Microsoft announces the appointment of Mirna Arif as the Country Manager to spearhead its operations in Egypt.
In her new role, Mirna will oversee Microsoft’s efforts in the country to empower public and private organizations. To accelerate their digital transformation agendas and better engage customers, empower employees, optimize operations and transform business models.
Mirna Arif brings over 18 years of experience. Spanning multinational organizations and public sector entities across Middle East and Africa (MEA). She joined Microsoft in 2019 as MEA Business Group Director. Tasked with leading the strategy and execution of the company’s Surface portfolio in the region.
“Our mission is to empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more. I’m thrilled to further this mission as we continue to expand Microsoft’s footprint in Egypt. And unlock its growth potential,” she said.
“The Egypt Vision 2030: Sustainable Development Strategy represents a foothold on the way towards achieving inclusive development– and technology sits at the heart of this. I look forward to working closely with our customers and partners to accelerate the country’s digital transformation journey and contribute to its competitiveness.”
Prior to joining Microsoft, Mirna spent several years in important roles for organizations. Including, Schlumberger, the Ministry of Petroleum in Egypt, Emerson, and Baker Hughes GE.
She holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in marketing and operations. And a Bachelor’s in computer science, from the American University in Cairo.
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Microsoft announces thirty one new Azure edge sites.
Bringing its cloud customers a faster network and their consumers increased satisfaction. The announced sites will include new edge sites in Kenya and Nigeria. With upcoming sites in Egypt, Turkey and Israel later. The sites will be located in Nairobi, Lagos, Cairo and Tel Aviv.
Providing users fast and reliable access to their cloud services, apps and content is pivotal to a business’ success.
Yousef Khalid
Microsoft CVP Azure networking, Yousef Khalid talks about the latest development. He says the Azure Edge sites will provide application development teams increased visibility and higher availability. To access services that improve how they deliver global applications.
Through deployment and operation of globally and strategically placed edge sites, Microsoft dramatically accelerates the performance and experience when you are accessing apps, content, or services such as Azure and Office 365 on the Microsoft global network. – Yousef Khalid
What does this mean?
Infrastructure and development teams will now have; Improved optimization for application delivery. An enhanced customer experience and Private connectivity and dedicated performance through Azure ExpressRoute.
This will significantly improve user experience. Providing fast and reliable access to cloud services for our customers in the region. Local ISVs and startups can provide services to customers competitively and with confidence. – Wale Olokodana [Intelligent Cloud (Azure) Business Group Lead at Microsoft]
Microsoft announced datacenters in Middle East and Africa this year.
Microsoft will give the Egypt startup technical and business support in new partnership.
Digital recruitment solutions company HireHunt announces partnership with Microsoft. The collaboration through Microsoft 4Afrika will see HireHunt recieve leads from Microsoft’s network. Microsoft will also provide them with technical and go-to market resources.
Sherif Aziz, Partners and Start-ups Lead, Microsoft 4Afrika said this about the collaboration.
“As we strive with our customers towards digital transformation, HireHunt makes that possible on a recruitment level. A clear example of how technology can enable companies to hunt for the best most suitable talents. Microsoft 4Afrika is very excited to partner with HireHunt where we will support them on both technical and business level.”
About the Startup
HireHunt is a digital recruitment solution startup based in Egypt bringing the right employers and talents together. Providing a talent platform where applicants showcase their skills, expertise and personalities through interactive job applications.
For employers the platform handles the time consuming tasks faster, so they can focus on filling positions with higher accuracy. With their mantra “Do less, hire faster”.
How HireHunt works.
“On HireHunt, applicants can show who they are and what they can do by answering interesting questions about themselves and their work experience to attract the attention of employers. Questions can be answered by text or recording voice. You can solve games to earn badges and get more visibility from positive interactions with employers. Every interaction gives them feedback about their capabilities. Helps them explore new career paths and discover their next opportunity at the same time. Employers now have access to a ‘swiss army knife of recruitment technology’ to help them hire the right people faster. Using Artificial Intelligence and interactive screening, high-growth companies can cut up to 80% of their hiring time by automating the dull parts of sourcing, screening and tracking so they can focus on what’s important. 82% of employers identify their next hire within 2 weeks using our sourcing campaigns powered by machine learning.”
