Computer News Middle East October 2014

WHERE TECHNOLOGY MEANS BUSINESS strategic ICT partner

issue 273 | OCTOBER 2014 WWW.CNMEONLINE.COM

Standing tall

How Saji Oommen’s long-term tenure as CIO of Al Batha Group has allowed him to push the envelope.

French Twist Paris-Sorbonne Abu Dhabi upgrades infrastructure while remaining a classic

Marketing Mind CNME sits down with former Apple CEO John Sculley

Paper chains

How the Ministry of Labour freed itself from paper archiving

PLUS: Dark data | Gitex preview | CRM | BYOD

EDITORIAL

The show goes on

Jeevan Thankappan Group Editor Talk to us: E-mail: jeevan.thankappan@ cpimediagroup.com

GROUP Chairman and founder Dominic De Sousa GROUP CEO Nadeem Hood

It’s that time of the year again, when we brace ourselves for the region’s largest technology event and our awards on the first day of the show. Perhaps it’s timely to reflect on the real value of trade shows and see how much business is actually being done. Personally, this is going to be my 10th Gitex and the show seems to grow from strength-to-strength while we have seen many trade shows of such scale and scope around the world disappear. For vendors, it is a great opportunity to get their message out and attract media coverage. In the last two decades or so, we have seen them spend lavishly on booths to exhibit their wares; it’s been all about who had the biggest booth, size, and more noise to grab mindshare and brand awareness. But things have changed and those who pay for floor space don’t want numbers anymore; they want people who buy products, not people who walk around gathering giveaways and free t-shirts.

In this part of the world, users still look to trade shows for IT information despite tight budgets and cheaper options such as looking up the information on the Internet. I think that’s where organisers of Gitex Technology Week has been to steer away from the pitfalls and keep it very relevant. Attendees are often either pre-qualified by the nature of their work or pay to be there. And over the years, Gitex has unflinchingly maintained its corporate business, pushing purely consumer items to Shopper that precedes the show. Now, the question is, are the exhibitors doing enough to get more out of the show? Don’t expect users to make a beeline to your booth unless you do enough front-end work and plan in advance. Some vendors often have poor marketing materials even though they house some of the best technology at the show. Their marketing presentations do not accurately reflect the technological excellence of the products they are exhibiting. It’s very likely that customers who are lost in the din of competing messages will probably leave the show feeling more confused than when they arrived if the vendors do not position themselves with a clear message that is centred on the needs of customers.

CPI Media Group, publisher of CNME, will have a huge presence at the show this year as well, and keep an eye out for ‘60 Minutes’, our newsletter that gauges the vibrant pulse of Gitex every hour. What’s more, our editors will be live-tweeting from the show about who is doing what. Stay tuned.

GROUP COO Georgina O’Hara

Publishing Director Rajashree Rammohan raj.ram@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9131 Editorial Group Editor Jeevan Thankappan jeevan.thankappan@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9133 Editor Annie Bricker annie.bricker@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9116 Online Editor James Dartnell james.dartnell@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9140 ADVERTISING Senior Sales Manager Michal Zylinski michal.zylinski@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9119 Circulation Circulation Manager Rajeesh M rajeesh.nair@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9142 Production and Design Production Manager James P Tharian james.tharian@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9136 Designer Analou Balbero analou.balbero@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9132 DIGITAL SERVICES Digital Services Manager Tristan Troy P Maagma Web Developer Jefferson de Joya Photographer and Social Media Co-ordinator Jay Colina webmaster@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9100

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Standing tall

How Saji Oommen’s long-term tenure as CIO of Al Batha Group has allowed him to push the envelope.

French TwisT Paris-Sorbonne Abu Dhabi upgrades infrastructure while remaining a classic

Marketing Mind

Printed by Al Ghurair Printing & Publishing Regional partner of

CNME sits down with former Apple CEO John Sculley

PaPer chains

How the Ministry of Labour freed itself from paper archiving

PLUS: Dark Data | Gitex Preview | CrM | BYOD

© Copyright 2014 CPI All rights reserved While the publishers have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of all information in this magazine, they will not be held responsible for any errors therein.

medıafırst TV

Immersive Experience Users can create their own profiles or share them with other household members and receive tailored recommendations and content feeds based on data, including user viewing history and trending content.

Through personal device recognition, TV recognizes the viewer’s device and dynamically customizes the experience.

raıse the bar

EDITORIAL Our events

Geeking Out

Annie Bricker Deputy Editor Talk to us: E-mail: annie.bricker@ cpimediagroup.com

October is here and GITEX is upon us. Since its inception in the early 80s, this event has transformed into a pilgrimage for the technology faithful.

I have to admit, the event is weeks away from and I am already nervous.

The flood of information hitting my inbox is overwhelming. Attempting to sift through releases, events, news and invitations is akin to sipping water from a fire hose. Weeks before GITEX Shopper even opened, vendors were taking pre-orders from technophiles looking to snag a great deal. Now, PRs are whispering about ground-breaking releases that will rock conference goers to their very core. It is easy to get swept up in the hype.

I will freely admit, however, that much of my anxiety stems from not knowing what to expect. When I mention GITEX to my colleagues and those in the IT industry I get a range of responses, from “You are going to have so much fun!” to “Well, I guess you will sleep again in November.” I am beginning to gather that both sentiments are true.

Whatever happens, one thing is abundantly clear – this event is huge. With thousands of expected attendees and hundreds of vendors, the eyes of the technology world will be turning to Dubai to catch a glimpse of what is new in the industry. Everyone who is anyone will have a presence at the Dubai World Trade Centre, and the CNME offices are gearing up to keep attendees up to date with hourly newsletters and pre-event coverage. There is an electricity surrounding the event that I’ve not yet experienced since my arrival at the start of this year.

Having spent almost a year in Dubai, it is clear this is a fitting stage for such an event. It is undeniable that the Middle East region is taking the reins of the industry; adopting a position of leadership that it has heretofore not had. I have written before on the Middle East moving from an emerging market to an established market, and I believe that this year’s GITEX will only go further to prove my point. The region is clearly coming into its own, and the world has been, and will continue to take us seriously.

Many of you have a much better idea of what is going to happen this year – you are seasoned veterans and a prepared for all that GITEX has to offer. However, I can only expect that there will be a fair few surprises for even the most experienced attendee. Though I may not know all that I would like to at this stage, I do know one thing – this is going to be huge.

Big Data

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Contents

Our Strategic Partners Strategic ICT Partner

Strategic Technology Partner

Strategic Innovation Partner

ISSUE 273 | OCTOBER 2014

52

BRING YOUR OWN DANGER

staying his ground

82

10 Dynamic defence

CNME's event season returns with the Enterprise Security 360 Roadshow in Riyadh, Dubai and Doha.

10 ways to tap into ios8

12 Eastern promise

At its Cloud Congress event in Shanghai, Huawei unveiled a range of new products and results of its research.

26 The French connection

When the University of Paris-Sorbonne Abu Dhabi opened a new campus in 2009, a fresh infrastructure was needed.

30 Paper chase

The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Labour was drowning in a sea of paper records, until a Laserfiche solution allowed them to digitise their archives.

100 8

32 The Evolution of CRM

Customer Relationship Management solutions now offer enterprises a range of services, but that was not always the case. CNME takes a look at the technology's development.

smart moves

Computer News Middle East

OCTOBER 2014

www.cnmeonline.com

22

38 Virtual Virtues

After years of false promise, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure is finally gaining momentum. If implemented properly, huge cost savings await enterprise IT teams.

42 SI's to watch in 2014

CNME has scoured the the Middle East to find some of the top Systems Integrators who have made their mark on the region's technolgy scene.

46 Storage wars

With the wealth of storage options available to enterprises in this day and age, determining the right technology can be tough. CNME sheds light on this pain point.

58 Cool customers

Customer experience management helps telecom service providers to preemptively solve problems and understand customer preferences.

86 It's showtime

CNME takes a look at some of the top vendors who will have a presence at the region's biggest tech event - GITEX Technology Week 2014.

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

MY

K

*Based on internal Dell analysis in July 2013 based on Dell Compellent flash-optimised vs.spinning disk arrays and an internal test performed by Dell in March 2013 with Storage v6.310 on dual SC8000 controllers running OLIP type workloads using IOmeter with a 100% random, 70/30 read/wirte mix and 8K sector transfer size achieved this IOPS performance.

Actual performance/latency will vary based on configuration, usage and manufacturing variability **Based on internal Dell analysis performed in May 2013, comparing similar Dell Compellent offerings to EMC VNX Family, HP 3PAR StoreServ, HP EVA, IMB V7000, IBM XIV, Hitachi Data Systems HUS 100 Family,and Oracle Sun ZFS Storage Family and competitive US list pricing from Gartner Inc, Cp Storage, as of June 2013. Š 2013 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.

in depth Enterprise 360

DYNAMIC DEFENCE After a long summer break, CNME kicked off its long-anticipated event season with the return of the fifth annual Enterprise Security 360 Roadshow. Reaching Riyadh, Dubai and Doha, the show covered a range of issues that are never far from the thoughts of Middle Eastern CIOs. CNME reports from the UAE leg of the show.

I

T security professionals from across the Middle East gathered to hear industry experts discuss the enterprise security issues that they felt are most pertinent in 2014.

With overall business increasing in the region, Middle Eastern companies are becoming more enticing prospects for cybercriminals. The Shamoon virus in 2012 wiped out data on 30,000 of Aramco’s – Saudi Arabia’s largest oil producer – computers, and the Stuxnet worm of 2010 destroyed a fifth of Iran’s nuclear centrifuges.

The likes of these issues, and the changing nature of the threat landscape within the enterprise itself dominated the agenda.

10

Computer News Middle East

OCTOBER 2014

Shenoy Sandeep, AVP, Spire Solutions, kicked off proceedings with a presentation on effective vulnerability management.

“It is not unreasonable to expect systems, servers, desktops and applications to be effectively monitored for threats,” he said.

“A solution must be able to determine what attackers are doing on the system. A flexible and scalable architecture is an important catalyst for this.”

Next up was Jude Pereira, Managing Director, Nanjgel Solutions, who covered the ever-present issue of insider threats.

Pereira used the analogy of identifying the insider threat to “finding a needle in

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a stack of needles.” He said, “Companies need to distinguish between the ‘known bad’ and ‘assumed good’ threats within an organisation. Accountability is key in this respect. Do people who have privileged access to the network abuse that power? Do they even need it?”

Pereira went on to discuss his preferred methods for channeling efforts into insider threat detection. “Don’t waste your time and money on the impossible,” he said. IT could be chasing shadows by trying to predict rare threats. Instead, organisations should look for the ‘observable red flags’ who can be identified via predictive and then diagnostic

analytics. Furthermore, a multi-layered defense architecture, with network visibility, device profiling and endpoint compliance are all necessary in this battle.”

Moving on to an unavoidable issue in the context of the third platform of computing, Ahmad El Soufi, Technical Manager, UAE, Aruba Networks, took the audience through the challenges of secure enterprise mobility.

“The way the network is accessed today has evolved,” he says. “The difficulties are a lack

of visibility and the improvisation of devices connected to the enterprise network that often pose security threats.”

Rounding things off was Will Gray, Sales Director, UK and Middle East, Damballa, who discussed the inevitability of breaches and data security. He use several alarming statistics to set the tone and convey the vulnerability of the enterprise, “59 percent of security professionals say that if prevention fails, their high value assets aren’t secure,”

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he said. “Reports say that the average time a hacker will spend on a company’s network once in is 220 days. The longer these threats go undetected, the higher the risk to the enterprise. It’s vital that the enterprise can detect hidden threats that were previously unknown. In this context, unvalidated alerts are ultimately unhelpful, it is much more useful to build faith in alerts through evidence and context; low volume and high fidelity of alerts is more useful.”

Gray went on to highlight how automated and proactive strategies were needed to combat malware that has evolved. “Infected devices now initiate communications to attackers,” he said. “With 66 percent of CISOs saying they are short-staffed, processes need to be automated to detect this malware. In addition, ‘capture the flag’ exercises – can I get into the CEO’s laptop – are useful, and beat traditional penetration testing.”

In Riyadh, speakers included Samesh Sabry, Regional Manager, Spire Solutions; Javed Abbasi, Principal Consultant, GISBA Group; and Ahmed Enaya, Senior SE Manager, Aruba Networks. In Doha, expert speakers included Malik Nawaz, Regional Sales Manager, Airtight Networks; Saadi Kawkji, Senior Technical Manager, Aruba Networks; and Simon Edwards, Senior Security Consultant, Damaballa.

OCTOBER 2014

Computer News Middle East

11

in depth Huawei

Eastern promise At its Cloud Congress in Shanghai, Huawei unveiled a range of exciting new products, as well as results of its 'Global Connectivity Index'. Deputy Editor Annie Bricker reports from the gathering.

12

Computer News Middle East

OCTOBER 2014

www.cnmeonline.com

in depth Huawei

H

uawei opened this year’s Cloud Computing Congress in Shanghai, China with expected fanfare. On September 15th, HCC gathered over 10,000 customers, partners and industry professionals from more than 80 countries around the world. Participants shared insights and promoted dialogue on industry trends and topics around cloud computing and Big Data.

Attendees at the two-day event heard from 66 of Huawei’s partners and industry leaders across the ecosystem, including Intel, Seagate and SAP. Though the keynote addresses of the first morning set to place the Chinese giant on the global stage with its refreshed cloud computing and IT strategies, the most notable announcement of the morning was the advent of the Huawei Global Connectivity Index (GCI).

Huawei’s GCI is the company’s attempt to quantify connectivity worldwide. The GCI study found that country connectivity correlates with GDP, with Huawei’s analysis of 16 indexes showing that for each GCI percentage point increase the GDP per capital increases 1.4 to 1.9 percent and is relatively higher for emerging countries.

Among the countries surveyed, Germany ranks first due to its strong commitment and ongoing investment in information

14

Computer News Middle East

OCTOBER 2014

and communications technology (ICT) development, resulting in a market with competitive vitality, according to Huawei.

The report highlighted how different enterprises invest in and gain value from ICT to further identify why some industries are undergoing a digital transformation and some simply are not. In this process, the report was able to allocate each industry to one of four quadrants identified by Huawei: Transformers, Strategists, Tacticians and Stragglers. Perhaps of most interest to Huawei, Transformers regard ICT as a core driving force for business transformation and continuously invest and proactively reshape their ICT business models. Industries such as finance, education, oil and gas and manufacturing demonstrate ICT-enabled transformation. With 71 percent of finance enterprises indicating their ICT investment will increase by more than five percent over the next two years, it is the highest ranking industry for development. The GCI reports that 65 percent of enterprises plan to increase their ICT investment over the next two years.

In addition to the GCI, Huawei top-brass laid out the company’s IT plan, as well as a suite of new cloud computing products. Data centres, converged storage solutions, cloud operating systems and Big Data analytics platforms took the stage and aimed to bring

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to life Huawei’s vision to “Make IT Simple, Make Business Agile.” In his keynote speech, Zheng Yelai, President of IT Product Line, predicted, “Rapid developments in the digital world are redefining information technology. We will see increasing mobilitybased data consumption, Internet of Things (IoT)-based data collection, Big Databased data analytics, and cloud-based data sharing in the near future. Enterprise IT consumption models are also changing: the equipment-centric model is evolving into one that centres on applications and services, and independent data management and operation and maintenance (O&M) will evolve into unified management and operations. Future-proof enterprise data centres will need to be service-driven.”

The HCC showcase was dotted with booths highlighting how Huawei’s innovations are changing the way we bank, travel and even use our healthcare systems.

End-users were on hand to discuss how the company’s solutions had enabled their businesses. HCC 2014 also saw the release of Huawei’s FusionSphere 5.0 cloud OS as well as the much anticipated OceanStor converged storage system, both of which are key components of the Service DrivenDistributed Cloud Data, or SD-DC², architecture.

http://www.datacenterfuture.com/

short takes Month in view

Ericsson, SAP introduce mobile security app partnership

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison steps down It’s the end of an era at Oracle, as CEO Larry Ellison has been appointed executive chairman and CTO of the vendor, with copresidents Safra Catz and Mark Hurd named co-CEOs. “Safra and Mark will now report to the Oracle Board rather than to me,” Ellison said. “All the other reporting relationships will remain unchanged. The three of us have been working well together for the last several years, and we plan to continue working together for the foreseeable future. Keeping this management team in place has always been a top priority of mine.”

Catz will remain in charge of manufacturing, finance and legal operations, while Hurd continues handling sales, service and global business units.

All software and hardware engineering will remain under the oversight of Ellison.

“Mark and Safra have done a spectacular job and deserve the recognition of their new titles,” he said. “I’m going to continue doing what I’ve been doing over the last several years, they’re going to continue doing what they’re doing over the last several years.”

Ericsson has announced an agreement with SAP to deliver network-enabled cloud solutions, which will provide users with secure access to their business apps and content on mobile devices.

Ericsson will offer SAP Mobile Secure, a set of cloud-based solutions, combined with an IT managed service offering, expanding its portfolio of services available for its 400+ mobile network operators.

The integrated mobile device

Sharjah Police signs Dell security MoU Dell has signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sharjah Police, to reach their tactical objectives of enhancing security in the Emirate.

Sharjah Police has partnered with Dell to implement a solution to improve their video surveillance, data analysis, evidence tracking capabilities and response time.

Dell has provided both infrastructure hardware and software for a solution that has

Apple offers iPhone migration guide for Android converts

WHAT’S HOT?

Apple has entered the bracket for large smartphone makers, it’s reaching out to Android users with a helpful migration guide.

The article goes through things you might want to move when making the switch.

Each section includes multi-step tutorials on how to move content or make it available again on the new phone.

16

Computer News Middle East

OCTOBER 2014

management, mobile app management and mobile app security components will “protect the data and provide valuable analytics that enable the enterprise to continuously optimise its mobile strategy.”

Ericsson says the offer will allow enterprises of all sizes to bolster their overarching mobile strategy with an EMM solution to promote, publish and configure apps for stakeholders – both on nonmanaged and managed devices.

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been tailored to suit the needs of the Sharjah Police department.

Following the roll-out, Sharjah Police hopes it will have deeper and wider coverage, improved rapid-response, sharper investigation and evidence tracking abilities, as well as increased transparency.

Dell will also be supporting Sharjah Police in implementing live video capture for police cars and motorcycles.

