OnLine witnessed substantial growth in several vertical markets in 2003 and predicts the trends to continue into 2004

The company has seen a steady growth over the last three years since becoming a subsidiary of Datatec, an international networking and IT services group with operations in Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Middle East and the Asia Pacific region, along with Westcon Group, the leading global distributor of networking and telecommunications equipment.

"Over the past few years, local governments in the Middle East have made a strong push to upgrade their infrastructure especially in Saudi Arabia and the UAE," said Keith Rich, MD, OnLine Distribution. "Most businesses, particularly in the small to medium enterprise sector, have seen the advantages of technology in their own business growth and that has lead to an increased demand in the networking arena."

During 2003, OnLine saw a high level of growth in three major networking areas: wireless; network infrastructure (i.e. end to end cabling systems) and network security.

"We have seen definitive growth in our Auto ID, wireless and cabling business, and network security throughout the Middle East," continued Rich. "We have managed to carve out substantial market shares for our major brands including Symbol, 3Com, Zebra, Molex, Nordx, Ortronics, Trend Micro and SurfControl to name a few. The growth trends are expected to continue, particularly in enterprise mobility with applications of this technology in retail, field sales and service, route accounting, warehousing, logistics, government, hospitality and healthcare sectors."

According to OnLine, the demand for information on a real time basis is contributing to the driving demand for mobility solutions. As distributors for Symbol and Zebra, two leading edge products in this field, OnLine has been well placed to drive this demand through its focused application driven resellers/channel partners.

"We will also be introducing products from new vendors in enterprise mobility and security to enhance our current corporate offerings," Rich added. According to Rich, OnLine has set up a new division that will be looking at new products and services that enhance and complement the company's existing product portfolio. OnLine is also planning to expand its existing after-sales support through authorised service centres for all their partners across the region.

Major growth in the coming year for network infrastructure will come from the implementation of end-to-end solutions on CAT6, to take advantage of the new 10 Gigabit and other emerging standards. There is also going to be a big demand for Fibre in Networks.
OnLine will continue to focus on development, training and certification for the channel.

"This will ensure standards and quality on all system integration," Rich pointed out. "Our efforts to educate end users, consultants and contractors to make an informed choice will continue through our workshops, seminars and informal end user meetings as we have done in the past."