ArabWeeks

SanDisk, the global leaders in flash memory, grew in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by 64 percent year on year from 2012 to 2013, Coupled with this success SanDisk  celebrates 15 years of business in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with its distributor Ahmed Abdulwahed (AAA) Company.

“The Kingdom represents one of the highest revenue opportunities for SanDisk in the region. Over the past 15 years we have seen outstanding growth,” said Tareq Husseini, Regional Sales Director Mediterranean Middle East and Africa at SanDisk. “In partnership with Ahmed Abdulwahed we have invested in developing the country’s flash category by strategically growing our product footprint within power retails and hyper stores.”

“We look forward to continuing our growth efforts in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in partnership with Ahmed Abdulwahed Company to provide our customers with the best in flash memory products,” added Husseini.

A strong growth in the consumer electronics has led to an increase in mobile subscriptions in KSA last year. According to the Communication and Information Technology Commission of Saudi Arabia, the number of mobile phone subscriptions in KSA reached 53 million by the end of 2013, with a penetration rate of 181.6%^[1]. Driven by the region’s high mobile phone penetration rates and a growing appetite for flash-based storage devices, SanDisk anticipates growth opportunities in the region.

“Growth in mobile phones and the proliferation of smartphones is rapidly coming to be seen as indispensable among Saudi consumers,” said Yaser Ahmed Abdulwahed, Chief Operating Officer, Ahmed Abdulwahed Company. “This is ultimately fuelling flash memory in the Kingdom.”

Husseini added that SanDisk’s growth was attributed to key retailers in the kingdom including; Extra, Jarrir Bookstore, Emax, Carrefour, Lulu Hyper, Hyper Panda Danube and Bindawood.

RSA, The Security Division of EMC today announced the opening of the RSA Security Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a one day security conference aimed at helping organizations address evolving, complex and sensitive security challenges. The Summit, held at the Four Seasons Hotel brought together an audience of senior security professionals from the IT industry, including Chief Security Officers, Compliance and Risk Managers, CIOs, and IT Directors to highlightthe emerging trends in the space of cyber security and shed light on how organizations can help build an element of ‘trust’ in their IT organizations and the need to ramp up theirteam’s ability to face the unknown threats and ensure data protection and mitigation of the risk of an attack.

The adoption of third platform technologies such as cloud computing, Big Data, social networking and mobile devices to help enterprises achieve their IT and business transformation goals depends on entirely on a foundation of trust and the organization’s ability to secure their cloud environment ensuring that data is protected no matter where, how and what device it may be accessed from.  The rapid evolution of the IT industry in turn introduces organizations to a whole new host of advancedrisks and persistent threats that are far more complex, destructive and frequent in volume than ever known.

Set against this backdrop, the RSA Summit opened with a keynote by Dave Martin, CISSP, Vice President and Chief Security Officer EMC Corporation, to highlight the need for organizations to redefine security by adopting an intelligence-driven security approach in order to secure their most sensitive information and networks and mitigate risks in the age of IT’s “third platform”.

The summit featured presentations from senior RSA executives and security experts which highlighted the need to harness Big Data Analytics to leverage the benefits of a transformational security monitoring and investigative solution. The subject follows from a recent survey[1] conducted by EMC found that 73% of respondents in Saudi Arabia agree that Big Data technology will prove vital in identifying and protecting against cyber-attacks while only 72% of respondents were confident of their ability to fully recover all their data should they have need to.

RSA Summit sponsors included Matco, ComputerLinksand Redington who all took the opportunity to discuss their solutions with attendees in the networking area of the summit.The RSA Security Summit KSA 2014 is part of a series of EMEA summits with planned additional stops in Qatar and UAE. Theseevents are designed to provide RSA customers and partnerswith an opportunity to gain insight into the latest developments in the field of cyber security and showcase the company’s host of innovations to help enterprises protect their information, networks and users from sophisticated internal and external threats in addition to helping meet the ever increasing demands from governance, risk and compliance within industries such as banking and finance, healthcare, telecom and government in addition to many others.

Marriott International today celebrated the re-launch of its landmark property, the Riyadh Marriott Hotel. Opened in 1980, located in the heart of Riyadh, and operating under the flagship Marriott Hotels brand, the Riyadh Marriott Hotel was Marriott International’s first property in the Middle East and Africa.

“I am delighted to celebrate this historic milestone with the re-launch of our beautiful Riyadh Marriott Hotel. This property is iconic for Marriott International and for the city of Riyadh. Mr. Marriott himself signed the deal and visited Riyadh back in 1979 when the hotel was under construction,” said Alex Kyriakidis, President and Managing Director, Marriott International Middle East and Africa.

“The Riyadh Marriott Hotel is a beacon. It showcases our authenticity as a company, our roots and the strength of our partnership with SHARACO, the owners of the property for more than 30 years. With the refurbishment, the hotel also symbolizes and showcases our vision, as we continue to innovate and lead the future of travel,” continued Mr. Kyriakidis.

