Members News

Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain: ICS Financial Systems Limited (ICSFS), the global software and services provider for banks and financial institutions, Islamic team have participated in The Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) workshop, the leading international not-for-profit organisation primarily responsible for development and issuance of standards for the global Islamic finance industry.

AAOIFI held the 14th AAOIFI-World Bank Annual Conference on Sunday and Monday 06-07 Rabi Al-Awwal 1441H, 03-04, November 2019 at the Gulf Hotel in the Kingdom of Bahrain. ICSFS’ Islamic team attended a 2-day intensive workshop designed and developed for Islamic finance professionals which was held upon conclusion of the 14th AAOIFI-World Bank Annual Conference.

The workshop was conducted by AAOIFI’s Master Trainer(s) with the objective to introduce and study key points and highlights of the newly issued financial accounting standards (FAS)—from the conceptual, practical, and comparative aspects. ICSFS’ Islamic team, who are certified Islamic bankers (CIB) and certified Islamic specialists in accounting (CISA), attended the workshop where major topics and extensive usage of real-world case studies were discussed and learnt the technical complexities and implications involved in the implementation of the latest issued FAS.

ICS Financial Systems (ICSFS) has been a supporting member of AAOIFI for almost 10 years, with its ICS BANKS® ISLAMIC software suite, which is a modular fully integrated solution designed and developed following the principles of Shari’ah in compliance with the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI). ICS BANKS® ISLAMIC consists of an Islamic core system, which provides all common operations between various banking activities, and a series of Islamic modules which cover the various different operational and business requirements of our specialised segments. ICS BANKS® ISLAMIC can be offered as a complete stand-alone suite of Islamic Banking applications or as an Islamic Banking window, within the core system depending on the customer’s needs.

ICSFS invests in its software suites by utilising modern technology in launching new products, constructing a secured and agile integration, and keeping pace with new standards and regulations worldwide. ICS BANKS ISLAMIC software suites future-proof banking activities by providing a broad range of features and capabilities with more agility and flexibility, to enrich customers journey experience, hence improving the trust and confidentiality between the customer and the bank. ICS BANKS ISLAMIC has always been a pioneer in utilising the latest technology to serve financial institutions. In addition to its embedded Service-Oriented-Architecture (SOA), the system can be deployed on premises or in the cloud.

ESKADENIA Software, the leading Jordanian-based provider of world-class software products and services, celebrated its 19^th anniversary. The ESKADENIA team celebrated the occasion on the 22^nd of October 2019 at the ST. Regis Hotel, Amman under the theme “Accelerating Digital Transformation”.

The conference began with insightful speeches by ESKADENIA’s management team focusing on this year achievements and strategies for next year. The company`s top management expressed their gratitude and appreciation for the continuous efforts of the employees and welcomed the numerous new hires that have joined the company in the past year, a proof of the company’s continuous expansion.

During the conference, corporate trainer Ms. Ghada Qassem conducted an informative session on dealing with change in the workplace and in life. Then our guest speaker, Mr. Robin Langdon delivered an outstanding presentation about the role of technology and telecom in today’s business world.

Before ending the conference with dinner, ESKADENIA`s management awarded 2019 top performers in recognition of their devotion and exceptional work.

“I was delighted to have attended such a remarkable event and also be recognized for my efforts; it is such an uplifting experience” said software developer Ashraf Matar after receiving his achievement award.

Nael Salah and Doha Abdelkhaleq founded the company in the year 2000 with the vision of becoming a global provider of world class software products. ESKADENIA Software today has more than 250 employees and exports leading software products to around 30 countries worldwide.

ICS Financial Systems Limited (ICSFS), the global software and services provider for banks and financial institutions, has participated in the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) -Islamic Finance Week’s third annual conference organized by the Bureau for Continuing Professional Development (BCPD), to showcase its awards-winning ICS BANKS ISLAMIC banking application, exchange international experience on the development of Islamic finance in Kazakhstan and the CIS region.

Islamic Finance Week 2019 brought together international and local experts in the field of Islamic finance – ministries, universities, professional communities, developers and investors who are interested in expanding the industry, providing and simplifying access to knowledge. The event aimed at building productive discussions, with the world’s best leaders, on practical Islamic finance frameworks related to environmental, educational, technological and social issues, financial services, investments and regulatory structure of the market, as well as to inspire actions to support Kazakhstan’s own unique path.

