Adobe Systems photoshoping success for the Middle East

Adobe Systems, associated for a long time with its most popular product Photoshop, is trying hard to change that image.

The software and services company is aggressively targeting the Middle East, opening offices and appointing local staff. It is also not ruling out the possibility of opening up development centres in the region and creating internship programmes with local universities as part of its global expansion plan.

Emirates Business met up with Dr Christopher Brennan, Director Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa at Adobe, to understand the company's strategy for the region.


What is the top agenda in your new role?

For three years there has been a strategic focus on India, China, Latin America, Africa, Middle East and Eastern Europe. The Emea market is a big focus area for us, which is why we have a local office and a hub in Dubai. And by next year there will be another office in Saudi Arabia. Setting up the local office is a start and we have a general manager who has joined Adobe with a hardware and software background.

At a time when the global economy is cutting costs by retrenching staff and closing offices, why is Adobe making such investments?

The company started 26 years ago with two individuals and now employs more than 7,000 people. There has been an organic growth over the past few years with long-term rather than knee-jerk plans. These plans are also not based on industries or geographies.

In the Middle East, Adobe is committed to the vision of local leaders and we want to be part of the long- and short-term plan of the region.

The crisis has had a positive effect on our growth and revenue. This is applicable globally, which was another reason we opened offices in Russia, too, recently.

Has your focus shifted to the Emea markets because of the slowdown in other global markets?

Like other software companies, we want to focus on growth areas, which is why we have our people physically located here. The headcount will increase in the region to up to eight or nine in Dubai and five to eight in Saudi Arabia.

Though investments are slowing globally, the creative professional segment is still seeing positive movements. Our new creative suite launched in Arabic got good reviews. In the enterprise space, especially, government customers are optimistic about lifecycle projects and virtualisation.

Customers are taking time to think about the direction their companies are headed towards and, therefore, are looking for projects with a competitive advantage.

What do you think is unique about the Middle East market?

The vision of the local leaders has helped the region move forward, which is not restricted only to the UAE but also in countries such as Jordan and Qatar. The mixture of various nationalities is another advantage. The region is also willing to invest in the younger population, especially in Saudi Arabia, where the leaders and rulers want to invest in education, which is the key to success.

There is also a willingness to try new ideas and the best-of-breed IT solutions, and many of them don't have legacy systems. Where they have them, they are ready to rip them and put in new systems.

This is something we don't see in mature markets, especially during a recession. There are solutions from leading projects and suppliers helping this region to move forward. This is not seen in other parts of the world.

Adobe has always been associated with photoshop, while there are a lot of other software and services offered by the company. How do you plan to change this brand image?

Many customers still associate the brand with Photoshop, which is a successful product. It was discovered 25 years ago and remains in the minds of customers. It's like Coca-Cola – they have other products, such as juices and water, but the customer only knows the cola.

Adobe has a large amount of solutions targeted at digital photographers, journalists, creative professionals doing digital designs, newspapers and magazines. We even provide solutions to governments interested in digitalisation. Therefore, there is a broad customer base.

Many small companies needing an automated billing system and governments wanting to keep track of their borders by monitoring details of people coming in, customs returns, etc, all use Adobe products. There are 72 products from Adobe and we are constantly talking to our customers to come up with more, listening to their advice and conducting online workshops. Our future investments globally will be directed towards branding, opening new offices, adding employee head count and increasing marketing investments.

In fact, our developer team is beta testing a whole lot of products in centres across the world. We are constantly looking out for new centres and not ruling out the possibility of opening one in the Middle East.

Local content is essential and our local team will look at these opportunities in the future. Adobe is already working with local universities in Dubai and Saudi Arabia. The company has global internship programmes running, where students have been appointed from Stanford University. Adobe would like to repeat the same in the Gulf.


PROFILE: Dr Christopher Brennan Director, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, Adobe

Brennan joined Adobe Systems in January 2006 as Director Eastern Europe. His main focus was to develop and implement Adobe's emerging market strategy in the Emea region. He established new Adobe offices in Moscow, Warsaw, Bucharest and Istanbul.

In 2008 he was promoted as Director Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Prior to his appointment at Adobe Systems, Brennan was the General Manager Sales, Marketing and Services Group for Microsoft Central and East European Headquarters. And before that Regional Executive for Cema (Central, East Europe, Middle East and Africa) at IBM Software Group in Vienna.

Earlier assignments were with IBM and BP.

He completed his PhD in 2005 on the topic innovation and IT in organisations with Cranfield University, England.

 

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