Jamal Maraqa, tech tycoon

As a child, Jamal Maraqa grew up selling shoes in his uncle's retail shop. Today, as the managing director of Protech Dubai, Jamal says he was able to transfer the skills learned in the shoe business to the IT business. As he explains, both involve service.

Born in the ancient city of Hebron, Palestine, he learnt the value of hard work and knowledge early on. Although raised in a traditional society, he developed a fascination with innovation. Twenty-five years ago, the IT sector was in its infancy when Jamal decided that the field would provide opportunities for creativity and innovation. Despite attempts to steer him towards more traditional fields like medicine, he pursued IT.

This passion created a series of firsts for the region. The first Apple Macintosh centres, internet café, IT solutions and digital storage and archiving.

Jamal's story illustrates the phrase "success is 10 per cent inspiration and 90 per cen perspiration". He describes how he thrives on finding solutions to problems and how he learns from life's daily challenges.

I

I am a practical person. I enjoy learning from life. This has affected my choices and my approach to life and work.

In a way, I am grateful because I get the chance to learn how to overcome problems and succeed.

I don't think a person's personality changes. I have always loved customer sales. When my customer is satisfied, I succeed. Even though I enjoy the technical side of engineering work, I really thrive when dealing with customers directly.

I learnt a lot from my years dealing with Apple Computers. Their success is in their product innovation. They thrive on being creative, daring and different. I admire that.

I believe the biggest challenge of a growing business is managing people. As the business grows, the staff gets larger and one must pay attention to and recognise employee efforts. The worst thing a manager can do is to become too busy and not communicate with employees on a personal level.

Me

Me and Palestine

I am originally Palestinian, born in Jordan. I spent my childhood in Palestine in a city called Hebron. I was born in 1965, but my parents moved the family back to Palestine when I was an infant. I lived there until high school.

Palestine was under occupation at the time, but I remember it being peaceful. The education system was good and I enjoyed studying. I left in 1983 to pursue a BSc in electronic engineering – computer systems.

Me and the footwear business

During summer vacations I worked as a footwear salesman with my uncles in their footwear store in Ramallah. I was 10 when I started. That was a very memorable part of my development as a person. The experience helped me understand selling techniques, serve customers and deal with suppliers. I worked every summer for five years.

Me and Jordan

During my degree years, I was always at the top of the class. Most students with my grades went into medicine and engineering. Computer technology at the time was new, but I wanted to do something futuristic.

We believed Palestine was the best and most advanced country on earth. When I went to Jordan, I realised that we were very behind.

It was similar in some ways, but a more advanced, established country. Amman was socially advanced, and had a better standard of living. This was a real eye- opener for me. It made me realise that you can live your life with a faulty perception about your surroundings, and often, you need to step outside to see the real picture.

Me and university

I went to Al Yarmouk University. It was the second-largest university in Jordan and the best in the engineering field. I met many nationalities and learnt about their ideas and perspectives on various issues.

I spent most of my time studying. My family had to pay for my studies so that is what I did. If I attended a party, I'd feel guilty. I graduated in 1988 and at that time, I wanted to go back home, but then the first Intifada happened. My parents pushed me to work outside Palestine. Sharjah seemed like an attractive option.

Me and the UAE

During the early '80s, Sharjah was more famous than Dubai. My first job was at Computech. It was one of the best-known computer companies in the UAE. I joined as a technical engineer. At the beginning, I did 15-18 hour shifts to try to learn as much about the product as possible.

I was recognised as an outstanding employee. One day, my manager came to me and said, "Jamal, I want to
move you to sales. Customers are very happy with your service and I believe you will do well. You get a better salary and progress further in the future."

I was upset. After all, I was a trained engineer and I wanted to stay in technical support. But I followed my manager's advice. After a few months, I became the top salesman. That is when I realised that taking yourself out of your comfort zone may be the best thing you can do for yourself.

Life's twists and turns may appear to be disastrous at the onset, but may lead you to heights that you never imagined possible. It made me more comfortable taking risks.

Me and Mac

After a year in sales at Computech, The Macintosh Centre in Dubai offered me a job. It was a huge challenge since the brand was new, different, expensive and hard to sell.
I saw potential. I joined the company in 1990 as sales manager. I was 22.

My sales team members were older and more experienced. But I worked hard and after nine months, I was promoted to general manager. Me and moving up In 1991, I became the managing director. Again, I tried to refuse the position. My boss, Mohammad Ghobash, said: "You are the most qualified person.

I will stay next to you all the time and guide you. You have nothing to worry about. I have faith in you." I really admire Mohammad and learnt a lot from him. He went to the UK for his PhD and asked me to look after the company.

It was difficult, but it accelerated my path to success. Within a few years, we opened branches in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. We became the largest Apple dealer in the Middle East. The Apple Mac Centre was the number one Apple authorised dealer by 1995. After a year I became a partner in the company. It was a challenge and a very steep learning curve.

Me and cyber world

In 1995, my partner and I knew that the internet would open a new world. We had heard of a lady who started the Cyberia Café in the UK, a coffee shop with computers in it. We thought that the idea had potential here.

We decided to start our own concept in 1996. So we opened the first internet café in the Middle East on Diyafah Street. I called it The Internet Café and it is still running today. It may not seem like such a unique name now, but back then it was very new. (Etisalat had just started internet service three months before we opened.)

Me and digital storage

By the end of 1997, my partners and I outgrew our partnership. My plans and ideas were different, and I chose to pursue other directions. I left the Apple Macintosh Centre and started my own company, Pro Technology.

I decided to invest in digital storage. It is a facility that allows businesses and governments to store and retrieve information easily either on or off site. I started visiting customers and selling storage and digital archiving.
It was a very new concept and a difficult one for people to grip. I invested a large amount of capital in three demo units.
I wanted to show what digital storage means.

In the first year, I didn't sell any systems. I started selling computer equipment so I could keep the company going. Most of the large accounts said that they would like to deal with companies like HP direct. But again, we managed to develop the integration part of the business. We have good engineers. We managed after a year to get a few integrated-solution deals.

Me and my family

I'm married with one daughter and four sons. I married Nidal in 1993.

My wife plays a major role in my success. She manages the home while I focus on work. She takes care of the family and everything else... all other aspects of life. Knowing that all aspects of life are well taken care of, and having the peace of mind that comes with a happy home is definitely a major contribution to a person's success.

I don't think real happiness is possible without this sort of balance.

Myself

Why doesn't the Middle East have a presence in the area of IT innovation?

The problem lies in how we raise our kids. We raise them as consumers. It's part of their day-to-day life. This kills the ability to invent.

Why make when we can buy?

Also, many employers do not give their employees the opportunity to be inventive or creative in their jobs. They do not reward good ideas so that idea generation can become a normal practice. And many employees are hired and have no promotion opportunities so it becomes a case where people sell their labour and do not invest in their creativity.

There is a movement away from this model. Now, time and attention are being dedicated to promoting innovation. The Dubai Government initiatives like providing seed capital for innovative businesses will encourage more initiatives.

What type of education do you think will lead to a creative mind?

First we have to evaluate ourselves correctly. Then we need to work on ourselves. Graduating from university is the beginning, not the end, of learning. People finish university and say, "Hurray, no more reading." That is a big mistake.

Reading is very important. I read about everything. It adds value to your personality and gives you ideas on how to do things better.

I read every day about different topics that are not work-related. We have so many choices today like the internet, books and magazines. I encourage people to make it a habit
to improve themselves and their knowledge by reading every day.