Saudi Business Machines completes computer project in Middle East

LONDON—Saudi Business Machines (SBM), the general marketing and services representative for IBM WTC in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, announced it has completed the installation of the largest-ever computer project in the Middle East.
The completed project has been designed to ensure that the Kingdom’s telecommunications industry can meet future challenges. The technology, which uses IBM’s benchmark AS/400 has linked up all of the eastern, western, northern and central provinces’ telephone networks and provides a major boost in service performance and customer care. The project extends across the entire country to ensure consistent quality for all Saudi Telecom Company (STC) customers.
The computer network delivered to STC is part of IBM’s ICMS system.
“The integrated Customer Management System is a fully-automated and Arabized customer care and billing solution,” said Khaled Al-Jasser, STC vice president of Information Technologies.
“The system was originally implemented for mobile phones (GSM) only in February 1999. For the last three years, the ICMS Development Team has done a commendable job in customizing, Arabizing, and implementing of ICMS not only for GSM but also for landlines. The last phase to integrate Western and Southern Regions was implemented recently in July 2001. It is now fully operational for both GSM and landlines kingdom-wide.”
The system currently serves more than 5 million landline and GSM customers, and by the end of the year it will serve upward of an estimated 6 million. In addition, the system services more than 3,500 STC users and it is scalable to handle thousands more.
“ICMS is an online system. It provides flexibility, a number of new features and interactive modification,” continued Al-Jasser. “The STC image depends not only on customer care but many other services and interfaces which are in the process of being enhanced. Overall ICMS has certainly lifted the image of STC in quicker assignment of numbers, processing orders much faster and flexibilities in billing especially the roaming mobile-phone users.”
The backbone of ICMS is the IBM AS/400 iSeries server. There are already 500 iSeries/AS400 users in the Kingdom, and more than 100,000 worldwide. The iSeries, formerly well known to computer professionals as the AS/400, stands for ‘integration’, promising a seamless interface between the Kingdom’s telephone services.
“STC is now the largest ICMS site in the world,” said George Lombardi, IBM’s director of services. “The project really represents a massive increase in STC’s computing power. ICMS provides the company with additional voice and data services, such as fixed line, paging, and leased circuits.
“In addition to the Operational Group, which oversees the running of the AS/400 computers, there is the Business Support Group, which assists STC’s users through a centrally maintained help desk,” Lombardi continued.
The linking of the entire Kingdom’s telephone networks to ICMS means that the Saudi operator is ready to meet the telecommunications and economic challenges that face the marketplace. “ICMS ensures that STC services can face potential competition with complete confidence,” said George Lombardi. “It will also ensure that customer requirements are consistently met whether for GSM or landline services.”