Computer News Middle East December 2016

ISSUE 299 | DECEMBER 2016 WWW.CNMEONLINE.COM STRATEGIC ICT PARTNER

AJMAN BANK’S NEW DATA CENTRE HOW THE ENTERTAINER BECAME DUBAI’S LIFE AND SOUL

7-STAR NETWORKS AT THE BURJ AL ARAB

AT ANY COST

Al Hilal Bank CIO Gopi Krishnan’s determination for digital success

WE ENSURE YOUR BEST-KEPT CORPORATE SECRETS REMAIN JUST THAT.

Corporate cyber espionage threatens to compromise everything an enterprise stands for. The ability to intercept an attack can make all the difference between success and failure.

At DarkMatter, the world’s brightest minds are helping the region’s largest companies stay ahead of evolving cyber threats. Whatever the scope, scale and sensitivity of your work, we offer the full spectrum of solutions to safeguard your crown jewels.

Take your first step towards genius: contactus@darkmatter.ae

FOUNDER, CPIMEDIA GROUP Dominic De Sousa (1959-2015)

EDITORIAL

EDITORIAL Group Editor Jeevan Thankappan jeevan.thankappan@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9129 Editor James Dartnell james.dartnell@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9153

Today’s CIO, tomorrow’s CEO?

Online Editor Adelle Geronimo adelle.geronimo@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9135

As we begin to wind down 2016, this is a good time to look back and take stock of the previous 12 months. Arguably, in economic terms for this region, this has been one of the toughest years in recent memory, IT spending tanking in all areas amid ongoing economic instability and declining oil prices. With the Brent crude forecast to average around $50 per barrel, the outlook for GCC countries next year is not that rosy either, and you can expect companies in both public and private sectors to cut costs. Probably, the only bright spots in IT this year were security and data centre spending, and economic pressure is changing how firms are buying IT products and services. Instead of spending millions I don’t think any upfront on procuring software licenses, it is other executive now becoming common to see enterprises role has the buying SaaS products and ploughing the cost same breadth savings back into IT to support the corporate and visibility to move towards digital business. drive business This is also an interesting time for CIOs as transformation. they find themselves in a unique position to drive cross-enterprise innovation and bridge silos. Given the emphasis on technology as a business growth driver, CIOs are now potential candidates for board seats, and I don’t think any other executive role has the same breadth and visibility to drive business transformation. This reality is reflected in the profile of CIOs that enterprise are looking to hire. According to the executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles, being a deep technologist alone doesn’t make the cut anymore for the role. CIOs are expected to have a mix of experience in consulting, operations and creating business partnerships, in addition to being a technical leader. With technology fast becoming a competitive advantage, can today’s CIO be tomorrow’s CEO? The position is indeed turning to be a fertile training ground.

Talk to us: E-mail: jeevan.thankappan@ cpimediagroup.com

Deputy Editor Glesni Holland glesni.holland@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9134 ADVERTISING Group Sales Director Kausar Syed kausar.syed@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9138 Sales Manager Merle Carrasco merle.carrasco@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9147 CIRCULATION Circulation Manager Rajeesh M rajeesh.nair@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9119 PRODUCTION AND DESIGN Production Manager James P Tharian james.tharian@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 375 5673 Senior Designer Analou Balbero analou.balbero@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 375 5680 Designer Neha Kalvani neha.kalvani@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9159 Operations Manager Shweta Santosh shweta.santosh@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9107 DIGITAL SERVICES Web Developer Jefferson de Joya Abbas Madh Photographer Charls Thomas Maksym Poriechkin webmaster@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9100 Published by

Registered at IMPZ PO Box 13700 Dubai, UAE Tel: +971 4 440 9100 Fax: +971 4 447 2409

Jeevan Thankappan Group Editor

ISSUE 299 | DECEMBER 2016 WWW.CNMEONLINE.COM STRATEGIC ICT PARTNER

AJMAN BANK’S NEW DATA CENTRE HOW THE ENTERTAINER BECAME DUBAI’S LIFE AND SOUL

If you’d like to receive your own copy of CNME every month, log on and request a subscription: www.cnmeonline.com

7-STAR NETWORKS AT THE BURJ AL ARAB

AT ANY COST

Al Hilal Bank CIO Gopi Krishnan’s determination for digital success

Printed by Printwell Printing Press Regional partner of

© Copyright 2016 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.

EDITORIAL

Our events

E-xciting times The Middle East’s tech industry will remember November as the month where e-commerce claimed the spotlight.

Emaar Properties chairman Mohamed Alabbar announced plans for website Noon.com, while rumours surfaced that Amazon would buy Souq.com for $1 billion.

There’s been inevitable buzz around the developments, but I’m not getting too carried away – yet.

I’m not saying that Noon won’t succeed, or that Souq. com won’t continue on a strong track, but e-commerce as a whole will certainly take time to mature in the GCC. Great Britain, my home country, serves as a useful model for the UAE to follow when it comes to e-commerce.

Its relatively small size and tech-savvy population – traits the UAE also shares – has It will certainly made it ripe for e-commerce, with an expected take an $184 billion in online sales for 2016. impressive user However, the vibrant market that is the Middle East is a different animal when it comes experience for these platforms to retail.

The GCC’s monolithic shopping malls are to raise the a hit for a reason – swathes of the region’s profile of wealthiest consumers are attracted to the e-commerce designer experience that comes with walking locally. into a Louis Vuitton or Jimmy Choo store.

It’s hard to replicate that online. Not to mention the culture of instant gratification that so often engulfs the Middle East, which is slightly at odds with delivery waiting times associated with online shopping.

What’s more, a huge part of the shopping mall experience derives from its social appeal, with restaurants and leisure activities remaining a huge draw for knock-on retail spending.

Now, while Britain has taken well to online purchasing – even my own mother can’t resist buying Tesco value socks from their website – it cannot match the physical retail experience that Dubai and other GCC cities offer.

These malls aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, and it will certainly take an impressive user experience for these platforms to raise the profile of e-commerce locally.

Talk to us: E-mail: james.dartnell@ cpimediagroup.com

CONFERENCE

Our online platforms

cnmeonline.com ciocouncil.me

Our social media

facebook.com/computernewsme

James Dartnell Editor twitter.com/computernewsme

linkedin.com/in/computernewsme

EAto

Optimize Power Management of your IT architecture

In the race to achieve a flexible, scalable and competitive IT environment, one vital component is often forgotten.

Power management.

In reality in today’s high-density, high availability environments a robust, intelligent power management strategy is essential to reap the benefits of your modern infrastructure and protect business continuity.

Build the optimal power management strategy for your IT environment by taking 5 practical steps!

• PROTECT valuable IT assets from power issues • DISTRIBUTE power intelligently • ORGANIZE IT equipment in an IT rack reliably and efficiently • MANAGE the power infrastructure and IT equipment through a single pane of glass • MAINTAIN the power infrastructure for reliability and greater peace of mind

Learn more at www.eaton.ae/optimizedpower Manage power your way. With Eaton.

EAton OPM EATO004-008 207x270 Ad-060616.indd 1

28/07/2016 15:22

HPE Helion hybrid cloud helps Fortune 500 companies scale up and down and up.

First, the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Helion platform lets you shift traditional apps into a private cloud that can heighten security and lower costs. Then it lets you add a public cloud that can scale up and down as rapidly as demand does. So you can always find your right mix.

See how companies like yours are moving to hybrid with the leader in private cloud solutions.* hpe.com/hybrid

69%

PRIVATE CLOUD

31%

PUBLIC CLOUD

Accelerating next

Contents

Our Strategic Partners Strategic ICT Partner

Strategic Technology Partner

Strategic Innovation Partner

ISSUE 299 | DECEMBER 2016

20

30

26 CIO SPOTLIGHT: Gopi Krishnan

PURE STORAGE FUELS MERCEDES

16

IN-DEPTH: THE ENTERTAINER

46 The soft sell

How aggressively will the region's enterprises spend on network development over the coming 12 months?

50 Eyes on the prize

38 Guest access

54 Anything and everything

42 Pathways to growth

56 Diamonds are forever

34

James Dartnell reports from the German software firm's 20th annual developer conference at Gran Via, Barcelona.

22 e-commerce

CASE STUDY: AJMAN BANK

SAP TechEd

With a sudden flurry of activity in the GCC's e-commerce industry, how will consumers take to the range of options now on offer?

Vice president of IT at Jumeirah Group, Neil Menezes, details the recent roll out of an upgraded WiFi infrastructure at the iconic Burj Al Arab hotel.

For the region's telecom market, 2017 could be a year of opportunities with the rise of IoT and digital services on offer for the region.

'Digital transformation' has been the tech buzzword of 2016. How are the region's enterprises equipped to take on 2017?

SAP's global co-lead and SVP for it's IoT portfolio, Nils Herzberg, outlined the company's strategy for the space at the firm's TechEd conference.

Everledger's CEO, Leanne Kemp, discusses the evolution of blockchain technolgy in the region and how it benefits the diamond industry.

BYOD BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE The future of BYOD

Innovative health solutions can enable better collaboration between care networks and patients. As more healthcare organisations develop policies and programs that support BYOD, the benefits to clinicians, systems, and patients will continue to expand, encouraging continued innovation in products and services that will yield better care and outcomes.

BYOD on the rise

The adoption of BYOD has benefited the industry, allowing providers access to data, including patient information and medical history, clinical trial data and more, whenever they need it to make informed clinical decisions. More and more healthcare professionals are integrating smart devices into their day-to-day activities.

68% Easier communication among team members

68%

Believe BYOD will be fully supported by 2018

51%

Have a BYOD policy 75% Support smartphones 65% Support tablets

Healthcare organisations and providers

4% Support smartwatches and wearbles

Top 5 drivers for BYOD

46% Workflow time savings

40% Cost savings

38%

35%

Response to physicians demand

Greater access to patient information

Connected health and the rise of BYOD: trends, opportunities, and considerations Source: www.philips.com/Lumify

Benefits of BYOD Reduced training burden

H

Productivity and satisfaction

Cost savings Recruitment

Quick, effective decision making Clinicians

Health systems

Key considerations

While the advent of digital health solutions and BYOD capabilities is helping healthcare providers and systems providers deliver better quality care, these innovations also present unique challenges.

Data security

Connectivity

IT support for users

Patient privacy and HIPAA compliance

BYOD examples App-based ultrasound

A new digital approach to ultrasound connects offthe-shelf compatible smart devices, mobile applications, advanced ultrasound transducer technology, integrated IT, and support services to help healthcare providers improve care and reduce costs.

Electronic health records

An electronic record of patient health includes demographics, progress notes, problem, medications, vital signs, medical history, immunisations, lab data, and rediology reports.

When available on a mobile device. EHRs can streamline clinical workflows.

PDRs and other clinical reference tools

These mobile apps allow clinicians to access information such as current prescribing facts for thousands of drugs, the most recent biomedical research, and other point-of-care reference support.

Join the Innovation.

Welcome to the new Quest Technology never stops changing. And you need to be ready to drive what’s next. It’s time to work together. We’ll help you modernize and automate. Get to the cloud quicker. Grow your mobile and data-driven business while keeping it secure and accessible.

It’s time for more business innovation and less IT administration.

quest.com/join

Adelle Geronimo, Online Editor, CNME

COLUMN

ON THE HUNT W

hat a year 2016 has been for cybersecurity.

Although we have seen enterprises step up their game, the year’s data breaches have once again proven that no one is untouchable.

A few months ago, it was revealed that tech giant Yahoo experienced a breach in 2014 that leaked 500 million email accounts into the dark web. Bangladesh Bank, meanwhile, fell victim to a group of unknown hackers, who stole over $80 million using the SWIFT messaging system.

Closer to home, a series of cyber-attacks recently crippled the systems of several government firms in Saudi Arabia.