Microsoft in deal for $2 billion Minecraft developer Satya Nadella could be gearing up for his first big acquisition as Microsoft CEO, as the company closes in on buying the maker of the game Minecraft for more than $2 billion, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Microsoft is in “serious talks” to buy Minecraft’s Swedish developer, a company called Mojang.

Gartner: ME security spending to reach $1 billion in 2014 At its Security and Risk Management Summit being held in Dubai, the research firm said the Middle East and North Africa spending on information security will reach $1 billion in 2014, an increase of eight percent over 2013.

Network security equipment and security services together will account for approximately 75 percent of enterprise spend in 2014, and this trend is expected to continue through 2018.

“In response to the recent spate of security threats faced by organisations in the Middle East, a majority of the security projects currently underway and in the pipeline are focused on improving the security operations and incident response capabilities of enterprise infrastructure,” said Eric Paulak, Managing VP, Research, Gartner.

The market segments that will benefit

Lenovo, IBM reveal x86 server strategy

from this trend are network security, security implementation and security consulting.

Globally, managed security services forms around 35 percent of all security services spending, but in the MENA region this is much lower at 16 percent. Analysts said this indicates that MSSP as a deployment model is not as mature or sought after in the region compared to more developed IT markets.

Etisalat to offer faster complimentary business broadband

With Lenovo expected to close its IBM x86 server business acquisition by the year’s end, a glimpse at the combined server product line has emerged.

Once the deal closes, IBM’s System X and Flex servers with x86 chips will complete Lenovo’s line.

The companies have separately introduced servers with Intel’s new Xeon E5-2600 v3 chip. But it also gave IBM – which has been largely quiet since the deal was announced – an opportunity to chime in on how it will add value to Lenovo’s server offerings before and after the deal is complete.

Lenovo announced it would acquire IBM’s x86 server business for $2.3 billion in January.

IBM will retain mainframe and server products with homegrown Power8 processors. Flex integrated servers use both x86 and IBM’s Power8 chips, and IBM is expected to retain systems with the Power8 chips.

Microsoft relaunches ‘productive’ MSN Microsoft has unveiled its revamped MSN portal that combines access to personal productivity tools and content from a large number of providers.

Etisalat’s business customers in the UAE will receive the telco’s latest upgrade as it boosts broadband speeds by up to 2.5 times – for free.

Business customers who are subscribed to 4MBps speed will be automatically upgraded to 10MBps broadband speeds.

Customers subscribed to other business packages will also experience a speed boost with varying levels of speed.

New business customers will also be able to receive benefits of higher speeds at lower rates.

“To support this demand and the nation’s ICT vision, Etisalat has invested billions in developing a solid fibre-optic infrastructure,” Salvador Anglada, Chief Business Officer, Etisalat, said.

As the company tries to revive MSN, the focus this time is also on content from the Web instead of offering original content.

For the relaunch, the company has signed up with over 1,300 publishers worldwide including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Yomiuri, CNN and The Guardian.

Cook: Apple as ‘outraged’ as iCloud hack victims Apple, still reeling following the release of private photographs, plans to strengthen security around its storage service, according to CEO Tim Cook.

The change consists primarily of new warnings when certain changes are made to an account, as well as implementation of two-factor authentication on iCloud accounts, Cook told The Wall Street Journal.

A ‘Services Stripe’ at the top of the homepage gives users access to personal services including Outlook.com email, OneDrive, Office 365 and Skype, as well as popular third-party sites like Twitter and Facebook.

Microsoft plans to release MSN apps across iOS and Android to complement its corresponding Windows and Windows Phone apps.

EU fines Samsung, Philips and others for smartcard cartel participation

WHAT’S NOT?

Smart card producers Samsung Electronics, Philips and Infineon were fined $181 million by the European Commission for forming a cartel.

The companies conspired through a network of contacts to determine their responses to customers’ requests to lower prices, the Commission said.

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OCTOBER 2014

Computer News Middle East

17

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INFOGRAPHICS

Big Data: Growing Trends & Emerging Opportunities Amount of Data Climbing Sharply The average amount of data being measured is expected to increase by

164.2tb

By late 2014, 31% of large enterprises expect to manage more than 1 petabyte.

76%

within the next 12-18 months.

DAtA In tB

49%

289tb

of organisations are currently implementing or likely to implement Big Data initiatives in the future.

Organisations are spending an average of

$8M

on big data in the next year.

Currently

8 Months

12 Months

CEOs Largest Supporter of Big Data Efforts

18 Months

IT Leads Big Data Strategies at Enterprises

47% 34%

37%

IT Management (IT Directors, IT Managers) Senior or Executive IT Leadership (CIO/CTO or VP of IT) Executive Business Leadership (CEO, EVP. CFO)

29%

24%

42% 39% 34% 17%

IT Staff

31% 20% 26%

Line of Business Management (Business Unit or Department Leaders) 10% 14% 9% 12%

Business Staff

CEO

Line of Business

Board of Directors

Marketing

53% 51%

Vendors, Consultants, Partners

<1,000 1,000+

Big Data Investments to Remain Strong

20

55%

Storage

49%

21%

53%

Servers

47%

21%

26%

Cloud Infrastructure

44%

29%

Discovery & Analytics

43%

39%

Applications

42%

30%

Business consulting, business process outsourcing, IT projectbased services, network consulting and integration services

38%

35%

Information Management

35%

33%

45%

Networking

35%

33%

28%

Storage and Security Services

34%

25%

Training Services Related to Big Data Implementations

31%

29%

33%

Software and hardware Support

26%

37%

26%

IT Outsourcing

24%

38%

Computer News Middle East

OCTOBER 2014

www.cnmeonline.com

6% 8%

25%

1%

26%

0%

30%

2%

27%

30%

4% 2% 3% 2% 3% 4% 2%

24% 24% 30% 31% 26% 30% 30% 29% 34% 36% 33% 36%

sourCe: IDG Enterprise Big Data Study. 2014

Plans 1-3 Years

Currently Investing

Advertorial

Top 10 things you need to know about Avaya Fabric Connect Avaya Fabric Connect is an industry unique solution that offers a number of characteristics that set it apart from competing offers. The following Top 10 list below will give you a sneak peak of the advantages Fabric Connect offers:

1

It is more than just a Spanning Tree Replacement

Avaya’s dynamic, real-time, service-based Fabric Connect technology is one of the most advanced network virtualization solutions on the market today. Going beyond simple L2 multi-pathing capabilities, Avaya Fabric Connect delivers the full breadth of desired integrated services including Layer 2 virtualized services, Layer 3 virtualized services (with multiple Virtual Routing and Forwarding instances), and fully optimized routing and multicast services.

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It’s for more than just the Data Center

While many network virtualization technologies are designed exclusively as Data Center technologies, Avaya Fabric Connect extends network-wide, providing a single service end-to-end delivery model. With Fabric Connect you can extend the power of virtualization into the campus and into geographically dispersed branch offices. Services can then easily be deployed via simple end-point provisioning where servers attach and where users attach, thereby increasing speed and agility.

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It offers inherent Data Center Interconnect capabilities

Customers are demanding network virtualization solutions that are not confined to the four walls of the Data Center. Avaya Fabric Connect offers a single end-to-end service construct that can extend between multiple geographically dispersed Data Centers without requiring any overlay protocols or complex protocol stitching.

5

It delivers PIM-free IP Multicast that is scalable, resilient and easy to manage

IP Multicast is making a come-back. Many technologies such as next-generation video surveillance, IPTV, digital signage, desktop imaging, financial applications and some network overlays are reliant on Multicast protocols. Avaya Fabric Connect offers a scalable, reliable and efficient way of supporting IP Multicast Routing, without the onerous requirement of configuring, deploying, and maintaining a complex PIM overlay.

6

It offers inherent multi-tenant capabilities

Avaya Fabric Connect offers integrated Virtual Routing and Forwarding Instances. This allows for private IP networks to be set up quickly and easily across the fabric-enabled network without requiring any overlay protocols. These IP networks can reflect anything from different departments or entities in a traditional multi-tenant environment to separating different types of users.

7

It offers “lightening fast” recovergence times (sub-second)

The elimination of overlay protocols has a profound impact on the ability for the network to reconverge. Avaya Fabric Connect customers are experiencing recovery times of less than 50 milliseconds - network-wide - for core, link, or node failures. This represents a vast improvement over large OSPF routed cores and massive improvement when compared to average recovery times in PIM-based Multicast networks.

8

It scales to 16 million unique services

Many network virtualization technologies are based on VLAN virtualization which limits them to the 4096 ceiling. Avaya Fabric Connect, based on the Shortest Path Bridging standard, utilizes a 24-bit header allowing it to scale up to 16 million unique services.

9

It offers proven interoperability with other vendors SPB implementations

Avaya is committed to delivering an open and interoperable solution to market. We have been actively participating with other vendors to demonstrate Shortest Path Bridging interoperability through a series of public tests. The most recent interoperability test was conducted at Interop 2013 in Las Vegas with major industry vendors Alcatel Lucent, HP, and Spirent.

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It is an important foundation to your SDN strategy

When it comes to SDN, Avaya’s strategy is to first eliminate network complexity in order to provide a simple and flexible network foundation. Rather than adding overlays or additional protocols, and creating even more complexity than what we have today, Fabric Connect first streamlines the network then automates it though OpenStack-based orchestration functionality (via a Neutron plug-in). It provides a simplified and proven way to automate the service delivery process and evolve to the Software-Defined Network of the future.

CIO Spotlight Saji Oommen

Staying his Ground Saji Oommen may not look the part of a risk taker. His CV, if he had one, would not belie the history of a man of spontaneity. However, the Group Director of Information Technology at Al Batha Group has, in fact, remained on the cutting-edge of technology for his entire career.

O

ommen has been with Al Batha for 26 years – something of an anomaly in this modern-day culture of young professionals that switch companies, and even career paths, every three years or so - and the reason behind his lack of a CV. In spite of his obvious loyalty to the company, Oommen has not held himself back or felt trapped in any way. On the contrary, he has managed to climb the corporate ladder at Al Batha in large part due to his forward-thinking approaches to keeping the organisation modern and technologically fresh.

Al Batha Group is an extremely important player in this region.

As one of the largest private businesses in the UAE, the company holds more than 20 companies that run the gamut of industries from frozen goods to pharmaceuticals. The word “al batha” means “valley” in Arabic and itself conjures images of areas sustained by long periods of shade and calm waters that result in a thriving ecosystem. In the same vein, Oommen’s long-standing dedication to the Al Batha Group has resulted in a lush and verdant landscape for the business and its IT infrastructure.

Oommen was born in Kerala, India, and his love for technology began with a bang. “Like many children my age, I was glued to the Apollo space craft launch,” Oommen recalls fondly. He realised quickly that the power behind space travel was largely, even at the time, computing technology. “I was interested, at first, in rocket

“Like many children my age, I was glued to the Apollo space craft launch. I was interested, at first, in rocket science. Computer science, in those years, was almost unheard of.”

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science. Computer science, in those years, was almost unheard of,” he says. In spite of the unknown nature of computer science, Oommen took the first of many risks of his career. In 1983 he completed his undergraduate studies in computer engineering and later went on to earn his Masters in Technology from a reputed technology institute in India in 1985.

Oommen began his career at Electronics Research and Development Centre (ER&DC) in their Cybernetics Division in India. In 1988, he moved to the UAE to join AGMC, the BMW distributer in the UAE at the time, and a company held by Al Batha Group, as IT Manager. “At the time,” recalls Oommen, “businesses were only just waking up to the fact that IT would be necessary in every company.” Though businesses may have been aware that IT was fast becoming important, few could have predicted how integral IT would be in every administrative aspect of modern companies.

With his role all but undefined and the future of IT unknown, Oommen jumped head first into his new tasks. From 1988 to 1991, a period in IT’s history that was as f lush with innovation as it was fraught with confusion, Oommen managed to bring AGMC safely into the modern era with streamlined IT systems.

His successes at AGMC did not go unnoticed. In 1991 the Al Batha head office asked him to move his position to the headquarters to manage the 20+ companies held by the organisation at the time. With a plethora of companies spanning a wealth of industries from automotive to consumer goods, the task of unifying their IT systems was not a small ask. “Each company had their own way of doing things,” Oommen recounts, “and they were in different places in regard to their IT knowledge.”

Once legacy applications were phased out in all group companies, the next challenge was homogenising Al Batha’s many companies onto one, uniform IT platform using an ERP solution.

In 1998, Al Batha decided to adopt an SAP ERP system, and by 1999 the implementation project went live.

“We were early adopters of SAP in the region,” says Oommen, “you could say that we were sort of guinea pigs. As we are still SAP customers, we have grown with the platform.” The project to move more than 20 companies to a single platform was not only

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CIO Spotlight Saji Oommen

TIMELINE technically difficult, but also required a great deal of change management. Countless business processes were standardised across the Group. Managers and staff needed to be trained on the new systems, and convinced to leave their old ways behind.

The choice to go with SAP was easier at the time than it would be now, he says, as there were fewer choices. “Now the IT landscape is f lush with selections for every system and platform,” he says, “In some ways that is good, and in other ways, it can make the choice much more risky. You never know which solution is going to work the best, and you never know which company is going to stick.” Oommen says, with a wealth of solutions coming out every day, a CIO needs to be calculated in his decisions. “Moving forward with a technology that you, yourself are unsure of is a bad move. You should always be able to explain your decisions in full, to anyone who asks.”

Oommen’s stability at Al Batha has not made the man go stale on the shelf. On the contrary, as perhaps the most wellestablished member of staff, he is able to leverage the trust that has been earned by a history of project successes. His department leadership has helped to ensure effective and efficient utilisation of IT over the years.

Oommen’s leadership has not been limited to the office. He has taken the time to join, and lead, a number of philanthropic and professional organisations as well as act as a mentor for other up-and-coming IT professionals. “I didn’t get to where I am all by myself. I had a number of mentors along the way – I still have mentors,” says Oommen. “I enjoy acting as a guide for young professionals,” he says, “It feels like returning the favour.”

His list of professional and social initiatives is extensive.

He currently serves as the Director of SAP Users Group for the Middle East and North Africa. Earlier he served as President of ISACA UAE Chapter and a member of the Government and Regulatory Agencies Board of ISACA. He is also a Chapter member of TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) as well as a member of philanthropic organisations such as the Lion’s Club.

His successes and contribution to the IT industry both regionally and globally have not gone unnoticed. He has been selected for many industry awards and invited to speak all over the world, including the International Conferences of SAP Customers and Partners. “In short, I find giving back to the community is incredibly important. I contribute where I can to the health of the community,” explains Oommen.

In an industry of high turnover rates and the rapid dissolution of company loyalty, Oommen is indeed a rare breed.

His protégés have a great deal to learn from this industry rolemodel. “As for advice for young IT professionals,” Oommen says, “I would say the most important thing is to be prepared for change. The role of the CIO today is nothing like it was yesterday.

In the future, it will be completely different as well. CIOs need to stay on top of change to remain relevant.”

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1983 Completed undergraduate education in computer engineering

1985 Earned Masters in technology

1988 Moved to the UAE to join AGMC

1991 Moved to Al Batha head office

1999 Completed implementation of SAP ERP at Al Batha

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CASE STUDY Paris-Sorbonne

The French connection The University of Paris-Sorbonne Abu Dhabi carries an enormous responsibility. The campus needs to be accessible and modern to todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s UAE students, while maintaining the education and style of a centuries old campus. When their Al Reem Island campus opened in 2009, the University IT department met the brief.

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n such a relatively young nation, it is difficult to imagine what the campus of a 750 year old university might look like. Far from the ancient halls and theatre-inspired classrooms of its namesake, ParisSorbonne University of Abu Dhabi still manages to maintain a classically French atmosphere to its campus. The campus, located on Al Reem Island, is part of the Emirates’ plan to make Abu Dhabi a premiere higher learning destination. Since the University’s opening in 2006, and the campus ribbon cutting in 2009, Paris-Sorbonne Abu Dhabi has been doing just that.

The University’s tagline, “A Bridge Between Civilizations,” is made apparent in its main entrance hall. The exterior of the building is inspired by the mother campus’ iconic dome, whereas the interior of the dome is made to look like the dhow sails of old Arabia. The connection between cultures is not limited to the architecture. Paris-Sorbonne Abu Dhabi caters to over 700 students hailing from 65 different nations. A quick walk through the campus, established in 2009, highlights the melting pot of cultures, as students socialise using French, English, Arabic and a variety of other languages interchangeably.

Paris-Sorbonne Abu Dhabi is the only international campus of the ancient university, and with that honour, comes a responsibility to do justice to the respected brand. As such, almost 80 percent of its faculty fly in from Paris regularly to teach. All undergraduate classes, with the exception of the new physics course, are taught in French and all final exams must be marked at the Paris-Sorbonne campus in France. The charge is not a small one – to provide everything that the Paris campus does while meeting the needs of a student population that resides in the UAE. In addition, Paris-Sorbonne pulls its academic programmes from not one, but three universities in France, and is ultimately governed by the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC). In all, there are a number of entities to keep satisfied all while serving the increasingly demanding and expanding student community.

“The UAE is a service-oriented society,” says Muhammed Javeed, Head of IT, Paris-Sorbonne University, “students expect a certain level of service and access to information.” To that end, when Javeed came on the scene shortly after the completion of the campus, he knew he had a tall order in front of him. Maintaining a classic French flavour while providing the services of a modern, Arab campus all within the context of a French working culture was not going to be easy.

“I began with the low-hanging fruit, as they say,” says Javeed, “The university had already implemented an Oracle ERP system, but few people

“I would say, ‘Think about how your father was doing things 20 years ago, it isn’t the same way you are doing things now.’ The point is, we have to change and modernise.”

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CASE STUDY Paris-Sorbonne

were using it.” Javeed began the transformation of the campus’ IT infrastructure with a change management project. He knew that the Oracle system was good, and could save end-users time and tedium, but the difficult part was convincing them of that fact. The Oracle project was begun by ADEC in 2010 whereby the authority deployed the Oracle Fusion Middleware suite of applications including ERP and Identity Management across a number of national institutions.

