Microsoft Gulf names Mindware 'Best OEM Distributor' in the region

The award was presented by Charbel Fakhoury, General Manager, Microsoft Gulf; and Tolga Altinordu, OEM Director Microsoft Gulf to Jeff Jacob, Microsoft Product Manager, Mindware.

"The award comes in recognition of Mindware's tremendous focus, professionalism and dedication in reaching the market and tapping into new business opportunities for Microsoft's OEM business," according to Tolga Altinordu, Microsoft Gulf OEM Director. "As an OEM products distributor in the UAE, Mindware has increased the reach of Microsoft OEM business to resellers who are now purchasing directly from the distributors instead of largely buying from the Tier One segment of the System Builder channel," he added.

Commenting on the award, Jeff Jacob said,

"Our prolific relationship with Microsoft has spanned nearly two decades, making this partnership a strategic element of our business. The growth brought about by Microsoft's recent decision to strengthen its relationship with Mindware has made expansion in terms of logistics and human resources not only imminent, but more so, essential to be able to sustain our current status as the leading value added distributor in the region. The award is truly an inspiration to perform better and deliver more as a testament to our running commitment to provide true value distribution services to our clients."

In addition to the great efforts and innovative ideas, Mindware has penetrated the market for OEM products with the introduction of credit insurance to the System Builder Channel, which has enhanced the credit worthiness of the smaller reseller base. Moreover, the distributor has recently furthered its relationship with Microsoft by successfully promoting the brand and catering to the demand for Volume License Programs in Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain, where demands for Microsoft products are soaring in the mid-market and SMB (small to medium businesses) segments.

"Mindware's growth into a leading value added distributor has been parallel with its relationship with Microsoft, which has grown tremendously since the early 1990s. Our continuous efforts in providing personalised and efficient services to our clients along with our expansion plans, which includes our new warehouse in Jebel Ali in addition to the one we have in Cargo Village, has strengthened our position in the region. In line with this, plans to leverage our distribution rights for Symantec, McAfee, Intel and Citrix are in the pipeline, wherein we aim to position Mindware as a 'one stop shop' distributor," concluded Jacob.

Mindware was the first to distribute Microsoft products in the Gulf region and, has since then leveraged its extensive product portfolio and network of 4500 regional partners while consistently maintaining high revenues, which peaked at $190m (Dhs698m) in 2006. The company has also recently signed a distribution agreement with Exinda Networks, a Unified Performance Management (UPM) solutions provider; and Neverfail Group, a leading disaster recovery solutions company.

Mindware is the first IT distributor in the Middle East to be awarded an ISO 9001:2000 certification. Headquartered in Dubai Internet City, Mindware's mission is to be a leader in the Middle East IT Value Added Distribution market through a pro-active approach in anticipating and servicing its clients' needs. The company's broad distribution network is spread across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Cyprus and North Africa.