Cybercriminals have become more collaborative and have created a vast ecosystem that is evolving at a rapid pace. It has even been predicted that data breaches could cost businesses $2.1 trillion globally by 2019.

The technological transformation of numerous industries has opened the doors to cyber-attacks from a host of threat actors. Enterprises need to recognise that today’s attackers are well-resourced, skilled, and quite often paid mercenaries who are following instruction.

Attacks have evolved into a level of sophistication that www.cnmeonline.com

elude the traditional security solutions. Strategies that have primarily focused on a reacting, response and recovery are no longer enough.

To get ahead of the attackers, organisations need to look into cyber defence strategies that can detect and mitigate bad actors that may already be on their networks.

Proactive threat hunting fills this need. This strategy requires cybersecurity officers to comb through the organisation’s infrastructure for evidence of any threat activities. Much like everything else in IT today, data is key in this approach. When cyber threat hunting, it’s paramount to know how to analyse the data you have and utilise it to identify your organisation’s vulnerabilities, how to find them, and which threat variable you should focus on.

While tools are important, threat hunting is not specific to any technology, nor is it dependent on one.

Equally important is a human touch that even the most sophisticated security tool cannot provide. Cyber threat hunting is seen by many industry experts as a very promising approach. However, it requires great talent, which enterprises must take a gamble and invest in if they are to see results.

DECEMBER 2016

11

SHORT TAKES

Month in view

ALIBABA CLOUD LAUNCHES DATA CENTRE IN DUBAI

Alibaba Cloud has announced the launch of a new data centre in Dubai that will be operated by YVOLV, a joint venture between Alibaba Cloud and Meraas Holdings.

According to Alibaba Cloud, the first "fully-fledged" public cloud in the region which is hosted at a local data centre, will offer a portfolio of services to address the increasing demand for mission-critical, affordable and secure cloud computing in the Middle East.

“We are excited that our global footprint has now expanded to the Middle East which is also a major area covered by China’s ‘one belt, one road’ initiative. With the Dubai data centre, our global cloud network will be able to meet enterprises which are going global,” said Simon Hu, President, Alibaba Cloud.

“We remain steadfast in our commitment to articulating the objectives outlined in the Dubai Smart City Initiative and the UAE Vision 2021, and the opening of this data centre is a step in the right direction,” said Fahad Al Hajeri, Chief Executive Officer, YVOLV.

12

DECEMBER 2016

NOON SET TO LAUNCH IN UAE AND KSA The online shopping experience in the Middle East will forever be changed with the launch of Noon in January, according to one of the platform's major investors, Emaar Properties chairman Mohamed Alabbar.

The “region’s largest-ever ecommerce company,” Noon will offer a "20 million" products across a wide range of categories.

With an initial investment of $1 billion, Noon will launch in the UAE and KSA markets and will soon cover the entire Middle East region. Noon aims to grow online sales in the region from two percent of the total market ($3 billion), to 15 per cent ($70 billion) within a decade.

Alabbar, who is leading the venture with prominent GCC investors, said, “With Noon, we are offering the most customercentric e-commerce experience available anywhere. In one move, we are launching a future-focused company which is the biggest online shopping platform ever seen in the region. Noon is a company born in the Middle East and serves customers in the Middle East.”

The platform will also deliver same-day delivery through Noon

Transportation - an in-house express delivery service.

“The customer is the purpose of our being, and we are here to win their hearts and their trust,” said Noon’s CEO, Fodhil Benturquia.

“We want to be the partner of choice for sellers, whether they’re big or small. We invite them to be part of our ecosystem, working together to change the online shopping landscape for the Middle East customer.”

5G SUBSCRIPTIONS WILL REACH

20M

BY 2022 IN THE MENA REGION.

Source: Ericsson – Mobility Report www.cnmeonline.com

AMAZON IS SAID TO BE IN DISCUSSIONS WITH SOUQ. COM OVER A $1 BILLION PURCHASE OF THE DUBAIBASED ONLINE RETAILER, ACCORDING TO BLOOMBERG.

EMIRATES NBD LAUNCHES VIRTUAL ASSISTANT ‘EVA’ Emirates NBD Future Lab is currently piloting EVA’s voice capabilities via a select customer user group for calls to its customer service centre.

The pilot enables the user group to interact and receive assistance from EVA via Facebook messenger, using natural or conversational English, offering a more intuitive customer experience based on AI algorithms.

“Leveraging cutting-edge technology, EVA will usher in a new era of instant customer service via a human-like conversational interface. Activating EVA is a part of our over-arching customer-first philosophy to make banking simpler and more convenient

UAE MINISTRY OF ECONOMY UNVEILS ‘BE HAPPY – VISIT UAE’ APP The UAE Ministry of Economy has launched the first phase of its ‘Be Happy – Visit UAE’ application as part of its featured initiatives for UAE Innovation Week 2016.

The application, which was launched last month at the Tourism Innovation and Transformation Forum 2016 organised by the Ministry, is the first of its kind in the UAE and was developed to measure the satisfaction of visitors and tourists during their stay.

Its interactive features enable users to indicate their satisfaction and happiness depending on their location.

H.E. Mohammed Khamis Al Muhairi, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Economy, explained that the launch of the app forms part of the Ministry’s ongoing efforts to integrate innovation into the country’s various vital sectors, particularly tourism which he said promotes sustainable growth and competitiveness. He added that www.cnmeonline.com

such initiatives advance the Ministry’s vision of building a diversified and knowledge-based economy empowered by innovation and new technology.

The tool provides visitors with an overview of tourism sights and updates on the features, services and purposes of the tourism sector.

Additional interesting information on the UAE is provided as well. The application facilitates live chats and interactive discussions for visitors to express their needs and introduces touristic services and products that can meet users’ requirements.

The app prompts users for their geographic location and provides the necessary information and services available in the vicinity. Updates and additional services will be provided on the second phase of the app to be completed by the end of December.

through digital innovation,” said Suvo Sarkar, senior EVP and group head, Retail Banking and Wealth Management, Emirates NBD. As virtual assistants play an increasingly important part of our daily lives, Emirates NBD plans to continue to invest in evolving EVA’s functionalities to become more engaging and intuitive.

Pedro Cardoso, head of multichannel and CRM, Emirates NBD said, “We recognise that customers today need quicker access to service and EVA’s intelligent voice and text with natural language recognition capabilities will help us provide a level of engagement never seen before by the region’s banking customers.”

YAHSAT, TALIA SIGN MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR AGREEMENT UAE-based satellite operator Yahsat has recently announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Talia, a teleport, satellite and terrestrial network operator.

Under the terms of the agreement, Talia is committed to capacity on Yahsat’s upcoming Ka-band Al Yah 3 satellite, located at 20 degree W, to be launched in 2017, alongside existing services on the Y1B satellite.

According to both companies, the arrangement will provide Talia’s customers in the Middle East and Africa with a tightly integrated offering and tailor-made solutions.

“The addition of Yahsat to our coverage builds on our strong and growing relationship with satellite operators. This further extends our infrastructure and network operations, enabling the delivery of protected and secure communications to our strategic customers,” said Alan Afrasiab, President, Talia.

Farhad Khan, Yahsat’s chief commercial officer, said, “We are delighted to be partnering with Talia as a long-term client.

This agreement is yet another example of Yahsat’s growth strategy.”

DECEMBER 2016

13

No worries, zero upfront on all devices for SMBs Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) can boost their productivity with a wide range of the latest business-grade devices at zero upfront.

Also, enjoy instalment plans up to 36 months and free delivery across the UAE. Call us now!

800 5800 etisalat.ae/businessdevices

T&C apply

All-in-one Printer

EVENT

SAP TechEd 2016

Changing pace James Dartnell reports from SAP's 20th annual edition of its TechEd conference in Barcelona, where the German software firm announced major upgrades to its HANA platform.

D

evelopers from around the world were in a for a few treats in Barcelona earlier this month.

While the city’s cultural and culinary delights were undeniably satisfying, a range of upgrades to SAP’s product portfolio also whet the appetite of techies at the Gran Via conference centre.

Executive member of the board and head of products and innovation, Bernd Leukert, kicked off the 20th edition of the gathering by announcing the launch of the second edition of the HANA platform.

“Back in the days when we first built a superfast database, there was a lot of internal and external skepticism around the company,” Leukert said. “They questioned whether we should even go into the database business.

16

DECEMBER 2016

"A lot of people did not believe SAP would be close to leading this industry. We had a vision to manage data, and help the world run better and improve lives.”

Leukert described how HANA 2, the updated version, would deliver improvements in database management, data management, analytical intelligence and application development. It will also provide enhanced search capabilities, graph processing and text analysis. “It will help you to free up IT departments, and make business innovation a primary goal, via the use of deeper insights and better analytical capabilities,” he said.

SAP also launched its HANA Express Edition, which provides the platform free of charge for a range of organisations. “We believe that we should make HANA easier to access for developers, universities

and every tech enthusiast in the industry,” Leukert said.

Photo: IBM World of Watson 2016

Sprinters and marathon runners SAP’s vice president of its HANA platform, Marie Goodell, told CNME how the evolution of datasets had been the main driver behind the upgrades to HANA. “As digital transformation evolves, it’s no longer just a case of structured data that enterprises are dealing with," she said. "They now have to manage text data that shows positive or negative responses. Social graph data is also becoming more important. Consumers take spatial and geo-location services for granted but businesses now want them too.

“Digital data doesn’t want to go into the database because it’s unstructured. It can’t go into a table, but needs other file systems www.cnmeonline.com

Some customers are sprinters.

They want to adopt things as fast as possible.

like Hadoop. The goal is to simplify data management and automate processes to spend less time on cumbersome things.”

She went on to discuss how SAP has been conscientious of the different pace at which customers want to evolve their IT environments.

“Some customers love our technology enhancements, but don’t want to make upgrades to their underlying data management system so frequently,” she said. “We call these our marathon runners. They’re companies that have complex environments for whatever reason. This attitude doesn’t kill you by any stretch; they’re just more comfortable going slower.

“Other customers are sprinters.

They want to adopt things as fast as possible. When machine learning comes out, they want it. Whenever new features are there, they want www.cnmeonline.com

them. The enhancements in HANA 2 are for those customers.”

SAP delivers enhancements twice a year to HANA through its support package stack, with maintenance for the first version of HANA due to continue until May 2018.

“Organisations have to ask themselves how quickly they want to innovate? What’s their underlying culture?” Goodell added.

The HANA Express edition, meanwhile, was built with the brightest and best in mind. “HANA was initially built on other hardware from the likes of Dell, HP, IBM. Developers want to be in a local café, so we sought to streamline data so that they can build apps, and have a 32GB allowance for free. With 32GB, you can build sample applications and test their feedback, which is great if you’re starting out.”

Out of this world In cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA), SAP also announced the geospatial Earth Observation Analysis service – a cloud service powered by the HANA platform – at TechEd. Reinsurance company Munich Re showcased the service and how it could predict potential environmental disasters through the use of historic and current data.

“Every year, wildfires affect nature, people, their homes and businesses,” said Andreas Siebert, head of geospatial solutions, Munich Re. “While the progress of a fire itself is hard to predict, this service allows us to accurately calculate costs and risks related to wildfires and even gain insights into the future probability of wildfires. This will help us to keep costs down for our clients.”

DECEMBER 2016

17

Ericsson R380

T

he R380 was the first device to be marketed as a ‘smartphone’ after the term was coined in 1997, despite arguments that the Nokia 9000 (released in 1996) and the IBM Simon (released even earlier – in 1994) held the same capabilities.