With the completion of the extensive, 1.5-year brand refresh the Riyadh Marriott Hotel has been taken to a new level of style and sophistication.

“We are very pleased to see our shared vision with Marriott International come to life. Our refurbished five-star property is evidence of our commitment to continued innovation in guest services and experience,” said Dr. Badr Al-Badr, CEO, Saudi Hotels and Resorts Company (SHARACO).

The newly refurbished Riyadh Marriott Hotel features one of Marriott Hotels’ signature new innovations – the ‘Great Room’ – which is being rolled out across all hotels in the region.

“The Hotel has been transformed to reflect the brand’s new positioning to cater to the next generation of travelers who blend work and play, demand style and substance, and require technology to stay connected,” said Muin Serhan, General Manager for the Riyadh Marriott Hotel. “The Great Room at the Riyadh Marriott Hotel is stunning with an Arabian oasis atmosphere. Our guests can socialize, unwind, work or dine in this up-scale space where they can enjoy the ambience created by the spectacular light installations, Mashrabiya wooden screens, glass mosaics, water feature and plush seating. The area is work-ready too with hot desks, private meeting spaces and free guest Internet access 24 hours a day.”

Other new features and amenities at the Riyadh Marriott Hotel include:

• 418 newly-remodeled rooms incorporating modern furnishings with a contemporary look, neutral colours and accents of the brand’s iconic red. Smart lighting and high-tech facilities including jack-pack technology are also provided.
• The Atrium Café in the Great Room for relaxed meals and drinks throughout the day.
• A newly-designed contemporary executive lounge for dining, relaxing and working with a skyline view of the city of Riyadh. The lounge offers complimentary food and beverages throughout the day. Fully equipped business center facilities, a private meeting room and high-speed Internet are also free of charge for guests staying on the executive floors.
• Introduction of a ladies-only gym, where our female guests can workout on the latest LifeFitness equipment.
• Bodyline, Riyadh’s largest hotel gym with LifeFitness equipment overlooking the impressive heated, indoor swimming pool and luxurious jacuzzi. This builds on the existing spa treatment zone and, squash and rooftop tennis court facilities.
• Stunning new Royal Suite and exclusive crew lounge.
• Terrace Grill fine-dining steakhouse. A MENA Travel Award winner and the only restaurant in Riyadh specializing in “Angus Beef”.
• MENA Travel Award winning Makarim Conventions Center with grand ballrooms to facilitate business conferences, weddings and other social events.

At present, there are 500 Marriott Hotels and Resorts in nearly 60 countries around the world. Marriott Hotels currently operates 16 hotels in 7 countries in the Middle East and Africa with a total 5,397 rooms.  By 2017, there will be a further 13 properties across the region, raising the room count by nearly 3,000 rooms.

In Saudi Arabia, the Marriott Hotels brand is represented with locations in Riyadh, Jeddah and Madinah, with a new property in Makkah scheduled to open by Q4 of this year. This new five-star property is located near the Grand Mosque in the Jabal Omar development.

Marriott International operates under four lodging brands across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Marriott Hotels, Marriott Executive Apartments, Courtyard by Marriott and The Ritz-Carlton, and currently has seven properties in Riyadh, Jeddah, Madina and Jazan with 1,651 rooms. There are a further seven properties scheduled to join Marriott International’s portfolio in the Kingdom by 2017, bringing in new brands and new cities, bringing the total room count to 4,125:

• 83-unit Residence Inn by Marriott Jazan (2014)
• 540-room Makkah Marriott Hotel (2014)
• 210-room Courtyard by Marriott Riyadh Olaya Street (2015)
• 639-room JW Marriott Hotel Makkah (2016)
• 370-room JW Marriott Hotel Jeddah (2016)
• 432-room Courtyard by Marriott Makkah (2017)
• 200-room Courtyard by Marriott Riyadh North (2017)

Bio Oil, world’s number one skincare oil announces the sponsorship of Woman’s Week Exhibition 2014 in Dhahran International Exhibitions Center, the exhibition which considered the most prestigious event for woman’s fashion & beauty in the region will take place on April 1^st to April 5^th 2014 in Dammam, KSA and attract the leading local and international companies for woman’s products & accessories.

Bio Oil was first launched globally in the year 2002 and since then it has been the most trusted skincare product. “Bio Oil has received immense popularity all around the world which has led it to become world’s number one skincare product. “said Dr. Mohammed Oteifi, the marketing manager of Sara Excel Company. Apart from attaining popularity, Bio Oil has won more than 85 skincare awards.

Dr. Oteifi added that Bio‑Oil formulation is a combination of plant extracts and vitamins suspended in an oil base. It contains an active ingredient called PurCellin Oil™, which changes the overall consistency of the oil, making it light and non-greasy. This ensures that the goodness contained in the vitamins and plant extracts is easily absorbed by all skin types.

