For Sun Microsystems Inc."s MENA operation, it is literally the moment for the company to seize the day. Not only has the company restructured itself to cover more of the market, its all new product strategy will also see the company play on more segments than one. Sun?s products are also now more competitive and affordable. But for Mehmet Iyimen, Managing Director of Sun Microsystems MENA this is only the beginning of the road to gaining greater importance in the company?s corporate ecosystem. According to Iyimen, next year Sun Middle East will be ready to assume a greater role in the overall corporate ladder. The following are excerpts from an interview with CNME:

CNME: Why is this year particularly a high point for Sun?

Iyimen: I would say it is because of timing, product mix and our end- to-end presence. Our strategy to spread ourselves across the low end to the high end of the market, which has proved to be an excellent lead generation tool. From the organizational point of view we have been able to build out nicely on our collaborations.

CNME: What is the opportunity for technology in the Middle East currently?

Iyimen: When we took stock of the market we saw that we were entering into an open market with high potential segments like oil and gas, telecom, finance and public sector. Clearly the Middle East is beginning to adopt next generation technology and the funds are available and new projects that are ready to start from scratch are available. So for Sun, the market is very ripe both geographically and for the expertise we bring to the field.

CNME: Would you like to tell us about your restructuring exercise and what it will mean to the business?

Iyimen: What we have drawn up is a three-year business plan and we have restructured ourselves into three key areas -- industrial, geographical and solution. From now on you will see this play in our practice. The SMB market (which we term the EMM or Enterprise Mid Market segment) is a very important segment for us. Companies in EMM are scaling up their technology trends, we are also making our products more affordable and competitive in this space and new relationships are being built.

CNME: You are keen for a bigger play in the corporate roadmap. What are the business targets that will lead you there?

Iyimen: Certainly we are on the road to increasing our visibility in Sun?s global ecosystem. I believe that the work we have been doing in the oil and gas sector particularly with Saudi Aramco is of great significance. We have been able to replicate the success we have had with them with other players in the market and going forward, we see Sun Middle East developing into a key center for technology in the oil and gas sector and gaining corporate visibility. But I will be able to discuss this with you better only next year. So at the moment we are focused on building two-ay bridges with the corporate and us. As for our plans, Sun MENA has proposed to double the size of our business in three years, increase our market share in this region and also extensively tap collaboration and new opportunities. We will follow an SBU (strategic business unit) approach and leverage our partnerships moving forward. Sun MENA is on a market-making mode.

CNME: But will your new strategies see any change in the core business model?

Iyimen: Business models are certainly changing but we will not move away from our core competencies, but we will be focused on ideas driven by technology. Capacity-on-demand model are gaining and we believe it is time that we start taking calculated risks. Sun MENA has invested in CRM methodologies for relationship management and we will begin to deal and respond differently to different customer communities. The relationship management effort will look at two markets -- the value market and the commodity market and we will build different relationships based on this segmentation.

CNME: Finally, what are you plans for the education sector?

Iyimen: Education for Sun is a segment that gives in well to our new approach because we have absolutely no commercial interest, but more an effort focused at community building. We have put together structured programs to develop communities in this region. So education and research development will be our focus.