It was particularly distinguishable as a smartphone because it had the capabilities to cope with both regular phone actions – such as calling and texting, whilst also including dial-up internet connectivity through a WAP 1.1 browser, and synchronisation with Microsoft Outlook. The R380, which hit the shelves in 2000, looked and worked just like any other mobile phone of its day when closed up behind the front-flip attachment. When this cover was released, a large landscape display measuring 3.5-inches in length was revealed; albeit ‘large’ for its era, it’s screen length was an inch shorter than the first generation of the iPhone. The flip-cover had a numeric keyboard for regular phone use, and was accompanied by a stylus to be used on the resistive touchscreen. What really dates the phone is it’s built-in modem.

It operated on Symbian OS version 5, but despite the sophisticated user interface, users could not install any third party applications on to the device. Mind you, with 2MB RAM, there wasn’t much space for them anyway.

18

DECEMBER 2016

www.cnmeonline.com

Bank of Beirut provides faster, more accurate and secure services with Laserfiche ECM As Bank of Beirut continuously increases its local and international operations, so does customer demand for faster processing and response times. Utilising mostly manual and paper-based processes, every branch of BoB was burdened with piles of physical documents for a variety of transactions every day.

To ease these pressing issues, BoB decided to invest in an enterprise content management (ECM) solution that would help manage critical documents and streamline processes across BoB’s operations.

In 2013, BoB initially implemented Laserfiche across its 60 local branches, and then to its operations outside Lebanon. Since then, BoB has seen a whole host of benefits, including improved productivity within the workforce as a result of employees having easy access to the data they need in just a matter of seconds.

“Laserfiche’s local team was very hands-on and supportive throughout the whole process of implementation. They provided us with ample assistance in migrating all of our archived documents into the new system and integrating all other IT systems to it.”

Josephine El Koreh, IT Development and Maintenance Manager, Bank of Beirut

Read more at www.cnmeonline.com/case-studies

INSIGHT

Mercedes

Every second counts Glesni Holland caught up with the Mercedes F1 team on their recent visit to the UAE for the 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and heard from the team’s executive technical director, Paddy Lowe, about how a high-performing storage solution is crucial to gaining a cutting edge out on the tarmac.

T

he Mercedes Formula One Team is now one of the most successful teams in F1 history. Collecting an impressive 16 victories in 2015 - beating Ferrari’s record of 15 victories in 2004 – the team went one better this year and championed 19 out of the 21 international races this season, with Nico Rosberg clinching the title at the Abu Dhabi finale last month.

Technology plays a critical role in contributing to a team’s success in F1 racing. It is at the heart of many backstage operations, such as designing, prototyping, manufacturing and testing, whilst also being at the height of importance on the trackside during the race itself for analysis purposes.

The need for a high-performance storage solution is one aspect 20

DECEMBER 2016

that is crucial in making full use of the precious time available during a race, explained Paddy Lowe, executive technical director, Mercedes F1 Team.

“Our IT department identified that it was time to refresh our storage assets, and after some very thorough research of the market, Pure Storage’s solution was a clearcut winner in our eyes,” he said.

The Mercedes team needed an infrastructure that was both stateof-the-art and portable, due to the team having to relocate every two weeks across 21 locations all over the globe throughout the season.

Pure’s solution ticked both boxes by reducing data centre rack space by 68 percent; replacing 40TB and 26 rack units with 88TB and 6 rack units of Pure systems. This has resulted in significant logistical savings as the

team set up temporary and remote operations in various locations.

“With the switch to Pure, we have seen a drastic reduction in the volume and weight of our storage assets, and so every kilogram we save is saving us hundreds of dollars in annual freight charges,” said Lowe.

Incremental improvement is a common goal within the Mercedes team, and shaving even a fraction of a second off the time it takes a car to complete a lap can mean the difference between winning and losing a race. This process is concurrent with the speed at which data from the 200 physical sensors on a racing car can be collected, stored and analysed, as it influences how fast decisions can be made concerning how to change and improve the car. www.cnmeonline.com

PaddyLowe,executivetechnicaldirector, Mercedes F1 team

“Everything in this industry is based on cycles,” said Lowe.

“The more streamlined you can make this process, the more you are enabled to either get out to the track quicker, or have more thinking time whilst the car is in the pit. If you’re spending a minute waiting for data to be processed, that’s just totally lost time.”

The data gathered during a race is carefully scrutinised by team members across multiple design functions to gain visibility on all possible insights that could help improve performance, both for the next race and over the long term. In a world where the ability to quickly analyse data about the performance of the cars is core to the organisation, a tenth of a second delay could make a huge difference in the rankings. www.cnmeonline.com

Another benefit was evident in a frequently used query to a SQL Server database, which had previously taken approximately four-and-a-half minutes to execute. This response time for key database queries has been slashed by 95 percent since the implementation of Pure’s solution.

Implementing the FlashArrays series created immediate value for the team, as the solution was up and running in four hours.

“There was no option for downtime during the implementation, and as far as I am aware it went incredibly smoothly," Lowe said. "It’s been absolutely brilliant and we have had no issues with the product, and our IT team have been particularly encouraged by how we have hit the ground running with this.”

The adoption of flash storage systems is something that Lowe

In this business, it’s all about the first move advantage.

believes competitors on the track will soon catch on to, if they haven’t already.

“Our neighbours will inevitably start using flash from somewhere, maybe even from Pure, but we’ll have been a year or two ahead of them,” he said. “In this business, it’s all about the first move advantage.”

DECEMBER 2016

21

FEATURE

e-commerce

HIGH NOON With a sudden spike in e-commerce announcements and investments in the region, has the Middle East’s time come for a boom in online purchases? James Dartnell browses the region’s prospects for digital shopping.

I

t’s all happened so fast. In the space of a few weeks, an industry that had otherwise been making steady progress – one that found itself in a battle against the monster malls that dominate this part of the world – has suddenly witnessed a stampede of activity that will provide intense competition for online retail in the region. The sharp rise of e-commerce in the Middle East may finally be upon us.

A series of major moves could well entice consumers to reach for their pockets, but are the announcements just hype in a market that still prefers a luxury, physical retail experience?

22

DECEMBER 2016

www.cnmeonline.com

Noon.com The first and most striking blow was landed by Emaar Properties chairman and entrepreneur Mohamed Alabbar, who announced that $1 billion – in partnership with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund – would be invested into the new online platform Noon.com.

Alabbar surely has to be one of the favourites to thrive in the space.

Emaar’s reputation has been built on the delivery of iconic projects that have helped to put Dubai on the map, including the Burj Khalifa, and – now, slightly ironically, it seems – The Dubai Mall. His ambition and regional appeal have already given Noon great public exposure, which is backed up by serious financial muscle. The Saudi government is set to be a trailblazer in technology investment, following the announcement of a $100 billion partnership with Japanese firm SoftBank.

Most eye-catching about Noon itself is the “20 million” items Alabbar claims it will sell online. He also owns a majority stake in Kuwait Food Co., which has vast warehouse space – three times the size of that owned by Aramex. If lessons can be learned from global e-commerce leader Amazon – more on them imminently –

60%

of the M idd East and le North Africa’s 350 million c itiz are unde ens rt age of 2 he 5.

Mohamed Alabbar, chairman of Emaar Properties and co-founder of Noon.com www.cnmeonline.com

DECEMBER 2016

23

FEATURE

e-commerce

then this bodes extremely well, with the vast storage space and product line giving them the infrastructure to take on the region.

Get off my Land It’s not just the newer platforms that are attempting to make waves in e-commerce.

Regional retail heavyweight Landmark Group also used November to announce its next big move in the space; who knows, maybe they caught wind of the flurry of 4 development that awaited.

OM The firm will replace its existing online portal, LandmarkShops.com, with seven individual, branded websites across its product ranges.

Since venturing into e-commerce in 2012, Landmark can comfortably deem its online ventures to have been a success, with over 200 percent year-on-year growth in e-commerce in its second year, and over 300 percent growth in year three. However, while this represents progress from Landmark, the 55,000 products that it will offer – not to mention ones that are scattered across platforms – pale into insignificance compared to what Noon has in its arsenal.

Souq.com Yet, in spite of all the promise that Noon seemed to have at its feet, Bloomberg reported that Amazon was in talks to purchase Dubai-based online retailer Souq.com for $1 billion.

While the firm had initially envisaged selling a 30 percent stake, Amazon is reportedly keen on buying the whole company.

Established in 2005, Souq.com sells more than 400,000 products online to customers in the UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and has carved a reputation for being the go-to platform for online shopping in the region. In February, the company announced that it had completed a funding round of more than $275 million, the largest financing of an e-commerce business in the region.

With 2015 revenues of $107 billion, and now recognised as one of the world’s most valuable companies, a takeover from a firm of Amazon’s stature and ales experience of retail s d would be sure conducte to turn Souq online in d into a force to the Unite – be reckoned Kingdom ’s with, and would the world ure be more than a match for Noon. highest fig com.

Still, neither party has confirmed the deal, so this could all be hot air.

11%

24

DECEMBER 2016

Perfect timing, or too early to the party?

There’s an undeniably huge market for e-commerce in the Middle East.

Two countries stand out as models of success in that respect.

The United Kingdom and South Korea – with 11 and 10.8 percent of their retail purchases conducted online respectively – much like the UAE, are relatively small countries, making

Ronaldo Mouchawar, CEO and co-founder of Souq.com them conducive to shorter delivery times.

The UAE’s level of online retail as a percentage of overall spend is closer to two percent meanwhile, so it is no wonder that mega deals are finally surfacing.

Population stats alone suggest that 3 shopping will rise. It’s just a online M O question of when. A whopping 60 percent of the Middle East and North Africa region’s 350 million people are under the age of 25.

The UAE, meanwhile, has the world’s highest smartphone penetration at 74 percent – with Saudi Arabia on its heels in third place with 73 percent.

While shopping over a smartphone is not always the most convenient exercise, it stands to reason that the rise of online shopping is inevitable as part of the uptake of smart devices.

What does it mean for the enterprise?

There will doubtless be a minority of CIOs and business leaders who do not see the relevance of these deals to their own business. The shift to online sales is not going to happen overnight for various reasons, but the level of investment and activity in e-commerce must surely set alarm bells ringing.

If e-commerce does witness a sharp rise – which is very likely given the breadth of options now available to consumers – it will signal another major shift to digital platforms rather than physical sales.

How long will it be before the sale of enterprise products and services, rather than those aimed at consumers, is a process that is all conducted through a website? www.cnmeonline.com

LANmark-8

Save money. Be two steps ahead.

40G 25G

rk-8

ma

LAN

10G

A rk-7

ma

LAN

LA

A

rk-6

a Nm

4

OM

4

OM

3

OM

LANmark-7A and LANmark-8 can be installed in cost effective End- or Middle of Row configurations and offer an easy migration path for 2 performance steps ahead of today.

Built around the GG45 connector with a 2GHz interface, Nexans LANmark-8 system supports both 40G and 25GBase-T whilst LANmark-7A accommodates 25GBase-T. Ideal for data centres which currently use 1 or 10Gbps at server ports today.

www.nexans.com/LANsystems

Save money with smart migration path in End- or Middle of Row architecture

1G

10G

25G

40G

LANmark-8

p

p

p

p

LANmark-7A

p

p

p

LANmark-6A

p

p

CIO

Spotlight

Wealth of experience Gopi Krishnan’s impressive CV in banking technology has earned him significant credibility in the region. Now chief information officer of Al Hilal Bank, he hopes to fulfil the board’s aim of becoming the most technologically advanced firm in Islamic banking.

y all accounts, Gopi Krishnan’s extensive CV is a world away from the life he had once expected for himself. Born and raised in Ambasamudram, which he describes as a “one of the most beautiful small towns in South India,” "Krish" grew up in an middle class family, believing he would one day wind up working for the government. He attended St. Xavier’s College in Palayamkottai to complete his Bachelor’s degree in General Science, but it wasn’t until his second year of study that he realised that technology could be the path for him.