He found that convincing people to abandon legacy systems that weren’t serving them as well as a new system could was all about making the reasoning personal. “I would say, ‘Think about how your father was doing things 20 years ago, it isn’t the same way you are doing things now.’ The point is, we have to change and modernise.” He found, as well, that convincing users to change to a new system is something best done slowly. “If I can get 40 percent of end-users to switch to a new system in the first year, I consider that a success,” he says, “In total I can only really expect around 80 percent to transfer to a new system. A rate of 100 percent is just unrealistic. There will always be those that are resistant to change.” The key, he says, is to show them how much time they could be saving by abandoning old, or even manual systems, and opting for automated alternatives instead. The Oracle ERP system streamlined systems for HR, payroll, finance and other administrative processes.

After the Oracle ERP rollout, Javeed turned to the immediate needs of the students. With hundreds of students taking advantage of fivestar residential facilities, Paris-Sorbonne needed to provide each and every one of them with an environment conducive to both study and recreation. “We first equipped the residence halls with WiFi, so that students could remain connected throughout the facility. Then, rather than installing televisions in every room, we provided students with streaming, online television services,” explains Javeed. Paris-Sorbonne was able to provide these services using a Cisco IP TV solution.

Though watching television on one’s laptop may cut down on ambient noise, there are a few programmes - for instance sports matches - that need to be consumed as a group. “For community viewing, we installed televisions in the common rooms.”

“If I can get 40 percent of endusers to switch to a new system in the first year, I consider that a success. In total I can only really expect around 80 percent to transfer to a new system. A rate of 100 percent is just unrealistic.

There will always be those that are resistant to change.”

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“We are looking into new ways to leverage technology to support students. In the near future, we are hoping to roll out a global classroom experience – a way for students in Abu Dhabi to be able to collaborate in real time with students in France.”

However, students need more than high-speed Internet and streaming television. Paris-Sorbonne wanted to create a portal where students could take care of their administrative needs as well as access educational resources. To that end Paris-Sorbonne took on what is called the Talaki Digital Campus Project built on SunGard Higher Education’s Banner Digital Campus. With this tool, the campus administration has been able to increase enrolment growth and provide access to student services. “One of the issues that we faced was the disparate systems between the campus in Paris and the campus in Abu Dhabi,” explains Javeed. “In Paris, the university does not take on tuition fees, so there was no such thing as accounts payable.” Thus this was not simply a task of digitising existing systems, but also creating new systems that were to be unique to Paris-Sorbonne Abu Dhabi.

With the new system, students are able to pay their fees online, and administrative work across all campuses are consolidated. “Students can apply online now, and our recruiters can even use tablets to help students fill out enrolment applications,” says Javeed. With a new, streamlined system, the university was able to identify and collect on outstanding payments, and rid records of redundant information.

This digitised campus may be far from the old classrooms of the Sorbonne of old, but the education provided at Paris-Sorbonne Abu Dhabi is just as quality as its home campus. Javeed realises, however, that progress stops for no one. “We are looking into new ways to leverage technology to support students,” says Javeed, “In the near future, we are hoping to roll out a global classroom experience – a way for students in Abu Dhabi to be able to collaborate in real time with students in France.”

From France to the UAE, Paris-Sorbonne Abu Dhabi has very much lived up to its mission of being a bridge between cultures. Building that bridge has relied, in large part, on new technological advances rolled out with patience and forethought. As Paris-Sorbonne Abu Dhabi progresses, it is committed to maintaining its connection to the culture and educational system of France. No matter how modern this smart campus becomes, it will always have that signature “De vrai béauté.”

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CASE STUDY MOL

Paper chase There is a growing problem these days in offices everywhere – stacks of documents are piling up in basements and dusty rooms. Archives are overflowing, and the solution at hand is document digitisation. The Ministry of Labour in Dubai has recently partnered with Laserfiche to free themselves from these paper chains.

I

t is probably no shock to anyone that the UAE’s Ministry of Labour creates and manages a great deal of paper.

Documents, from the HR department, to the legal department, to the finance department have historically taken up rooms filled with boxes filled with files. In the recent past, the Ministry of Labour attempted to digitise its archived files, but the solution was difficult to use and thus sat, underutilised, on the virtual shelf. It was clear, in light of government archiving regulations and the need to keep files available, that this paper

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problem was not going to go away and it certainly was not going to get any better. Instead of shoving another box into another room to keep the issue out of sight, Ahmad Al Nasser, Director, Information Technology, Ministry of Labour, and Nabil Al Zarouni, IT Deputy Director, Information Technology, Ministry of Labour, decided to take a proactive approach.

Al Nasser and Al Zarouni decided that they needed a userfriendly, scalable and approachable solution to digitising the department’s many documents. “The Undersecretary of Labour

Affairs has a requirement that all employee files be archived,” explains Al Nasser. “Thus, we began our search for a document management solution with the idea that we would begin the process with the HR department files and documents.” In addition to the archival requirements, the Ministry of Labour has recently adopted an environmental initiative designed to cut down on the Ministry’s eco-footprint. “It is called Green IT,” says Al Nasser, “Any way that we can use technology to cut down on the waste of resources such as paper is a benefit to the environment.”

Not only conscious of the paper archive’s effect on the environment, the IT team at the Ministry of Labour was reminded daily of another pressing issue, “It takes up a great deal of physical space,” explained Al Zarouni, “literally rooms and rooms of HR files have been taking up areas that could be much better used. Without the files filling rooms, we can use our space more efficiently.”

It was Al Zarouni that was tasked with finding a vendor to meet the needs of the Ministry of Labour. “We had purchased a solution a number of years ago,” recalls Al Zarouni, “but there were too many steps to digitise and archive a single file, so no one used it. If no one is using the solution, it is not a solution at all.” With a clunky old system sitting on the virtual shelf, Al Zarouni knew that a costly error was out of the question. He needed to choose the right vendor for the job.

The first decision was whether or not to upgrade the old system, or to implement a completely new system. Al Zarouni did a bit of calling around.

“I inquired with other end-users, and found that most of them were also dissatisfied. I decided that there was no reason to upgrade a system with which no one was content. It became clear that we simply needed a new way of doing things.”

As a new solution was clearly the way forward, Al Zarouni set to narrowing down his possible vendors. “I selected three possibilities. He used every resource on hand to make a decision. “I spoke with users of each solution,” he recalls, “I even used Gartner’s Magic Quadrant.” In the end Al Zarouni landed on Laserfiche, a vendor that provided everything the Ministry needed in a document solution. “All of the end-users I spoke to were satisfied, and more importantly, when we looked at what Laserfiche could do, we really believed in the solution.”

Still, Al Nasser and Al Zarouni approached the solution with caution.

“We wanted it to be fully tested on our end-users,” explained Al Nasser, “we wanted to make absolutely sure that the solution would be used.” As such, the team, in partnership with Laserfiche, agreed to a one month long Proof of Concept period.

After such an extensive trial period, the IT team at the Ministry of Labour expected to see a few hiccups. “We were surprised,” recalls Al Nasser, “by and large our end-users were very satisfied.” Al Zarouni agrees, “Sure, there were a few complaints at first, but mostly people took well to the new system.”

With the new Laserfiche solution in place and the Ministry of Labour staff satisfied that they had found a vendor that could meet their needs, the IT department set to planning the roll-out. “We worked closely with Laserfiche to come up with solutions to our unique issues,” says Al Zarouni.

For example, he says, some employees of the Ministry of Labour have been

employed with the agency for over twenty years. “Their files were huge. If you can imagine every sick day, every leave request and every certificate for a long-term employee. Some files were just enormous.” To meet that need, Laserfiche came in with an answer. “They separated the type of document in each file with a barcoded file,” explains Al Zarouni, “Each barcode indicated what type of document followed. For example, behind one separator would be the leave requests for one employee. In that way we could just line up the HR file and feed it through the scanner.”

It is customer service such as this from Laserfiche that has kept the Ministry of Labour satisfied since the completion of the roll-out last March.

“We look at Laserfiche as a partner, rather than just a vendor,” says Al Nasser, “they have been there for us with anything we need.”

The results of the digitisation of the documents of the Ministry of Labour’s HR department were immediate. “Here is a real example,” offers

“Any way that we can use technology to cut down on the waste of resources such as paper is a benefit to the environment.”

Al Nasser, “Someone called me over Ramadan, when there was hardly anyone in the office. They needed the latest copy of an employee’s passport.

What would have, in the past, taken a few days, took literally a few seconds to find and email to me.”

The proof, as they say, is in the pudding. “We knew that the project had been a success when something new and strange began to happen to us,” recalls Al Zarouni. “Other departments within the Ministry began to ask for the document solution.” For the first time, rather than IT pushing a system on every department and running into resistance, other departments were demanding that their systems be upgraded as well.

The Ministry of Labour plans to continue to work with Laserfiche to digitise their documents. The finance and legal departments will be coming up next, and the team hopes to have the entire Ministry archive digitised by next year. “We feel good about our partnership with Laserfiche,” says Al Nasser, “and we are confident that it will continue.”

In the future, the IT department at the Ministry of Labour hopes to take the digitisation process to the next level. “We are hoping to see a fully automated system,” says Al Nasser, “and we plan to continue our commitment to limiting our use of paper.”

A paper problem may not seem like a big deal until it is solved.

Digitising the Ministry’s documents has freed up time, money and physical space. With these new resources at hand, the Ministry of Labour can get back to taking care of business.

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FEATURE

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solutions World

THE EVOLUTION OF CRM Customer Relationship Management solutions now encompass a wide range of services, providing sales and marketing aspects as well as call centre management software and e-commerce storefronts. But that wasn’t always the case. CNME takes a look at the evolution of CRM and how it impacts business today.

P

rimarily focusing on the ‘Four P’s’ – product, price, place and promotion – CRM has its roots in the 1960s, when the drive to manage customers’ interactions with companies became a major issue.

By the 1980s, ‘Relationship Marketing’ was the in-thing, the focus on understanding customer segments, delivering ongoing quality of service and achieving high customer satisfaction.

Back then, a lack of technology to support processes meant that CRM was a manual process and customer impact was low. The 90s saw the introduction of contact management, which could support the technology, and this led to the ability to manage information for sales, services and marketing. Today, technology that includes connectivity and software-based business applications has allowed CRM to provide increased customer satisfaction and employee productivity, as well as reducing costs.

Rohan Tejura, Assistant Vice President, Focus Softnet, believes there have been two clear stages in the technology’s development.

“The first significant evolution phase was when the CRM became a vital tool for customer service centric companies such as banks and telecom providers to communicate with their clients,” he says. “The second one came about during the social media era. Social CRM now can be proclaimed as the 'modern CRM', although it is still in its larval stages.”

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FEATURE

CRM

Anilesh Kumar, Director, Business Development, Levtech Consulting, sees the third platform as a defining influence in modern CRM, “The current growth in mobile has led to immense focus on CRM usage through mobile devices,” he says. “Another recent aspect has been the deployment of CRM on the cloud. Both these developments have led to the growth of CRM market penetration across verticals and market segments, particularly SMB. The increasing ease of use has also improved project success rates and adoption levels.”

The introduction of ‘Front Office’ CRM could be deemed an epiphany for modern business, addressing sales, marketing and services objectives. It delivered enhanced customer satisfaction and loyalty through higher service quality delivery, as well as reduced service cost; its intangible benefit. In the age of smart CRM technology, companies now only need staff that are reasonably skilled in navigating through a computer, the CRM application - which is generally simple and intuitive - and have a basic level of common sense, with good communications skills. These staff members are generally easy to find, reducing the need for highly specialised customer service representatives handling every basic detail of customer service, most of which can be handled through the Front Office itself.

CRM has evolved over the years and we are in a new era now. Today, a properly implemented CRM system allows companies to segment their clientele and track preferences and trends. This permits them to target promotions and client contact which results in more client loyalty, better success with promotions, and increased client referrals.”

Karim Talhouk, Microsoft Business Solutions Lead, Microsoft Gulf

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“Front Office CRM is important in inspiring customer loyalty, and in helping businesses build better relationships with those customers. CRM technology is most often used by employees who interface directly with customers, such as sales and customer service representatives."

“To a large extent, the introduction of Front Office CRM was a huge turning point,” says Karim Talhouk, Microsoft Business Solutions Lead, Microsoft Gulf.

“Front Office CRM is important in inspiring customer loyalty, and in helping businesses build better relationships with those customers. CRM technology is most often used by employees who interface directly with customers, such as sales and customer service representatives. Data gathered from tools is also analysed by business owners to identify levels of customer satisfaction, buying patterns, the success - or lack thereof - of a particular marketing or sales promotion with customers, and more.”

The importance of presenting a ‘single face’ to customers is key. Detailed profiling of a customer helps the customer front ending team to communicate to them in relatable terms. Having access to a 360 degree view of a customer helps the front end desk to understand a customer better and enables them to answer any queries related to various departments.

Since customer data is shared with CRM users and processes are standardised, all staff are better equipped to provide the same customer experience.

With intelligence now available at the click of a button, ensuring that the staff member or executive who interfaces with a client is equipped with precise and to-the-point instructions and information on the next actionable steps is a key motive. It is important to ensure that no matter who the resource, the end

FEATURE

CRM

client always hears the same thing. Through these systems, companies can define single standard customer service culture, which is perhaps the greatest advantage of CRM. Traditional CRM systems were fairly standardised and therefore rigid in their processes, forcing companies to adopt the CRM’s so-called “Best Industry Practices”. However, with the current high level of flexibility, customisation and personalisation available with modern CRM systems, companies can benefit from taking these practices to adopt policies that they’ve established themselves as highly successful. This can allow them to design a unique customer experience roadmap.

Talhouk believes an organisation’s current ability to configure CRM is a defining aspect to the technology, “CRM has evolved over the years and we are in a new era now,” he says. “Today, a properly implemented CRM system allows companies to segment their clientele and track preferences and trends. This permits them to target promotions and client contact which results in more client loyalty, better success with promotions, and increased client referrals. In a difficult economy, the importance of client loyalty and referrals is even more pronounced, increasing the value of a well-tuned CRM system.

Whenever you pick up the phone your CRM system becomes your information hub, where you go to immediately know who it is on the line, how you know them, what they were promised and what was delivered.”

As with most technology trends, the third platform of computing stands to have a large influence on CRM, with the promise of greater business agility and productivity through trends such as cloud and mobility. In addition, the evolution of the Internet of Things will enable businesses to track the data of connected devices, and this data can be used for business processes and front facing operations.

Reggie Fernandes, Regional Director, Sage Middle East, believes social interactions will decide the direction that future CRM technology will take, “The future of CRM has moved from transaction and relationship marketing to social marketing where CRM converges with the social conversations to better understand the customer,” he says. “As technology is evolving CRM is of course provided on Mobile-as-a-Service, connected to social networks and turning transactions into conversations which organisations can review to better manage customers’ expectations.”

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It is going to become a basic necessity of most companies in much the same manner as a simple accounting solution is. Most CRMs deployed in the commercial world are used to service external customers, but already many large corporates are deploying CRM systems for companies to manage their internal customers as well.”

Rohan Tejura, Assistant Vice President, Focus Softnet

Tejura believes high-level CRM will become a necessity for any organisation, “It is going to become a basic requirement of most companies in much the same manner as a simple accounting solution is,” he says. “Most CRMs deployed in the commercial world are used to service external customers, but already many large corporates are deploying CRM systems for companies to manage their internal customers as well.”

Talhouk meanwhile believes customers will come first, “The future of CRM will be more focused on systems that are based on what matters most to the customer, allowing customers direct access to all of the information they need in order to do business with an organisation,” he says.

“Customer driven CRM means that organisations first understand the customer, and then move inward to operations.”

He also thinks that as CRM evolves, it will be an increasing business value-add via the optimisation of customer relationships, “The next generation of CRM will also focus more on financial results,” Talhouk adds. “Not all customer relationships are profitable and very few companies can afford to deliver an equal level of services to all customers. Organisations must identify existing profitable customer segments and develop the business requirements to support sustained relationships with them.”

CONVERGENT COMMAND : MORE THAN JUST TIME AND EFFICIENCY Huawei Smart City solution: contributing to building a smarter Nanjing, China Since the Asian Youth Games in 2013, Huawei has continued to support Nanjing’s Smart City efforts leading up to the Youth Olympic Games in 2014. The rollout forms the basis of the city’s continued Smart City drive. The city needed to stay abreast of situations on the ground through making timely and accurate decisions. Huawei offered an integrated solution that incorporates 4G Mobile Broadband with integrated communication technologies. The solution ensures visibility and coordination of various city operations across 14 stadiums and nearby roads using an “Audio+Video+Data” Convergent Command system. Coordination efficiency increased by 55%.

“Huawei’s Smart City solution is compelling in that it has helped organizers of the Asian Youth Games co-ordinate in real-time using voice, video and multimedia services. The solution plays a significant role in facilitating this great sporting event.”

Li Nan, Head of Communications and Network Department, Asian Youth Games For more information,please visit e.huawei.com

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FEATURE

VDI

Virtual virtues After years of false starts, virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) has finally gone mainstream. If implemented correctly it can deliver substantial cost savings to enterprise IT shops. What are the risks and rewards involved in embarking on a VDI implementation for your organisation?

V

irtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) is designed to deliver virtual desktops to client computers over a network from a centralised source. With traditional VDI, you create a master image (reference computer, or core) to use for all clients, then personalise images as needed.

The process of distributing patches and updates is simplified because you only have to update images, not every physical desktop. Plus, you can push desktops across a variety of platforms and devices, from desktop PCs to thin clients and mobile devices.

VDI offers numerous benefits, mainly in the form of simplified desktop management and fewer hardware purchases. This, in turn, can lead to reduced capital expenditures and operating costs. When implemented properly, some organisations report that VDI reduced the cost of each desktop by up to 40 percent.

Today's VDI products give you the option to extend the life of older client hardware. Legacy computers that ran Windows XP can be transformed into perfectly fine VDI thin clients for employees who don't use CPU- and RAMintensive applications.

Likewise, administrators spend less time managing physical client computers. Once VDI is implemented, all

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a client needs is a remote desktop connection to receive the virtual desktop. VDI also offers increased security and easier backups. Administrators can lock down images and prevent users from using external devices. With images and data stored in a server infrastructure, backups may be performed centrally on servers or storage devices rather than from client machines.

As good as VDI sounds, it's not without some pitfalls.

Key challenges with VDI include network capacity, server capacity and adequate storage. VDI users can't work offline, and they'll be unable to perform their jobs if the network or server is down. IT needs to provide fast network or WAN links to push desktops and data to clients in real time, and its servers must be able to keep up that pace.

