Dell granted licence for Saudi office

Dell has finally put down roots in the Saudi market after gaining a commercial licence from the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) to operate an office in Riyadh.

The PC and server vendor will use the new facility to manage its business in the Kingdom and oversee local relationships with channel partners and customers. It will also implement phase two of Dell branded services, which it launched last year, from the office.

Abdul Raheem Bawazeer, general manager of Dell's Saudi branch, claims resellers can expect to see an increase in the level of market activity conducted by the vendor locally.

"Our new office is committed to working more closely with large corporate and public accounts by creating a local team who will be solely responsible for catering to all requirements of these clients as well as developing the resources of channel partners," he explained. "We at Dell will continue to provide state of the art and customised technology offerings to our valued partners and customers."

Dell has certainly taken its time in opening a Saudi office, having initially started selling into the market through partners sixteen years ago. It has maintained the same strategy ever since and currently works with distributors BDL, Metra and Mindware, as well as key resellers such as Jarir, 3T, Arabic Computer Systems, Al Alamiah Electronics and e-Enterprises. Dell claims to occupy the number one position in Saudi Arabia with a 26% market share based on first quarter IDC numbers. The firm says it will follow up the office opening with a recruitment drive to source local talent.