B

26

DECEMBER 2016

www.cnmeonline.com

“I realised that I wanted to take up computers when I got hooked into basic programming with my college mates from the Computer Science department," he says. "So I decided to take up computers as an extra subject in addition to my degree." He went on to pursue an advanced diploma in Technology and Information Systems before progressing onto a post-graduate diploma in International Business at the Indian Institute of Modern Management (IIMM), Pune.

He was quick to land his first technology-based job as a lab coordinator in NIIT, before taking up positions in organisations such as Thinksoft and Citigroup EMEA. He began working for Citigroup in 2002, before moving to Baltimore in 2004 to join CitiFinancial as part of their quality assurance and programme management team.

Following this, Krish moved to the UK in 2005 to begin his work with Fidelity Investments at City of London Telecom (COLT).

“The importance of IT and what it can do for business is much more understood in the Western world than it is here in this region,” he says.

“I think that is slowly changing, and one of the key reasons that made me join Al Hilal is because this bank’s aim is to become one of most innovative and digital advanced Islamic banks in the region.”

Krish came to the Middle East in 2006 to take up various management roles at First Gulf Bank, including head of systems, head of EPMO and head of the governance office. “I had a great run at FGB, and was able to implement big changes with respect to processes, stricter www.cnmeonline.com

“

Transformation programmes are not IT-led; they are bank-wide programmes, sponsored by the CEO.”

controls, change management and programme governance - so much so that the business satisfaction levels on IT rose significantly to 86 percent.

Turning around a large bank’s IT division into an efficient and agile organisation was a great success for me,” he says.

Krish was then headhunted by a former boss to lead a $50 million programme at BankMuscat International over a period of two years. “The project at BMI involved changing everything; IT systems, data centres, channels, CRM, core banking, trading platform, wealth management, ERP – you name it, we changed it.”

After a successful transformation story at BMI, he moved on to Qatar Islamic Bank to lead a transformation dubbed as the ‘iCAN’ programme.

He joined them as head of business technology and transformation in 2012, and was later promoted to chief information officer.

“Transformation programmes are not IT-led; they are bank-wide programmes, sponsored by the CEO themselves,” he says. “During my successful attempt at QIB, we had a dedicated team of 40 people from across the bank as ‘transformation champions.’”

Acknowledged by the likes of Deloitte and Temenos, this transformation programme

was recognised and showcased worldwide for its implementation methodology, change management and programme governance.

Krish believes his success as CIO is down to his “five golden rules,” which he plasters across the walls of his departments. “Rule number one is that my staff are to work under the ethos of being one team, with one vision and one voice. I have always emphasised that a team is as strong as its weakest link, so that is rule two.

Wherever possible, they are to make things cheaper, faster and better.

Rule number four is to keep things simple, and only do what is necessary.

And finally, I have always told them to work hard and play harder.”

He also maintains the crucial importance of being a team leader and not just a manager. “When it comes to managing people, one size does not fit all. I believe in adapting my management style to the needs of the employee. Some people need a very directive approach; some just need goals and the freedom to achieve them,” he says.

When reflecting on his most satisfying career experience to date, Krish, a major believer in transparency between departments, pin-points the successful creation of an IT and business partnership at QIB. “There are multiple ways in which IT can influence a business, DECEMBER 2016

27

CIO

Spotlight

TIMELINE and when I took over as CIO at QIB, this alignment was something that I really wanted to enhance,” he says. “IT processes sometimes made business more complex than it needed to be, and requirements which were ‘signed with blood’ – so to speak – and therefore couldn’t be changed, hampered our agility and time to market. Luckily, we were able to change that situation for the better while still maintaining necessary governance and information security check points.”

“

When it comes to managing people, one size does not fit all. I believe in adapting my management style to the needs of the employee. Some people need a very directive approach; some just need goals and the freedom to achieve them.”

28

DECEMBER 2016

In the midst of his work on transforming technologies, Krish has also been involved in transforming the lives of thousands of underprivileged children from rural villages in India. “Six friends and I started this philanthropic initiative, ‘Giving is Good’, which involves us donating any money that we can spare to supplying computers to schools in remote villages of India. These children previously knew the world only from the globe in their classroom, and now all of a sudden they have access to programmes like Google Earth, Wikipedia and YouTube. You can’t imagine the impact it has on the students, teachers and general public,” he says. “This sense of creating a positive impact on people is what drives me to get up in the morning. If someone told me I was going to be sent on a project that wouldn’t pay me very much or give me the fancy perks of a high-flying job, but it would change the lives of 100 people, I would gladly do it.” In recognition of his efforts, Krish was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2015 from International Tamil University in the USA. Having joined Al Hilal Bank in August, Krish stands by one of his core principles in which he encourages his team to ‘try and fail.’

“There’s nothing wrong with failing; at least you can learn from your mistakes. I want this to be a fun and interesting place to work – it isn’t NASA after all,” he quips. “At Al Hilal Bank, we are determined to ride the digital wave and adopt the latest technological innovations to offer our customers preeminent products and services, and deliver outstanding customer experience.”

1997

Joins First Gulf Bank

2008

Joins Qatar Islamic Bank, promoted to CIO

2016

Starts career as lab co-ordinator at NIIT

2006

Headhunted by Bank Muscat International

2012

Named Al Hilal Bank CIO, based in Abu dhabi

www.cnmeonline.com

CASE STUDY

The Entertainer

Let me entertain you For Dubai’s savviest shoppers, diners and funlovers, The Entertainer is a faithful companion.

Since adding a mobile app to accompany its voucher booklet in 2014, the company that offers consumers thousands of two-for-one deals has seen its digital presence soar. CIO David Ashford has spearheaded the technological transformation that now defines the company.

David Ashford, CIO, The Entertainer

30

DECEMBER 2016

www.cnmeonline.com

D

ubai is notoriously expensive. For most residents and tourists, sampling the delights of one of the world’s most cosmopolitan and luxurious cities comes at a price. Whether classy hotels, mouthwatering cuisine or heart-stopping water slides tickle your fancy, winding down in the UAE’s capital of fun hardly ever comes cheap. For the last 15 years, however, The Entertainer has aimed to cut those costs in half.

In truth, the app’s reach isn’t confined only to Dubai.

Headquartered in the emirate since its launch, The Entertainer now serves up two-for-one offers across 20 countries, with offices in 10, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and South Africa.

Regional technology experts who tediously reference how Uber and Airbnb have become the pinnacle of digital transformation need look no further than The Entertainer for new inspiration. Those companies have been undeniably disruptive and innovative in their respective industries, but The Entertainer’s evolution is a regional success story, and one that resonates with consumers.

The company’s voucher book – a hefty number – was launched in 2001, and 13 years later, the firm decided to make its product available in mobile app form. The move has proven to be extremely well-timed. In the first year of the app’s launch, it was responsible for 12 percent of The Entertainer’s sales. For 2015, this number nearly quadrupled to 45 percent. To date, 99.2 percent of sales for The Entertainer’s 2017 products have been for mobile versions. Since going mobile, The Entertainer has saved www.cnmeonline.com

Our rise has been achieved through a very simple business model that has been executed extremely well.

customers an estimated $150 million.

“Our rise has been remarkable,” chief information officer David Ashford says. “It’s been done through a very simple business model, but one that has been executed extremely well. Our founder and CEO Donna Benton had the foresight to keep innovating, and make sure the company had the investment to become a strong technology platform.”

With such a marked digital rise, it’s reasonable to assert that the company has gone beyond being just a consumer product. “The Entertainer is very similar to a technology startup, both in terms of our agility and speed of development,” Ashford says.

“What differentiates us, however, is that we have a very solid foundation and are profitable.”

The pace of innovation at the company is clear to see. Cheers, its two-for-one product for drinks deals

in Dubai, went live on 1st May, less than two months after the company had decided to launch it. Speed is now of the essence for the firm. “It’s all about how we can increase our digital reach,” Ashford says. “Our digital growth has snowballed in the last few years, so we’ve had to spend a lot of time building our platform, and ultimately, successfully shifting to being a technology company.”

The company’s sharp rise to being predominantly digitally based has also demanded an extremely quick development of its IT infrastructure. Disappointed with scheduled maintenance windows from previous vendors, The Entertainer has shifted to a “heavily cloud-based” infrastructure. “In many ways our environment is a hybrid cloud,” Ashford says. Using Salesforce.com, as well as a mix of Rackspace and Amazon Web Services for its hosting infrastructure, The Entertainer understands it has a commitment to serve customers around the clock. “It’s important that the app always works,” Ashford says.

“If a customer is in a restaurant and can’t redeem an offer, they’ll quickly lose patience. We owe it to them to deliver a good service.”

All the evidence suggests that the app is only set to grow. For a company whose main product was physical rather than digital just three years ago, this has created a sharp demand within the company for digitally-savvy staff. Rapid technological growth has prompted a hunt for four new digital product managers and two new data scientists to accompany the heads of product innovation; information; and technology, engineering and development, all of whom sit DECEMBER 2016

31

CASE STUDY

The Entertainer

under Ashford. It’s clear to see he believes information to be the most critical asset at The Entertainer’s disposal. “For us, the future needs to be different,” he says. “We need to maximise the usability of our products, while harvesting data for more relevant content.”

With multiple users able to access a single Entertainer account, whether in book or app form, one of the main challenges that Ashford faces is being able to tailor each individual consumer’s experience. “We are fanatical about using data to make our app more personalised and relevant to each customer,” he says. “A lot of our customers aren’t just people, but households. My wife and I could be using the same account, which could result in me receiving suggested offers that aren’t to my taste. Netflix, for instance, has tackled this issue very well. We’ve got some very exciting plans on the horizon that will tackle this issue head on.”

Ashford goes on to stress that “spontaneity” has to be central to the way that The Entertainer develops services, with new flows of information dictating how the company responds. “There will always be new business opportunities, but it’s just a question of having the data that is needed to capture them,” Ashford says.

“Creating privileged products always has to be a priority. For example, if there is a particular event – like the World Cup – that is taking place, we need to use data to build relevant products around that event.”

As well as looking to the future, Ashford is also tasked with finding ways to leverage 15 years’ worth of data to gain fresh insight. “We’ve been laying the foundations for a long time,” he says. “We’ve been storing data since 2001, and now need to put that to good use.”

32

DECEMBER 2016

The Entertainer’s back end operations have also proven themselves to be socially adept in recent years, effectively utilising a range of social media platforms to identify customer habits, as well as spurning their activity. “We have five types of customer,” Ashford says.

“Competitors want to save more than their friends. Savers want to save as much as they can. Explorers use discounts as a means of discovering new outlets. Socialites prefer to go out

We are fanatical about using data to make our app more personalised and relevant to each customer.

in large groups, while tourists make heavy use of the app in a short burst and tend not to use it again.”

Drawing these conclusions has impacted the company’s marketing strategy, with The Entertainer now using Facebook groups that allow customers to exchange offers on the platform. “We use a different tone of voice to target our differing consumers,” Ashford says.

Gamification techniques have also made strides in helping The Entertainer build a greater rapport

with its customers. The introduction of Appboy software has allowed the segmentation and scheduling of direct marketing campaigns, while the decision to develop a virtual currency – Smiles – is helping to build customer loyalty.

As The Entertainer’s global operations expand, meanwhile, the way the company analyses data is set to shape its entry strategies for each market. The company has already learned from experience that some markets are much more mature than others. “It soon became clear that we should never have launched our book in Singapore,” Ashford says.

“They’re very early adopters and are accustomed to e-commerce, so that was a mistake.”

Other markets may be even tougher to crack, but could still provide valuable lessons, with Ashford casting envious eyes over the ways that China’s technology ecosystem has set the standard for consumer apps. “The way that WeChat can operate like a Swiss army knife is truly mind-boggling,” he says. “The amount of data that the app receives is a dream for someone in my position.” He goes on to add that the continent could provide future growth opportunities. “For now, our main target is to become more entrenched in our current markets, but our next opportunity could well be in Asia.”

