TRENDING
While a key part of the country’s
transformation is being built on technology,
it also needs robust cybersecurity.
“Digital as an enabler requires a huge
security foundation to be able to deliver
what it needs to deliver at the end of the
day. You do not want to go through a
digital transformation and forget the most
important part, which is securing that digital
transformation,” said Dr Ali.
As an ICT vendor setting up in Saudi Arabia,
Trend Micro is taking on a dual responsibility.
On one hand, it needs to play its role as IT
security vendor by protecting its end-users.
It also needs to fulfil its public–private
partnership role inside the country. “If you
are not investing heavily in Saudi, if you
are not growing Saudi talent, if you are not
supporting Saudi individuals, and if you
are not knowledge sharing with the Saudi
economy, then the government has no use
for you as a company,” said Dr Ali.
Increasingly Arabic is becoming the
language of business in Saudi Arabia and
this is one area that Trend Micro is investing
in. Trend Micro is investing in building the
base of skilled engineers using Arabic as the
“
THE GOVERNMENT
OR ANY OTHER
ORGANISATION IS
NOT LOOKING FOR
A VENDOR. THEY
ARE LOOKING
FOR A PARTNER
WILLING TO WORK
HAND-IN-HAND
WITH AND CREATE
A GREAT SUCCESS
STORY.
means of communication. “The engineers
who are actually working on the ground,
a lot of them may need some sort of
enablement in that area. And that is why as
a security vendor we do not want to be in a
situation that is lost in translation. Security
is never something that you want to lose in
translation,” said Dr Ali.
Other than using Arabic as a language
to increase the number of skilled security
engineers in the country, Trend Micro is also
looking at establishing an Arabic support
centre and security operations centre inside
Saudi Arabia.
These investment initiatives have been
prioritised on the basis of the role that
Trend Micro has, as an IT security vendor
stabilising IT security within the country, as
well as to show commitment and support
to customers.
As a global Japanese company, Trend
Micro uses multiple models to partner with
governments and organisations.
Dr Ali said: “As a person in charge of the
MENA region, I take Japan as my role model
for that. The relationship between Trend
Micro and the Japanese government and
Japanese industries in total, is something
that I would love to reach in Saudi Arabia
and in the MENA region. Being like a local
company with global presence, or a global
company with local presence. This is the
ultimate image.” n
Trend Micro’s Connected Threat Defense is a layered approach to security
that gives a better way to protect, detect, and respond to new threats
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