IBM celebrates A decade of technological excellence and innovation

IBM has founded its reputation over its long journey as the lead in the world of IT solutions and services worldwide. IBM Egypt has been an integral partner to the Egyptian Society and has led the technological development path in the country. Seizing the occasion of celebrating 100-year anniversary, Eng. Amr Talaat, General Country Manager, IBM Egypt shares with Egypt Oil & Gas his vision and IBM future plan.

IBM is celebrating the 100-year anniversary of its founding on June 16, 1911, could you talk about this important event?
At IBM, we are very proud that in the span of a century, the company has evolved from a small business that made scales, time clocks and tabulating machines to a globally integrated enterprise with more than 400,000 employees and a strong vision for the future. IBM’s Centennial is about making the world work better. IBM is exploring how the company has pursued progress in the last century in three ways: Pioneering the science of information, changing the way the world works, and reinventing the modern corporation.

On June 16, 2011, IBM celebrated its 100th anniversary as a corporation. Of all the things we do to mark this moment, the fullest and most visible expression of our company will be a global Celebration of Service in which IBMers were encouraged to get out into our communities and devote their time and expertise to civic challenges and societal needs. 

How do you describe IBM’s services and development in the Egyptian society?
We are proud to be an involved and contributing part of the Egyptian economy since our establishment in 1954. Our office, with a skilled workforce provides IT solutions and services to a broad range of customers in different industries and market segments, building their IT infrastructure and assisting their business success. We have partnered with the Egyptian governments through out the years in most of the projects of national importance and through several strategic initiatives to serve the Egyptian society. We also have three delivery centers that serve our clients in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Can you give our readers a brief about the IBM solutions for the petroleum sector?
IBM provides a portfolio of solutions for petroleum companies to help client increase oil recovery rates, extend and manage maturing fields, convert data into actionable knowledge, and make the changes the company need to become more profitable. IBM provides a set of solutions like:
The intelligent asset management
Integrated operations solution for upstream from IBM
Integrated service management for chemicals and petroleum
Location awareness and safety for chemicals and petroleum
Smart manufacturing for chemicals and petroleum
Turnaround optimization for chemicals and petroleum

What were IBM’s major success stories in the petroleum sector globally?
From exploration and production to refining, manufacturing, and supply chain management, IBM has the technology and solutions to help organizations make smarter business decisions. IBM has multiplied and expanded its clientele base over time. The IBM global clients in the petroleum sector include: Shell, Nordic, KJO, The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and many others.

What does make IBM different than any other competitor?
At IBM, we strive to lead in the invention, development and manufacture of the industry’s most advanced information technologies, including hardware, software, and services. We translate these advanced technologies into value for our customers through our full range of professional solutions, services, business consulting, cross-industry expertise, application development and maintenance, software testing and embedded software development services as well as our large investments in the R&D field. IBM wide experience has enabled it to position itself as the largest IT solutions provider in the Egyptian market.

How can IBM be a strong partner for the petroleum industry?
IBM has the technology and solutions to help the industry to make smarter business decisions. It has been and will continue to make significant changes in the way it develops and delivers its services, we are partnering with the clients to offer them consulting, training, and technical support services required to meet new business and market demands which help them to achieve their business objectives.

Has IBM been affected by the latest revolutionary changes, generally in Egypt and specifically in the petroleum sector?
IBM has always perceived the Egyptian market as a promising one. We believe that the breadth and wealth of Egypt’s ICT market is still there, in addition to the great talent pool of youth in Egypt that has led the revolution. Thus, our continuous dedication to serve and revive the Egyptian economy reflects the way IBM perceives the Egyptian market and the way the company sees the value of the Egyptian talent pool especially after January 25th.

Also IBM enjoys a truly global reach and scale; services and products that deliver genuine value to clients wherever they do business.

Tell us more about the long journey of Amr Talaat at IBM?
I have been appointed Country General Manager, IBM Egypt since May 23rd, 2010. I have started my career at IBM in 1988 as a sales representative. Since then, I held various managerial positions in IBM Egypt including Business Partner Organization (BPO) Manager and Systems and Technology Group (STG) Manager. In 2005, I was named Terriorty Manager, IBM Egypt.

As for my academic background, I studied Engineering in Cairo University and acquired a Master degree of Science in Information Technology from Illinois Institute of Technology; in addition to MBA from ESLSCA University, France.

Based on your 24-years experience in the IT field, how do you evaluate the technological advancement/awareness in Egypt?
There is no doubt that the IT sector has witnessed a tremendous development in Egypt especially with the focus given by the government of Egypt that perceives the IT as indispensable factor to address organizations challenges, to improve processes and reduce cost. Every day, we are witnessing myriad smarter approaches in industries, cities and communities around the world. Forward-thinking leaders are creating tangible outcomes and benefits, and are learning how to make their parts of our planet smarter.

How do you see IBM in another 100 years?
In another 100 years, IBM will be working on making it existing products and processes more efficient for business as well as developing new innovations that can help the world become smarter, drive economic and operational improvements, and increase accountability.
Our Smarter planet vision could be just the right way to help us understand and solve some of our most complex problems using innovation and intelligence.

By Yomna Bassiouni

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