believe that we’ll have a 400 per cent growth in the Omani market.

Do you see the relationship with your elite partners in Oman growing?
We recently had an elite partners MEA event, where we gave away country-specific awards. IMTAC bagged the award for the Middle East region for being the best elite partner in the region. For the last 2-3 years, the business has been doing really well. We believe in IMTAC. They really are the elite partners for ProCurve in this region.