Citrix iForum opens

The two-day event, one of the largest IT conferences in the Middle East, drew more than 1,000 information technology and business professionals from around the region. Hosted by Citrix Systems and organised by Mindware, its distributor in the region, the event is supported by leading regional partners, Microsoft, SAP Arabia, HP and Inmarsat and will address the fundamental issues of building efficient technology platforms that will take Middle East organisations into the new 'On Demand' era.

Dave Cearley, senior vice president, Research and Product Management, META, made the presentation "On demand computing and adaptive infrastructure." David Jones spoke about Citrix vision and strategy.

The forum showcased the latest technology developments from Citrix and its partners. It demonstrated how companies can cost-effectively improve worker productivity by providing secure and managed access to enterprise information resources on demand and how this can help deliver a critical competitive advantage for the organization across different industries.

"Citrix is an important partner for HP and we have been working together closely in this region to drive return on investment and build business efficiencies through technology for our customers," said Joseph Hanania, regional general manager, HP Middle East. "The Citrix iForum is a major event for us and one in which we are pleased to have the opportunity to talk to our customers in the region and share our work together, particularly in key cost benefit areas such as server consolidation."

"It's a key event for our industry and is well established as a forum for innovative solutions that deliver real benefits to businesses," said Haider Salloum, marketing manager, Microsoft South Gulf.

Samer Halawi, regional director of Inmarsat said: "Across the Middle East, companies are building new business value using today's advanced mobility technologies and Inmarsat works extensively around the world to provide companies with a total communications network, driving a competitive advantage, reducing reaction times, and exposing time critical business information. We're keen participants in the Citrix iForum and believe the event is a major opportunity for businesses in our region: particularly as we enter the on demand era where the availability of bandwidth and computing resources will be critical business advantages moving forward."