Microsoft's' Open Door Bahrain' showcases latest productivity innovation with Office 365, Windows 8 and breadth of Cloud solutions

Windows 8, Office 2013, Windows Server 2012 are highlights from the technology portfolio that event attendees experienced during the Open Door event held at The Gulf Convention Center in The Gulf Hotel on Monday 11 March 2013 between 9am and 6pm.

Microsoft Open Door is a one-day event that brings together speakers from Microsoft and partners to provide the IT professional and business community with insights into the latest technology innovations. Attendees engaged with Microsoft experts and interacted with other peers from the IT community, while learning about Microsoft's breadth of solutions, technologies and vision for 2013.

Open Door Bahrain is one of five Microsoft experiential technology showcases taking place in the Gulf region in 2013, reaching people across five countries including Oman, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Regional sponsors for Gulf Open Door are Nokia and HP. Additional partners include Exceed IT Services and Training, Lenovo and Toshiba.

"Microsoft Open Door presents a unique opportunity for IT professionals and enthusiasts in Bahrain to experience tomorrow's technologies today," said Tareq Hijazi, Regional Country Manager for Microsoft Bahrain and Oman. "As a company, we place innovation at the heart of everything we do and our belief that technology enables change goes hand in hand with Bahrain's vision of the development of a competitive and diversified economy, and we are confident that innovation and technology will contribute to the future development of the Kingdom. We are committed, through working with our partners, to providing IT professionals and businesses in Bahrain the latest technology to enhance productivity, enable innovation and reduce security risks," he continued.

"We are pleased to partner with Microsoft in hosting the Open Door event; our participation comes as part of Bahrain's Government ongoing commitment to the Kingdom's development in ICT sector," said Dr. Mohammed Al Amer, President of the Central Informatics Organization (CIO). "We have long enjoyed a productive relationship with Microsoft and we are pleased to deepen our collaboration with them through the various initiatives to bring the latest technologies closer to the business and IT sectors in Bahrain."

During the event, Microsoft provided access to pioneering next-generation IT solutions and discussed ways and means to help businesses improve their productivity and Return on Investment (ROI) using technology. In addition, a special focus was given to cloud computing, with Microsoft showcasing its latest innovations and the cloud capabilities that Microsoft Office 365, Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8 bring to businesses and consumers.

Omar Draghmeh, Managing Director, HP Bahrain &Kuwait said "We are pleased to announce our partnership with Microsoft Gulf for the Open Door Roadshow, which aligns with HP's vision of creating new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. As the world's largest technology company, we are looking forward to engaging with IT and Business professionals through Open Door to introduce them to the latest innovation."

"Innovations within the realm of technology have played a vital role in the growth and productivity of the region. We see partnering with Microsoft Gulf for the Open Door as an opportunity to be involved in the new ways by which leaders from the IT and corporate world connect with each other to share the latest trends in productivity through real-time conversations," said Vithesh Reddy, General Manager Nokia Lower Gulf.