The Islamic Finance Week program included a series of workshops by global Islamic leaders such as; Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), Zaid Ibrahim & Co (ZICO), International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF) and Islamic Development Bank (IsDB). ICSFS was invited to participate in the “Challenges of Digital Transformation in the Islamic Finance Industry” panel session, where Wael Malkawi; ICSFS’ Executive Director, shared ICSFS’ focus on Islamic banking implementation, especially in emerging markets, consisting of; Africa, Middle East, Southeast Asia and Central Asia.

“I would like to thank Islamic Finance Week’s organizers AIFC, for inviting us to participate in such a important event.” ICSFS’ Executive Director; Wael Malkawi stated. “ICSFS has been servicing the financial and banking industry for many decades and has witnessed the Islamic finance industry blossom in the past 20 years. Our ICS BANKS ISLAMIC software solution embraces Islamic business agility as a primary core driver of providing real value in this global competitive market.”

ICSFS invests in its software suites by utilising modern technology in launching new products, constructing a secured and agile integration, and keeping pace with new standards and regulations worldwide. ICS BANKS ISLAMIC software suites future-proof banking activities by providing a broad range of features and capabilities with more agility and flexibility, to enrich customers journey experience, hence improving the trust and confidentiality between the customer and the bank. ICS BANKS ISLAMIC has always been a pioneer in utilising the latest technology to serve financial institutions. In addition to its embedded Service-Oriented-Architecture (SOA), the system can be deployed on premises or in the cloud.

Under the patronage of HRH Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan, President of the Royal Scientific Society (RSS) and Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Princess Sumaya University for Technology (PSUT), Orange Jordan held a press conference to announce that the Orange Data Center has received the TIer III Constructed Facility Certificate from the American Uptime Institute, specialized in studying and evaluating global data centers, after the center has passed the requirements for this certificate to become the first data center in the Kingdom to obtain this certificate. H.E., Marwan Juma, Vice Chairman of PSUT’s Board of Trustees attended on behalf of HRH Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan.

During the press conference held at the center in the attendance of CEO of Orange Jordan, Mr. Thierry Marigny, Chief Enterprise Officer, Mr. Sami Smeirat, Chief Wholesale Officer and Chief Information Technology and Networks Officer, Mr. Waleed Al Doulat, Data Center Manager and Tier III Project Manager, Bahjat Al-Adwan and Eng. Mustapha Louni, Managing Director – Middle East, Africa & Greater India at Uptime Institute, Marigny said that: “Orange Jordan is the first company at a national level that obtains this certificate, which is given according to the international standards and specifications that must be held by information centers on an international level, affirming that the company is interested in serving all people benefiting from its services, whether on a business level or individually, pointing out to company keenness in offering all services that meet the expectations of the business sector and companies. For this reason, the company established this center six years ago, which is considered to be a realistic example of the digital development witnessed in the Kingdom.

Marigny also pointed out that the Orange Data Center, and since its inception, has been providing services similar to those offered at “Hashim Station”, and that the center is considered a support for the Orange network in the Hashim Station Data Center to maintain the continuity of data flow efficiently and without interruption through high-speed internet.

He added that the company has made significant investments to strengthen its infrastructure to stay up-to-date with the digital development in the world and achieve the desired prosperity in the business of its customers, as a proof of its outstanding expertise in data collection, transmission, archiving, processing, analysis, sharing and maintaining its security. From another side, the company has been an active contributor to the consolidation of the telecommunications infrastructure which has become possible for all other sectors with no exception.

Eng. Smeirat talked about the importance of the center, saying that: “This center that we established in 2013 as a second data center to meet the needs of our business customers in the Kingdom, and place the latest technologies and innovations in their hands by providing a suitable environment for hosting web sites or big software that requires a 24-hour online presence without interruption or being affected by surrounding conditions. The first Orange Data Center was established 20 years ago to serve customers and that the company always seeks to adopt digital technology and offer integrated and the most advanced services to its businesses customers in the Kingdom. This will benefit many companies and institutions in various sectors, including; financial, healthcare, media, e-commerce, education and government”.

Eng. Doulat, said that: “Receiving the Tier III Certification affirms that the company has achieved the highest standards and follows the best engineering specifications, which meet the requirements specified on a global level, pointing out that the center has previously obtained a number of prizes, including; the coveted Panduit Certificate, specialized in building data centers worldwide in 2017 and ISO: 14644-Class 8 certification for private data centers free of internal environmental pollution, and ranked first in the Middle East and Africa.

