Tamer Gadallah, the managing director of TE Data, said that the governmental sector is a primary target for introducing the Cloud Computing technology. This enables all ministries and authorities in the administrative body to attain all applications and services from anywhere using the internet. In addition, it allows storing government data and information on the company's servers rather than the government's computers, which are subject to several risks. This discussion was part of TE Data's conference, held in Sharm El-Sheikh for three days starting November 28th, where the company introduced new products to its clients. Several IT and Internet companies were keen on attending this conference, including "Cisco", "Fortinit" and "EMC". The government's application of cloud computing requires further time and investments, Gadallah added. He justified this on the grounds that ministries depend mostly on traditional ways of data storage. Cloud computing targets several other sectors besides companies and large institutions. According to Gadallah, this includes the banking sector, since it is a promising and growing sector, offering a huge opportunity for the company to conclude agreements on providing this technology. The small and medium enterprises sector is also targeted, which constitutes an important part of the Egyptian economy. Cloud computing reduces the costs of companies and institutions, since it has become needless to purchase computers with special requirements, such as high-speed, better memory or a larger hard disk. The company's cloud computing services can be accessed through a regular computer and with any browser. Thus, purchasing expensive servers for its employees' mail services or large storage units to maintain backups for company data have become needless. Gadallah pointed to Telecom Egypt's success in reaching an agreement with the National Bank of Egypt to provide a technologically advanced network using fiber optics technology; it will be implemented in 122 branches for five years, at a cost of EGP 90m. This offers the bank a chance to access an array of telecommunication and internet services at lower prices. TE Data will sign an agreement with another bank in the near future, Gadallah announced. This confirms the role played by the company in providing its services for all sectors, including banking. He asserted that Telecom Egypt plans to transform four million copper cables to fiber optics within the coming two years.