The pace of change shows no sign of abating at the company’s Media City HQ. Ashford has plans in the pipeline to introduce machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies to the company’s IT roadmap, but only when the time is right. “They can cause problems if you get them wrong,” he says. “They’re both relatively new fields, so it’s important to find the right experts so that we can deploy them properly. Getting it wrong could be costly.” www.cnmeonline.com

Simple Fast Efficient All that you need your IT to be.

Network Management | Applications Management | IT Service Management Active Directory Management | IT Security | IT Analytics Over 120,000 organizations across the world trust ManageEngine for IT Management

www.manageengine.com

CASE STUDY

Ajman Bank

Northern star Compelled to propel the bank into the digital age and make it a technology beacon for the northern emirates, Ajman Bank sought wholesale changes in its data centre to enable the young organisation to deliver on its long-term goals.

W

hen Abdul Rahman Jaroudi set out to make wholesale adjustments to Ajman Bank’s IT infrastructure, he never had token changes in mind. The head of IT had ambitions to build the “largest” colocated data centre in the north of the UAE, and knew that precise strategy and execution were needed.

Established in 2007, Ajman Bank is a relative newcomer to the industry. The first Islamic bank incorporated in Ajman, its shares were listed on the Dubai Financial Market in February 2008 – with the Government of Ajman owning a 25 percent stake – and the Bank officially opened for business in 2009 from its two branches in the emirate.

In the last few years, Ajman Bank has thrived, and now has 11 branches across the UAE, with more in the pipeline.

Jaroudi believes that the company has already proven itself to have been a formidable addition to the market in its short history. “Our infancy coincided with the last financial crisis, 34

DECEMBER 2016

and the fact we remained stable throughout that and in its aftermath proves that we are here to stay,” he says. “Compared to some of the other banks in the UAE, we are relatively small, but we want to create a unique bank with unique services. When it comes to technology, we don’t just want to deploy state-of-the-art solutions, but also original concepts.”

We want to create a unique bank with unique services.

Jaroudi likens the Middle East’s transition to being run by digital businesses as a “journey”, adding that the region is showing encouraging signs in its development. “Speaking broadly, Europe may be 70-80 percent complete in its journey to become digital, while the Middle East’s transition is only 50-60 percent complete,” he says. “That being said, this part of the world is certainly moving on the right track.”

He goes on to add that without the right foundations, first-class technology is a mere pipe dream.

“The strength of a country’s overall infrastructure – as well our banking and IT infrastructure – is important in making all our technology ambitions a reality,” he says. “If you want strong technology, you first need strong physical and IT infrastructure.”

In the midst of this change, it is important for a bank to find a compromise between delivering modern technology for its customers, as well ensuring that an all-important www.cnmeonline.com

Abdul Rahman Jaroudi, Head of IT

www.cnmeonline.com

DECEMBER 2016

35

CASE STUDY

Ajman Bank

human touch is not lost. “We don’t think it is necessary to over-engineer our products,” he says. “It is more a question of innovating services that align with the Bank’s vision.

Some banks only believe in faceto-face contact with customers, which contradicts the digital school of thought. We need to find a bridge between these mentalities.”

Compelled to grow the company’s IT infrastructure in order to power this change, Jaroudi sought to instigate wholesale changes. The most obvious place to start was the company’s data centre, which was wrought with unnecessary complexity.

Technologies provided by a range of vendors were hardly conducive to smooth IT operations. “We had a lot of different flavours from a range of big companies, which didn’t help the environment,” Jaroudi says. “We were consequently void of a single vision or roadmap.” Ajman Bank had used a separate premises for its data centre, and would look to smoothly shift sites, with minimal disruption to its business operations.

Jaroudi and Ajman Bank began the POC process, and one vendor grabbed their attention in the early stages. “We visited Schneider Electric’s offices and innovation centre in Paris, and were immediately impressed by the end-to-end monitoring capabilities they could provide, as well as their understanding of our needs,” he said. “More importantly, it was clear that they had excellent support in the Middle East, so we wouldn’t be dependent on their staff who were overseas.”

Beginning work in January, Jaroudi and Schneider Electric began the overhaul with zeal. The new data centre was built at sea level, and designed with flood control, fire detection and suppression features.

The implementation comprised 36

DECEMBER 2016

220 racks, each with a capacity of 10 kilowatts, and close control units of more than 1800 kW, and an uninterruptible power supply of 2400 KVA with full redundancy. In order to manage power density, the facility would include robust heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.

Recovery software and storage space were also included. Schneider Electric also installed a holistic network architecture from its StruxureWare for data centres suite, encompassing its data centre infrastructure management (DCIM) solution.

We don’t just want to deploy state-of-the-art solutions, but also original concepts.

Work was completed in under six months, and Jaroudi has been delighted with the results. Shifting its data centre to the company premises has already proven to be a sage move, allowing Ajman Bank to realise a huge cost saving as well as enhanced uptime and systems availability, providing better support to the business. “The data centre now really feels like it is ours,” Jaroudi says.

Partnering with a single vendor has also removed complexity from Ajman Bank’s IT operations, allowing them to retire dated hardware in the

process. “This consolidation has provided us with a single point of contact and technology,” he says.

“Proper sizing and assessment has enabled us to make a huge cost saving by removing the need to inflate systems and capacity.”

The addition of a DCIM solution has added huge value to Ajman Bank’s operations. “It’s allowed us to easily monitor and track every component of the data centre through a single dashboard, which is a huge advantage” Jaroudi says. “That means that we can be proactive in our decision-making, and initiate action much earlier than we could before.

It’s made a huge difference to our network operations centre.”

One of Ajman Bank’s overriding long-term goals is to build a sustainable and socially responsible business. Their association with Schneider Electric has made inroads in fulfilling this mandate, reducing the company’s carbon footprint in a number of different areas. The new data centre has saved “35-40 percent” of Ajman Bank’s data centre power costs due to the insight provided by the DCIM solution. “That’s a huge difference,” Jaroudi says. Prior to the changes, Ajman Bank had printed “200,000” sheets of paper per month across the business, but that number now equates to their annual total due to faster IT operations that have resulted from a more powerful infrastructure and less dependence on paper-based processes.

Looking ahead, Jaroudi believes Ajman Bank is now well-positioned to fulfill a series of other technological ambitions as a result of the work.

“We’re considering deploying a modular data centre now,” he says. “We’re also now better positioned to consider the deployment of a private cloud, while our ambitions to introduce more branches and ATMs will be closer to reality.” www.cnmeonline.com

28 February – 2 March 2017 | Dubai, UAE gartner.com/me/symposium

“It makes you think in different ways, challenging you, getting you ready for the future.”

Sebastian Samuel, CIO, AW Rostamani Group

It’s a long way from the desire to the reality of digital business. Every step needs to drive digital innovation to the core of your products, services and processes — while letting you stay focused on the bigger picture of what’s ahead. That’s where Gartner and the global community of CIOs at Symposium/ITxpo can help you to Lead 360: Drive digital to the core.

The World’s Most Important Gathering of CIOs and Senior IT Executives

© 2016 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner and ITxpo are registered trademarks of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. For more information, email info@gartner.com or visit gartner.com.

Register now using code EBSYMME1 for a $600 discount on standard delegate rate Web: gartner.com/me/symposium Email: emea.registration@gartner.com Phone: +44 20 8879 2430

CASE STUDY

Burj Al Arab

Guest access Maintaining the iconic Burj Al Arab's exceptionally high standards of service - which have resulted in it being voted the world's most luxurious place to stay - is no easy task. In order to enhance this guest experience, Jumeirah Group’s vice president of IT, Neil Menezes, recently opted to roll-out an upgraded Wi-Fi infrastructure.

A

mong Jumeirah Group’s array of 22 luxurious hotels across the globe stands arguably the most iconic of them all right here in Dubai; the Burj Al Arab. It opened its doors in December 1999 and is now regarded as a symbol of modern Dubai that can be viewed from almost anywhere along Jumeirah’s lengthy coastline.

The hotel’s private helipad – located 689 feet above the ground – has seen its fair share of attention-grabbing stunts over the years. Roger Federer and Andre Agassi took tennis to new heights when they played a friendly match on the helipad in 2005, and Rory McIlroy concluded the 2011 golf season when he teed-off a bunker shot 210m above ground. Staying at the Burj Al Arab isn’t just about the room, the pool or the bars; it’s about enjoying the whole “luxurious experience,” 38

DECEMBER 2016

says the Group’s vice president of IT operations, Neil Menezes.

“Based on previous guest feedback, we learned that one of the most important things that a customer looks for when finding somewhere to stay is complimentary Wi-Fi in hotels,” he says. “Part of our brand hallmark standards is to create an exhilarating and imaginative experience which will stay with the customer long after they have left us.” In order to fulfil this mandate, Menezes was tasked with the job of implementing seamless, wireless connectivity throughout the hotel's sail-shaped structure and surrounding outdoor areas. But it wasn’t solely about guests having access to Wi-Fi; the implementation was also an opportunity to improve the entire guest experience by altering the efficiency of certain

processes performed by the hotel staff. “Today, it’s no longer about having traditional technology; it’s about transforming and using what you have in a manner that directly effects the business,” he says.

“Complimentary Wi-Fi is a commodity service, which means it is an expense to the hotel. As such, we figured that we also needed to benefit from it.”

Having used Aruba’s services for almost eight years, maintaining the relationship in the transition to an upgraded Wi-Fi infrastructure seemed the obvious answer. “Dealing with Jumeirah in terms of IT security and operations is not an easy task, especially considering the high calibre of guests we have staying at our hotels, so we really sliced and diced the product apart,” says Menezes.

“Time and time again, we put in requests to customise certain parts www.cnmeonline.com

Neil Menezes, vice president of IT operations, Jumeirah Group

www.cnmeonline.com

DECEMBER 2016

39

CASE STUDY

Burj Al Arab

of the experience so that we could deliver the best experience to our guests, and Aruba has always been able to deliver enhancements within the product on a constant basis.”

The implementation has led to a variety of benefits for both guests and staff at the Burj Al Arab. Previously, guests could be waiting in a long queue at a check-in desk. “Now, we have optimised mobile check-in and check-out services throughout Jumeirah hotels,” says Menezes. “The Burj Al Arab is an exception, as there are check-in desks on every floor, where guests are escorted directly to their suites and are privately checked in using tablet devices connected to the Wi-Fi.” There is now also an app for the renowned, top-floor restaurant ‘Gold on 27.’ Guests are able to make a reservation via the app, and those visiting the Burj Al Arab by car will then be personally greeted at the hotel gates. The app notifies security guards via a tablet when someone who has made a reservation approaches the entrance, “revolutionising the welcome process,” according to Menezes.

There is also a collection of access points in the restaurant, which have been gold-painted to blend in with the novel design of the room.

The implementation process of over 900 access points as part of the AP-225 series throughout the hotel took just over two months, which included the deployment of APs across the Burj Al Arab’s recently built outdoor area, ‘The Terrace.’ With two pools and a capacity of 900 people, it was crucial that guests were still able to enjoy wireless connectivity in the hotel grounds. “The Terrace is magnificent, and ensuring connectivity outside really shows 40

DECEMBER 2016

our commitment to the brand and to what guests want,” says Menezes.

“The outdoor access points provide excellent coverage in terms of performance and speed, and as there is no bandwidth capping, our guests can continue to enjoy a superior experience with us.”

Whilst he maintains that the transition process was “like a hot knife to butter,” Menezes admits that the shape of the iconic Burj Al

ROI is not something we measure when it comes to WiFi; the only ROI we can expect is a smile on our guest’s face.

