ISLAMABAD ( STAFF REPORT )
Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) collaborates with DETASAD (DETECON Al Saudia Co. Ltd.) a Saudi-German joint venture and a leading contributor to the ICT sector of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), to establish digital Cloud Marketplace in Pakistan.
This was announced at a special e-signing ceremony that was attended by Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui, Secretary IT & Telecom and Chairman Board of Director, PTCL, Eng. Nawaf Alhoshan, Deputy Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Saudi Arabia, and Hisham Al Sheikh, Deputy CEO YESSER Saudi e-Govt. Program. Other dignitaries included Rashid Khan, President and CEO, PTCL, Zarrar Hasham Khan, Chief Business Services Officer, PTCL, Muhammad Omar Malik, Member Telecom, Ministry of IT & Telecom, Pakistan, Felix Thomas Wass, President and CEO, DETASAD, Nauman A. Vawda, Founder and CEO, iVolve Technologies, along with senior officials from all sides.
With a track record of 38 years, DETASAD (DETECON Al Saudia Co. Ltd.) is the first international player to take the lead in Pakistan and collaborate with PTCL to launch public Cloud platform. This will be the first of its kind international collaboration, where data is going to be hosted locally in Pakistan with PTCL rated-3 Certified Data Center.
With its enterprise-grade & cost-effective services, Cloud Market Place will offer its customers Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) on a highly scalable and secure public Cloud platform. The flexible Cloud will offer a rich catalogue, backed by a Service Level Agreement (SLA), making it an attractive offer for businesses. It will also provide a self-service portal and will bring Pakistan’s first digital Cloud marketplace with a huge range of products and services. It has been designed to be performance optimized and affordable, therefore will provide the customer with the solution to transform their traditional IT infrastructure to a modern and scalable Cloud-based infrastructure.
Speaking on the collaboration, Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui, Secretary IT & Telecom and Chairman Board of Director, PTCL, said, “I would like to congratulate both the companies on this partnership to bring innovative business solutions to Pakistan that will make local businesses more agile and secure. In our journey to digitize the country under the Prime Minister’s vision of a Digital Pakistan, PTCL is taking a leadership role in engaging with key international partners to make technology both accessible and affordable. Moreover, I am glad that this collaboration will further strengthen the friendly bond that exists from many years between Pakistan and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
Speaking on the occasion, Eng. Nawaf Alhoshan, Deputy Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Saudi Arabia, said, “This partnership is an example of the importance of collaboration and cooperation in the digital world between governments, between companies, and most critical, between public and private sector. Driven by Vision 2030, our blueprint for social transformation and economic diversification, the Kingdom today is reaching out to the world using digital as a language that transcends borders and cultures. A language common to anyone working to build a better world. Today, we reach out to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The partnership between the two companies is an extension of the synergies between our two countries, and the synergies between Digital Saudi with Vision 2030 and Digital Pakistan. The partnership is also a living example of how digital bridges between people and nations. Together, the two companies will participate and drive digital transformation across Pakistan as they rollout Cloud Marketplace.”
PTCL, in line with the vision of Digital Pakistan, brings this key initiative to have a positive impact on the local businesses in Pakistan. Cloud Marketplace will enable organizations to equip themselves and conveniently opt for the innovative and secure Cloud solutions, with full compliance on data confidentiality and security regulations for both Pakistan and Internationally.