INDUSTRY APPOINTMENTS
Avaya appoints Hisham Al Sheikh
as Saudi Country Manager Waseela appoints Bilal Al-
Anani as its CTO
Avaya announced appointment of Hisham Al Sheikh,
a Saudi citizen with more than 16 years of regional
industry experience as its Country Manager for Saudi
Arabia. Avaya continues to demonstrate support for
Saudi Arabia and Saudi Vision 2030 with a commitment
to make Saudi citizens 25% of its workforce in this
year. As Country Manager, Hisham Al Sheikh will work
with customers and partners in Saudi Arabia to help them in their digital
transformation journeys. He will report to Fadi Hani, Avaya’s Managing Director
for Saudi Arabia.
Nidal Abou-Ltaif, President of Avaya Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia-
Pacific, made the announcement at an event in Riyadh, organised by Avaya to
help regional businesses achieve their digital transformation goals. Speaking to
key customers in Saudi Arabia, Abou-Ltaif highlighted the outstanding regional
achievements with Saudi organisations. He also discussed how Avaya is assisting
public and private institutions to develop communication and collaboration
technologies and transform their business outcomes. The ambitious and aspiring
vision of Saudi customers is motivating Avaya to continually innovate and build
the company’s presence in the country. Waseela, the regional system
integrator, announced appointment
of Bilal Al-Anani as its Chief
Technology Officer. Al-Anani holds an
MSc in Electrical Engineering Systems
from the University of Michigan,
with more than 18 years of i ndustry
experience. He joins Waseela from
Cisco Systems where he held senior positions for the last ten
years. Al-Anani stated that he will be working on reinforcing
Waseela’s technical edge and expanding its current portfolio
of solutions and services.
Founded in 2007, Waseela is an ISO certified ICT company
that delivers integrated solutions and services, and is a
subsidiary of Dar Al Hai General Trading and Investment
Group. Waseela has developed and optimised its internal
engineering and operational capabilities to deliver turnkey
end-to-end ICT projects to telecom service providers, mega
construction contractors, government organisations and
large enterprises.
Microsoft announces role expansion
for Ali Faramawy and Samer Abu Ltaif Riverbed elevates
Elie Dib to head
regional operations
Microsoft announced significant role changes for Ali
Faramawy and Samer Abu Ltaif. Ali Faramawy who
was Microsoft Corporate Vice President in the region
for thirteen years has been assigned a global role as the
head of the Emerging Markets Digital Transformation
Organisation, which has been established within Microsoft.
The new organisation will focus primarily on building the
Samer Abu Ltaif,
President Middle East capability in emerging markets to drive the adoption of
Africa, Microsoft
cloud technologies and contribute to sustainable growth.
Innovation, agility, strategic partnerships, modern business models and building
cloud skills for Microsoft partners, will be the core focus of this team.
Samer Abu Ltaif has been elevated from Regional General Manager of
Microsoft Gulf to President of Middle East and Africa region. He takes over the
role previously executed by Ali Faramawy. Abu Ltaif, who joined Microsoft in
2004, has held senior roles within the organisation including regional director
for enterprise and partner group across Middle East and Africa.
A key part of Abu Ltaif’s role will be to drive the digital transformation
agenda of the region across governments, enterprises, developers and small
and medium businesses. His leadership will be instrumental in progressing
Microsoft’s commitment to empower people, transform businesses, impact
societies and fuel a knowledge economy in Middle East and Africa. Abu Ltaif
will continue to be based in Dubai, which serves as one of the major hubs for
Microsoft in the region.
Riverbed Technology, the application performance
company, has promoted Elie Dib to the position
of Senior Managing Director, Middle East, Turkey
and North Africa. This announcement positions
Elie at the head of Riverbed’s regional operations
and he will now engage with the sales, technical
and channel teams to strengthen the company’s
position as a technology provider for the hybrid
enterprise in the cloud-first era. Elie will report to
Kristian Thyregod, Senior Vice President, Europe
Middle East and Africa.
Drawing from his previous experience as
Riverbed’s Head of Channels in the METNA region
and subsequently as its Managing Director, Elie
will base his strategy for the region around two
key areas, direct sales and partner driven. For the
former, he intends to introduce new leadership
roles and responsibilities within the team and at the
same time, assure partners that Riverbed’s sales
model will remain 100% channel driven.
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