REGIONAL CHANNELS
Driving transformation in
Bahrain’s financial hub
Build more than
a network. Build a
super-simple,
highly automated,
idea-empowering
world of possibilities.
Abdulla Ishaq, General Manager, Gulf Business Machines Bahrain.
A long baseline of relationships is helping Gulf Business Machines in Bahrain take its banking and
finance customers to the next level of technology and business enablement. By Arun Shankar
A
www.emw-me.com
cross the 1970s and 1980s,
the country of Bahrain was
significantly ahead of its
neighbours in its technology and
telecommunications infrastructure. In
fact, IBM’s first office in the Middle East
was set up in Bahrain as early as 1945.
In the late 1970s, when the civil war
prompted the financial capital of the
Middle East to be moved from Lebanon,
Bahrain was selected over others. Since
then, Bahrain has been the financial
capital of the region in terms of maturity
of banking and finance practices.
“Bahrain has always been a pioneer in
the Gulf. This long existence has created
a very strong financial regulation body.
The Central Bank of Bahrain is very
strong because it has years of experience
in setting rules and regulations in
the banking sector,” explains Abdulla
Ishaq, General Manager, Gulf Business
Machines Bahrain.
In 1990, GBM registered itself in
Bahrain and aligned with IBM. However,
not long afterwards, IBM left the region
only to come back later between 1993—94
and set up its head office in Dubai. This
prompted GBM to also move its head of
operations to Dubai.
Other than the legally registered
entity in Bahrain, GBM now has six
operations: in Bahrain, Abu Dhabi,
Dubai, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman. GBM
also has an operation in Pakistan as a
separate business.
The six operations are primarily
responsible for sales and commercial
relationships with key customers. They
also provide the first level of support to
key customers. “The first level of technical
support is always within the country that
gives the assurance for our customers.
But, if we need the second level of
technical support, we have that in Dubai.
There is a pool of people who can float
between those six operations if we need to
have it for technical resources,” explains
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