Grid computing, identity management, data protection topping regional IT managers' agendas

With these trends in mind, Sun is hosting a series of full-day partner training and half-day executive seminars to highlight the ways in which Middle East organizations can adopt grid computing, enhance their information security, and improve data management, with stops in six countries around the region.

"The next six weeks is a critical period for regional businesses as they finalize their IT agendas for 2006. We're seeing that customer and partners are most concerned about investing in entry-level hardware to build grid environments, protect their critical information, and manage growing stores of data - all in a high-performance, reliable, and cost-effective way," said Bruno Haubertin, channel sales manager, Sun Microsystems Middle East and North Africa.

"These executive events for Sun's customers and partners are highlighting the most dynamic technology trends for 2006 and showing firsthand how they can be implemented locally for maximum business impact," he added.

Systems showcased will be Sun's next generation AMD Operton-based X64 systems and solutions for building grid environments, as well as a throughput computing update and Sun Solaris demonstration for server consolidation initiatives. Attendees will also receive software solution updates on Sun's identity management solutions and the latest release of the Java Enterprise System. Sun's recent acquisitions of SeeBeyond and StorageTek, and the regional impact of these deals, is set to be another hot topic during the regional events.

The Sun one-day executive seminars are taking place across the region. The roadshow will start with a customer event in Dubai on November 14, partner training in Riyadh on November 15 and a customer event in Dammam on November 16. The roadshow will then travel to Lahore on November 21 and 22, with partner training on the first day and a customer event on the second. The programme will then follow the same pattern of partner training followed by a customer event in Egypt on December 4 and 5, and Algeria on December 6 and 7.