InfoWatch Group, a Russian vendor of end-to-end enterprise cybersecurity solutions, has summarized the first-year results of InfoWatch Gulf, its office in the Middle East. A year ago, InfoWatch became the first Russian DLP provider to open a full-service office in Dubai (UAE).
“Middle Eastern countries have their own business specifics,” noted Kristina Tantsyura, CEO of InfoWatch Gulf. “Local customers are wary of new partners and their trust needs to be earned. This is why we decided to establish a full-service office in Dubai, with our specialists now always being within reach and involved in all cultural, social, technological, and educational processes in the region. Although it takes years to develop a business in the Middle East, we can already see the first results.”
Over the past year, InfoWatch Gulf completed 14 pilot implementations of InfoWatch solutions for Middle Eastern government agencies and major businesses, including six projects in UAE, and won several large customers (e.g. Dubai Land Department, an agency responsible for real estate market development in the Emirate). In addition, InfoWatch Gulf continued developing relations with existing customers, including the Central Bank of Bahrain, Prime Minister’s Court of Bahrain, Venture Capital Bank, First Energy Bank B.S.C. (Bahrain), Kuwait Finance House, Petrochem (UAE), and Haward Technology.
Over the year, InfoWatch Gulf has partnered with several dozens of large integrators, such as Ahmed Al Hosani Computer Programs Trading Company, Avalon, Delta Line International, Ferrostaal, Mah Technologies (UAE), Fakhro Electronics (Bahrain), and Global Solutions (Egypt).
InfoWatch Gulf has been actively expanding collaboration with local government agencies to strengthen regional cybersecurity. In 2018, InfoWatch signed a cooperation agreement with the Government of the Emirate of Ajman for new technology deployment at government bodies and joint development of educational programs to foster IT and cybersecurity professionals.
To promote InfoWatch’s unique technologies and extensive expertise, the company took part in eight specialized events in UAE, including GISEC 2018, Artelligence 2018, Infosecurity Middle East 2018, and GITEX 2017, where its experts delivered presentations and demonstrated InfoWatch products localized for Middle Eastern organizations.
What is more, InfoWatch Gulf has been participating in the development of projects aimed to bring together Russian and UAE technology initiatives and promote Russian technologies in the local market. For example, the company took part in the eighth Meeting of the Intergovernmental Russian-UAE Commission on Trade, Economic and Technical Cooperation, where it was decided to create a work group for IT projects and open a center that would support Russian export of information and digital technologies jointly with the Russian Export Center and Skolkovo Foundation. Kristina Tantsyura, InfoWatch Gulf's CEO, became a head of Innovation Technologies and IT at the Russian Business Council in Dubai, where she is in charge of engaging new technology and IT companies from Russia to join the council and strengthening relationships with industry-specific government agencies and businesses of UAE.
“We see growing interest and trust of our Middle Eastern partners in Russian cybersecurity expertise and are happy to share our knowledge and experience to develop digital sovereignty in these countries,” noted Kristina Tantsyura. “Russian technology companies need to be more active in entering Middle Eastern markets which provide ample opportunities, and we hope our initiatives will encourage them.”
Background
The InfoWatch Group of Companies is a developer of integrated solutions that ensure enterprise information security. The Group's product portfolio comprises efficient solutions to protect enterprises against the most challenging internal and external threats. Starting from 2011, the company has been operating in the global market. The InfoWatch Group sells its products in Western Europe, the Middle East, India, and Southeast Asia. The company has an extensive partner network. Fifteen InfoWatch offices operate worldwide, including two full-scale local representative offices—InfoWatch Gulf in Dubai (UAE) and InfoWatch SDN BHD in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). The Group's current customers include: Central Bank of Bahrain, Prime Minister’s Court of Bahrain, First Energy Bank B.S.C. (Bahrain), Venture Capital Bank (Bahrain), Kuwait Finance House, Petrochem (UAE), Gateway Rail (India), Bank Persatuan (Malaysia), KSB Group (Indonesia), Ministry of Education of Greece, etc.