Some organisations must also add serious storage capacity to house the number of images needed for VDI if users require numerous customised desktops. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yes, VDI is very much dependent on networks, servers and storage. If the network is not stable and has high latency, VDI will time out, and all the computing power from the desktops is centralised on the server and storage. The data from the desktop is also moved to the server in the data centre,â&#x20AC;? says Bhaskar Peruri, Regional Sales Manager, Silver Peak.

Kamal Bhojwani, Business Operations Manager,

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FEATURE

VDI

GBM, adds that depending on VDI technology and the number of users, the server requirement may vary from an all-in-one single server deployment to complex server architecture. “Important considerations to take into account include high availability and scalability of the deployed VDI architecture. Storage sizing varies on whether persistent or non-persistent virtual desktops are deployed. Technologies like thin provisioning and data deduplication can optimise storage requirements, and improved storage performance can be achieved with flash storage.”

Building the infrastructure required to support VDI, if it is not already in place, can be expensive and must be considered when initially planning any VDI implementation. Salil Dighe, CEO of Meta Byte Technologies, says it’s important to test VDI scalability even it means a paid proof-of-concept. “Vendors are coming up with new technologies and boast of hosting the entire universe on a single appliance. You should be extremely cautious of marketing spiel and dubious claims by vendors.”

VDI implementation needs planning, testing

Before diving into a full-scale VDI implementation, look at your organisation's departments or business units and pick the one that's best-suited to VDI. Remember, VDI is not a good fit for every user or business function; employees who need a lot of processing power or who demand local storage won't benefit from VDI.

Mobile is becoming increasingly important and will continue to over time. In order for employees to work productively, they must have anytime, anywhere access to their apps and one that is designed specifically to deliver a great VDI experience on any device they use.”

Arthur Dell, Technology & Services Director, Citrix

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Vendors are coming up with new technologies and boast of hosting the entire universe on a single appliance.

You should be extremely cautious of marketing spiel and dubious claims by vendors.”

Salil Dighe, CEO of Meta Byte Technologies

Begin with a pilot project and monitor the end-user experience. User satisfaction will be an important factor in the success of your project. If your solution doesn't meet users' performance expectations, it risks being shelved or abandoned.

It is also important to consider other key factors while evaluating VDI. “You should consider how the solution will increase user productivity with easy and uniform access to all applications and data using different devices from office, home, and mobile locations. It is important to understand how to achieve higher IT operational efficiency from the lockdown of software and desktop configurations,” says Yarob Sakhnini, Regional Director, Brocade.

Arthur Dell, Technology & Services Director, Citrix, advises users to look for a solution that enables better Windows app experience on mobile devices. "Mobile is becoming increasingly important and will continue to over time," he says. "In order for employees to work productively, they must have anytime, anywhere access to their apps and one that is designed specifically to deliver a great VDI experience on any device they use."

Arunkumar N, Product Manager, ManageEngine, adds that IT managers need to analyse how desktops are being used by the end-users, what type of applications they access and remote access requirements. “This will help to understand the user requirements and look out for a VDI solution.”

It is also critical to ensure that entire virtual desktop infrastructure offers security and risk management.

“Securing this new, centralised environment is difficult, especially when a single IP address can represent thousands of different users all accessing their applications

THE WORLD FASTEST DATACENTER FIREWALL But securing this new, centralised environment is difficult, especially when a single IP address can represent thousands of different users all accessing their applications and data using a variety of devices.”

Saeed Agha, General Manager - Middle East, Palo Alto Networks

and data using a variety of devices. While employing a VDI environment, users may have access to other applications in your data centre besides their virtual desktop,” says Saeed Agha, General Manager - Middle East, Palo Alto Networks.

Risks and rewards

VDI is acceptable only if it provides a functional or financial benefit to your organisation, where cost is usually the greatest factor. Consider both the initial and long-term costs, including licensing, storage and network infrastructure elements. “In order to adopt a VDI solution, software licensing costs and end-user licensing models need to be reviewed. Maybe additional licenses will be required for using a virtualised operating system.

Common pitfalls can be avoided by proper analysis of existing desktop infrastructure and engaging virtualisation consultants for proper assessment and design of virtual desktop infrastructure,” says Bhojwani.

To reduce costs even further, you can also consider moving applications to the cloud, subscribing to SaaS or virtualising applications, especially for mobile users with ultra-thin laptops or tablets and support BYOD. Another possibility is a hosted VDI solution, also known as Desktop-as-a-Service. With DaaS, you host virtual desktops in the cloud, either in-house in a private cloud or through some third-party provider. The benefit of using a third party comes from offloading IT of the responsibility for maintaining back-end technology, such as load balancing, resource provisioning, and network problem-solving. Instead, IT can focus on managing clients, their virtual desktops and their applications.

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FEATURE

System integrators

5

system integrators to watch in 2014 CNME scours the region for the top SI talent, and takes a look at what these companies have done to establish themselves as the go-to people for IT solutions and services.

Azimuth Founding the now Bahrain-based SI in 2004, Hugh HaskellThomas, Owner, Azimuth, says there were a “lack of go-to systems integrators” in the Gulf when the company first burst onto the scene. “The likes of IBM existed, and as did business development and sales teams, but in my opinion there was a lack of technical resources,” he says.

In the company’s infancy, HaskellThomas tried to think outside the box to find untapped integration projects. “We focused on strange, challenging clients when we were first starting,” Haskell-Thomas says.

By 2009, the company had decided to enter the fixed asset management market, integrating Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, which could provide real-time tracking of assets. The company quickly moved to exploit the market for tracking medical instruments and newborn babies in the healthcare industry, and weaponry in the military space.

In the case of the medical industry, the use of RFID is vital to prevent the spread of lethal infections. “For an infection like MRSA, in order to prevent the spread of the disease, it is essential to know who has touched who and 42

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who has gone into what room,” Haskell-Thomas says. “The same goes for SARS in Hong Kong, when a patient goes into A&E you must keep track of the infection chain.”

In that vein, Azimuth has recently signed a deal with a Middle Eastern medical firm to integrate RFID technology into 1.1 million of its instruments. It’s key clients include King Hamad Hospital in Bahrain, and National Guard Health Affairs in Saudi Arabia. Haskell-Thomas also sees potential for branching out into the oil pipeline business.

He believes the company’s flexibility is what gives it a cutting edge, “Our greatest strength is our ability to keep an open mind in terms of solving problems,” Haskell-Thomas says. “If we don’t have the right tools to solve a problem, we go away, find them and the right staff, then come back prepared.”

Finesse Starting four years ago at the peak of the recession in the UAE, Finesse now has a staff of “Almost 200,” says Sunil Paul, the company’s Chief Operating Office.

The company now has over 100 enterprise clients, and has offices in Muscat, Doha, Manama, Canada, Singapore and has an offshore centre in Bangalore, but

integration advisor

FortiWeb

Paul says the majority of business still comes from the Middle East.

Finesse’s solutions focus on Business Intelligence & Analytics, Enterprise Content & Business Process Management, and Governance, Risk & Compliance.

With these services in mind, the company’s main target verticals are the BFSI industry, education, healthcare and it is beginning to focus on the energy industry.

“We have also added a few more solutions to our portfolio in the last few months including CPM (Corporate Performance Management), Energy Sustainability and Customer Experience Management,” Paul says.

Paul says the company’s main services are delivered through cloud, mobility and social media.

“We have endeavoured to offer our solutions on cloud or a Software-as-a-Service model to enable customers to have the option of an OPEX model, which is often preferable nowadays,” Paul says.

“It’s also important to enable all solutions to be accessed through mobile devices, so clients can stay informed via streams of connectivity whenever and wherever they are.”

In terms of Finesse’s social offerings, the company is able to provide information through these channels, and can define a business practice via social media monitoring.

Finesse’s progress over the last few years is in reflected in its current foothold; the company has contracts with “70 percent of regional banks, and three out of five of the main telco companies.”

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FEATURE

System integrators

Paul says Finesse’s philosophy is defined by reaching compromises that satisfy the customer, “Our biggest strength is the way we approach an opportunity,” he says. “In the traditional model the customer needs something, which the vendor quotes against. We work with the customer to design a solution that focuses primarily on their business objectives. We see where we can add value in process enablement. Eventually what our customer buys is a combination of various things. It is typically a business application that needs to be implemented, plus a sizeable amount of process redesign.”

Intelligent Business Technologies Founded in 2008, IBT’s humble beginnings in its “small” Dubai office were quickly overcome with solid business in its IT infrastructure and Managed Services offerings.

The company still retains its main office in the City of Gold, and has a presence in Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Mumbai, with a workforce of over 100.

Following the recession in 2008 – which at the time dramatically changed Dubai’s fortunes – IBT shifted its focus solely to Managed Services. “The market for IT infrastructure correlates directly to the construction and real estate industries,” Mulani says. “When the crash hit, construction stopped, and so did the demand for fresh infrastructure services. The market went to zero.”

The company has since thrived in the Managed Services field. Mulani says that IBT’s offerings allow them to “become a company’s IT department,” with operations outsourced to his smaller, more costeffective team. “In one case, six of my team took on the work of a client’s 15 IT employees, showing exactly what we can offer,” Mulani says.

Following improvements in the real estate market in 2012, IBT has since moved back into the infrastructure business. It also opened its cloud computing division, which has servers in Manchester, United Kingdom, that offer application and email hosting services.

Mulani prides IBT on its one hour response and six hour resolution times for its clients. “We have a 44

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24/7 call centre, and our engineers work round-theclock,” he says. “In partnership with vendors, we can ensure that resolution time is no more than six hours and SLAs are met.”

As much as “80 percent” of IBT’s business comes from the retail, hospitality, education and banking sectors, while Mulani says the company has “one major local bank and one international bank” as clients, as well as a clutch of government customers.

Along with the 20 projects it is currently running, the company is due to open a U.S. office

by Q1 2015, with Mulani currently finalising its location - whether it will be New York or San Francisco-based. Once there, IBT will focus solely on selling its Managed Services offering stateside.

PRO TECHnology Jamal Maraqa, Managing Director, PRO TECHnology, attributes the company’s “great mileage” and commitment to its human resources and employees – as well a willingness to adopt modern technology – as the company’s greatest strengths.

Founded in 1998, the company integrates storage and digital archiving technology, and since moving into the Apple business is “one of the largest dealers in the Middle East.”

“Although we’ve had huge success with Apple, our greatest experience is in storage; backup, distribution and recovery,” Maraqa says.

The company has five divisions: enterprise solutions, the Apple business, digital printing, distribution, and PRO Style, its lifestyle products and accessories arm.

With offices in the UAE and Libya, over the last 10 years PRO TECHnology has served the Jordanian, Saudi, Iranian, Qatari, Kuwaiti and Sudanese markets.

Its main target vertical is the broadcast industry. “There are a few large projects we’re especially proud of,” Maraqa says. “We have a contract with Al Jazeera for their broadcasting storage; their video archiving. There are also several education partners, including New York University; we take care of their educational mackintosh labs’ data.”

WIRELESS SECURITY SOLUTION FOR YOUR NETWORK In keeping with having NYU as a key client, Maraqa takes pride in having a forward-thinking approach to technology, “Much like in the U.S. or Europe, we’re always looking to invest in new technology,” he says. “This makes you stand out from the crowd.”

Tech Forte Acquired by Global Distribution Group in 2012, Tech Forte Systems “Does not focus on dedicated solutions, but on IT infrastructure as a whole,” says Mario Veljovic, Vice President Solutions, MENA, Global Distribution. “The main challenges an SI faces are building economies of scale, and addressing end clients.”

Headquartered in Dubai, Tech Forte’s provisioning of Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, encompassing storage, networking and virtualisation, is something that requires a thorough understanding in order to build relationships with its partners, Veljovic says.

Tech Forte’s two principal target verticals are the public sector and education. He believes this is what sets Tech Forte apart as an SI, “Our specific focus is a great strength,” he says. “It makes evaluating our performance and KPIs easier, whereas most SIs tend to focus on seven or eight verticals. We know that if we have a 70-80 percent market share in our specialism we are in a strong position.”

In line with their strategy, Tech Forte has a number of government clients, and Veljovic believes the firm is in a strong position to secure these contracts. “Most SIs aren’t able to fund the necessary bonds to secure these deals,” he says.

“As a large group we have the capital to front the deposits to bid for the contracts, and as such can take greater risks.”

“The education market is set to double in the next 3-5 years,” Veljovic says. “Classrooms are becoming digitalised and this necessitates more SI services.”

Veljovic says he also believes the company’s sense of adventure defines its culture, “We have a real entrepreneurial spirit, and a DNA of technology interest,” he says. “We want to experiment with technology, and convince customers to opt for new brands and technologies.”

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P O W E R E D B Y S E C U R E WAY

FEATURE

???

Storage

Storage Wars With the wealth of options presented to businesses in regard to data storage these days, it is difficult to determine which solution is appropriate for which type of business. CNME investigates which storage solution is right for each organisation.

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storage advisor

I

ndustry verticals such as healthcare, education and government are bound to abide by certain regulations when it comes to data storage, and all industries must remain vigilant when it comes to protecting sensitive data. Further muddying the water has been the rapid development of cloud storage solutions.

From private to public to hybrid, businesses, particularly SMEs, can become understandably confused.

In recent years, Big Data has been at the forefront of the minds of industry leaders and IT professionals.

Data growth has been, without exaggeration, explosive in this region and globally. With our data coffers overflowing, the hunger for additional storage solutions has become insatiable. “Businesses now have multiple avenues to choose from, and more transactions are being completed electronically, making it easier to collect large sums of data,” says Andrew Calthorpe, CEO, Condo Protego, “Companies realise that in order to maintain a competitive edge they need to understand the market, and that applying business analytics to this data can provide them that insight.”

Of course, it is not only personal data creation that has led to its exponential growth. The Internet of Things has devices communicating between each other and thus, creating even more data. In addition, there is the issue of its economics aspects. Data is, as a commodity, relatively cheap, so rather than deleting it when not in use,

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FEATURE

Storage

businesses tend to hold on to data with the thought that it may be used in the future. As a result, we now have historical data, current data as well as data that is being churned out every second of every day. It is no wonder, that when it comes to storage, finding a solution can seem overwhelming.

Enterprises in the Middle East are replacing their legacy storage solutions with more centralised and reliable infrastructures. “Storage has become a focal point for industries everywhere as the key to redefining their IT infrastructure no longer remains just with managing and recoding information, but doing so in a manner that allows for it to be shared across the relevant departments. This must be done without having to create multiple records of the same information and finally use it to drive strategic insight, routes to market and customer satisfaction,” says Habib Mahakian, Regional General Manager, Gulf & Pakistan, EMC. Currently, external disk storage holds strong as the storage solution of choice for businesses. However, cloud storage solutions are beginning to take hold in the region.

To be sure, the Middle East has been a slow adopter of cloud storage solutions, but virtualised storage uptake in the region is building momentum.

“Software-defined storage is another important trend for companies looking to save on costs with regard to storage infrastructure and most storage appliance vendors have announced SDS initiatives,” says Ranjith Kaippada, Product Sales Manager, StoreIt Distribution, “OpenStack will continue to gain this year as the ‘open’ alternative to commercial products for data centres.”

On-premise storage such as SAN or NAS is hardly a thing of the past. Gregg Petersen, Regional Director for Middle East and SAARC, Veeam Software, agrees and doesn’t see an end to traditional solutions, “There is a huge move towards flash drive to help improve the performance in virtual

OpenStack will continue to gain this year as the ‘open’ alternative to commercial products for data centres.”

Ranjith Kaippada, Product Sales Manager, StoreIt Distribution

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There is a huge move towards flash drive to help improve the performance in virtual infrastructure – virtual service and virtual desktop environment.

There is also the normal SAN and NAS based storage and I see this trend continuing for a while to come.”

Gregg Petersen, Regional Director for Middle East and SAARC, Veeam Software

infrastructure – virtual service and virtual desktop environment,” he says. “There is also the normal SAN and NAS based storage and I see this trend continuing for a while to come.”

Of course, each business’ storage needs will differ, depending on industry, size and amount of data. Enterprise customers will go with storage designed to maintain a wealth of data, whereas SMEs may gravitate toward more cost-effective cloud solutions. “A cost-benefit analysis will reveal the path an enterprise should take for meeting their storage demands,” advises Pravin Kumar, Product Manager, ManageEngine. “They can either go for an on-premise storage network, or outsource their data storage requirements to a third party.”

Outsourced data storage does offer a cost-effective solution to dealing with large amounts of data.

Because incidental costs are spread over a number of clients, the bottom line at the end of the day can be tempting. Unintended spikes in data creation can be dealt with swiftly by a third party vendor. While outsourcing data storage may seem like an attractive solution, there are some downsides to managing data storage offsite. Security can be tricky when dealing with an outsourced solution, and communication between the business and the storage provider must be clear. “Stringent SLAs must be formulated with the storage service provider to ensure availability of services, security and desired levels of performance,” warns Sakkeer Hussain, Sales and Marketing Director, D-Link Middle East & Africa.

Indeed, data storage solutions are evolving rapidly to deal with the explosion of data hitting the IT landscape. Choosing the right storage solution

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FEATURE

Storage

for a business, in the end, comes down to evaluating each business’ individual needs. “Data storage options must be carefully evaluated parallel to the current scenario and future needs of the business,” advises Swapna Subramani, Senior Research Analyst, Systems and Infrastructure Solutions, IDC, MEA. “Enterprises should incorporate their future strategic initiatives, cloud implementations etc. to their storage options in order to create an optimal storage buffer and disaster recovery measures.”

The future development of data storage will run parallel with the creation of more and more data.

As such, performance will be of utmost concern.

Not only will businesses need more data storage space, they will also need to access that data more quickly and efficiently. As such, flash storage is taking centre stage. Flash storage runs on electricity and requires limited cooling, which translates to immediate cost benefits for businesses. “[Flash storage] can read information one hundred times faster than traditional hard drives,” says Rajesh Abraham, Director, Product Development, eHosting DataFort, “Several leading start-ups and established organizations are incorporating elements of flash technology into their storage products.”

Purchasing storage systems should not be treated as simply another hardware procurement decision.

Vendors are beginning to tap the SME market, which has been traditionally slow in technology acquirement. While this means that there are a number of new, innovative products on the market, it also translates into a more confusing choice for businesses. The best advice is to be aware of the company’s needs, and to conduct a thorough

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Data storage options must be carefully evaluated parallel to the current scenario and future needs of the business. Enterprises should incorporate their future strategic initiatives, cloud implementations etc. to their storage options in order to create an optimal storage buffer and disaster recovery measures.”