Arab building did present challenges during the implementation. Due to its sail shape, open atrium interior and lack of concrete slabs between floors, connections could easily be interfered with. “We had a very unique challenge because of the building design,” he says. “The signalling was getting disturbed by the metalling in the atrium, and I admit it was quite challenging. It took a lot of planning

and we spent a long time enabling triangulation of the connections.”

One of the first immediate improvements following the implementation was that the Wi-Fi infrastructure can now take on more devices, whilst still maintaining a high level of performance. “Nowadays, individual guests are travelling with at least three devices that they want to be connected, and a family of four averages 10 connected devices per suite,” says Menezes.

The new infrastructure has also meant that the hotel can enable business-orientated systems on the network, such as processing credit card transactions on tablets, rather than cellular data to connect to banking outlets. “This flexibility means we that can process the transaction right in front of the guests, and it is all done at their tables if they are in one of our restaurants,” he says.

Measuring quantitative data to ensure these new services are satisfying guests is not a top priority for Menezes. “ROI is not something we measure when it comes to Wi-Fi, because it’s a hotel necessity and a commodity service that we have to provide. The only ROI we can expect is a smile on our guest’s face,” he says.

Moving forward, Jumeirah Group hope to continue fulfilling their company slogan: ‘Stay different,’ and are always looking to get one step ahead of competing hotel chains.

“When the Burj Al Arab opened at the end of 1999, it was one of the most technically advanced hotels in the world,” says Menezes. “As time progresses, we are constantly on the look-out for new technologies that we can adopt to improve guest satisfaction and really help us to deliver superior experiences. Everything today – especially within our industry – is ultimately driven by technology.” www.cnmeonline.com

ADVERTORIAL

Fujisoft Technology receives award from Epicor Fujisoft expands its software capabilities with inclusion of SharePoint, Mobility, Big data and BI. Fujisoft Technology, an IT Solution and Services company, has been recognised by Epicor Software as the Rising Star of EMEA region 2016 at their recent annual ignite Global sales conference held at Orlando, USA. Since the inception of the software and consulting services business unit, Fujisoft has made incredible efforts to position in the market and make its presence felt in the region.

Being an Epicor Strategic Partner for the Middle East, Africa and India, the company has a strategic roadmap for the next few years in terms of revenue growth and penetration of markets like Africa and India.

Fujisoft’s strength lies in its Certified Consulting team comprising of Functional & Technical consultants along with Solution Architect having extensive knowledge in the verticals such as Manufacturing, Contracting, Retail, Distribution and Services.

The company is expanding their consulting resources across region

being operated to cater the needs of their customer for better services and drive the market through professional consulting services and innovation.

“I was pleased to reward Fujisoft with their EMEA Rising Star award at this year’s Ignite in the US, Fujisoft has progressed rapidly in a very short period of time, from the day we agreed to enter in to a partnership until now they have built a solid foundation on which to grow an effective ERP practice.

With a large number of technical and sales resources already on board, some strong relationships with global systems integrators and solid pipeline the results have already started to show” said Hesham El Komy, Senior Director (International Channels), Epicor.

The company has expanded its product / solution portfolio with

inclusion of SharePoint, Mobility, Big Data and BI and has strategic plans of expanding these solutions geographically during the Year 2017.

Mobility is witnessing as one of the fastest growing solution segment in the region, Fujisoft has signed up partnership with Kony Mobility and the company is one of the early adopters to lead the market.

“We are pleased to receive this award, the year 2016 has been very challenging yet fruitful with achievement of two awards (including Hot 50 for service excellence for whole group) in this year. We are now geared up for the next year towards expansion of product portfolio and regional presence,” said Raju MV, Executive Director, Fujisoft Technology.

TELECOMS WORLD

Outlook 2017

PATHWAYS TO GROWTH For the Middle East telecom market, 2017 could be a year of opportunities with the rise of IoT and digital services.

ith a favourable regulatory environment and a spirit of innovation, the regional telecom sector is one of the fastest-growing telecom markets in the world. Mobile and fixed data services continue to drive revenue growth in the region with mobile voice still accounting for the large chunk of revenues for service providers.

Though the telecom sector contributes significantly to the GDP of regional economies, the prevailing uncertainty around global crude prices has resulted in a cautious investment environment in this major vertical.

However, industry pundits expect regional telecom operators to continue to make critical network investments to capture the growing demand for data services, digital services and IoT.

W

42

DECEMBER 2016

What will be the new challenges and growth opportunities for telecom service providers in 2017? “Increasing smartphone adoption has led to a tremendous increase in data traffic," says Aji Ed, Head of Technology, Nokia. "This trend will continue through 2017.

Operators need to make the infrastructure ready for traffic growth. They will need to launch ultra-fast LTE 4.5G Pro and 4.9G networks next year and beyond, and carry out 5G tests to prepare themselves for the data deluge in the coming years.”

Tarek Saadi, head of Ericsson GCC and Pakistan, says rapid digital transformation will continue to grip operators, and the challenges related to emerging technologies – particularly IoT - will continue to proliferate.

“Realising the full benefits of the IoT will be a collaborative effort across industries," he says. "Challenges such as data security, www.cnmeonline.com

privacy, interoperability and information management in the IoT can only be effectively addressed through a common approach.

Tackling these challenges will require tools such as network slicing, trusted computing and alternative ways of handling user identities,” he adds.

However, these challenges are also opening doors of opportunity for new use cases in which connectivity is tailored to the needs of specific industries. For the IoT and 5G to become end-to-end network realities, the core network will need to evolve to support new services. A 5G-ready core that supports network function virtualisation (NFV), softwaredefined networking (SDN), distributed cloud, network slicing, and service management and orchestration (MANO) will enable operators to capture these opportunities.

With ICT becoming a business enabler for enterprises in a range of industries, telcos have a great opportunity to cash in on this opportunity with innovative offerings.

However, there are a few factors they need to be mindful of while planning for growth.

“Telecom operators are quite aware of the fact that healthy growth in data services does not necessarily translate in to healthy growth of the ARPU, constantly putting pressure on the operators’ operational expenses (OPEX)," says Paul Black, director of Telecoms, Media and IoT, IDC Middle East. "This is leaving

“Rapid digital transformation will continue to grip operators and the challenges related to emerging technologies – particularly IoT– will continue to proliferate.”

Tarek Saadi, Head of Ericsson GCC and Pakistan

www.cnmeonline.com

operators with no option but to constantly upgrade their networks. With lingering economic uncertainties, telecom operators should turn their investments in to the most critical areas such as increasing the network optimisation. This can be achieved through select investments of their networks using a combination of NFV and SDN technologies rather than completely upgrading their existing networks."

Saadi from Ericsson says operators should look to minimise the time required to introduce new services and improved customer experiences. “Technologies such as SDN and NFV support the transformation of networks into global, cloud-based networks that enable agility and automation are essential components that enhance the customer journey in tandem with the network itself. These offerings are essential to help drive business growth, and can positively impact the economy of the country the operator is operating in.”

Industry watchers say the regional telcos should also look to get on the 5G bandwagon and start the trials next year.

5G stakeholders, which include silicon giants such as Qualcomm and Intel, and infrastructure vendors such as Ericsson and Nokia, have been bullish on the technology’s rapid advance, announcing numerous breakthroughs and field trials over the past few months.

“Although 5G may sound like a farsighted term, technologically, it is already in the making," Black says. "Operators must start doing the necessary groundwork for facilitating a smooth transition from the existing 4G or 4.5G technologies to the 5G technology over the next three years."

As 5G technology is expected to come up with totally new features such as carrier aggregation, virtualisation of mobile networks, integration with unlicensed airwaves and Wi-Fi networks, operators should be able to preempt the impact that it is going to have on the future business models, Black adds.

DECEMBER 2016

43

TELECOMS WORLD

Outlook 2017

In addition to a radical rethinking of business models, operators should also start thinking about the skillset needs to support such technologies, as well as making the necessary investments in supporting systems and processes required to carry out the services. Additionally, on the network side, they should start thinking about ways to virtualise their networks and explore ways to synergise their other networks such as NB-IOT and Wi-Fi networks with their future cellular networks.

5G represents the next big step in mobile communication technologies. The networks of the future will have to support the Internet of Things, and guaranteeing quality of service will be essential for connected devices to operate safely and properly. Cities deploying real-time traffic management systems, for instance, must be able to trust the network to be responsive at all times. New scenarios will also arise that require even more granular management – communications between connected cars for crash avoidance or navigation should have a higher priority than hourly updates from smart electricity meters.

“Prescriptive and strict net neutrality rules risk delaying the introduction of these crucial innovations," Saadi says. "This is why preparing for 5G now is imperative, and operators who haven’t yet done so, should start making investments into 5G use cases.

Ericsson’s Mobility Report predicts that by 2022, the region is expected to have around

“Increasing smartphone adoption has led to a tremendous increase in data traffic. This trend will continue through 2017. Operators need to make the infrastructure ready for such a traffic growth.”

Aji Ed, Head of Technology, Nokia

“Telecom operators are quite aware of the fact that a healthy growth in data services does not necessarily translate in to a healthy growth of the ARPU, constantly putting pressure on the operators’ operational expenses.”

Paul Black, Director of Telecoms, Media and IoT, IDC Middle East

44

DECEMBER 2016

20 million 5G subscribers with the first 5G deployments anticipated to be in the GCC countries, Turkey and Lebanon. 5G will help operators monetise by improving efficiency gains or through new use cases in various vertical segments, such as oil and gas, transport and Smart Cities."

Ed from Nokia adds that 5G pre-standard systems will be available from 2017 which can support 5G fixed wireless services.

“In 2018, the Korea Winter Olympics will see the first mobility use cases of 5G implemented using pre-standard systems.

5G commercial systems are expected to be operational by the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

In the Middle East, telcos are making plans for 5G deployments in 2020 and beyond.

The first deployments of 5G in the region are expected to be around major events like Expo 2020 in UAE and the Qatar 2022 World Cup. Nokia is already collaborating with all the major operators in the Middle East to help them get ready for 5G.” The accepted timeline for 5G’s general availability sees the standards work completed by 2018 or 2019, and customer deployment by 2020, yet estimates differ.

But it seems clear that 5G is under more intense development than ever before – while there’s a long way to go before it hits the consumer market, the major stakeholders have the technology uppermost in their minds, and large-scale testing is well and truly under way. www.cnmeonline.com

For more info, please contact infoMEA@al-enterprise.com or +971 4 3188329

NETWORK WORLD

Outlook 2017

THE SOFT SELL How aggressively will the region’s enterprises spend on network development over the coming 12 months, and are they ready to introduce widespread automation into their infrastructure? n some respects, the regional lag in network development it is out of keeping with other aspects of the average enterprise ICT infrastructure.

True, there are a range of exciting projects in the pipeline for the GCC, but things are only just beginning to gather steam in terms of technology development. It begs the question, why should something so fundamental to a business be left behind? For many enterprises, that will be a burning question that is sure to shape their 2017 technology spend.

The advent of virtualisation, for instance, has made the provisioning of servers a process that only takes a matter of hours. Delivering network resources on-demand, however, is a process that can still take weeks, and lead to frustration within business departments – the vast majority – who don’t have a degree of technical know-how.

I

$3.7 BN

– Predicted value of global SDN market for 2016 - IDC 46

DECEMBER 2016

The ability to reduce hardware reconfiguration and make smooth changes to network infrastructure is hugely appealing, making software-defined networking the ultimate goal for 2017. The move to SDN is the shift that leading organisations in the Middle East are striving for, but cannot be introduced overnight. Nor is it a panacea. Developing the infrastructure and skills around it will be more realistic goals for most organisations in the region over the coming year.

