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Dubai: etisalat is branching out to offer more services in IT infrastructure management for companies to outsource part of their non-core business.
IT outsourcing has tripled in UAE from $27.58 million and eight per cent of the IT market in 2004 to $81.27 million and 16 per cent in 2006, even though the IT services have not matured much, said Abdulla Hashim, vice-president of enterprise solutions, etisalat.
Core business
Outsourcing will benefit companies to focus on their core-business, optimise costs and minimise complexities as IT departments are witnessing expansions.
Margaret Adam, senior analyst, IT services, International Data Corporation (IDC) said the concept of managed services was gaining ground among companies. She highlighted the lack of in-house IT skills, lower capital expenditure and reduced exposure to technology obsolescence as reasons for companies to outsource.
"If companies adapt to outsourcing part of their IT infrastructure to service providers, they will save monthly operation costs which will contribute positively to the cost of ownership," said Hashim.
There are some concerns from companies such as loss of control and letting staff go and security issues, according to Hashim. He assures a high level of security as etisalat has been a telecom operator for many years now.
"We have security measures deployed in the network," he said. "Companies can use their staff to increase focus on the core business instead," he added.
Portfolio
etisalat is developing IT services offered to clients. "We are in the process of enhancing the portfolio as we go along, to include managed WAN, security and other areas," said Hashim.
"We are developing the aspect of how outsourcing contributes to companies' bottom line," he said mentioning the benefits of outsourcing.
"Organisations will know how much they will be spending monthly on outsourcing IT infrastructure."
Tackling the issue of worldwide IT workforce shortage, Hashim said the company would utilise the resources more efficiently and provide the economic scale. "We have enough resources to meet the demand," he said.
"Charges will depend on the size of the company and services being used, but it will be a fixed cost," Hashim said regarding cost concerns.
etisalat has been offering server hosting services for the last seven years as part of the data centre services.
The telecom operator reported revenues of Dh21.34 billion last year with profit attributable to shareholders of Dh7.297 billion, or Dh1.46 per share.
The company last traded at stock price Dh23.55 and presently employs a staff of around 10,000.
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