Czech tech firm IceWarp plans data hub in Pakistan, eyes Saudi expansion

KARACHI: A software company, based in the Czech Republic, is all set to invest about $1 million in Pakistan to set up a data center, said one of the top organization officials, while also highlighting plans to launch a subsidiary in Saudi Arabia, Arab News reported.

Established in 1998, IceWarp has presence in more than 100 countries and provides specialized and highly cost-effective services, such as hosted email, TeamChat, ChatGPT integration and online conferences etc.

“Pakistan is a high potential land where digital transformation can be seen from public sector entities to private businesses,” Jan Urbik, IceWarp’s global chief sales officer, told a news conference in Karachi. “We will support Pakistan in its mission to adopt digitalization through affordable solutions.”

Urbik said his company would set up a data center in Pakistan in compliance with the local regulations requiring companies to keep the data and privacy of Pakistani citizens within the country’s borders.

“IceWarp will offer solutions that are 60 percent more cost-effective than other software companies, along with enhanced applications and cybersecurity features that will attract a number of industries, financial institutions, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and startups to use our services,” he added.

He mentioned the launch of the data center and full fledge operations with an investment of about $1 million in the country to set up a local subsidiary in collaboration with Hexalyze, a Pakistani company.

IceWarp, which has presence in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is also planning to set up a subsidiary in Saudi Arabia.

“During the summer time, we visited Saudi Arabia and we have been to [the] LEAP [technology conference] and we have been talking with multiple partners,” Urbik said, adding that local entities told him that his company was welcome in the kingdom.

“So, Saudi Arabia is in our head as the future possibility to open the subsidiary there as well,” he continued.

Syed Saad Shah, CEO of Hexalyze, informed that IceWarp was planning to set up its regional office in Pakistan in collaboration with his company.

“The Czech software company will expand its operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates with separate data centers in these countries while the Pakistan office will serve as the back-up support station for marketing and sales,” Shah said.

The cost-effective corporate email solutions will enable hundreds of companies in Pakistan to adopt this tech-based solution in their businesses for the first time, he continued.

“On the other hand, corporate customers will not only save money from the expenses of enterprise services, but these companies will also save precious foreign exchange for the country by paying less to the service provider,” he added.

Present in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Pakistan with global alliance partners, Pakistan’s IT company Hexalyze has been providing integration of tech solutions to SMEs as well as large enterprises since 2014.