Analyst firm IDC has previously forecast that the global SDN market, which comprises physical network infrastructure, virtualisation and control software, applications, and professional services, will have been worth $3.7 billion by the end of this year, with the figure due to rise to $12.5 billion by 2020.

This will also feature a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 53.9 percent from 2014 to 2020. The Middle East and Africa’s role in this journey is still relatively small, but not insignificant, with an estimated figure of $118 million to be reached by 2019, at a CAGR of 77.3 percent, according to MicroMarketMonitor.

Hatem Hariri, general manager, Middle East and Africa, Juniper Networks, believes that software-defined wide area networks www.cnmeonline.com

will be at the core of this growth over the coming 12 months. “This is an opportunity for enterprises to have the advantages of secure, software-driven IT services provided by the network across their organisation,” he says. He goes on to add that the region’s adoption of the technology over the next year will play its part in strong all-round growth. “SD-WAN is also an opportunity for service provider customers to create new revenue streams in the dynamic digital disruption climate they are being forced to negotiate. Ovum Research predicts that, globally, the SD-WAN market will have a CAGR of 93 percent by 2020, and I fully expect that the Middle East to be part of that trend.”

Mohannad Abuissa, head of sales engineering, east region, Cisco Middle East, meanwhile, attributes a selection of technology initiatives as being fundamental drivers for network growth in the near future.

www.cnmeonline.com

DECEMBER 2016

47

NETWORK WORLD

Outlook 2017

“Network traffic across the region is growing exponentially,” he says. For instance, we see the Middle East and Africa having the world’s fastest cloud growth rate, from 17 exabytes in 2012 to 157 exabytes in 2017. The MEA region is projected to have the world’s-fastest growth in mobile data traffic, growing 14-fold to 1.49 exabytes in 2018. The volume of smart devices, meanwhile, is set to grow from 133 million to 598 million in 2018, with 50 billion objects around the world to be connected to networks by 2020.”

Abuissa goes on to add that, with the world’s highest level of smartphone penetration, along with a vast appetite for innovation and quick development, that the region’s leading industries will be looking to SDN in the near future. “The Middle East is very much at the forefront in adopting SDN,” he says. “We are seeing strong demand for SDN from industries with complex networks that need to quickly process large amounts of data – especially service providers, banking and finance, energy, oil and gas, aviation and transportation, malls and retail, and safety and security.”

From vision to reality With national ‘visions’ set to shape economic strategy across the GCC over the coming few years, technology, and enterprise networks, will be the recipients of major investment.

With this in mind, the biggest spenders are sure to be government entities, who are pressing ahead with ambitious goals of transforming their countries’ infrastructures in time for landmark events. Saudi Arabia is set for major change, its Vision 2030 – powered by its vast sovereign wealth fund – sure to demand huge investment in technology, with networks an area set to receive serious investment. The same can be said of Qatar’s National Vision 2030. Dubai’s Expo 2020 ambitions are widely renowned, meanwhile, and the emirate’s efforts in building its overall infrastructure will continue to gather steam.

The development of cloud services is sure to spike demand in network spend, Hariri says. “As-a-service models will become even more popular among enterprises in 2017, and beyond. Enterprises in the Middle East see 48

DECEMBER 2016

“We see the Middle East and Africa having the world’s fastest cloud growth rate, from 17 exabytes in 2012 to 157 exabytes in 2017.”

Mohannad Abuissa, head of sales engineering, east region, Cisco Middle East.

as-a-service models as a smart, cost-effective way to embrace new technologies that drive their business forward, even if in-house skills are limited. Of course, this is another area where virtualisation and cloud come to the fore, enabling providers to create featurerich services for their enterprise customers seamlessly and securely.”

“Though IT and entertainment were the early adopters of digitisation, the largest disruptions will be in other industries, including the public sector, which will offer more efficient citizen services such as smart lighting, transportation and parking as well as enhanced healthcare and education,” Abuissa says. “Through digitisation, and driven by Smart Dubai, Dubai’s public and private sectors can potentially achieve $4.87 billion in value by 2019. This will help the UAE government create value by saving money, improving employee productivity, generating new revenue – without raising taxes – and enhancing citizen benefits.”

Expectations regarding activity in the oil and gas industry, meanwhile, are somewhat polarised. The vertical has been the bedrock of economic growth in the region, but has experienced a widely renowned downturn.

There is a school of thought that suggests now is the time to spend money on network infrastructure innovation, with the promise of lower long-term CAPEX. The reality, however is likely to be different, with energy companies across the region cutting IT spend. www.cnmeonline.com

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

Security Advisor- Dec Full pg Ad 20.7 cm (w) x 27 cm (h) v4.pdf 1 11/27/2016 11:59:31 AM

CTM360 CYBER THREAT MANAGEMENT

25 of the top 50 GCC Banks trust us Would you like to know why?

SUSPICIOUS MOBILE APPS

C

DOMAIN INVENTORY

JOB SCAMS TARGETED MALWARE

M

Y

MY

LE

K

SU

G I T I M AT

E

CY

LICIOUS

MY

DATA LEAKAGE

ASSET AUDIT

MA

SPICIOUS

CM

SOCIAL MEDIA FRAUD

www

TM

CYBERSQUATTING

TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT EMAIL FRAUD PHISHING & PHARMING CYBER FOOTPRINT MANAGEMENT

Comprehensive Cyber Threat Detec�on & Incident Response Service

Preven�on ▪ Detec�on ▪ Response www.ctm360.com

24 7

365

X

SOLUTIONS WORLD

Outlook 2017

EYES ON THE PRIZE

'Digital transformation’ has been the top tech buzzword of 2016. As connected smart devices and ‘things’ multiply and organisations move away from physical business models, how are the region’s enterprises equipped to take on 2017? or many IT decision makers, ‘digital transformation’ has become a consistent stream of change that is beginning to redefine a their industries.

Whilst it has undoubtedly been the hot topic of the year in the technology world, it is now becoming imperative that companies master digital initiatives to a point of differentiation from their competitors in order for them to survive and thrive in the region.

A recent report from SAP and Accenture predicted that nationwide ‘digital transformation’ could add $14 billion to the UAE’s GDP by 2020. A large part of this transformation involves the exponential growth of Big Data which has already given enterprises the scope to optimise business processes and stray from more traditional business models in the past year. Cisco predicts that 20 billion devices will be connected the the Internet by

F

50

DECEMBER 2016

2020, which has forced CIO’s to not only consider collecting, processing and backing up these huge amounts of data, but also harnessing that data to generate meaningful insights for the advancements of business.

Necip Ozyucel, cloud and enterprise lead, Microsoft Gulf, believes this large influx of information is down to the increased penetration of the Internet in emerging markets. “There is no doubt that the amount of digital data has increased drastically,” he says. “As a result, more and more companies are migrating infrastructure and applications to the cloud to streamline business processes and embed flexibility to react quickly to the changing needs of their operating market.”

This adoption of as-a-service models across the region has significantly increased over the last 12 months, and IDC predicts that there is still even more to come in 2017.

www.cnmeonline.com

At the recent ‘IDC Predictions’ conference held in Dubai, it was estimated that public cloud spending in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa region will hit $715 million in 2017, up from $600 million in 2016.

“Cloud services are set to skyrocket in the Middle East over the next five years, as every industry vertical accelerates its digital transformation to further meet citizen and customer needs in real-time,” says Tayfun Topkoc, managing director, SAP UAE. “Government services, healthcare, and banking and finance have among those with the strongest potential for using cloud services and software-as-a-service to enhance costs with OPEX models, and drive business competitiveness, citizen happiness, and environmental sustainability.”

The emergence of cloud computing has forced end user focus to shift towards increased revenue growth, enhanced customer experiences and data-based insights. “Cloud computing has become the backbone of IT departments,” says Ozyucel. “The growing interest in the reduction of implementing hardware and the migration of data to the cloud is driving faster growth of the cloud market.”

This is evident in Gartner’s predicted increase in spending on software in the EMEA region, which is expected to grow by 6.8 percent in 2017 to total $119.8 billion.

Whilst it has been firmly established that cloud computing can make companies smarter and provide useful data insights to enhance business efficiency, cloud is also a huge player in Dubai’s Future Cities vision, and is particularly relevant to the Smart Dubai

www.cnmeonline.com

“Advancements in technology are changing where, how and why consumers purchase products, making businesses acutely aware of this behavioural shift.”

Necip Ozyucel, cloud and enterprise lead, Microsoft Gulf

platform. Cloud-based data analytics now form the foundation for a number of Middle East government initiatives, and Topkoc believes that 2017 could be the tipping point for the region’s adoption of data analytics.

“Over the past year, the biggest technological advancements have been in the speed and capabilities of analytics software to analyse massive amounts of data from sensors to mobile devices to social media,” he says.

Digital transformation, at its core, is a way to focus an organisation and enable them to leverage innovative ways to engage with their customers, employees and suppliers. “In 2020, the average age of a S&P 500 corporation is expected to be 12 years old, compared to 60 years old back in 1960; thus, everything is becoming quicker, making the customers demand more efficient services and products,” says Ozyucel.

“Advancements in technology are changing where, how and why consumers purchase products, making businesses acutely aware of this behavioural shift.”

DECEMBER 2016

51

SOLUTIONS WORLD

Outlook 2017

A recent report from research firm Econsultancy revealed that 74 percent of businesses believe that improving their ability to meet customer expectations is more important in digital transformation than reducing IT costs and the costs of doing business. But whilst organisations – particularly in the Middle East – may have the correct vision for success in a digitalised economy, as well as the agile ICT infrastructure to make it happen, Topkoc believes that the biggest challenge in this region will be change management and upskilling talent. “The Middle East C-suite needs to embrace digital disruption by breaking down organisational silos, embracing data analytics training throughout the organisation, and linking with the ecosystem to develop talent pipelines,” he says.

In order to maximise the full potential of digital transformation, organisations in the region should look to develop the ecosystems of partners, with connection and collaboration outside of the organisation becoming the norm. The Middle East is “ideally positioned

“Cloud services are set to skyrocket in the Middle East over the next five years, as every industry vertical accelerates its digital transformation to further meet citizen and customer needs in real-time.”

Tayfun Topkoc, managing director, SAP UAE

to take advantage of the digital era,” says Ozyucel, as it is adopting the ‘digital first approach,’ which is evident in the way companies and governments are thinking about how to apply technology to improve the way people live and work. “A high penetration of mobile devices in the region, along with the readiness of enterprises adopting new innovative technology, are all factors that make the region highly viable to make the most of digital transformation,” he says.

300+ Professional Team | 175+ Enterprise Clients | 20+ Nationalities | 20+ International Awards | 10+ Global Locations

CNM

360-degree business intelligence allows you to focus on driving value from assets across your entire commercial portfolio.

COMMERCIAL Asset and Property Management Software YARDI VoyagerÂŽ 7S Centralise your property data to minimise risk and deliver key performance metrics, while using mobile technology

Social. Mobile. Smart.

CNME commercial nov 16 V4.indd 1

to revolutionise interaction with prospects and tenants.

To learn more, call + 971-4-4322679 or visit www.yardi.ae

23/11/2016 08:28

INTERVIEW

Nils Herzberg, global co-lead and SVP, Internet of Things, SAP

Anything and everything SAP’s global co-lead and SVP for its Internet of Things portfolio, Nils Herzberg, gave James Dartnell the lowdown on the company’s strategy for the fast-growing space at the firm’s TechEd conference in Barcelona.

T

o date, there have been relatively few highly publicised IoT success stories in the Middle East.

To what extent is the region playing catchup with more developed markets?

I’m not sure it’s an issue of playing catchup. I think markets like the Middle East and Africa are unique because they don’t have as much legacy infrastructure, and with all the investments that are being made, IoT is embedded in their strategy. Take World War II as an example. Germany and Japan were destroyed, but both picked up after the war and accelerated development because they could start afresh. Both countries eventually evened out, but in the Middle East and other emerging markets, mobile seems to be working more than in the US, because they have newer technology.