Swapna Subrammani, Senior Research Analyst, Systems and Infrastructure Solutions, IDC, MEA

evaluation prior to investing in any solution.

It is also necessary that the IT leadership within a business stay abreast of up-and-coming trends and solutions, as this is a branch of the industry that is developing very rapidly. On-site storage solutions should be easily scalable, as the data to be housed is likely to grow rapidly. Those opting for an outsourced solution should choose a vendor with a solid history, and a plan to grow with the industry and business’ needs. Cloud solutions are absolutely viable options for some industry verticals. However, questions of security and scalability should be addressed early and revisited often.

FEATURE

BYOD

Bring Your Own Danger?

BYOD programmes are fast becoming the norm in today’s business landscape.

Employees want more freedom of choice when it comes to the device they use for business. However, this new found freedom comes with a measure of risk.

F

rom exposure to the business network, to keeping personal and professional data separate, to behavioural risk, there are a number of real security issues that have to be addressed when allowing employees to bring their own devices into the work arena.

BYOD will more than likely continue to transform the way companies and their employees work, however, businesses need a solid adoption strategy, enabled through careful planning, that will ultimately allow them to safely and securely transition into mobile solutions that are both safe and flexible.

The fact is that BYOD is not a passing phase. An estimated 80 percent of professionals will use at least two personal devices to access their company’s systems and data. There are obvious benefits to the BYOD trend, with reduced costs for organisations and increased productivity for workers.

Mobile technology has changed working culture in the past few years, allowing workers to always be available, and in return employees have asked for more flexibility in their choice of device. Issues arise due to a number of factors, including the difficulty in vetting every new device that comes through the workplace doors. “The main challenge BYOD brings to an office network is a huge security risk,” says Natalya Kaspersky, CEO, InfoWatch Group, “There are more than 4000 different modifications and platforms for smartphones and tablets. If the company chooses a BYOD concept, it allows its’ employees to bring any device from this extensive list. There is no security solution that would support all of them.”

Though BYOD, as a trend, has been around for a few years now, the nature of technology development results in new and persistent security issues. It seems as though, as soon as an issue is addressed, technology moves on and another one crops up. Still, the most persistent issue when it comes to BYOD security is

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FEATURE

BYOD

user behaviour. “The actual issues around dealing with BYOD are not technical, but organisation and user acceptance,” says Stephan Berner, Managing Director, Help AG, “however, both the security industry as well as the end customers have tried to turn the question into a technical issue instead of talking about the elephant in the room.”

Organisations must address some very serious security concerns when it comes to BYOD. Virtual population growth due to duplicate identities can bog down networks and result in a double workload for those that have to keep track of log-ins and IDs. At the same time, end-users – in this case employees – demand convenience and familiarity when it comes to the device they use for business transactions. “User expect great convenience as they must keep track of different user names and passwords to log into different systems, applications and services,” says from Alaa Abdulnabi, Regional Pre-Sales Manager, Turkey Emerging Africa and Middle East, RSA. Businesses, and more specifically, IT departments, are challenged with creating BYOD policies that address current security risks, and leave room for future, heretofore unforeseen risks. “There is no question that there are solutions to security problems related to BYOD – anti-malware, application whitelisting, mobile device management and more,” explains David Emm, Senior Regional Researcher, UK, Global Research and Analysis Team, Kaspersky, “However, technology is only meaningful within an overall security strategy, and this must address

There are more than 4000 different modifications and platforms for smartphones and tablets. If the company chooses a BYOD concept, it allows its’ employees to bring any device from this extensive list. There is no security solution that would support all of them.”

Natalya Kaspersky, CEO, InfoWatch Group

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Technology is only meaningful within an overall security strategy, and this must address non-technical aspects of security - staff awareness in particular.”

David Emm, Senior Regional Researcher, UK, Global Research and Analysis Team, Kaspersky

non-technical aspect of security, staff awareness in particular.”

BYOD challenges companies to create solid policies that protect business data and prevents security risks. Many companies make the mistake of leaving their BYOD policy informal, which can expose the business to a great many security risks.

Most prominent in the realm of risks the businesses take when adopting BYOD policies is data loss.

Consequences of data loss can be extreme for companies. So too, when employees connect their personal devices to the company network, the network is put at risk. BYOD devices can introduce viruses and infect business networks if strict policies are not implemented.

Though it may be tempting for IT to develop a policy that addresses every possible risk scenario, with the wealth of devices and the fast development of new technology, this is a fool’s errand according to some.

“A successful BYOD initiative combines simplicity for people with effective security, control and management of IT,” says Matteo Masserini, Regional Sales Manager, Mobility, Middle East and Africa, Citrix, “While the temptation can be strong for IT to develop specific policies for every conceivable scenario, the reality is that most considerations can be addressed through the application of some very simple guidelines.”

Even in light of multiple log-ins, segregated WiFi networks, containerisation and separate business applications, not all security concerns can be fixed by technology. Many concerns are user behavioural in nature. Users fail to back up business data or tamper with their device in terms of jail-breaking or downloading blacklisted applications. The downside to end-users’ familiarity with their business devices is

DATA THEFT OFTEN GOES UNNOTICED. Imagine a determined hacker breaking into your network to steal your intellectual property. He’s an expert, so he encrypts the data before removing it from your network. Would that trigger an alarm in your defences?

Could your security solution distinguish between this attack and an employee banking online? It’s a tough call.

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FEATURE

BYOD

that they are able circumvent company policy more easy. “BOYD offers more flexibility and independence for workers, but it can seriously reduce the control that organisations wield over network security,” explains Fabrizio Croce, Regional Director, Southern Europe and Middle East, WatchGuard.

Ideally, business would be able to manage their employees’ desires to manage their own devices along with the security needs and limitations of the company. “Such an alignment is achievable through the usage of the right technology platform,” says Bashar Bashaireh, Regional Director, Gulf and Pakistan, Aruba Networks Middle East. Indeed, to match the needs that come with the trends and risks of today’s enterprise IT landscapes, organisations need to keep on top of policy and best practice.

As BYOD becomes more commonplace, and technology development marches inevitably forward, best-practices have transformed to meet changing needs. The advent of mobile computing via smartphones and tablets have opened the floodgates of mobile applications. “Every day, new apps are released,” says Sebastien Pavie, Regional Sales Director, MEA, SafeNet, “however the vast majority of download volumes are being attributed to free apps.

Developers now need to start thinking about how they protect and license their solutions.”

“Security best practices now need to incorporate how data will be secured around smartphones and tablets,” says Megha Kumar, Research Manager, Software, IDC MEA. “They will also need to look

"Creating the corporate policy is a necessary first step for creating a secure mobile environment, but ultimately organisations need technical solutions in place to enforce policy.”

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While the temptation can be strong for IT to develop specific policies for every conceivable scenario, the reality is that most considerations can be addressed through the application of some very simple guidelines.”

Matteo Masserini, Regional Sales Manager, Mobility, Middle East and Africa, Citrix

at what data can or cannot be accessed by not only corporate devices but also employees' personal devices and how much of the information that is accessed can be changed.”

Current best practices should incorporate both technical and educational aspects to ensure that employees know how to keep their devices safe. Most importantly, however, businesses need to customise their policies for their staff, businesses and security needs. There is no one-size-fits-all solutions. “Creating the corporate policy is a necessary first step for creating a secure mobile environment, but ultimately organisations need technical solutions in place to enforce policy,” says Alain Penel, Regional Vice President, Middle East, Fortinet.

As such, organisations need to deploy a mix of policies and technical controls that include VDI, MDM, network enforcement and mobile clients and provide application control, data loss prevention and content filtering.

The BYOD trend is here to stay, however, the landscape will continue to change at a rapid pace. As more devices are connected on business networks, the security risk factors that businesses face are bound to increase. Though, currently, many issues have been addressed with technical panaceas, the one risk that will both remain and change the most is behavioural.

Company IT departments need to stay abreast of not only the technical risks associated with BYOD, but keep educational programs mandatory and fresh as well. Vendors will always be available to address technical concerns, but it is the behaviour of the enduser that can be make or break for BYOD security.

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FEATURE

CEM

Putting the customer first Customer experience management helps telecom service providers to pre-emptively solve problems and understand customer preferences proactively.

Here is why you should be embracing it.

W

ith network and coverage no longer being key differentiators, regional telecom operators are starting to look at improved customer experience as the key to attract and retain new customers, reduce churn and increase profit. However, how to do it well is still fodder for animated discussions at technology seminars.

There's no doubt that customer relationship management (CRM) has played a critical part in defining the customer relationship landscape in recent years. Yet, finding a way to measure and quantify the customer experience, including forecasting dollar spend, mapping unique spending patterns and accessing a transparent ROI for individual customers, has remained elusive.

Many telecom CIOs are now faced with the dilemma of existing legacy CRM systems which track these segments as independent data -- but can't connect them into the useful customer intelligence their sales and marketing colleagues are demanding.

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If you think of customer experience as an equation: Data storage + business intelligence + marketing = customer experience, it is easy to see the process as a single entity. The hard part for enterprise has been combining those individual elements into a seamless cycle of transparent and useful information.

Data such as buying patterns, caller details, preferred bill paying cycles, demographics and market interests is currently locked up in individual silos. The difficulty lies in penetrating the barriers of the silos, so that the data merges into one useful stream.

Fortunately, accessing the silos is getting easier with customer experience management (CEM) solutions that can work alongside CRM systems, transforming individual silos of information into a holistic, predictable and ultimately profitable analysis of customer intelligence.

The industry research firm Ovum says CEM has emerged as the top driver for service providersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; IT investments in 2014 and forecasts CSP IT spends to reach $60.7 billion by 2017, with investments geared

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FEATURE

CEM

Operators need to rethink how they engage with their customers to deliver marketing, provide services and encourage lasting loyalty. Today mobile technology effectively offers a wealth of opportunity for mobile operators to create a more personalised interactive relationship with their customers.”

Nadia Gonzalez, VP of Mobile Marketing Solutions , Gemalto

towards telecom infrastructure such as cloud platforms, server virtualisation and BSS/OSS systems to support LTE implementations and online channels to support customers’ increasingly digital lifestyles.

Victoria Strand, VP, Ericsson GCC, explains why CEM is important for operators: “CRM may have been enough in the past, but today operators need to go beyond relationship management and into customer experience management, or CEM. Relationship falls under this sphere, but it includes the entire experience throughout the relationship cycle that is ever more important in our increasingly digitised society. A recent study conducted by the Ericsson Consumer Lab revealed that 81 percent of executives believe that customer experience is key to improved financial performance, due to increased customer retention, so it is essential that operators go one step beyond traditional measures.”

Nadia Gonzalez, VP of Mobile Marketing Solutions at Gemalto agrees: “Operators need to rethink how they engage with their customers to deliver marketing, provide services and encourage lasting loyalty. Today mobile technology effectively offers a wealth of opportunity for mobile operators to create a more personalised interactive relationship with their customers.”

High stakes Telecom operators that thrive on strong customer relationships and want to empower their business users to make the most of every customer touch point 60

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throughout each state of the customer lifecycle stand to benefit most by embracing CEM. It costs six to seven times more to gain a new customer that to keep an existing one, and telcos that deliver context - aware customer experiences in the preferred delivery channel will find increased customer satisfaction and retention, improved response rates and higher revenues.

“While speed and friendly service are still extremely important, there are three factors that consumers in a universally connected world expect.

These need to be brought to the CEM ‘table’: MultiChannel engagement – it’s not just having multiple channels, it’s how the engagement is delivered across; Simplicity – consumers with complex decisions want a simplified experience; and Control - customers want to have control over how they engage because they want to engage on their terms,” says Glenn Brien, Enterprise Sales Executive, LogMeIn. Up, close and personal Technology has empowered customers to wield greater influence over the brands with which they interact.

They expect things to work the way they want. If an experience disappoints, they make their dissatisfaction known. That can affect your bottom line. This is why personalisation is the key to take customer experience to the next level.

Gonzales gives us an example: “Recent IFOP surveys have shown that an overwhelming 80% to 90 percent of customers were annoyed by mobile

A recent study conducted by the Ericsson Consumer Lab revealed that 81 percent of executives believe that customer experience is key to improved financial performance, due to increased customer retention, so it is essential that operators go one step beyond traditional measures.”

Victoria Strand, VP, Ericsson GCC

FEATURE

CEM

text messages received for which they hadn’t given their prior permission. However, 85 to 95 percent interviewed, valued permission based and personally tailored mobile messages. Contextual and permission based mobile marketing not only focuses on individual consumer preferences but also respects consumer privacy imperative.”

It is also important for operators to make sure that CEM initiatives are in sync with IT, as customer experience is often based on interactions with various telecom channels and business processes, all of which are embodied by technology.

Also, customer experience should be a total enterprise goal, not just the purview of the customer service team. Sales, finance, product development and other teams should all have a role in collecting customer feedback and closing the loop with customers.

“It’s very important that technology and marketing departments work together. However, it is also relevant to all departments across the organisation. Tying back to the multi-channel

engagement, this means that all aspects of the customer’s experience should be looped together to create the ultimate CEM, engaging across channels, including new channels like mobile and chat, but not neglecting core channels like email,” says Brien.

Gonzales echoes a similar opinion: “The collaborative approach between technology and marketing departments is dynamic. While mobile technology continuously evolves, mobile users’ education and expectations exponentially expand. Therefore, feedback loops between technology and marketing are critical for optimised customer experience.”

The bottom line on CEM is quite simple – customers have more choices than ever before in which telco they do business with, and they also have a direct voice through social media and other channels. If the customer does not receive a level of service they expect from a service provider, not only will they potentially take their business elsewhere, but they will others as well. And that can be bad for your business.

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Analyst corner Gartner

Sixth sense Anne Robins is a Research Director on the Gartner Technical Professionals team, as well as a member of the Identity and Privacy Strategies team. Robins looks at mobile biometric sensors and modes and their suitability for solving enterprise problems.

F

inding mobile authentication solutions that balance security, cost and user needs is a growing challenge for todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s businesses. Long, complex passwords are difficult to remember and almost impossible to use on mobile devices. Smartcards and onetime password (OTP) tokens are expensive to purchase and frequently lost or forgotten. But there is a simple solution - biometrics.

Biometrics uses human characteristics to authenticate and protect systems. However, cost, usability and performance have inhibited widespread use. Now, high-quality, low-cost sensors have entered the market, putting biometrics in the hands of consumers for the first time.

But availability doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t necessarily translate to viability.

There are three types of biometric sensors available for mobile devices: add-on sensors, embedded biometric sensors, and imbedded native sensors.

Add-on sensors are hardware peripherals that incorporate biometrics to create authentication solutions for mobile devices.

There are generally two kinds of add-on sensor: the sleeve, which fits around the device; and plug-ins, which attach using a cable. While these are usually high-quality and suited to most enterprises, there are a number of downsides. For starters, the sleeve varieties are often specific to a particular device and may not be usable for every device in the enterprise. They will also need to be replaced or upgraded as users change phone models. While the plug-in sensors are more independent of the device itself, they are less acceptable to users, and can have a greater adverse impact on user experience. Perhaps the greatest downside to add-on sensors is, that like OTP tokens, they are often forgotten, lost or broken, and are expensive to replace.

Increasingly, mobile manufacturers are adding special-purpose, embedded biometric sensors to their devices. The most high-profile of these is the Touch ID fingerprint sensor in the Apple iPhone 5s and the built-in fingerprint sensor in the Samsung Galaxy S5.

Other vendors are climbing on board, installing fingerprint sensors and very high definition cameras that can capture iris images, putting biometric capabilities into the hands of ordinary customers.

While this increases the likelihood of users accepting them in the enterprise, there are a couple of drawbacks. Embedded sensors are specific to particular manufacturers and models of devices, placing constraints on enterprises with Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

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Analyst corner Gartner

Existing devices have a range of capabilities that can be exploited to collect biometric data.

Embedded native sensors such as microphones, cameras, touchscreens, gyroscopes and accelerometers can capture a variety of data, which can be used for biometric authentication. policies in place. Their value is also affected by the relatively short lifetime of consumer devices. There is also the very real concern of the effectiveness and efficacy of the sensors being compromised. For example, the size of a fingerprint sensor may be reduced to fit the available real estate on a mobile device. This means less of the fingerprint is available during each capture, which can affect the accuracy and usability of the authentication solution.

Existing devices have a range of capabilities that can be exploited to collect biometric data.

Embedded native sensors such as microphones, cameras, touchscreens, gyroscopes and accelerometers can capture a variety of data, which can be used for biometric authentication.

The biggest advantage of embedded native sensors is that they are available on almost all current mobile devices. Such broad availability increases the suitability for enterprise applications. However, embedded native sensors are not without potential problems.

Smartphone cameras have small sensors, fixed focal lengths and apertures, and wide fields of view â&#x20AC;&#x201C; perfect for an armâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s length selfie but not necessarily for capturing a high-definition iris scan. Similarly, microphones differ from those used in landlines, and often include noisecancelling technologies that could modify voice characteristics used in voice biometrics. Also, due to the limited availability of APIs, there may also be constraints on how biometric solutions integrate with native sensors to control and configure hardware.

There are three main categories of biometric modes implemented in mobile solutions: traditional biological, new biological, and behavioural.

Law enforcement, border security and civil identity applications have been using

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traditional biological modes for years. These applications primarily use fingerprint, DNA, facial recognition and iris biometrics, and are based on significant, long-standing scientific research and large-scale testing. There has also been significant deployment of voice biometrics that leverage existing call centre and interactive voice response (IVR) implementations within the finance, insurance, healthcare and social service industries. Some of these tried-andtested modes translate well into the mobile device arena, particularly voice biometrics, though developers have had to adapt algorithms to handle the different acoustics of the mobile channel. The increasing resolution of cameras on mobile devices makes them ideal as face biometric sensors.

Developers are also coming up with a number of novel, new biological modes that take advantage of mobile features while also

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creating good user experiences. Most of these incorporate existing cameras. However, new modes lack the depth of scientific investigation and real-world testing of more traditional modes, making it difficult for potential customers to judge their suitability of these modes for enterprise applications. Furthermore, variability in the quality and characteristics of mobile device cameras means not all devices will capture biometric characteristics with the same level of precision. New modes with some relationship or basis in traditional modes are a safer option. For example, eye-vein-pattern biometric solutions use the camera to capture images of the eye and identify patterns in the visible veins. Vein patterns are a wellknown biometric mode, with hand and palm vein patterns implemented for applications including physical access control systems (PACS) and ATM authentication. Other new biological modes include peri-ocular (using the shape of the eye sockets), whole face geometry, and palm patterns. In short, if new biological modes relate to well-known, traditional methods, there is a much higher likelihood it will be accepted by users.

