E. Walter Koenig III

It says a lot for the importance that Avaya places on this region that its headquarters for the Middle East, North Africa and South Eastern Europe is in Dubai. And that this US firm has placed an executive as senior as E.Walter Koenig III in charge.

'Avaya was spun-off from Lucent Technologies just over a year and a half ago,' explains Mr. Koenig, who is three levels down from the president within the organisational structure. 'Previously Lucent was a part of AT&T, and I have worked with all three organizations over the past 18 years, seven of them in the Middle East, five years in Riyadh and now two years in Dubai'.

However, Avaya's brand image is about to get a major fillip due to its sponsorship of the FIFA 2002 World Cup. Avaya has provided all the networking and telecommunications infrastructure for this massive event, and the company name will be seen all around the world in June.

'We are very proud of our involvement in the World Cup,' says Mr. Koenig. 'But we have also been active in some very high profile projects in the Middle East too. In Dubai we supplied a complete system for the Burj Al Arab as Lucent, and we are now providing IP telephony and communications infrastructure for the Dubai 2003 World Bank and IMF event'.

Mr. Koenig can point to the huge Dubai 2003 Convention Centre under construction from his meeting room on the 34th floor of the neighboring Emirates Towers.

'We see this territory as a key strategic market,' he adds. 'This really began in the mid-1970s when AT&T identified the Middle East as a priority and we anticipate that this will continue as IP telephony gradually becomes the standard. We have offices in all the key cities.'

But did the events of September 11th cause a US company like Avaya any harm in this region?

'We experienced a dramatic downturn in the fourth quarter of 2001,' Mr. Koenig freely admits. 'But it has now picked up substantially with new military projects offsetting the delay in capital expenditure by multinational clients. In all we are performing to plan but the mixture of business has changed.

'I have moved from being cautious to optimistic about the business outlook for 2002, though some countries such as Egypt are still difficult. The oil price is clearly very helpful, although the IT market is still aggressive and the worldwide trends are also seen here'.

So has Avaya been hit hard by the global slump in IT spending?

'In our headquarters folks say that we have had a better time than most other IT companies,' says Mr. Koenig. However, Q1 2002 figures from Avaya show a fall in group revenues from $1.9 billion to $1.3 billion, and a $10 million loss on continuing operations compared with a $78 million profit for the same period in 2001.

'Partnerships are the key to growing our presence in the Middle East,' notes Mr. Koenig, whose staff in the region consequently numbers just 80-90. 'It is the way of the IT industry. One day we are partners with Oracle, and the next day competitors as a communications solutions provider'.

With the Middle East just beginning to invest seriously in advanced telecommunications infrastructure, Avaya appears to have excellent prospects for the next few years, and its sponsorship of the World Cup next month should ensure that this company soon becomes a household name.