The Amman-based Estarta Solutions announced Tuesday that Cisco Systems, Inc. has completed an investment in the company. This is the beginning of a strategic relationship between Cisco and Estarta, which will include Estarta establishing a Cisco Technical Support Center in Jordan. This center will further drive Cisco’s technical engineering support services for enterprise customers in Europe and the Middle East.
The Center, which will be officially inaugurated by Cisco’s CEO, John Chambers, in September 2004 in Amman, is expected to become a vital part of Cisco’s network of technical centers around the world.
“This investment by Cisco in Estarta is a milestone in the development of Jordan’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector. It reflects both the attractiveness of investing in the Kingdom’s ICT sector, as well as the continued success of Estarta as a regional leader in the sector," said Ennis Rimawi, CEO of Estarta Solutions. "Cisco Systems has shown a strategic interest in enhancing its presence in the region, and Jordan and Estarta were selected as having the right ingredients to make such an investment by Cisco a success.”
The Cisco Technical Support Center being established by Estarta will employ highly qualified engineers and will integrate closely with other Cisco global centers to provide resolution of technical support issues faced by Cisco customers across the Middle East and parts of Europe.
Estarta was the first Arab ICT company to attract direct equity investment from Microsoft and likewise now from Cisco.
"This investment by Cisco is the cornerstone for future cooperation between the two companies in other areas,” added Rimawi. “Estarta will work actively towards adding value to a range of Cisco products and will be collaborating closely with Cisco to explore how we can expand our relationship.” (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
