Mehmet Iyimen

'Our return to the Gitex computer show in Dubai next week is a sign of how far we have come,' says Regional General Manager Mehmet Iyimen.

'It will be a large stand, facing some of the big names in the industry. We have a whole new strategy for the region and are expecting to double our revenues in the next three years.

'This is a very clear plan. We are targeting four main business sectors: telecommunications, finance, the public sector and oil and gas. Within the sectors we have identified 160 key clients and are working on establishing which product is right for them.'

In the past Sun has often been criticized as being too much of a niche product company, great on servers but not much else. However, Mr. Iyimen says this is an advantage.

'We have a horizontal niche and a wide one, and do not offer the vertical solutions of some rivals. But this allows us to be aggressive on pricing and we are highly competitive on costs.

'All the same, we work with 50 solution partners in the region to provide full systems. We just don't get directly involved in systems integration, prime contracts and service areas.'

Such flexibility allows Sun to pioneer Linux solutions, for example, including some very advanced solutions for the oil and gas industry which - frustratingly enough - clients are unwilling to have discussed in a public forum.

'We can provide even provide Linux as part of a dual operating system with a chip set of the customer's choice,' says Mr Iyimen.

At Gitex next week, Sun will be rolling out some new products and flaunting its relationship with chipmaker AMD whose products offer cost savings over some rivals with the $2,000 Opteron, 64-bit AMD chip set, stand alone server likely to prove a crowd puller.

'Our idea is to use Gitex as a meeting venue and many of our clients will be attending,' explains Mr. Iyimen. 'But we do have a lot to offer and hope friends for the IT sector will drop by. We thought Gitex was worth getting back into, and it shows that we are no longer focusing on cost cutting but going all out to expand the business.

'We see big potential in Saudi Arabia where we have two offices and 50 staff now, and also great opportunities in the UAE and Qatar. Elsewhere we are bullish about Morocco and Algeria and preparing for Libya. We really believe in our mission.'