IT Panorama

By Tarek Atia
A byte of fresh air
A strange breed of modern souq has been springing up around Cairo over the past few years: "computer malls," that purport to give shoppers a chance to choose between different IT equipment vendors all in the same place. There is a problem, however, with this high-tech extension of the vegetable market concept. Whereas with tomatoes and peaches it is easy to tell whose goods seem fresher, or are better priced, walking down the narrow corridors of some crowded computer mall, past one store after another, all of which are selling pretty much the same thing, at a similar price, is a perplexing experience. How to choose which store to go into -- and on what basis? The careful shopper -- especially when it comes to spending the few thousand pounds needed to buy a new computer -- generally ends up, after asking the same questions at each store, just as confused as when they started.
It will be clear to "computer mall" customers from the moment they take the escalators up to the slick display area at Compu-me -- already a prominent computer super-store chain in the Arab Gulf -- that they are entering a different world. In fact, it would be safe to say that, even as a purely consumeristic shopping experience, this store comes as close to the Western do-it- yourself consumer ideal as Egypt has yet seen, both in terms of the way the products are displayed and in terms of how much interaction customers are allowed with the products. The way the salespeople deal with your inquiries is also quite refreshing -- helpful, but without the hard sell that may force a customer to be unnecessarily on their guard.
The equipment on sale is mostly all brand names -- not the assembled generic models you find at most local computer malls. And the prices are not, as one might imagine, twice as high, but only a thousand or so more per unit. There's also a wide range of other computer- related goods, including an impressive selection of paper products, like do-it-yourself business card kits and CD jewel case covers.
Part of the store is a spacious, well-lit Internet café that seems modelled on the UK's famous Easy Everything cafés, with their endless rows of flat screen monitors, and a payment system that involves using a password which is valid for the duration of the time you have purchased anytime over the following month.
I did, however, experience some problems with the new Microsoft Windows Millennium edition software they have installed on their machines when I tried to open one too many browsers, though I did have at least 12 or so open at the same time. The computer froze and I ended up losing some of the documents that I had found -- but that's always a risk when browsing too extensively.
Another complaint is that the price -- LE7 per hour -- is unjustified. It wouldn't have mattered so much had the connection been faster than a speeding bullet, but this one was only double or so a normal dial up. Judging by the fact that many of the terminals near me were empty, I am assuming this price may eventually go down, if business is to go up.
There is also a glass-enclosed computer clinic that, on first impression, seems to promise less frustration for those with malfunctioning computers than that experienced by anyone who has had to take their disabled machine back to a computer "mall" to be fixed.
Hatching success
Ideavelopers is aiming to invest some LE50 million into nascent IT ventures in Egypt. But lest anyone with a bright idea for a new dot-com get too excited by the prospect of fresh venture capital (VC), a warning is in order. This is an IT incubator, not some VC fund ready to pour money, no questions asked, into the next rumoured Amazon. In other words, according to Ideavelopers CEO Khaldoon Tabaza, "We are not donating money."
Last year's NASDAQ crash and the subsequent dot- com meltdown taught everyone in the IT business a few bitter lessons. Now it is not just about how creative your idea might be, but how good your business plan really is. The good news is that Ideavelopers is ready to help develop your business plan as well.
The types of projects they are looking to support range from IT infrastructure -- "And I don't mean just laying out cables," Tabaza adds -- to technology- driven ideas in fields like security and health. The Jordan-based Tabaza, who founded arabia.com a few years ago and managed to attract investors like Prince Walid Bin Talal to his idea of an Arab portal, has recently moved to Cairo and teamed up with the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and investment bank CIIC for this new project. Their offices are in the Ministry's new building in Doqqi, with plans to move to the 6 October Smart Village once it is completed. Potential projects go through a rigorous screening process before being offered funding, space and/or management. The company seeks out ventures that generally need two of those three elements to prosper. "We are not a professional services or a real estate company," Tabaza says, "we're trying to build businesses."
With money to spend in an economy deep in recession, Tabaza thinks the company is in a good "offensive" position, but, at the same time, "good business plans will have a lot of investors going after them." For that reason, Tabaza says, Ideavelopers has been actively seeking out those with potential, and urging them to submit their ideas.
When the venture was first announced a few months ago, there was a clear communications gap between the company's vision and the press's understanding of it. Most of the questions at the launch press conference seemed to suspect that the incubator was yet another half-hearted government venture to encourage Egyptian youth to take up IT.
They were immediately swamped with submissions, says Tabaza, and have narrowed down the current crop of ideas to about 50, a quarter of which Tabaza describes as high-quality, meaning that they can now move into later stages of the complex process that would eventually end with Ideavelopers proposing a partnership to the entrepreneur.
New ideas are always welcome, and the company doesn't insist on taking a majority stake. But they do try to ensure that "they have control where they see risk." Tabaza cites the example of a brilliant content expert with no financial experience -- Ideavelopers would definitely not want him/her running the financial side of the business were they to invest in it.
It is all about trying to strike a delicate balance between prospects for a good return and keeping the entrepreneur "in the driver's seat."
Wireless projects and software development are also hot prospects right now. And as for the Internet, a special programme (with additional funds) is being developed because, as Tabaza says, "l still believe in dot coms." He thinks the Middle East is "approaching a critical mass in terms of Internet use," that should make those kinds of projects more economically viable. Right now they make up between a quarter and a third of submissions, but they are scrutinised more carefully.
So, how does it work? You have to fill out a questionnaire, and they will get back to you within three days if there's initial interest. After that, the screening process takes three to four months.
We talk a little bit about how the company hopes to find that one big idea that could be as profitable as the instant messenger programme that an Israeli IT firm recently sold for hundreds of millions of dollars. "We're actively seeking an idea like that," Tabaza says. "That's why we come to work each day."
Of course, to get to the diamonds, one has to sort through the rubbish first. One person, Tabaza says, submitted a proposal indicating that he wanted to build a "software factory." Closer inspection revealed that he merely wanted to construct a building on some spare land in the countryside, and rent it out to software companies.
Virtual vacation
While Web-sites promoting Egyptian tourism and providing hotel databases and tour packages for Net surfers seem to spring up every month, the team behind a new e-travel portal called intoegypt.com are not that worried about being the first to market. They have been working on the infrastructure of their venture for the past year and a half, so that when they do launch (any day now), they will be far more comprehensive and effective than all the rest.
According to Tariq Howeidy, one of the site's partners, intoegypt.com is looking at things from a more long-term vantage point, aiming to do more than just make some quick money from the potential tourist who wants to buy a package, or from the hotels and resorts who want to list their packages on the site. Intoegypt.com wants to work with both sides of the equation in order to make the whole Egyptian e-travel experience more fulfiling.
For now, that means virtual tours and a wide range of reservation capabilities -- from resorts to cruises to safaris. You can get confirmation of your order either by SMS or email, but eventually, the site hopes to offer real-time booking, just like other international destination sites do.
Howeidy thinks that even though Egyptian tourism has a good reputation abroad, most people are only aware of its Pharaonic side, because the industry is not marketing itself properly. Intoegypt.com is hoping to change that, by teaming up with the biggest global travel services, and being present at major international conferences.
Focused solely on Egyptian vacations, the three target markets are domestic, regional and international. The company's revenues will come from fees charged to customers who end up placing an order, as well as from suppliers for marketing their services and products. Howeidy hopes the Tourism Ministry's predictions that the sector will start to see improvements by mid 2002 come true, but even if they don't, he says, intoegypt.com is into this business in a long-term way.
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