Leading Egyptian companies honored by Sun Microsystems

Cairo-based Promise Services was named Partner of the Year for achieving record sales. Promise Services, a Sun partner since 1996, whose customers include Vodafone Egypt and Telecom Egypt, has seen sales for its IT and telecom division rise by over 50 percent during the last year, as investment in the sector and Egypt's role as a regional IT hub matures.

Cairo-based Raya Integration (part of Raya Holding) was also recognized for securing the Best Strategic Win, after it helped to deploy an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software solution for The Aluminum Company of Egypt - one of the largest ERP projects to have taken place in Egypt in recent years.

"Egypt is a priority market for Sun and Tech Access with the growth in e-Government initiatives and the booming IT and telecommunication sector," said Shomail Ghalib, managing director Tech Access.

"It is pleasing to see that two of the awards were won by Egyptian partners," added Tarek Hindi country general manager, Tech Access Egypt.

The recent appointment of Ahmed Nazief, the former minister of communications and information as Prime Minister, who is credited with having opened up the telecom and IT sector in Egypt, is also expected to drive IT infrastructure spending.

"The growth in the communication market has enabled us to deploy the most advanced Sun technology available to meet the needs of expanding businesses," said Hatem Ezzo, operations director, Promise Services. "We are honored to have been named Partner of the Year and look forward continued close co-operation with both Sun and Tech Access over the coming years."

Raya Integration successfully implemented an Oracle and Sun Microsystems ERP solution for The Aluminium Company of Egypt, across two key locations. The vast project, worth several million dollars, was one of the largest IT manufacturing implementations in Egypt's history.

"The award is recognition for all the hard work put in by our entire team. This deployment was a major undertaking, but the professionalism of our employees ensured it was a success," said Khaled Zaki, Business Unit Manager, Raya Integration.

"Promise Services and Raya Integration have shown their dedication to providing and implementing the best solutions for the Egyptian market. They, together with ProSyLab, our third successful country partner, have ensured Sun's continued success in Egypt," said Mehmet Iyiman, managing director, Sun Microsystems, Middle East and North Africa.