Jari Valvisto

'Companies in the Middle East are facing a unique challenge in that they are increasingly vunerable to cyber crimes and viruses,' says Jari Valvisto, Regional Director.

'At the same time many industry sectors are faced with increasing competition and enhanced business opportunities, and so require solutions that can be implemented without causing disruption.'

Perhaps unsurprisingly Stonesoft already has more than 20 major clients in the Middle East. This is another reason for its decision to open an office in the region. Clients expect to have a local office.

The main focus is on four different sectors: banks and financial; government; oil and gas; and service providers. All of them typically have scattered networks that require centralized management.

'Our Middle Eastern presence will enable us to provide more in-depth support for existing global customers across the region and also enable local clients to benefit from the same level of protection as some of the world's leading brands.

'We are also aware that this region is growing very strongly at a time when demand for our own product is also expanding rapidly,' says Mr. Valvisto.

'The demand for our solutions usually comes after problems with viruses. Our integrated approach to security solutions actually reduces the cost of security by doing away with the need for multiple solutions form different vendors. This is cost-effective, requiring only one product, one training schedule, one maintenance agreement and a single product upgrade.'

Globally Stonesoft works with partners like Schlumberger and IBM and claims to be pretty unique in offering fully integrated security solutions at the network level. Its software is also fully compatible with the Oracle E-Business Suite, for example.

'We don't really have a direct competitor,' says Mr. Valvisto whose firewall system is marketed under the StoneGate brand name. 'We are not in the anti-virus solution market, though we are active in intrusion detection'.

Stonesoft Corporation hails from Finland as does Mr. Valvisto and is a quoted company on the Helsinki stock exchange alongside global giant Nokia. The firm is a natural recruit to the DIC's cluster of technology companies serving the Middle East, and Stonesoft's target of becoming market leader within two years does not seem too ambitious.