Behavioural biometric modes are based on measuring behavioural characteristics to uniquely identify an individual. In the context of mobile biometrics, gyroscopes and accelerometers can measure a number of behaviours and unique patterns of usage.

Behavioural biometric modes are often combined with traditional authentication modes, such as a known secret. For example, measuring the way a person interacts with the touchscreen when entering a password can add assurance that the correct person is being granted access and not just a different person who knows the password. However, there hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t been significant scientific study into the distinctiveness and stability of behavioural biometrics. This lack of information can make it difficult for potential customers to judge the security, accuracy and suitability for enterprise applications.

With positives and negatives surrounding each of the sensors and modes, it is up to the individual enterprise to decide which solution best works for them, or if they are even ready to consider mobile biometrics at all.

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opinion Log Management

8

point guide to log management

Joel John Fernandes, Senior Product Marketing Analyst, ManageEngine, gives his tips for log management habits that will allow IT leaders to derive meaningful, actionable information and security intelligence from their log data.

I

n today’s business environment, data is the source that drives organisations in the right direction. Data enables planning, forecasting, and strategy. For example, retailers rely on customer behaviour data to drive more sales, and CEO’s rely on past performance data to make effective decisions. Similarly, IT security professionals rely on log data generated by their IT network infrastructure to secure their networks from threats, attacks, and breaches.

The IT infrastructure of any organisation includes network devices - routers, switches, and firewalls; systems - Windows, Linux, etc.; and business-critical applications that generate a huge amount of log data.

This log data is a gold mine that can provide powerful insights and security intelligence into all security threats – but only if the log data is monitored and analysed in real time.

Effective management of log data can help IT security managers to mitigate sophisticated cyber-attacks, identify the root cause of security incidents, monitor user activity, thwart data breaches, and, most importantly, meet regulatory compliance requirements. But without proper log management tactics and processes, IT security managers are bound to face massive challenges when it comes to securing their organisation from attacks and breaches.

Below are eight habits that highly effective IT security managers adopt when managing their log data. These log management habits are universal in nature and will help all IT security managers harness the power of their log data to effectively secure their networks.

Habit 1 – Use automated log management tools Analysing log data is one of the greatest challenges that IT security managers face.

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Manually monitoring and analysing the log data is impossible because the volume of log data is enormous, and the process is prone to human error. Therefore, IT security managers need to rely on automated log management solutions to analyse huge amounts of log data generated by their network infrastructure.

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With automated log management tools, IT security managers can derive security intelligence in real time. With automated log management solutions in place, IT security managers can get notified in real time when anomalies occur in their applications, systems, and devices. Within seconds, automated log

opinion Log Management

management tools provide powerful insights into user behaviour, network anomalies, system downtime, policy violations, internal threats, and more.

Habit 2 – Aggregate log data in a central place Aggregating log data from heterogeneous sources – Windows, Unix, Linux, and other systems; applications; databases – in a central place can be a daunting task for IT security managers. Using multiple log management tools to collect and analyse different log formats from numerous devices, systems, and applications is not an effective way to manage the logs in an enterprise.

IT security managers need to deploy a single log management tool that allows them to decipher any log format from any source. IT security managers should choose a log management tool that has a universal log collection feature. This feature enables organisations to collect and analyse any log data format from any source. Collecting log data in a central place gives IT security managers a holistic view of all the activities that happen on the network thereby facilitating effective security decisions in a timely manner.

Habit 3 – Maintain audit-readiness with security reports Every organisation needs to comply with either their own internal security policies or the policies of external regulatory bodies such as PCI DSS, SOX, FISMA, ISO 27001, and HIPAA. When it comes to external audits, IT security managers have to focus on meeting the requirements laid down by the external bodies and ensure that the compliance auditors finish their work with minimal effort. Verbal assurance to compliance auditors is never sufficient. Security reports have to be ready, and the reports must be backed up with the appropriate log data and the log management tools used.

Habit 4 – Perform log forensics investigations Log data has answers to all network problems.

All attackers leave traces, and your log data is the only thing that can help you identify the cause of a breach and even tell you who

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initiated it. Also, log data forensics analysis reports can be used as evidence in a court of law. Manually searching through logs to find the root cause of a network problem or to spot a pattern in events is like searching for a needle in a haystack.

IT security managers find it very difficult to get answers to their questions when they need them the most. But with proper log forensics tactics and tools, they can get answers to all their questions. The search capabilities of log forensics tools enable managers to conduct an investigation, which will help them quickly find and remediate network issues and anomalous behaviour. Log search capabilities give the IT security manager the freedom to search across the entire network infrastructure.

Habit 5 – Manage security threats proactively To mitigate sophisticated cyber-attacks proactively, IT security managers have to correlate the log data of their network infrastructure in real time. Correlation of log data allows IT security managers to boost their network security by processing millions of events simultaneously from multiple log sources to proactively detect anomalous events on the network before the attack or breach takes place. Real-time event correlation is all about proactively dealing with threats. To thwart security threats, IT security managers rely on log correlation tools that accelerate the monitoring and analysis of network events.

With correlation of log data in place, IT security managers don’t have to spend hours manually tracking suspicious network behaviour. Log data correlation automatically detects and provides alerts on vulnerabilities, network user activities, policy violations, network anomalies, system downtime, and network security threats in real time.

Habit 6 - Track user activity The most trusted employees and users can intentionally or unintentionally cause data thefts, outages, and system crashes when they have privileged access to businesscritical applications, devices, systems, and files. IT security managers have to track all user activities in real time across the IT infrastructure by monitoring the log data. Log

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data contains the complete audit trail of all the activities that happen on critical network resources. IT security managers need to leverage the log data audit trails to get answers to the “who, what, when, where and how” of all user activity in real time.

Habit 7 – Archive and Secure Log Data Archiving logs is a mandate for all enterprises to meet compliance requirements. Log archiving depends on the policies laid down by the enterprise and the regulatory compliance it follows. The log archiving period varies according to the compliance audit. For example, PCI DSS requires one year; HIPAA requires seven years; and FISMA requires three years. Another good reason for archiving logs is for log forensics investigations, as noted in Habit 4.

Archived log data must be protected from changes to ensure authenticity. IT security managers should encrypt the log data and make it tamperproof by hashing and time stamping it for future forensic analysis and for compliance or internal audits.

Habit 8 - Continue monitoring and reviewing log data IT security managers should monitor and review log data on a regular basis. All the above-mentioned seven habits put together work towards fulfilling the eighth habit. Log management is not a one-time process that will secure your network. To mitigate cybercrimes, it should be an ongoing process wherein the log data has to be collected, monitored, and analysed in real time.

A typical organisation consists of numerous systems, devices, and applications and the log data generated by each of them is vital for detecting anomalous behavior, threats, vulnerabilities, security incidents, policy violations, user activities, and much more. By harnessing log data, IT security managers can vastly improve the overall security posture of their organisation by proactively defending their network from threats.

IT security managers should put all eight log management habits into practice, so they can derive meaningful, actionable information, and security intelligence from their log data.

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opinion Healthcare

Healthy Choices Apple and Google both have started the race toward the healthcare ecosystem. Both have come out with fair offerings for the industry, and Diego Arrabal, VP, Southern Europe and Middle East, F5 Networks, explores who will come out on top.

T

he race is on. A few months ago, Apple set pulses racing with the launch of its new HealthKit application - a multipurposing, data-aggregating hub for health and wellness data from multiple platforms, sensors and partners. This was then followed by much fanfare and speculation about the possible health benefits of the Apple Watch, which is due to ship next year.

Fellow tech giant Google is also limbering up to enter the healthcare fray with Google Fit, which is also questing for an integrated, networked approach to diagnostics by getting wearables and other data-yielding devices to engage in constructive dialogue.

Both have aspirations to sync with the wider healthcare ecosystem, with Apple already buddying up with the Mayo Clinic to determine how the HealthKit can benefit 21st century doctors and patients alike.

These are of course just the latest - albeit among the most compelling – additions to the Internet of Things’ (IoT) sprawling and interconnected hospital wing. Hardly a day goes by without arrays of shiny new kit coming on-line; recent solutions gaining the “smart” prefix include everything from diapers and insulin monitors to sensors tracking whether medication is adequately ingested and absorbed.

The big hope for healthcare providers worldwide is that hospitals stand to benefit from an operational efficiency shot in the arm with IoT as an ally on the ward.

Remote monitoring and support can slash critical equipment downtime, real-time monitoring ensures supplies are never running out or over-supplied, and doctors can schedule their time with unprecedented precision.

The big winners from IoT’s power and potential will be those that master the network,

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integrate context-aware technology, the ability to tame and mine galactic tsunamis of big data – imagine the widespread roll-out of electronic medical records alone – and achieve secure implementations of cloud computing.

According to research firm Markets and Markets, the global healthcare sector market for the latter could grow to nearly $5.4 billion by 2017.

The US Food and Drug Administration is well on the ball here, recognising 25 standards that collectively help support medicaldevice interoperability and cyber security in late 2013. It is an astute move: a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers study highlighted a $30 billion annual cost hit to the US healthcare system due to inadequate medical-device interoperability.

As the healthcare sector seeks to jump on the IoT bandwagon in earnest, it

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will inevitably have to steel itself for new dimensions in real-time data security. Cloud and smart device adoption will require massive shifts in accountability and policy development, and the flow of data has to be rapid, robust and secure.

The latter is particularly important given the sensitive nature of the data in question and the healthcare sector’s already stringent requirements. In this sense, any advances – and there will need to be plenty of them – could end up having a strong influence on IoT’s widespread roll-out and success as a whole.

In an ideal world, the healthcare sector will evolve to be more agile, adaptable and attuned to the flourishing application economy.

This means moving away from managing traditional reliability models to a more strategic, service-based approach focusing on application-level service provisioning, automation, and orchestration. It will also mean creating, deploying, modifying, and extending services quickly to address variables impacting the security, reliability, and performance of applications and networks.

While the transformational journey may seem daunting in scale, the IoT’s burgeoning healthcare compatibility represents a thrilling and powerfully humanised convergence of technologies.

Where we once only monitored, we will soon be able to predict and counsel before issues arise. Where high-tech care and consultancy were once confined to the clinic, they are now entering our homes and reaching developing countries from afar.

These are game-changing developments in every sense of the word, and they are starting to happen today. Things (and life as we know it) can only get better.

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OPINION Cloud Computing

Cloud ready An increase in cloud computing has led to an increase in volumes of data that organisations have to support. Tackling the challenge effectively needs more than just adding to the bandwidth, it requires an overhaul of the network infrastructure, says Mike Hemes, Vice President EMEA, Silver Peak. and large sums of money wasted on applications.

O

rganisations today require a stable infrastructure to support growing data volumes, resulting from an increase in cloud computing. According to recent research conducted by IDC, data volumes are expected to grow 10-fold by 2020, with data in the cloud set to double.

Organisations are often unaware of the debilitating effect that large volumes of data place on the underlying network, particularly when replicated or shared across a wide area network (WAN). This can lead to business-critical applications jeopardised

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WAN challenges While many organisations focus on the analysis and storage of this data as the top IT challenges, what is equally challenging is the movement of the data. Firstly, network stability and geographical distances have play a large part in the success of IT initiatives and data migration. The farther away the data centre is, the more latency it has to deal with and the longer it will take for the data to be transferred.

Secondly, insufficient bandwidth slows data transfer.

Bandwidth is often limited and costly, and the use of MPLS and Internet VPN connections to the cloud can result in packets lost in transit or delivered out-of-order. An average largesize enterprise upgrades its bandwidth every two years to accommodate data growth and extend LAN-like performance out over the WAN. However, this is both time consuming and costly, and does not always address application delivery problems brought on by latency, packet loss and other common issues. Organisations therefore need to grasp the importance of improving the underlying network infrastructure that hampers key business applications instead of merely adding bandwidth.

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Thirdly, moving large volumes of data compromises speed. With growing amounts of data coming into an organisation and skyrocketing analysis requirements, incoming data must be analysed as quickly as possible.

If the transfer and analysis time takes too long, it is possible that the resulting analysis of the data will be stale and outdated by the time everything is finished.

Conquer the cloud A business located in the same city as its data centre seldom has a problem accessing the data hosted on the cloud. However, this is an unlikely scenario as enterprise users are often distributed in different parts of the world and it is difficult to trace a data centreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exact location.

As a result, optimising the WAN has become essential for accessing, analysing and migrating large volumes of data to and from the cloud. WAN optimisation techniques incorporate byte-level deduplication to eliminate data redundancy and packet-ordercorrection which improves network quality and accelerates IPsec encryption, hence enhancing cloud performance exponentially.

With cloud computing gaining momentum parallel to an increase in data, it is essential that network managers ensure they have the optimum conditions for the data to be on-boarded, accessed and secured as efficiently as possible. A real-time solution that has the scalability to handle such large volumes of data is ultimately crucial to the success of any cloud implementation. By reducing the amount of data sent across the WAN, prioritising key traffic, and eliminating packet loss and data retransmissions, cloud performance is improved, end-users are happy and ongoing telco costs are reduced.

Organisations are becoming increasingly overwhelmed with data, and simply introducing more storage or adding additional bandwidth isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sufficient. By taking a network-centric approach, organisations can achieve maximum scalability and flexibility needed to cope with the growing volumes of data in the age of cloud computing, thus ensuring maximum benefit to the business.

About Nexthink Nexthink is the innovator of End-user IT Analytics for security, ITSM and transformation. Our software uniquely provides enterprise-wide, real-time: analytics covering all endpoints, users, applications and network connections; and visualization of IT infrastructure and service delivery. Nexthink helps IT departments connect, communicate and collaborate to achieve their major goals and to optimize endpoint security, operations, support and workplace transformation projects. Nexthink’s real-time analytics and visualization extend help desk, server monitoring, APM (application performance management) and PCLM (PC lifecycle management) tools and provide essential visibility for IT governance.

Nexthink serves the Global 5000 utilizing a leveraged partner model. Nexthink is a private company headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Nexthink® is a registered trademark of Nexthink S.A. To learn more, visit http://www.nexthink.com.

About ComGuard ComGuard is a the leading Value added Distributor in the IT security space and has a reach across the Middle East and North Africa region. The company was established in 2002 and is headquartered in Dubai, UAE. Comguard is a part of Spectrum Group which is engaged in IT networking and security training, and consultancy. Hence, the biggest strength for Comguard is the skill sets which has made it one of the fastest growing Value added Distributor in the region and have been recognized by several awards from vendors and jury platforms. Industry recognition and awards have come ComGuard’s way for its discerning ability to provide value addition to product offerings while effectively helping customers to make most out of them. ComGuard has invested in its inherent strength in infrastructure, technical skills and customer service to create a niche for itself in the product distribution space.

To know more, visit http://www.comguard.net/ or Email Us to nexthink@comguard.net

insight Dark Data

The dangers of A dark data Untapped data - data that is maintained but not utilised - can spell danger for businesses. Security risks of dark data have some experts scared to be kept in the dark. However if confronted, the issue need not be a major pain point for IT.

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s “dark fibre” is to the telecommunications industry so, also, is “dark data” to many businesses and organisations. These vast pools of untapped, largely unprotected data simply sit there, doing not much of anything for the bottom line.

Isaac Sacolik’s Dark Data: A Business Definition describes it as “data that is kept ‘just in case’ but hasn’t (so far) found a proper usage.”

Unfortunately, where dark fibre unambiguously represents an asset just waiting to be tapped by simply lighting it up to add bandwidth and carrying capacity, even untapped and neglected, dark data can

insight Dark Data

pose security risks should it fall into the wrong hands, or range outside its owner’s control.

Dark data holds unfulfilled promises but also poses dark threats Most discussions of dark data tend to focus on its potential value and utility to an organisation. Indeed, for those outfits willing to expend resources (money, tools and time) to develop and exploit the information and value locked up inside dark data, such potential is undoubtedly attractive. This also explains why many organisations are reluctant to part with dark data, even if they have no plans to put it to work on their behalf, either in the near term or further down the planning horizon.

As with many potentially rewarding and intriguing information assets, organisations must also be aware that the dark data they possess – or perhaps more chillingly, the dark data about them, their customers and their operations that’s stored in the cloud, outside their immediate control and management – can pose risks to their continued business health and well-being.

Such risks depend on the kinds and quality of data that a determined investigator might be able to glean from a collection of dark data made available to them. Given the kinds of data that most organisations collect, those risks might include some or all of the following: Legal and regulatory risk. If data covered by mandate or regulation – such as confidential, financial information (credit card or other account data) or patient records – appears anywhere in dark data collections, its exposure could involve legal and financial liability.

Intelligence risk. If dark data encompasses proprietary or sensitive information reflective of business operations, practices, competitive advantages, important partnerships and joint ventures, and so forth, inadvertent disclosure could adversely affect the bottom line or compromise important business activities and relationships.

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Reputation risk. Any kind of data breach reflects badly on the organisations affected thereby. This applies as much to dark data (especially in light of other risks) as to other kinds of breaches.

Opportunity costs. Given that the organisation has decided not to invest in analysis and mining of dark data by definition, concerted efforts by third parties to exploit its value represent potential losses of intelligence and value based upon its contents.

Open-ended exposure. By definition, dark data contains information that’s either too difficult or costly to extract to be mined, or that contains unknown (and therefore unevaluated) sources of intelligence and exposure to loss or harm. Dark data’s secrets may be very dark and damaging indeed, but one has no way of knowing for sure. This can’t cultivate complacency or indifference in those who contemplate those risks at all seriously.

Given that dark data poses risks that are possibly both considerable and consequential, what can organisations do to manage those risks? As it turns out, there are numerous useful strategies and technologies that can provide some degree of protection against such risks, both known and unknown.

Ongoing inventory and assessment. Dark data holdings should be recognised and subject to periodic reconnaissance. They should also drive ongoing research into new tools and technologies to help extract value from such data. Yesterday’s dark data may become a shining source of insight, thanks to new tools or analytic techniques. Somebody needs to keep an eye on such things and be ready to put them to work when the benefits of their use outweighs their costs. In addition, performing a regular inventory requires understanding where dark data resides, how it’s stored, how it’s protected and what kinds of access controls help maintain its security.

