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How would a startup go about selling monitoring services to the UAE government?

brown9-2 16y ago
Considering that the traffic is encrypted between the devices and RIM's servers, you'd have to try to 1) break the encryption or 2) gain access to RIM's internal network, and 3) check your morals at the door. Good luck.
- borism 16y ago
  they already have the monitoring capability. where they don't they just block the site/service (ie. Blackberry, Skype or any VoIP service really) You might make a fortune selling VPN etc solution access to expats there though.
- atomical 16y ago
  I wasn't asking specifically about this situation. I was considering niche markets like P2P. I know the government blocks torrents but I have seen many clients on the Gnutella network that are from the UAE.
mahmud 16y ago
Get yourself a partnership deal with Cisco or Juniper UAE. And before you set feet in Abu Dhabi, sell your monitoring services to another government (preferably the U.S. government.) Then enter into a public negotiation with Saudi Arabia. Hard, I know. But as soon as you sell to the UAE the rest of the Gulf will follow. Wherever Abu Dhabi goes (not Dubai!) the rest go. Dubai is such an anomaly, it's hard to predict your success if you first gain traction there (unless you're targeting South Asia; success in Dubai almost guarantees success in the Indian subcontinent.) Saudi Arabia is always the first to show interest in a new technology, and the second to last to adopt it. Dubai gets the first regional office. Abu Dhabi buys it first. Kuwait and Qatar watch from afar, and only join in after they negotiate the best deals for themselves, and they're the first to iron out their laws to accommodate this social change (Kuwait, specially, is the most socially progressive country in the region). Bahrain and Oman usually take their time, and along with them comes the Saudi government. Note: this information is extrapolated from vague familiarity with mobile phone adoption, GPS, broadband, Co-Ed higher education, franchise western food chains, etc.
- henrikschroder 16y ago
  It's the little freely shared nuggets like this that makes this community incredible. Thank you.

Considering that the traffic is encrypted between the devices and RIM's servers, you'd have to try to 1) break the encryption or 2) gain access to RIM's internal network, and 3) check your morals at the door. Good luck.

borism 16y ago
they already have the monitoring capability. where they don't they just block the site/service (ie. Blackberry, Skype or any VoIP service really) You might make a fortune selling VPN etc solution access to expats there though.
atomical 16y ago
I wasn't asking specifically about this situation. I was considering niche markets like P2P. I know the government blocks torrents but I have seen many clients on the Gnutella network that are from the UAE.

mahmud 16y ago

Get yourself a partnership deal with Cisco or Juniper UAE. And before you set feet in Abu Dhabi, sell your monitoring services to another government (preferably the U.S. government.) Then enter into a public negotiation with Saudi Arabia. Hard, I know. But as soon as you sell to the UAE the rest of the Gulf will follow. Wherever Abu Dhabi goes (not Dubai!) the rest go. Dubai is such an anomaly, it's hard to predict your success if you first gain traction there (unless you're targeting South Asia; success in Dubai almost guarantees success in the Indian subcontinent.) Saudi Arabia is always the first to show interest in a new technology, and the second to last to adopt it. Dubai gets the first regional office. Abu Dhabi buys it first. Kuwait and Qatar watch from afar, and only join in after they negotiate the best deals for themselves, and they're the first to iron out their laws to accommodate this social change (Kuwait, specially, is the most socially progressive country in the region). Bahrain and Oman usually take their time, and along with them comes the Saudi government. Note: this information is extrapolated from vague familiarity with mobile phone adoption, GPS, broadband, Co-Ed higher education, franchise western food chains, etc.

henrikschroder 16y ago
It's the little freely shared nuggets like this that makes this community incredible. Thank you.