Microsoft and Telecom Egypt announce Egypt’s first Cloud Network to enhance delivery of services to customers.
Telecom Egypt and Microsoft have reached an agreement to collaborate in extending Microsoft’s cloud network to Egypt. This agreement was reached on the sideline of ongoing Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain.
The collaboration will see Telecom Egypt provide low-latency connectivity into and across Egypt. To help enhance performace and increase reliability for customers of Microsoft services. Microsoft will also increase its reach to the Egyptian market and improve connectivity across North Africa and the middle East.
The new point of presence in Egypt according to Microsoft will benefit from a direct connection to Microsoft’s global infrastructure. To enhance the delivery of numerous services for customers. Its network investment will increase capacity and use the latest in network optimization for the delivery of Microsoft services in Egypt.
Telecom Egypt Collaboration
“We are pleased to partner with Microsoft. As it represents one of the first steps toward our strategic digital transformation plan. Telecom Egypt’s geographical position and its digital infrastructure will enable major cloud providers such as Microsoft to enhance their reach to consumers and enterprises in Egypt as well as reach other markets.” – Adel Hamed, Telecom Egypt Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
Egypt’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Dr. Amr Talaat says its Ministry appreciates partnerships that empower local institutions. He also shared that “Egypt is moving towards achieving a promising digital transformation strategy to build a strong economy“. A move Dr. Amr Talaat says is in line with the 2030 Egypt Sustainable Development strategy.
Microsoft Egypt General Manager, Khaled Abdel Kader about the collaboration said: “Microsoft is committed to providing world-class cloud services to enable and accelerate the digital transformation of organizations, businesses and people in Egypt. Our collaboration with Telecom Egypt and Microsoft’s investment in the country will further empower Egypt to achieve more through Microsoft services. The new enhanced network presence in Egypt will connect via Microsoft’s global network to transatlantic and trans-Arabian paths, which will improve connectivity across North Africa and the Middle East, including enhancing connectivity to the new Microsoft cloud regions in development in South Africa and the United Arab Emirates“.
Microsoft Egypt and Link Datacenter introduce the availability of Azure Stack hybrid Cloud services to Businesses in Egypt
Link Datacenter and Microsoft Egypt have partnered to deliver Microsoft’s Azure stack services to the Egyptian market. Link Datacenter will become the first provider offering the hybrid Cloud Services through their Datacenters in Egypt.
Microsoft Azure Stack is a hybrid cloud platform that lets you deliver Microsoft Azure services in your datacenter. Azure Stack is an extension of Azure that brings agility and innovation of cloud computing to an on-premises environment. It allows you to build and deploy hybrid applications anywhere. Microsoft says it brings together the best of the edge and cloud to deliver Azure services anywhere in your environment.
It is one of the latest innovation in Microsoft’s line of cloud infrastructure solutions. A hybrid hosting solution and an extension to Azure Public Cloud Computing Services. Confined to a geographical location, allowing enterprises to overcome limitations set by regulatory, data sovereignty policies or latency issues. It also easily connects with Azure cloud for integration with your cloud data and applications. It comes packed with important features that enhance the security, efficiency and agility of any enterprise.
Azure Stack offers a ground breaking solution
Speaking about the advantages Ahmed El Salmy, Microsoft Egypt Cloud Business Group Lead said “Azure Stack will offer a ground breaking solution; localized applications, data hosting and services, but still enjoy the benefits and features of Azure Cloud Services.”
Speaking to a reporter of Daily News Egypt, Ahmed El Salmy said Microsoft Azure stack is suitable for many government institutions in Egypt that wish to keep their data within the country. It is also suitable for critical sectors in terms of security. He also shares his believe for the growth of the cloud computing market in Egypt.
Gamal Selim, Link Datacenter CEO says “Clients who can’t migrate to the cloud due to security or data regulations can easily move their applications and data to Azure Stack which can easily connect to any application they have on Azure cloud. Using Azure stack omits any problems with latency because they are connected via a dedicated data line, it also heightens the security of their infrastructure because nothing is accessible through the internet. Using Azure stack improves the agility, scalability, and reduces your total cost of ownership because you only pay for what you use and don’t need to invest in costly local data centers.”