Ubiquitous encryption. Any digital asset with potential value and possible risk must be stored in encrypted form, whether on the organisation’s premises and equipment or

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elsewhere in the cloud. No dark data should be readily accessible to casual inspection, under any circumstances. Strong encryption should make it extremely difficult for those who do manage to obtain dark data to unlock its contents, and equally strong access controls and monitoring should make it obvious who can (and has) access such information for any purposes whatsoever.

Retention policies and safe disposal. It’s always worth considering if and how dark data should be retained or properly disposed of, subject to Department of Defenseapproved methods of erasure or destruction, depending on whether only contents or both contents and media must be done away with. IT and executive management should work with organisational units or divisions to decide if dark data should be retained and, if so, how best to maintain security and manage risk. Carefully considered data retention policies can help guide and drive such decisions and should be formulated, promulgated and maintained.

Auditing dark data for security purposes.

Most organisations of any size conduct periodic security audits, evaluating risks, exposures, incident response and policy. Dark data needs to be folded into this process and visited sufficiently often to manage risks of exposure as well as potential loss or harm.

Perhaps it’s not so dark after all?

Given the right appreciation for both potential value and possible risk, organisations can deal with dark data to balance one against the other. Only by taking stock of what’s out there, though, and only by employing a dispassionate and thorough approach to risk and exposure management, can an organisation get a rope around its dark data holdings.

By digging into its dark data collections, keeping those holdings whose potential value outweighs its risks and deleting those whose risks outmatch its potential returns, an organisation can be sure it’s proactively keeping what may prove worthwhile in the future while jettisoning what may poison future productivity or profitability.

insight iOS 8

10 ways you can tap iOS 8 for better mobile apps 82

Computer News Middle East

OCTOBER 2014

New features in iOS 8 will help CMOs reimagine their mobile apps to better reach iPhone and iPad customers in the critical “mobile moment” – a small window of opportunity to pitch a marketing message effectively. For CIOs with inhouse app-making factories, it’s time to get busy.

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insight iOS 8

T

here are more than 4,000 new application programming interfaces in iOS 8, with many aimed at making the mobile consumer’s life easier.

Yet taking advantage of these opportunities won’t be easy or cheap. The cost of creating and developing apps could increase by up to 20 percent, according to a Forrester report.

Forrester has highlighted 10 ways CMOs and CIOs can improve their consumer-facing mobile apps and seize the mobile moment with iOS 8.

1

With iOS 8, Apple has given third-party access to Touch ID for scanning thumbprints on the home button to verify identify. It’s a good idea for companies to add this feature into their apps. The thinking goes that companies should make identification verification as mindless as possible. Customers drop out of app and purchase processes with each extra click or required step, Forrester says, and authentication is one of those steps.

2

Apple’s newly unveiled Apple Pay service promises to finally usher in the era of the mobile wallet. Apple’s scale and key partnerships, not to mention massive sales of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus – a record-smashing 10 million units in the first three days – gives Apple Pay real potential. If Apple Pay does take off, companies will want to be out in front with their Apple Pay-enabled apps.

3

Apple iOS 8 makes it harder for third-party apps to track a user’s location. Apps must now give the user the option to let an app “always” track location or only “when in use” or not at all. While this makes it more difficult for marketers to capture the mobile moment by, say, serving up a coupon when a customer is near a store, the opportunity lies in the idea that you can earn the “always” designation and beat competitors that can’t.

“First, ensure that if you do ask for location, you are offering value to the consumer that you can articulate in a small pop-up window; second, consider alternatives to sniffing out the location

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of your customers,” the Forrester report advises. “Your best-case scenario is if they self-identify in a location through a code scan, via NFC, or by checking in.”

4

The notification system in iOS 8 doesn’t just provide snippets of information but also allows users to perform actions, such as deleting an email and replying to a tweet. For CMOs, notifications are critical for reaching a customer in the mobile moment, much more effective than a user having to fire up an app. Add in the ability to do something, such as hit the “buy” button, and you’ve got a marketer’s dream.

“An airline could obtain permission from a passenger to rebook her on a later flight if she is running late,” the Forrester report says. “Alternatively, a credit card company could request permission from a parent for a charge on a child’s credit card.”

5

iOS 8 supports app extensions for widgets on the Today screen and importing-exporting functionality in a company’s app. What does this mean?

CMOs of airlines, for instance, can have a widget on the Today screen that lets passengers check in for flights. Or an iPhone owner can print a sales receipt from a credit card app. These are just a couple of examples cited by the Forrester report.

6

Apple’s HomeKit in iOS 8 lets apps communicate with appliances in the home. This opens up an entirely new market and ecosystem for companies to sell services, accessories and connected devices with complementary iOS apps that control them or give owners important information about them.

Forrester report’s take: “Apps today monitor connected products for usage and performance. Based on these inputs, apps can send reminders to charge devices, sync data, replace filters, or switch products off, for example.”

7

In a similar vein, Apple’s HealthKit in iOS 8 lets apps communicate with other apps and devices that monitor various aspects of an Apple device owner’s

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health. Data gleaned from HealthKit can be collected and analysed and used to offer ways to improve one’s health.

Forrester report’s take: “The opportunities to leverage HealthKit lie primarily, though not exclusively, with healthcare providers and payers. Both payers and providers can get more extensive and accurate health data, enabling them to reward consumers for good health choices that lower the cost of care.”

8

Consumers often use multiple devices such as an iPad and MacBook before arriving at the iPhone’s mobile moment.

This means CMOs can’t think mobile only.

Apple has created the Handoff feature in iOS 8 that works with OS X to create a seamless experience where tasks are “handed off ” between the two operating systems. It’s an important feature that should be built into the mobile experience: Forrester surveyed digital business professionals, and 44 percent said their primary aim with mobile is to offer a consistent experience across devices.

9

The iPhone 6 Plus boasts a 5.5-inch screen size, while the iPhone 6 has a slightly larger screen size than its predecessor. That’s extra valuable real estate CMOs and their apps can use to market their messages, enhance the brand and provide even more features. Great, right? Not so much if you’re the CIO who now has to design apps for multiple screen sizes. CIOs might be tempted to shrink the iPad app into the iPhone 6 Plus screen, but Forrester advises against this. The iPad often connects via WiFi, while the iPhone tends to use the cellular network – and the different apps reflect this, Forrester says.

10

With extension APIs, iOS 8 supports custom keyboards and their special characters and shortcuts, as well the ability to change input methods from typing to swiping. Sure, it doesn’t sound like much. But CMOs can make it easier for customers by bringing up a keyboard that better fits the app’s needs or maybe replace Apple’s soft keyboard with a simple swipe. After all, in the mobile moment, every second counts.

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Preview Gitex 2014

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s showtime Spanning more than 100,000 square metres of exhibition space, Gitex Technology Week â&#x20AC;&#x201C; returning to Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) from 12-16 October, 2014 - will gather more than 142,000 ICT professionals, 25,000 C-level executives and over 3,700 exhibitors from 61 countries. This year, the largest ICT event in the region will feature top brands in 12 sector-specific industries supporting four industry-leading themes: Smart, Cloud, Big Data and Mobility. We have cherry-picked some of the exhibitors you should keep an eye on.

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Preview Gitex 2014

A glimpse into some of the big players at Gitex 2014

Shi Yaohong, President, Huawei Middle East

Baher Ezzat, Regional Sales Director, Middle East, AlcatelLucent Enterprise

Ammar Enaya, General Manager, Aruba Networks Middle East

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Huawei Huawei has announced a full programme of activities to “help build a better connected world” at this year’s Gitex Technology Week, through its portfolio of Smart City solutions and expertise.

Visitors at Gitex 2014 will have the opportunity to preview Huawei’s latest technology across its three core business lines serving telecom operators, enterprise and government entities, as well as consumers throughout the region.

A lineup of regional and global Huawei experts will also be descending on Gitex 2014 to share insights on Smart City development practices.

Huawei’s Smart City focus at the show follows a recent IDC report that states government spending in the Middle East and Africa is set to top $8 billion.

“Our world is increasingly city-centric, and within the Middle East cities of the future will need to become more intelligent through connected infrastructure that can positively transform the way in which citizens and businesses experience their world,” said Shi Yaohong, President, Huawei Middle East. “We hope to work with regional governments in the future to help them become better connected and will be announcing key insights during the exhibition that will help them achieve their smart city initiatives.”

Alcatel-Lucent Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise will demonstrate its latest innovations in intelligent network infrastructure and communication solutions at Gitex Technology Week 2014.

Under the theme ‘connected experience’ Alcatel-Lucent will display converged networks, which combine voice, video, data and mobility applications on a single network.

The Unified Access solution comprises a set of BYOD services that enables employees and customers to use corporate or personal, wired or wireless devices on the enterprise network.

The company will also showcase new enhancements in unified communications and collaboration solutions including the OpenTouch Conversation for Web, and the OpenTouch Enterprise Cloud suite of communication and collaboration services.

“Many new devices, such as smartphones and next-generation IP phones, demand additional bandwidth and sometimes have power requirements that are above the limits of today’s networks,” Baher Ezzat, Regional Sales Director, Middle East, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, said.

Aruba Aruba Networks will demonstrate its portfolio of 802.11ac wireless solutions at Gitex Technology Week. It will demonstrate its WLAN Access Points (APs) and mobility controllers that are built for the 802.11ac standard and the wireless experience for 802.11n devices which connect to the network.

The company is aiming to position itself as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for the WLAN requirements of organisations of all sizes and lines of business.

“Organisations have been forced to rethink their networks,” Ammar Enaya, General Manager, Aruba Networks Middle East, said. “The workplace of the future will need secure wireless infrastructure to attract GenMobile talent and provide them with the tools they need for productivity and innovation. Using ClearPass, businesses can dynamically profile devices as they connect to the network, which in turn helps fine-tune policies. The solution then aids policy management and automation, allowing granular control based on user roles, device types, ownership, and location.”

Aruba Networks’ stand at Gitex will be D1-30 in Hall 1.

october 2014

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Preview Gitex 2014

A glimpse into some of the big players at Gitex 2014

ManageEngine ManageEngine, a real-time IT management company, will be holding demonstrations of the latest versions of its IT Management solutions Desktop Central, Applications Manager, EventLog Analyzer, Password Manager Pro, ADSelfService Plus, ADManager Plus and ADAudit Plus at Gitex.

The company will also exhibit its key products for network performance management, server and application management, IT help desk, active directory management, log management and SIEM, privileged password management, and desktop and mobile device management to name a few.

Nirmal Manoharan, Regional Director Sales-Middle East, ManageEngine attributes the launch to an increased demand for IT management solutions. “Addressing the market need well ahead of time in IT Management, we are looking forward to meeting our partners and customers with the new version of our products, along with a few other exciting announcements at Gitex”, he added.

ManageEngine, will hold product displays at stands A7-10 in Hall 7 of Dubai World Trade Centre.

Nirmal Manoharan, Regional Director Sales-Middle East, ManageEngine

Taj ElKhayat, Managing Director, Middle East, Turkey, North, West, and Central Africa, Riverbed Technology

Alain Penel, Regional Vice President, Middle East, Fortinet

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Riverbed Riverbed will showcase its Application Performance Platform at Gitex Technology Week 2014. Riverbed will also announce the expansion of its partner ecosystem in the region with new agreements.

This year, Riverbed also celebrates its expansion to new territories with Turkey and KSA as country models and three regional clusters – namely North Gulf, South Gulf, and Africa anchored by Egypt.

Its geographical footprint is also undergoing an evolution in order to align with its growth in the new markets and to better serve its customers.

“Gitex 2014 is one of the most important networking platforms for Riverbed to connect with its vendors, partners and customers,” Taj ElKhayat, Managing Director, Middle East, Turkey, North, West, and Central Africa, Riverbed Technology, said. “We are aiming to increase our visibility and reinforce Riverbed as the leader in Application Performance Infrastructure, by delivering the most complete platform for location-independent computing and enabling organisations to use distance and location to gain a competitive advantage.”

Fortinet Network security firm Fortinet will showcase its latest Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) framework and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attack Mitigation Appliances at Gitex Technology Week 2014.

Fortinet offers a range of security solutions based on the FortiOS 5.2and FortiDDoS Attack Mitigation Appliances. FortiDDoS is 100 percent based on behaviour-based detection and ASIC DDoS processors.

“Threats are evolving rapidly; the traditional security systems that are still implemented across the region are proving ineffective against today’s sophisticated threats,” said Alain Penel, Regional Vice President, Middle East, Fortinet. “Look at the volume of data breach incidents that have been reported in 2013 and 2014 to see that there is a real risk for organisations in the region which are not immune.

Our participation at Gitex Technology Week will enable us to demonstrate our efforts to help CIOs make decisions. With the growing volume of threats it’s imperative that organisations across the region take the necessary measures to protect themselves.”

Fortinet will be in hall 2- stand B2 – 1A. during Gitex Technology Week.

october 2014

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Preview Gitex 2014

A glimpse into some of the big players at Gitex 2014

RafiaH Ibrahim, President, Ericsson Middle East

Rabih Dabboussi, General Manager, Cisco UAE

Adrian Pickering, Vice President, Middle East & Africa, Juniper Networks

Ericsson Returning to Gitex after a five-year absence, Ericsson will demonstrate ‘Life in the Networked Society’ at this year’s conference at Dubai World Trade Centre.

Ericsson will offer interactive demonstrations at its two stands – one in GULFCOMMS, Zabeel Hall, and one in the Gitex Smart Cities pavilion.

Visitors to the booths have the opportunity to sample Ericsson’s vision of living in the Networked Society, in which aspects of everyday life are stitched seamlessly together.

During the event, Ericsson will demonstrate its solutions, which enable the development of the Networked Society’s Smart Cities.

These advanced technologies will showcase how life experiences in a Smart City are enhanced through more connectivity, with a particular focus on working life, city life and home life, allowing citizens to live and work in more sustainable societies.

Cisco Cisco has announced that it will showcase its Smart and Connected Communities (S+CC) technology solutions, aligning with the Dubai Smart City goals, at Gitex Technology Week 2014.

Under the umbrella theme of the Internet of Everything (IoE), Cisco will showcase Smart Cities technology solutions across the themes of smart plus connected communities, smart government and smart tourism, and hospitality. Critical within this will be how to protect the opportunity the IoE presents from cyber-attack, to enable it to fulfill its maximum potential. The vendor’s stand will also feature a designated area for its strategic partners.

“Our return to Gitex Technology Week, coupled with our focus around smart and connected communities, not only demonstrates Cisco’s commitment to the Smart Dubai vision, but also to the UAE and the Middle East region as a whole,” said Rabih Dabboussi, General Manager, Cisco UAE. Globally, Smart Cities are being fuelled by the IoE, which can lower costs, improve productivity, increase revenue, and improve citizen benefits for public and private sectors. Cisco predicts the IoE will create $19 trillion in value at stake globally, and of that amount, $4.6 trillion is in the public sector.

Cisco stand will be located at Z-B40, Za’abeel Gulfcomms Hall.

Juniper Juniper Networks has announced it will focus on the future of virtualised and cloud network architectures, as well as its strategy for building intelligent and secure High-IQ networks at this year’s Gitex Technology Week.

At Gitex, Juniper will showcase a selection of its latest cloud, security and High-IQ networking solutions, including its integrated end-to-end solution Cloud Analytics Engine (CAE). CAE offers visibility into all devices accessing the network.

Spotlight Secure is Juniper’s threat intelligence platform, which addresses business security challenges by aggregating threat feeds from multiple sources. Contrail is the firm’s softwaredefined networking solution that automates and orchestrates the creation of virtual networks.

Adrian Pickering, Vice President, Middle East & Africa, Juniper Networks, said, “This year’s Gitex promises to be the best yet. As a business, Juniper has undergone many positive changes over the last year and we are now poised to better deliver on our commitment to customers in the Middle East. Our unique vision for building the world’s High IQ networks perfectly mirrors the ethos that regional leaders have in adopting the latest technologies to advance businesses and fuel local knowledge.”

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Preview Gitex 2014

A glimpse into some of the big players at Gitex 2014

Jean-Pierre Labry, Executive VicePresident, R&M Middle East, Turkey and Africa

Fadi Kanafani, Regional Director Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan, NetApp

Nat Pisupati, Regional Sales Director, Identity and Access Management, HID Global MEA

R&M R&M is set to celebrate its 50th year anniversary by making a strong impact at the upcoming Gitex Technology Week. The company will demonstrate its highly customisable portfolio of data center, office cabling and FTTx products, aligning them with the needs of the region’s public, industrial, banking and finance, oil and gas, education and healthcare sectors.

To mark the milestone, Martin and Peter Reichle, owners of the company, together with Michel Riva, the CEO and all top-level R&M executives for the Middle East, Turkey and Africa will attend the exhibition and host a celebration and dinner for over 100 of the company’s customers and partners. R&M’s recent successes in the region include the establishment of a new facility in Riyadh, expansion into Turkey and Africa, and strengthening its GCC teams with the hiring of additional sales and technical.

Commenting on the company’s goals for its Gitex participation, Jean-Pierre Labry, Executive VicePresident, R&M Middle East, Turkey and Africa said, “We have clearly identified our objectives for Gitexstrengthen relationships with existing partners and customers; demonstrate our latest solutions to attract new partnerships, and gain insights into market trends and requirements through engagement with regional ICT decision makers.”

NetApp NetApp will focus on its open networked storage operating system Data ONTAP solution at the show.

Situated in the Cloud Hall, NetApp’s booth will feature their FAS, E-Series, Flash and FlexPod portfolio.

NetApp is also partnering with NEC and Axis to showcase a face recognition solution in connection with their E-Series video surveillance storage solutions NetApp will also use the interactive Kaon v-Rack for virtual product demonstrations, which creates interactive 3D product marketing applications Alliance Partner Veeam Software and reselling partner Diyar United Company will join NetApp at their booth.

“This is NetApp’s first time having our own stand at Gitex, and we’re very excited to be a part of one of the world’s leading technology trade shows,” said Fadi Kanafani, Regional Director Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan, NetApp. “Having previously showcased our solutions through our partners, we are keen to engage directly with all of our stakeholders in the region this year, including customers, prospects, alliance and reselling partners.”

HID Global HID Global aims to line up a comprehensive portfolio of solutions addressing the customer’s needs for physical access control and identity assurance at Gitex.

