Sage Software Middle East achieves aggressive growth out of Dubai Internet City headquarters

'Since moving to Dubai Internet City, we have expanded our regional business to 1500 customers, 10,000 software users and 45 channel partners,' said Marc Van der Ven, Managing Director, Sage Software Middle East. 'These achievements have been made through our presence in the strategic gateway that is Dubai Internet City.'

This year saw Sage emerging as the clear mid-market leader for business management software in the Middle East following its merger with Accpac. The presence of Accpac's Middle East office in Dubai Internet City made the regional consolidation easier.

'The Middle East is one of Sage's fastest growing markets. We focus on tapping into markets with huge potential and the GCC region has enormous potential. The growth of every other industry sector drives the growth of IT and creates massive opportunities for us,' said Van der Ven.

Jamal Abdulsalam, Executive Director of Dubai Internet City said:

'We are happy to have provided Sage Software Middle East with a strategic platform and a productive environment to grow its business in the region. Sage's vast expertise in business management solutions for medium-sized companies makes it a very valuable member of the DIC community. Its tremendous growth over the last few years is testimony to the rich channel development opportunities that the Dubai Internet City community provides.'

Sage saw the highest growth in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and HR Management Systems, in which it currently sees the highest potential.

Over the last five years, the regional market has matured considerably, according to Van der Ven: 'The market is no longer one region. Saudi Arabia is a case by itself, being the region's biggest spending and biggest potential market for IT. Sage has just opened up an office in Riyadh to serve customers and partners there and grow our business. If you look at markets like Bahrain and Qatar, the rapid growth of other industry sectors like finance, education and real estate is driving the growth of IT as well,' he added.

One of the founding business partners of Dubai Internet City, Sage's regional headquarters covers the entire GCC and Levant regions.

Sage Software Middle East will be present at Gitex Dubai 2006, the largest ICT trade show in the Middle East to be held from 18-22 November, 2006. Its stand will be located at the Dubai Internet City Community Zone in Concourse 2, between Exhibition Hall 8 and the Sheikh Maktoum Hall at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.