Unix came to the Lebanon just three years ago via Beirut-based Information Management Ltd, the number two software distributor there. Although business is tough – Lebanon’s software piracy rate is estimated at 98% – the company has picked up around 30 users, from banks and supermarkets to hospitals. The company sells Motorola Inc 88000 boxes running Informix and Ingres databases – Sybase support is expected to follow soon too. It also distributes Liant Corp ViewScape; ICL Plc point-of-sale systems; Insync personal computers; and Mannesmann-Tally GmbH printers. Founded in 1981, Information Management has between 35 and 40 staff, and expects to generate about $2m this year, about half of which will come from Unix hardware and software sales. The firm also says it is supplying about 20% of the (Unix) systems needed to hook Lebanese banks up to the Swiss Network world fund transfer service. Some 20 out of 78 banks in the region have joined the scheme so far.