The company will incorporate its global theme of ‘Your Security Connected’ and focus on customercentric innovative identity and access management solutions that securely connect people, devices and applications. It will display smart applications that address the enterprise’s, financial institution’s and government’s security requirements.

On the smart devices front, the company will demonstrate FARGO printers, physical access control readers and cards and logical access control range. HID Global also intends to highlight emerging technologies that leverage Bluetooth Smart to simplify mobile access.

“HID Global is a trusted provider of secure identity solutions and we are delighted to be participating for the fourth consecutive year at Gitex, the biggest IT tradeshow in the MEA region. HID Global strongly believes in collaborating with the channel partners to address end user requirements effectively,” said Nat Pisupati, Regional Sales Director, Identity and Access Management, HID Global MEA.

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October 2014

Computer News Middle East

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Face to face Rafiah Ibrahim

Leading the charge With more than 60 percent of the world’s population slated to live in urban areas, ICT is going to enable organisatonal and societal success from economic, environmental and social perspectives.

And that’s exactly what telecom behemoth Ericsson’s ‘Networked Society’ envisions. CNME recently spoke to Rafiah Ibrahim, the newly appointed President of Ericsson Middle East about her company’s vision and trends shaping the telecom landscape in the region.

W

hat kind of opportunities do you see in the Middle East for further growth?

There is a tremendous potential when it comes to OSS/BSS, managed services and M2M, and we can see a growing trend with operators shifting their strategies from network-centric to consumer-centric, putting a greater emphasis on user experience and customer relationships, and enhancing innovation, agility and speed. We believe that managed

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services will optimise networks and customer experience, and that solutions such as M2M will provide alternative revenue streams for operators. At the same time, and in line with the ICT convergence between telecoms, TV/media and other industries, Ericsson is uniquely positioned at the centre of this convergence. We are currently working to support the different enterprises, broadcasters and service providers in the region with our innovation in this area.

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How do you see the networked society evolving in the region, especially given the fact that telecom infrastructure is still not very advanced in many countries across the Middle East?

The transformation to the Networked Society, is happening across the region; Saudi Arabia has a highly developed 4G LTE network, which will form the backbone of the Networked Society by providing seamless connectivity to consumers. But we see other examples also,

CLOUD SOLUTIONS

Face to face Rafiah Ibrahim

such as Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq and Jordan that are connecting more and more to the digital express way.

Even those countries with less developed telecom infrastructure are starting to adopt higher speed technologies that empower consumers in the digital evolution. The goal is to attain a certain stage of infrastructure maturity, which will empower the region to reap the benefits of the integrated and digital Networked Society.

Leading the way for example is the UAE, with the inspiring vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed driving Dubai’s Smart City development in the lead-up to the Emirate hosting Expo 2020, and we believe the Expo’s theme “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future” is at the heart of our Networked Society vision.

Do you see the lines blurring between telecom and IT markets?

We might think today’s pace of change is fast. But we will never move this slowly again. We are facing a new normal with ICT in transformation. New skills are needed, requiring the combination of advanced technology and services, rather than one at a time.

The change is powered by two different engines. On one hand, there is rapid change in consumer lifestyles, where mobile devices are used for any type of service and the download of a single app can drastically change behaviour.

On the other hand, every industry is impacted by the complexity within the fastmoving ICT environment, where telecom and IT meet. The result is a marketplace with a need for new skills that are continuously developing. The winners in the new landscape will be the ones who accelerate pace and

Mobile operators are pressurised to deliver additional IP services that can support the requirements of convergence over wireless infrastructure, to enable seamless connectivity wherever and whenever the customer wants it. performance. Ericsson’s formula to help our customers succeed in the new ICT landscape is to multiply the advantages of technology and services. As a leader in both, we have unique capabilities and a competitive edge by merging our skills and experiences.

Most telecom service providers are under pressure to expand their networks most cost-effectively to handle the growth in data traffic. How do you see mobile networks evolving in the region? Will they be more heterogeneous in nature?

We are headed towards a world where everything is seamlessly connected. Mobile operators are pressurised to deliver additional IP services that can support the requirements of convergence over wireless infrastructure, to enable seamless connectivity wherever and whenever the customer wants it.

By 2016, more than four billion smartphones will be in use globally, soaring data traffic will reach ten times the levels of today and subscribers in urban and metropolitan areas will create nearly 60 percent of this traffic. Heterogeneous networks tackle this challenge and turn it into opportunities for all. Hetnet, will be vital in the Networked Society.

On one hand, there is rapid change in consumer lifestyles, where mobile devices are used for any type of service and the download of a single app can drastically change behaviour.

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As smart city environments continue to develop, there will be increased pressure on networks due to the higher number of connected devices that empower smart city residents with a truly mobile lifestyle.

Hetrogeneous networks solutions meet the increased levels of capacity and coverage head on, by improving performance and increasing cost efficiency through the efficient use of the available spectrum.

At Ericsson, we have developed hetrogeneous networks solutions that allow operators to gain capacity – leading to a higher level of consumer experience – with a lower total cost of ownership; increase data rates by up to 10 times, even in challenging load and radio conditions, and improve drop-rate, too, for a more seamless, reliable experience. These factors contribute to a more sustainable and seamless network, allowing operators to attract more consumers, retain existing subscribers, and increase revenue by providing a better customer experience. For consumers, hetrogeneous networks provide a higher level of experience with more seamless, reliable connectivity.

When do you expect M2M to take off in the region? Will LTE be a key driver?

M2M will only continue to become more prevalent as the Networked Society takes hold.

Our Device Connection Platform, or DCP, offers cloud-based connectivity management to operators, allowing them to address new revenue streams through a simplified, cost-effective process. It provides managed connectivity throughout the M2M business lifecycle, as well as sales preparation and business expansion.

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Face to face John Sculley

Smart moves CNME’s Deputy Editor Annie Bricker sits down with the marketing mind behind Pepsi, Apple and now, Obi Mobiles.

J

ohn Sculley is perhaps most famously known for his successful and ultimately controversial tenure at Apple. Directly off of his success with the “Pepsi Challenge” campaign at Pepsi Cola Co., Sculley was recruited by Apple in 1983 to support the sales of the Apple II as work on Mac was completed.

By the time Sculley left Apple in 1993 revenues of the iconic company had increased by an astronomical 1000 percent. While at Apple he was named “Marketing Man of the Year”

by Advertising Age and AdWeek, solidifying

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his position as one of this generations great marketers.

Since leaving Apple, Sculley has invested in a number of companies in their early stages.

He has put his marketing expertise behind companies that he sees as “game changing,” those that will transform the way we look at technology. In addition to the founding of his family investment office, Sculley Brothers, John Sculley has become a mentor for entrepreneurs everywhere. His book “Odyssey: Pepsi to Apple: A Journey of Adventure, Ideas,

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and the Future” was considered an industry hit, and his follow-up, “Moonshot!: GameChanging Strategies to Build Billion-Dollar Businesses” is set to become a must-have for in-office libraries.

Sculley dropped into Dubai’s Armani Hotel for the launch of his new smartphone line, Obi. Sculley is the co-founder and Managing Partner at Toronto based investment and acquisition company, Inflexionpoint, which has launched the new consumer technology venture with the flagship 5-inch octa-core

Face to face John Sculley

smartphone, the Octopus S520; the Hornbill S551; the Falcon S451; the Wolverine S501; and a power bank feature phone, the F240.

CNME’s Deputy Editor Annie Bricker sat down with Sculley at the regional launch event to discuss the company’s role in the smartphone market and the massive changes marketing has seen since his start in the 1970s.

Obi had an exceptional reception following their release in the Indian market. Do you think that its possible to duplicate such a success in the UAE market considering consumers in the region are often luxury and brand focused?

I think that the aspiration will work everywhere. The aspiration at Obi is very similar to what we built at Apple, with the idea that we are selling not the technology but the experience. What is happening now in mobile devices is that they have become a commodity with numerous companies jumping in to sell products that look like each other. The people who were market leaders for a number of years are now losing money.

There are people that would love to have an iPhone 6, but simply cannot afford to make that kind of purchase. These people are likely young, and want to make the smartphone a large part of their personal life. In response, we have built a company that is very lean and carries very little overhead. We lag around six to nine months behind the industry technology as it commoditises and put our focus, rather, on design.

Looking at your team, it seems that you have been leveraging your time at Apple by bringing over some of the top players from your time. Who has joined you on this project?

We have put together a fantastic design team in Silicon Valley. While other companies are developing phones in places like China, we are designing our product in Silicon Valley and then build them wherever the best technology is to build them, much as Apple does. In fact, the team we have are by and large former employees of Apple. We have the former head of product design, Robert Brunner from Ammunition, who just worked

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on Beats headphones. We have the former chief marketing officer at Apple Satjiv Chahil as well.

We are bringing people together who know how to build beautifully designed products. We are also bringing together an amazing marketing team and you can already see their results.

In India, our marketing campaign is already ranked up there with Coca-Cola. It has nothing to do with technology. Our competitors are

no longer send texts, we send pictures.

Finally, now, we don’t even send pictures, we send videos. The phone is now a device by which we share our culture. You will see with this launch – everything we do is about culture. It is about expressing yourself and being who you want to be. It’s about breaking a few rules and telling our consumers that it is alright

What is happening now in mobile devices is that they have become a commodity with numerous companies jumping in to sell products that look like each other. The people who were market leaders for a number of years are now losing money. talking about their features, whereas we are talking about the aspirations for young people to express themselves. With our marketing campaigns, we speak in the language of our young consumers, we bring in edgy music and content. We are also leveraging social media by bringing in Brand Ambassadors on the Internet. What we know today, and why I call this a “Moonshot” is that there is a shift in marketing power from product producers to product owners. Customers no longer pay a lot of attention to big campaigns put on by companies. Instead they pay attention to other customers. They look at product ratings, reviews, links, referrals and messages from other users. We decided to harness that capability with Brand Ambassador all over the world. In that way we are building a truly global brand, but only for emerging markets.

Essentially, you are saying that marketing power is now in the hands of the consumers. With Obi’s target audience made up of first time or young smartphone owners, how does this new face of marketing effect the Obi campaign?

The way that users treat their phones has changed entirely. We no longer talk on our phones, we send texts. Then, we

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to make mistakes, stand out and be the black sheep of the group. It gives people permission to think about technology not as technology, but as a cultural extension of who you are.

Will Obi ever look to target a higherend market or will Obi always be an affordable line of devices?

We absolutely have no plans to target a higherend market. Obi will always remain affordable.

We always want to target the youth market.

We want to be the complement to what Apple does. Apple is at the high-end and sells to those that can afford it. We are in an affordable price range and we target the youth.

Do you think that may translate into Obi becoming the “training wheels” for an Apple product? As your target audience ages, do you think they will move on to the higher-end option?

No, we don’t think of ourselves that way.

We believe that Obi truly creates a whole new category in the smartphone landscape.

Our customers are young and largely from emerging markets, and that audience will always be there, and seeking a well-designed, affordable product.

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17-18 November 2014, Fairmont Bab Al Bahr, Abu Dhabi, UAE Over 100 GCC Government officials already confirmed for the M-Gov Abu Dhabi 2014 Conference.

Confirm your place TODAY! Hosted by Abu Dhabi Systems and Information Centre (ADSIC), M-Government Abu Dhabi 2014 provides the necessary education and tools for GCC ICT officials to meet their global peers, benchmark against industry best practice and form the partnerships essential to achieve their m-government and smart city goals.

Meet, network and learn from international IT experts and leaders speaking at the event.

His Excellency Eng. Ahmed Saeed Al Sayyah, General Manager, RAK e-Government Authority (EGA)

Eng. Ali Bin Saleh Al-Soma, Director General, e-Government Program of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Eng. Mohammed Saif Al Afkham, Director General, Fujairah Municipality

Ahmed Buhazza, Director of eService Delivery and Channel Enhancement, e-Government of Bahrain

Dr. Fawaz H. Abu Sitta, CIO, Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority

Daniele Catteddu, Managing Director, EMEA, Cloud Security Alliance

Juan Pablo Luchetti, Director of Partner Relations, Mubaloo

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Over 300 international IT experts, leaders and decision makers will be in attendance, providing you the business and technology skills you need to implement your mobile government strategy Limited seats are available. To book your delegate place today, please contact Daksha Patel on daksha@m-gov.ae or +971 56 6907668 or visit www.m-gov.ae Lead Media Partner:

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PRODUCTS

Product: VIBE smartphones Brand: Lenovo What it does: Lenovo VIBE has recently launched a series of SmartPhones – VIBE X2, Z2 and Z2 Pro. Powered by an Octa-core 1.5 GHz processor and Android 4.2, the VIBE X2 packs two advanced cameras with 5 MP wide-angle front camera that features auto-shutter gesture controls and a 13 MP back camera with an 84 degree field of view and 10 ADP display ideal for the selfie enthusiast. The smartphone also comes equipped with USB-on-the-go allowing one to jumpstart the battery of any other device simultaneously and/or transfer data. VIBE Z2 runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 64-bit Quad Core 1.2GHz processor and is backed by a 3000mAh battery for all day battery life suiting a nine-to-five professional. VIBE Z2 also gives brilliant night shots, sharper selfies and an extra-bright HD screen on a 3000mAh battery. As compared to the X2 and Z2, VIBE Z2 Pro comes equipped with dual-SIM and a 16 MP rear camera.

What you should know: VIBE X2 is available in a range of three colours – white, red and gold. VIBE Z2 is available in titanium grey while the VIBE Z2 Pro also comes in black, gold or white. VIBE X2 is equipped with the new MediaTEK MT6595 4G LTE True8Core processor that saves power and boosts battery life.

The smartphone’s selfie mode comes packed with three sec mode that ‘clicks’ after three seconds and blink mode which shutters on a blink. The new range of VIBE smartphones are now available at all electronic stores with VIBE X2 selling at $408.12, VIBE Z2 selling at $462.57 and VIBE Z2 Pro selling at $680.38.

Product: Porsche Design Blackberry P’9983 Brand: Blackberry What it does: The P’9883 is equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 1.5 GHz processor with 64 GB storage, 2GB RAM and an additional MicroSD that supports external memory of up to 128 GB. Weighing approximately 140g, the smartphone cashes on 802.11 GPS capability to support 4G mobile communication. The smartphone’s hardware specs justify the productivity it promises to deliver. Exemplary to this is a 2100 mAh fully-charged battery that runs unabated for 48 hours.

What you should know: What an existing Blackberry user is likely to struggle with is the incompatibility of the P’9883 with any earlier version of Blackberry OS apps for PCs. Transferring data from an earlier generation Blackberry to the P’9883 requires one to follow a protocol. The user has to download a Blackberry Blend app into the computer to link it with the smartphone and enable syncing of content. Retailing at twice the price tag of the recently launched iPhone 6, the P’9883 can be purchased from any Blackberry store or Porsche Design outlet for $2,000.

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Launches and releases

Product: Wireless 802.11AC Router Brand: D-link What it does: The Wireless 802.11 AC router utilises SmartConnect technology to integrate all of the DIR890L radio interfaces into one Wi-Fi network via tri-band technology. To do this, it uses six external antennas - allowing one to browse the web, chat, and email using the 2.4 GHz band, while simultaneously streaming digital media, playing online games, or making phone calls over IP on the 5 GHz band. Its advanced beamforming technology enhances wireless signal strength yielding 3200 Mbps. The device comes with gigabit Ethernet WAN and LAN ports that can support multiple devices over high-speed wired connections. The router also has a built-in mydlink SharePort app that allows the user to connect a USB storage device to the DIR-890L and instantly share documents, movies, pictures, and music over mobile devices.

What you should know: Wireless 802.11 AC router’s mydlink feature is cloud-enabled allowing network monitoring. Using the QRS (Quick Router Setup) mobile app, any tablet or smartphone can be easily linked to the network over a Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS). Using tri-band technology, the router efficiently balances the data load between the multiple wireless bands for advanced quality of service.

The router’s WPA & WPA2 wireless encryption protects the network from intruders. It is available in all leading retail stores and computer shops across the UAE for a retail price of $326.44.

OCTOBER 2014

Computer News Middle East

105

Column The word on the street

James Dartnell

Apple's Achilles heel T

CNME’s man about town gives his spin on the latest IT news and trends.

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he leak of private photographs of more than 100 American and British celebrities to online message board 4Chan confirms what was widely suspected – that in this day and age no cloud or operating system is entirely secure.

It was widely known that Android was vulnerable to malware, and that the US government was systematically accessing its citizens’ private information.

But to hear that a service provided by Apple - the world’s most respected consumer technology vendor – was susceptible to a breach, acted as a wake-up call to customers worldwide.

Chatroom transcripts show that "OriginalGuy", a member of the gang who has now fled, boasted that the hacking of celebrity’s iCloud accounts "is the result of several months of long and hard work" and that "several people were in on it".

With more than 800 million iCloud accounts worldwide, Apple has its work cut out to reiterate its previously squeaky clean security image.

CEO Tim Cook has promised that two-factor authentication - currently present on iTunes - will be implemented on iCloud accounts, and the next version of iOS. Without it, hackers were able to guess answers to security questions and gain access to the personal files on the iCloud.

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Apple has pledged to send account holders emails and push notifications when someone attempts to change their password, restore iCloud data to a new device, or when a device logs into an account for the first time.

Cook was quick to deny that the iCloud’s security was to blame for the leaks, "When I step back from this terrible scenario that happened and say what more could we have done, I think about the awareness piece," Cook said. "I think we have a responsibility to ratchet that up. That's not really an engineering thing.”

He said hackers either correctly answered security questions in order to obtain the celebrity's passwords or used a phishing scam to obtain user IDs and passwords to breach the accounts.

Whether or not it was user naivety that was the main factor in the breach, a brand like Apple that has been built on the idea of perfection must appreciate that the average user - especially a celebrity who spends their life in the spotlight – may not be as tech savvy as they should be.

As such, the decision to blame lack of user awareness on the leaks shows a certain arrogance – albeit one that has been earned with exceptional products – on the part of Apple, by refusing to acknowledge its own failings in protecting its customers.

The revelations will also come as a blow to Apple’s efforts to push Apple Pay, the company’s NFC-enabled service for mobile payment functions which is incorporated into the iPhone 6.

Although it is hard to fault Apple’s previous ‘good character’ in terms of security, their decision to shift the blame onto their users - who have suffered the indignity of having deeply personal information leaked to the world - is embarrassing.

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