July 2, 2008 – Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) has hired Sun Microsystems for a complete IT infrastructure upgrade to meet the demands of its current and future growth and ensure business continuity. Saudia has deployed solutions provided by European software company SAP for a comprehensive enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution to integrate and optimize their corporate operations. To efficiently run the SAP solution, Saudia will employ Sun’s highly available infrastructure platform, including servers, storage, and back-up solutions, to be deployed in three phases. Sun was favored for the contract because of its optimal resource utilization and on-site training services.

Commenting on the deal, Muhammad Al-Bakri, Saudia’s ERP Project Director and Chief of Systems Engineering and Technology, said, “Sun provided an integrated tested solution that can be deployed quickly enough to help reduce cost and risk, improve availability, scalability, security, flexibility, and manageability. The solution is performance-driven, ensures business continuity, and has the capacity to accommodate a wide variety of business applications.”