Bio Oil has undergone various safety assessments in accordance with the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council of Cosmetic Products. It is now available at all the medical stores, hypermarkets, supermarkets and cosmetic stores to serve its customers in KSA.

Microsoft has announced that it will officially retire service and support for Windows XP on 8 April 2014.

After that date, Microsoft will no longer provide security updates and non-security related fixes for the 12-year-old operating system. Additionally, phone and online support for technical assistance or content updates will terminate. Users will no longer receive the updates that help protect PCs from harmful viruses, spyware, and other malicious software, which may result in downtime and software compatibility issues.

Loai Bafaqeeh, Public Sector Lead, Microsoft Arabia, stated: “Market analysis conducted in February 2014 shows that only 7.9% of PCs in Saudi Arabia are running Windows XP, a 12-year-old operating system no longer capable of handling sophisticated cyber-attacks and meeting demands for more data privacy and productivity.”

“That’s equivalent to an alarming figure of 624,000 PCs. We have seen a strong shift since September 2013, with consumers and businesses steadily upgrading to Windows 7 or 8.”

According to the findings of Microsoft’s Security Intelligence Report, Volume 14, released in April 2013, Windows XP is up to 56.5 times more vulnerable than Windows 8, while a new Cybersecurity report from Microsoft shows Windows XP’s actual infection rate is 6 times higher than Windows 8.

Commenting on the security issues, Tim Rains, Director at Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing (TwC) group, said: “Running Windows XP in your environment after the end of the support date may expose your company to an even higher rate of potential risks. Networks that include Windows XP computers used for normal office activities, such as e-mail, web browsing, word processing, etc., will become undefendable and will invite attackers inside.”

“Therefore, Microsoft is urging all business and consumers still using PCs running on Windows XP to upgrade to either Windows 7 or Windows 8, an option which has upside well beyond keeping you supported. It offers more flexibility to empower employees to be more productive, while increasing operational efficiency through improved PC security and management. It also enables your organization to take advantage of latest technology trends such as virtualization and the cloud.”

Microsoft built Windows for a mobile generation bringing together the best of software, services and devices. Today, the next generation of mobile computing starts with the new Windows platform, the one operating system that covers the broad spectrum of modern business needs.

On March 3 and 4, 2014 Eugene Kaspersky, Chairman and CEO of Kaspersky Lab, will be in Riyadh to meet with key government officials and financial sector leaders to discuss current cyberthreats and ways of combatting them. Following a number of top level meetings of his and of other Kaspersky Lab senior managers in November 2013 in Saudi Arabia, this visit is testament to the company’s commitment to help the Saudi government achieve its objective of creating a safer digital environment for both enterprises and individuals across the nation.

Ahead of his Riyadh trip, Eugene commented: “Saudi Arabia plays an extremely important role in the world, and therefore the state of cybersecurity in the country is a matter of global importance. It is a rapidly growing economy facing very significant risks in cyberspace. The sophistication of malware continues to grow alongside the danger it poses, and governments, private companies and international organizations should work hand in hand to keep the Internet safe and secure.”

On March 4 Eugene Kaspersky will share his expert take on the state of modern-day cybercrime and what needs to be done to tackle it. The presentation will take place at the Information Security Workshop for the Financial Sector organized by SAMA, the “Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency”. Kaspersky Lab’s participation in the event comes right after the global announcement of the new Kaspersky Fraud Prevention platform, which is aimed at helping financial organizations and companies in the e-commerce sector protect electronic payments on computers and mobile devices.

Both organizations and ordinary users across Saudi Arabia continue to face cyberthreats as a result of increasing Internet and mobile penetration. Findings of the Global Corporate IT Security Risks 2013 survey, conducted by B2B International in collaboration with Kaspersky Lab, show 98% of companies in Saudi Arabia reporting at least one external IT security incident in 12 months. At the same time a great many people make use of online banking services or make online purchases; the widespread penetration of e-payments has made the theft of electronic money a profitable business for criminals. The study found that in the preceding 12-month period 62% of users around the world had encountered cyberthreats that targeted their accounts.

become a major hub for brands in KSA, which is especially evident in the fact that YouTube users in Saudi Arabia are opinion leaders. Those users are 2.5X more likely to give ratings for services, 2X more likely to share their opinion about things they like and are 2.2X more likely to be approached for advice by acquaintances before a purchase is made which makes YouTube of major interest to brands and advertisers alike.

The roadshow focuses on the premise that partners have been, and will continue to be the lifeblood of YouTube. The roadshow will focus on YouTube executives providing extensive training to the attendees on the best practices on the platform that enable them to make quality content that attracts views. The roadshow will also host several content creators from KSA who have successfully transformed their work on YouTube from hobby to career to share their success stories and best practices tips to the audience.

To become a Partner and join the YouTube Partner Program, you need to have a YouTube account, upload your own content that complies with the Terms of Service and Community Guidelines and you have to have previously monetized at least one video. For more information, visit  http://support.google.com/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=72851  and for any questions about the program, please contact:  menapartner-­support@google.com