Dubai Outsource Zone, a member of TECOM Investments, today announced it is the strategic partner ofthe seventh Financial Technology Summit and Meetings – Middle Eastfor the second consecutive year.

To be held at the Beach Rotana Hotel in Abu Dhabi from 31 May – 1 June,the Financial Technology Summit will focus on ‘Business trends and technology enablers in 2011-2012′. The exclusive event (by invitation only) is expected to draw high-profile IT decision-makers from the banking and financial sector in the Middle East.

DOZ’s support to the event comes on the back of an increasing number of regional as well as global banks and financial institutions setting up support operationswithin the free zone, leveragingits array of mid and high-end services. Dunia Finance, Mashreq Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Arab Bank are some of the key entities that have marked a presence at DOZ.

Majed Al Suwaidi, Director of Business Development at Dubai Internet City and Dubai Outsource Zone, said: “A main focus for DOZ is to help businesses within the zone make the best use of their resources.This isespecially apparent in the finance and banking sectors witha significantnumber of institutions from thesector setting up back-offices in DOZ. Through partnering with thesummit, we aim to highlight our commitment to the growth and development of the diverse sectors of the region.”

Dubai Outsource Zone provides a purpose-built infrastructure to companies extending outsourcing services in the region. The zone caters to entities specialising in services such as business process outsourcing, knowledge process outsourcing and legal process outsourcing. Additionally, it offers an environment that attracts different elements of the value chain: banking and finance, insurance, IT, legal, airlines and hospitality.

Dubai Outsource Zone currently hosts a number of companies in diverse sectors such as banking and finance, accounting, IT, payroll processing, engineering, research and development as well as design. Current companies operating in DOZ include Nokia Siemens Networks, Emirates airline, AXA Insurance, du, First Data, Cupola, Larsen and Toubro Infotech Ltd, Al Futtaim Willis, and the Jumeirah Group.

Source:http://www.ameinfo.com/266610.html

Having ridden out the global economic downturn, the IT industry looks set to continue its impressive expansion in Dubai, though it will have to deal with increased competition from within the region as well as further afield – especially Asia – as it seeks to attract new investors and clients, Global Arab Network reports according to OBG.

IT has long been at the core of the government’s plans to expand the economy and give it a strong knowledge-based foundation. The authorities recognised that a strong information and communication technology (ICT) backbone was essential to developing a modern, diversified economy.

This recognition in Dubai has seen increased spending on IT infrastructure, including the ongoing expansion of the fibre optic network and the provision of faster internet services, which have enabled the development of a number of new technology segments. One area that has the potential for strong growth is outsourcing. By externalising non-core activities – especially IT tasks such as data storage and processing – companies are better positioned to focus on their main line of business, rather than having to devote resources to back-office activities.

According to Dr Petra Elgass, a partner at the business consultancy Management Partners, there is growing momentum across the Middle East towards change in the way IT is managed. “We are now seeing more business and IT transformation initiatives happening in the region, which focus on shared service centres and centres of excellence, as well as on outsourcing. These initiatives, if designed and managed carefully, will have a significant performance impact,” Elgass said on March 17 at the opening of the company’s new Dubai office.

Dubai has recognised the significance of that impact, establishing the Dubai Outsource Zone (DOZ) in mid-2004 to take advantage of the growing potential the segment offers. An increasing number of firms in Dubai and the UAE are looking to ramp up their use of business-process outsourcing, with the aim of achieving greater cost savings and adding value, said “ICT in the UAE”, a report issued in January by the Dubai Internet City (DIC) in conjunction with the regional law firm Al Tamimi & Co.

Given the change in investment trends for IT departments, firms are now opting to work with outsourcing service providers for mission critical applications and gain operational efficiency, said the report. The DOZ has, in particular, been the beneficiary of the growth of the local enterprise sector and the shift in trends in IT services and management, said Malek Al Malek, the managing director of the DIC and the DOZ.

“Buying patterns have changed as companies have realised the value of outsourcing – not only in terms of cost, but also in relation to business processes within a firm. The cluster has noticed this change in the adoption of shared services and customer profiles,” Al Malek said in a statement accompanying the release of the report.