From his side, Eng. Al-Adwan showcased the practical procedures on which the certificate is granted on, where he said: “It includes live demonstrations of the system under realistic conditions, and validation of performance, according to the data center objective for this certificate. This certificate also depends on reviewing several electrical, mechanical and facility standards, as defined in Tier Design Standard and Topology, a globally recognized standard for data center reliability and effectiveness”.

He also pointed out that Orange Data Center offers a variety of outstanding services, most notably its generators and air conditioners with large capacities and capabilities, capable of providing the required electrical loads for servicing the servers, applications and network of devices, in case of conducting operations maintenance or switching power devices and utilities without the need to stop the service permanently. In addition it containss electrical paths to connect the alternative network with the same capacity, capability and efficiency.

IRIS Technology, a leading company the IT security space and has a reach across many countries in the Middle East region, announced it has achieved Platinum Partner status by Fortinet.

This superb status has been awarded to IRIS Technology in recognition of achieving the highest level of technical and sales accreditations, as well as attaining significant revenue growth this year.

In a world where there is a well-recognized shortage of cyber security skills, it is imperative for IRIS Technology to deliver valued expertise in such a critical area.

With the Fortinet Security Fabric technology, and with the fantastic support provided by Fortinet, this has underpinned the ability to provide security solutions to meet the complex outcomes required in business today, with that in mind, the achievement was made possible due to the fantastic year in numbers including a year over year revenue increase.

“Alongside recognizing our dedicated and professional approach to delivering high level services and solutions, the Fortinet Platinum Partner status affirms the breadth of our abilities when working with a unique variety of customer business models.” said Mohammad Al-Qurashi, Business Development at IRIS Technology.

IRIS Technology is looking forward to another milestone which will see us, as a Fortinet Platinum Partner, applying our specialist expertise in the area of cyber security space, to the benefit of our customers.

Orange Jordan recently announced the winners in the third local and ninth global edition of Orange Social Venture Prize (OSVP) 2019, in a ceremony held at the company’s headquarters, where Threads Company won first place, “Darb Co.” second and “Darajtee” third place.

CEO of Orange Jordan, Thierry Marigny congratulated the winners, pointing out that the selection of the first place winner took into consideration the importance of this award, as it is a recognition from the Group for the role of entrepreneurs, and the company’s keenness on promoting the spirit of competition among them to deliver ideas that can turn into reality.

Marigny also thanked the jury for their efforts in applying the criteria on which the winners were selected from, in addition to monitoring projects, providing professional advice, and discussing their positive social impact and effectiveness.

Orange Jordan has localized the OSVP competition that was launched by the Group nine years ago in Paris, as part of the company’s social responsibility in providing support to entrepreneurs and startups in the Kingdom, motivating them to use innovative digital solutions in developing products and services to meet the needs of the community in different areas, such as: health, agriculture, education, energy, trade, and industry.

70 projects applied for the prize this year representing all the previously mentioned sectors, 13 projects were qualified for the initial presentations, seven to the final phase, and finally three winners in 2019.

Orange Jordan has appointed financial rewards for the three winners, valued with JD 4,000, JD 3,000 and JD 2,000 respectively, and it is agreed that the winners will participate in the international version of the prize, in an attempt to win €25,000, €15,000 or €10,000 for the top three winners, in addition to an opportunity to attend the final event that will be held during the month of November in Cape Town, South Africa.

The jury included experts from the business and  entrepreneurial field consisting of: Chief Executive Officer of Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation (AHSF), Valentina Kassisieh, Deputy Executive Director at The Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development (JOHUD), Mohammad Al-Amoush, CEO at Information and Communications Technology Association – Jordan (int@j), Eng. Nidal Bitar, Director of Strategy & Partnerships at Crown Prince Foundation (CPF), Mais AlDaoud, pioneer Fida Taher and PR, CSR, and Corporate Communication Director at Orange Jordan, Rana Al Dababneh.

ESKADENIA Software launches ESKA^® Synergy, its collaborative work suite, at Ekonomi & Företag – Kistamässan 2019 in Stockholm, Sweden. Ekonomi & Företag is Sweden`s largest local ERP conference bringing together long-standing industry giants as well as new companies and start-ups with some of the latest innovations and technologies. Ekonomi & Företag 2019 takes place on the 25^th and 26^th of September 2019 in Stockholm, Sweden.

