Intelligent Tech Channels Issue 07 | Page 20

REGIONAL CHANNELS Driving transformation in Bahrain’s financial hub Build more than a network. Build a super-simple, highly automated, idea-empowering world of possibilities. Abdulla Ishaq, General Manager, Gulf Business Machines Bahrain. A long baseline of relationships is helping Gulf Business Machines in Bahrain take its banking and finance customers to the next level of technology and business enablement. By Arun Shankar A www.emw-me.com cross the 1970s and 1980s, the country of Bahrain was significantly ahead of its neighbours in its technology and telecommunications infrastructure. In fact, IBM’s first office in the Middle East was set up in Bahrain as early as 1945. In the late 1970s, when the civil war prompted the financial capital of the Middle East to be moved from Lebanon, Bahrain was selected over others. Since then, Bahrain has been the financial capital of the region in terms of maturity of banking and finance practices. “Bahrain has always been a pioneer in the Gulf. This long existence has created a very strong financial regulation body. The Central Bank of Bahrain is very strong because it has years of experience in setting rules and regulations in the banking sector,” explains Abdulla Ishaq, General Manager, Gulf Business Machines Bahrain. In 1990, GBM registered itself in Bahrain and aligned with IBM. However, not long afterwards, IBM left the region only to come back later between 1993—94 and set up its head office in Dubai. This prompted GBM to also move its head of operations to Dubai. Other than the legally registered entity in Bahrain, GBM now has six operations: in Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman. GBM also has an operation in Pakistan as a separate business. The six operations are primarily responsible for sales and commercial relationships with key customers. They also provide the first level of support to key customers. “The first level of technical support is always within the country that gives the assurance for our customers. But, if we need the second level of technical support, we have that in Dubai. There is a pool of people who can float between those six operations if we need to have it for technical resources,” explains Reach us at sales@emw-me.com 21