Al Malek believes that the outlook for outsourcing is strong, with an increasing number of large enterprises having realised the value that is added to their top line by taking up shared services. “IT networks are also upgrading their infrastructure to maintain industry standards within their framework. However, regional IT service providers have to raise their service levels to meet these standards and bring about a change in consumer attitudes,” he said.

It does seem that attitudes are changing, if a report issued by international management, consultants AT Kearney in early March is any indication. Its latest Global Services Location Index (GSLI) found that the UAE was fast emerging as an ideal offshore IT centre. While India, China and Malaysia continue to be the gold standard for IT services and support, in terms of contact centres and back-office support on the GSLI the UAE has jumped to second in the Middle East and 15th globally, up from 29th in the previous study. The upward momentum is largely due to the growing strength of Dubai as an outsourcing centre.

That said, Dubai will still have to contend with strong competition for investment and clients, with other countries in the region such as Jordan and Tunisia, along with Egypt, all ranked in the top 25 internationally. Meanwhile, Malaysia and India are both active in targeting Gulf firms, Dubai’s key market.

However, Dubai should be able to build on its current good form in the outsourcing segment and in the broader IT sector, as it rolls-out better, faster services to further strengthen its ICT backbone.

Source:http://www.english.globalarabnetwork.com/2011033110596/Economics/uae-dubai-outsourcing-it-industry.html

Dubai is looking to combine its highly developed IT infrastructure and its open business environment into a new growth sector, as it seeks to become a leading services outsourcing centre.

A recent report issued by the International Data Corporation (IDC) stated that the IT spend in the UAE would be at least $1.8bn by 2013, a compound growth rate of 12.4% a year from the present level. With the IDC estimating that outsourcing in the Middle East will reach 23% of company IT spending by the end of 2010, it is clear there is potential for expansion in the sector, one that Dubai intends to tap into.

Outsourcing has gone far beyond the simple answering of phones and providing helpdesk support for companies, now encompassing IT operations and infrastructure management, server consolidation, internet services, data storage, retrieval and delivery, applications control and much more.

According to Navneet Tandon, the vice-president of enterprise resource planning and services at Dubai-based systems integrator Raqmiyat, there is an increasing reliance on automation by companies in the region. This in turn is opening up opportunities for outsourcing and managed IT services to enterprises across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) zone.

“As the market proceeds towards natural maturation, we expect the IT services sector to pick up in 2010 as economic conditions improve,” Tandon told local media on May 19. “Enterprises are now more driven to invest in managed services, which allows them to focus on their core business, new product development and market expansion while leaving operational details to outside experts.”

Among the leading sectors to have their IT services managed are the banking, financial services, government, retail, airline and health care industries, says Tandon.

One of the cornerstones of Dubai’s drive to capture a large segment of the outsourcing market is the Dubai Outsource Zone (DOZ), part of Tecom Investments, a subsidiary of Dubai Holdings. Initially launched in 2004 and having begun operations in late 2006, the DOZ now hosts more than 100 firms that between them employ some 7000 staff.

As one of the emirate’s free trade zones, the DOZ offers tenants tax-exempt status, allows for full ownership of their business, 100% repatriation of capital and no currency restrictions. It also has the advantage of being integrated with Dubai Internet City (DIC) and other state-backed developments aimed at supporting the information and communications technology (ICT) industry at all levels.

While 2009 might have been a difficult year for some, the DOZ actually enjoyed a surge of activity, thanks in main to companies looking to consolidate operations and cut costs as the global economy slowed.

Deep into the last quarter of 2009, the DOZ posted a 23% increase in the number of clients, a flood-tide officials expect to continue through 2010 as the advantages of outsourcing become more apparent to newly cost-conscious companies, with up to 150 firms expected to be operating out of the zone by the end of the year.

While Dubai has stretched out to take an early lead in the IT outsourcing stakes, it is facing increasingly strong competition from countries such as Egypt, Jordan and Morocco. Of course, looking to the east, Dubai must also contend with international outsourcing giant India, the long-time leader in the field both in terms of size and services offered.

It will be difficult for Dubai to compete with the lower cost and economies of scale that India can offer, meaning that the DOZ has to work to carve out a particular niche for itself. Thus the zone is looking to attract local and regional companies, rather than US or European-based multinationals, aiming to develop as a MENA specialist rather than the one-size-fits-all option of India.

Source:http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20100604080213