ESKA Synergy is a Smart Teamwork Platform designed to enhance team projects in an organizational, flexible, and collaborative experience.  The plug-and-play software suite scales with small and large teams, covering everything from task management and project planning to automated recruitment and payrolls.

During the conference, ESKADENIA’s product managers and ERP industry specialists from Sweden and Jordan will introduce ESKA Synergy which incorporates ESKA^® Time Tracker, ESKA^® HR & Payroll, ESKA^® Financial, and ESKA Content Management System.

“We’re really looking forward to showcasing ESKA® Synergy at Ekonomi & Företag this year. Synergy has the potential to greatly minimize redundancy and boost team efficiency by seamlessly merging Team, Organizational, and Financial processes onto one platform. We’re proud of how far we’ve come and we can’t wait to show Synergy alongside local industry experts in Sweden.”  Jamil Martin, Product Manager.

ESKADENIA Software will also present its wider range of software products and solutions developed using the latest technologies and standards, tailored to the ever-growing technical and business developments of the Swedish ERP Market.

Zain, the foremost telecom company in Jordan, has announced the launch of ‘The Bunker’ – a TIER III UPTIME, with 99.982% availability, state-of-the-art, military grade design and development, highly modernized, fully redundant power, cooling and communications network data center, situated at the King Hussein Business Park in Amman Jordan. The Bunker, which is the first of its kind in the region and one of very few worldwide, gives local, regional and international organizations the opportunity to host their IT infrastructure, disaster recovery (DR) offices and enhance their ICT business processes.

The Bunker is another initiative that exemplifies Zain Jordan’s efforts to spearhead digital transformation in the country. The company revolutionized telecommunications in Jordan by introducing GSM mobile services in the country and introduced Fourth Generation services “LTE” for the first time in the kingdom.

Companies that have very crucial computational functions and important data to store can really value such a facility that provides the highest levels of security and sustainability. When a company uses The Bunker as their main data center or their disaster recovery (backup) location, it is safer than any other conventional building. Its area measures approximately 4300 sq. mts., located 12 mts. below ground level. Built with the same specifications as a military-grade underground facility, The Bunker is constructed to the highest standards of security and redundancy requirements. It has dedicated rooms protected by high security 2-ton iron doors and 2 metres thick reinforced concrete walls, giving it the capability to withstand natural disasters, missiles and fires. Furthermore, when a disaster strikes, the cooling, power and connectivity systems are redundant and can be sustained for long periods without any outage. The facility has 24/7 onsite security personnel and advanced surveillance cameras security systems (CCTVs).

Mr. Fahad AlJasim, Chief Executive Officer at Zain Jordan says, “We see this as a turning point and a milestone in Zain’s journey to be the most advanced telecom operator, to meet the long-term aspirations of our partners, and to help them with a range of services that are at the core of their business, contributing to their aspirations for further success in their organization.”

The technological advancements of IoT, Big Data Analytics and Cloud Services, require substantial computing power, resilient networks and, most importantly, security. Nevertheless, conventional data centers are not disaster proof and provide a mediocre security level. The value proposition of The Bunker is that it provides a colocation space as well as a designed cloud, heavily protected underground and powered by Zain’s resilient network. Companies can avoid large TCOs of building data centers and alternatively adopt an OPEX model through yearly payments. The facility’s location in the heart of Amman is very convenient to IT staff of any company to reach The Bunker where their servers are hosted.

The Bunker is not just a data center. Other than its variety of colocation options, it consists of various DR offices. Customers can rent dedicated or shared offices as well as ‘hot seats’ which can serve as business continuity units in cases of disasters or day to day activities related to their data center. These spaces span from 20 sq. mts. to 100 sq. mts. and can cater to various customer needs.

The Bunker hosts a NOC (Network Operation Center) to monitor and protect data center related infrastructure (UPS, generators, firewalls, switches, chillers, etc). It also hosts a SOC (Security Operations Center) to monitor and protect colocation customers and our existing cloud infrastructure, cyber security threats and other preventive operations.

The facility is Uptime Tier III certified. This certification is only given to data centers that are secure and provide cooling, power and connection redundancy to the users of the facility to ensure continuity of service.

Zaid Jordan’s Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Yousef Abu Mutawe concludes, “Zain has transformed from providing services to individuals to becoming a leader in providing services to the business sector. We are extremely proud to introduce the Zain Regional Center for Data Storage, Information and Disaster Recovery (The Bunker) which is the first of its kind in the Arab world. We will continue to expand and enhance our ICT portfolio and introduce innovation to the market.”