News

Odoo Middle East Partners With Hotdesk Technologies

The collaboration will benefit small to medium businesses by combining Odoo’s ERP solutions with Hotdesk’s flexible workspace offerings.

Published

2 years ago

August 8, 2024

Nour Nasir

Odoo

Odoo Middle East, an ERP provider enabling companies to streamline operations, boost efficiency and facilitate improved decision-making, has announced an official partnership with Hotdesk, one of the world’s premier flexible workspace providers.

This partnership combines the two firms’ expertise to foster digital transformation and drive innovation. By leveraging Hotdesk’s robust suite of workspace solutions and hybrid work management technologies with Odoo’s CRM, accounting, and e-commerce software, the duo will be able to provide unparalleled services tailored to the unique needs of Middle Eastern businesses.

In addition, Odoo will also benefit from integration into Hotdesk’s flexible workspace solutions, allowing them to access over 650 coworking spaces, and service over 200,000 existing users across the region.

Hotdesk subscribers will benefit from a number of technical and commercial benefits from the partnership with Odoo, giving businesses of all sizes a significant advantage. Odoo will provide Hotdesk users with regular industry-specific workshops, both online and in-person, along with a free trial of the company’s software services.

To cement the new partnership, the two companies will also embark on a multi-country workshop tour. The events will be hosted in different coworking venues, while special events will also take place in the headquarters of both Odoo and Hotdesk.

Also Read: A Guide To Digital Payment Methods In The Middle East

“This collaboration represents a crucial step in integrating advanced enterprise resource planning with versatile work environments. By aligning our services, both Odoo and Hotdesk would be able to offer more dynamic and responsive solutions and allow SMEs to increase revenue, cut costs, innovate, and enhance their business as a whole,” explained Pavitra Singh, Managing Director of Odoo Middle East.

“One of the key topics of the current startup scene is: how do you run lean, efficient operations? That’s what the Hotdesk x Odoo partnership is built around – our common mission of enabling startups and SMEs to scale lean with technology that optimizes and digitizes businesses from end-to-end,” added Mohamed Khaled, CEO of Hotdesk.

News

Microsoft Plans $10 Billion-Plus Gulf Expansion Despite Iran Conflict

Security is shaping Microsoft’s approach, from resilience work with governments to what it will say about how the money splits by country.

Published

4 days ago

September 24, 2026

Nour Nasir

Microsoft

Microsoft is planning more than $10 billion of investment across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait through 2030, Vice Chair and President Brad Smith told Reuters, calling the spending schedule aggressive. The Iranian conflict that began on February 28 has not persuaded the company to scale back.

“We’re sustaining all the investments we planned to make before this conflict started, and we are in fact adding to them,” Smith said. The $10 billion-plus total does not, however, show how large those additions are.

The investment, which Smith described as part of Microsoft’s continued infrastructure expansion, is aimed at cloud and AI infrastructure and at the company’s growing regional operations. Microsoft also intends to put more than $400 million into subsea and terrestrial connectivity across the Middle East by 2030.

The spending fits the region’s own ambitions too. Gulf governments have been investing heavily in AI infrastructure as part of a push to diversify their economies beyond oil and gas and turn themselves into global technology hubs. Major cloud and AI providers have been drawn in part by the land and relatively low-cost energy on offer.

Microsoft is widening its partnerships with regional AI companies, though not on identical terms. In 2024, it invested $1.5 billion in Abu Dhabi-based G42 for a minority stake, and Smith currently sits on G42’s board. Saudi Arabia’s Humain and Qatar’s Qai are working with Microsoft on selected priority areas, but Smith said the company does not plan to make capital investments in either.

Also Read: Egypt’s Mobile Wallets Are Booming, But Cash Still Has Power

The conflict has added another strand to Microsoft’s work in the region. Since it began, Smith said, the company has supported regional partners with digital resilience assessments, and it is now working with Gulf countries through a digital resilience initiative focused on preparedness and the protection of critical data.

So far, the company has given no country-by-country breakdown of the investment, citing security among other factors. So while the headline figure is public, how Microsoft divides the spending among the four countries is not.