JEDDAH — At Mobile World Congress, Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), a leading mobile and data service provider in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, announced the signing of a 5-year agreement with Cisco to provide next-generation Cloud and Managed Services solutions. The deal sees Cisco expand its current scope of work to include management and operation of Mobily's network, including third-party vendor equipment and devices across multiple markets, bringing Mobily enhanced automation and efficiency gains. Cisco's Managed Services solutions combine the company's renowned networking expertise and intellectual capital with analytics and real-time device monitoring to improve overall reliability and performance. This will reduce the number of human resources interventions in Mobily's network operations, delivering significant cost savings. Cisco's Managed Services solution is expected to significantly reduce Mobily's operating expenses. Changing customer dynamics, the growth in connected devices and processes, and increased traffic demands are putting new pressure on service providers. Cisco's comprehensive service offering will provide complete monitoring, management, and support of multivendor infrastructure and applications to increase agility of Mobily's business operations. This will enable Mobily to focus on its strategy of driving service innovation and helping to accelerate revenue growth by bringing new services to market faster. As part of the new Cloud and Managed Services agreement, Cisco's tools, resources and processes will allow many solutions to work together as one open architecture to create a platform of possibilities. The solutions have been developed on a modular model to allow future expansion and support Mobily's development of new experiences for consumers and businesses. By simplifying operations, Mobily will be able to accelerate time to value and respond faster to market changes. Cisco's capabilities will also enable Mobily to provide improved network reliability and service consistency as demands on its network increase, positioning the service provider to take full advantage of the unprecedented opportunities created by the advent of big data and the Internet of Things. Ashraf Ismail Mohamed Ibrahim, Senior Executive Officer, Technology Operations, Mobily: "This agreement builds on our longstanding collaboration with Cisco and paves the way toward enhanced network performance and operational efficiencies. This represents a significant milestone in our evolution as we continue on our journey to deliver superior service levels and develop new offerings that meet fast-evolving customer and business demands." Andy MacDonald, Vice President, Global Service Provider, Middle East, Africa & Russia, Cisco: "The awarding of a broader mandate for Cloud and Managed Services to Cisco reflects the confidence in our solutions to deliver tangible business value. We are committed to supporting leading service providers like Mobily in achieving the most value from new technology investments to attract more revenue growth, increase overall operational agility and enable better customer experiences." — SG