China also has an advantage because their manufacturing machines are younger than the rest of world.

54

DECEMBER 2016

Nils Herzberg, global co-lead and SVP, IoT, SAP

www.cnmeonline.com

That being said, are there examples of customers in the US or Europe who have made a real impact with IoT? Siemens is a great example. They’re using the HANA Cloud Platform for IoT, and are basing data-driven businesses on it.

In September, we showcased our work with Trenitalia, the Italian railroad operator. They use HANA to extract data from locomotives, and are using predictive analytics. Their CEO said that they expect to reduce their maintenance budget by 8-10 percent, which is €1.3 billion. They were hoping to improve their return on capital deployed; to use their assets better based on predictive analysis. She also said that they would save €10-20 million a year because they won’t pay fines to suppliers and customers for lateness.

What investment are you looking to make into IoT? We recently announced a $2 billion investment for the next five years.

That will comprise a few acquisitions.

We just acquired PLAT.ONE, which provides device management and application development. For example, on a corporate phone, a company can install tokens so they know it belongs to the company. If it is stolen, it can be excluded from their network. The same goes for cars, or anything. This will be critical in future, being able to say if this is mine or your Fitbit or device.

www.cnmeonline.com

Saving lives in the healthcare industry is an IoT scenario.

We will have various offerings depending on the levels of security that are needed.

Fedem is another new investment into the future of IoT, and relates to digital twins, where you have a physical real-life version on the ground, and a cyber twin. The premise is to take data from a physical object and put it into software, then run simulations, models and artificial intelligence processes. This has also been a major investment into HANA. How will SAP deal with the inevitable security risks that come with IoT, and who are you partnering with in this respect?

Security is a multifaceted issue in terms of the device, the transmission of data and when it is stored in cloud. We build software that allows customers to comply with the strictest rules in terms of data security. The Germans are off the charts in that respect. We can deal with all kinds of security topics, and our customers are able to operate all kinds of IoT data and Big Data. In terms of the security of transmission, we are partnering with telcos, who we depend on for that. In some cases, yes, it’s a VPN tunnel that’s created between the

machine and the platform.

I suspect there will be lots of advances in this area of technology, whether it’s encryption, tokens and so on. We will embrace them, and I would venture as far as to say that there will be multiple grades of security for transmission. The question is if anyone depends on the data or if it is just satisfying intellectual curiosity. Does it kill if the data is not transmitted?

Saving lives in the healthcare industry is an IoT scenario. We will have various offerings depending on the levels of security that are needed.

We’re also working with major companies such as Intel and Cisco, to get their expertise on securing devices. It’s a multifaceted answer.

I believe security needs to be embedded, and isn’t something you can retrofit, and that is what SAP knows from our experience with previous products.

Given that you go to market through industries, will you develop products across them or will you specialise in particular areas?

In the technology space, we have database, analytics and platform groups. In terms of our lines of business, we cover customer engagement and commerce (C4C), extended supply chain, finance, HCM, and then our Ariba business network. We also have a commitment to 25 industries.

If you look at these scenarios, some are unique to certain industries.

For example, smart meters are used mainly in the utilities industry.

But everyone has vehicles, so that solution would be horizontal. We have a portfolio of industry-specific, relevant and generic cases. That’s how I view our portfolio. The offering we would use for utilities is a mix of industry specific solutions, smart meters, relevant asset management and maintenance on machines, and generic solutions such as monitoring the location of my car.

DECEMBER 2016

55

INSIGHT

Leanne Kemp, CEO, Everledger

Diamonds are forever Leanne Kemp, CEO, Everledger - a permanent ledger for diamond certification and transaction history - discussed the evolution behind blockchain technology and how it is impacting various verticals across the region.

CanyousummariseEverledger’smain operations?

At Everledger, we use the very best emerging technology; blockchain, smart contracts and machine vision, to be able to assist banks and insurance companies in the reduction of risk and fraud. We identify diamonds by creating a digital thumbprint of them using 40 meta data points of the stone. In addition, we take the inscription – which is laser inscribed on the girdle or the crown – and the faults, called inclusions, and map all of this information onto the blockchain, creating an identifier of that diamond. We can now see if it is being sold on open-market places and work with insurance companies on fraudulent claims. There is no line of sight for insurers to see the data that they need to identify these fraudulent claims, so that’s where we serve our purpose in the market.

What are the key trends in blockchain that we should be aware of?

Blockchain is one of the most transformative technologies of our time, as it is taking a transactional trust layer to the Internet for transactional trade. If you look at the technology in each of its components, it’s actually not new technology at 56

DECEMBER 2016

In a sense, this technology could deliver technical ubiquity. We get to the point where we are so digitallyenabled, that it becomes invisible to us.

all. Cryptographic signatures have been around since the second World War, and the idea of distributed data in a database format has also been around for a very long time. But actually bringing these technologies together was such a novel concept that it gave birth to an entirely new way of transacting with trust.

Aside from the diamond industry and finance, where else can we expect to see the impact of blockchain?

We’re seeing IoT-enabled ‘things’ connecting to the blockchain. One example of this being useful is in flight insurance, especially in Europe.

EU law states that you must be paid compensation if your flight is delayed by more than two hours. If you have the ability with the blockchain to prove that the delay occurred at a specific time, it enables the smart contracts to kick in and actually write out the claim requirement form, and smart contracts at the insurer's end can pay the claim. This money can then be delivered to the customer's mobile as soon as the delay passes the two-hour threshold.

Dubai is aiming to shift all transactions to blockchain by 2020 and become paperless.

Do you see this as a reasonable expectation?

There is an essence of this technology having the promise to deliver technical ubiquity. We get to the point where we are so digitally enabled, that it becomes invisible to us. Largely, most disruptive technologies are that.

It’s really great that we have the UAE government supporting the paperless www.cnmeonline.com

initiative, and that they’re doing it with such a robust formation of data and privacy around that data. If there was to be one country in the world that could lead the charge, there’s no doubt about it that the UAE is the one that can do this.

Why did you choose IBM's blockchain technology over that of other vendors for Everledger's offering?

When you have such a transformative technology such as the blockchain, an open-source initiative is a must-have. You have to be able to have a community of awareness that actually grows the technology.

IBM has shown an absolute lead in that regard in its initiative around the open-source community.

www.cnmeonline.com

You’ve described yourself as a ‘super-nerd,’ why is that?

I’ve always been curious about solving problems that couldn’t be solved before today. We created the wheel which enabled us to be mobile, then we developed steam which allowed us to go quicker whilst being mobile. There’s something about that evolution and the ability to develop all the things that I dream of. Besides, I’ve tried Sudoku and I just can’t get

my head around it – so technology is the one for me.

What are the company’s plans for the Middle East region for 2017?

Our role in 2017 is to make good on the promise initiated by the Kimberly Process, that only 0.01 percent of diamonds traded are from conflict zones. We’re prepared to deliver on the illusions of the technology, and that’s what we will be doing here.

There is no doubt about it that the UAE should be on our operational roadmap for 2017, and that we should have a Dubai office with resources to support the diamond trade that exists here. Dubai is the second largest hub of diamonds behind India, so why not?

DECEMBER 2016

57

INSIGHT

Mark Hosking, data centre and virtualisation leader, Middle East and Africa, Juniper Networks

IT has a mountain to climb Mark Hosking, data centre and virtualisation leader, Middle East and Africa, Juniper Networks outlines the three most pivotal networking trends when it comes to cloud deployments.

T

o paraphrase the three rules of mountaineering: It’s always further, higher and harder than it looks. True, navigating through today’s technological landscape is not as perilous as scaling Everest – or Jebel Jais, for that matter – but building a data centre network that supports the cloud-driven, digital economy needs careful planning.

Not all networks are made equal, and few organisations have a blank canvas on which to design their infrastructure. Nevertheless, legacy infrastructure can be a hindrance. This is often a result of their rigid design, cumbersome operations, misaligned cost structures and inadequate, outdated security capability.

Change is the new normal Set against a disruptive landscape that continues to stretch IT resources, the underlying architecture of traditional networks now has to support the heavily virtualised and scalable cloud environments needed for the digital economy. The network has to be able to scale, perform tasks faster and, just as importantly, anticipate and adapt to keep pace with ever-increasing bandwidth demands.

Competing with ‘born-in-thecloud’ start-ups and OTT (over the top) content providers is no easy task.

58

DECEMBER 2016

Here are my four suggestions for tackling this mission: Virtualise and automate your network: No longer just an operational backbone to any organisation, the ‘smart’ network has to contribute to the business like never before. The adoption of network functions virtualisation (NFV) is an approach that can provide the agility and elasticity needed for driving cloud platforms. Instead of running infrastructure that relies solely on managing a range of physical network devices, the virtualised environment can quickly build, adapt or evolve network services using generic, reprogrammable hardware. New network resources can be automatically and rapidly scaled up/scaled down, re-configured and re-deployed with services provisioned at the click of a mouse.

Make the network open: As business resources evolve in line with market demand, no single network vendor will have a solution for it all. However, a multi-vendor, open standards strategy is an example of the IT community building flexibility and freedom of choice right into the heart of the network, without compromising manageability. Choosing a strategy with no dead ends or lock-ins allows the use and re-use of infrastructure, meaning that as the architecture evolves, any rip and replace of single-vendor,

proprietary resources is avoided. An open infrastructure that supports vendor-agnostic technology not only provides best-in-class solutions but also mitigates risk, helps manages contingencies and remains flexible enough to scale with the business.

Keep it simple: Although businesses can be complex, networks don’t have to be. But when looking at the proliferation of cloud-based streaming services, BYOD and IoT, networks will need to support millions of new connected devices. Softwaredefined networking provides the means to simplify networking tasks by using software capabilities to automate and orchestrate key network functions, and minimise or entirely eliminate, many labour-intensive tasks.

Network economics With cloud architecture helping to overcome economic barriers, the network is increasingly being viewed as a strategic asset; one that can transform a commercial necessity into a powerful and cost-effective resource for driving value into the heart of the organisation. By planning this transition carefully, an open, multi-vendor network strategy can transform service delivery and provide the means to engage with customers and users like never before. www.cnmeonline.com

INSIGHT

Johan Scheepers, technical services director, Middle East, South Africa and Turkey, Commvault

YOU'VE GOT MAIL

Johan Scheepers, technical services director, Middle East, South Africa and Turkey, Commvault, assesses the importance of efficient data management – especially in the case of email archiving.

W

hile regulatory mandates are not a new concept, the pressure, cost and effort to sustain data compliance has now reached a new level of importance. Regulators have been pressuring companies to comply with the rules that govern the storage and archiving of emails - especially when dealing with personal private information - prompting the necessity for new solutions in data compliance.

With the onset of Big Data and the ensuing requirement of handling large data streams over the past decade, new methods of assisting compliance are now in development across the market with the aim of transforming business procedures.

New data management approaches offer the critical initial discovery phase that help organisations identify the business sensitivity and potential compliance risk of all data it owns before structuring it in an accessible and easily used database of strategic information.

Many businesses have yet to reach a stage where they are able to make the best use of their stored data for more effective compliance.

Compliance leaders across all sectors have been presented with the 60

NOVEMBER 2016

challenge of determining what data to measure, as well as how to measure it.

The data compliance solutions available to companies who are currently engaged with data overhauls are varied and numerous. While compliance requirements will vary across industries, businesses now recognise the need to analyse data regarding not only compliance obligations, but also how to generate a competitive advantage from the results of their compliance function.

The key pillars of an effective data compliance solution involve a number of contributing factors. One of these vital features is the use of intelligent information access and management, allowing managers to protect their businesses while saving costs by providing an avenue through which organisations can rapidly respond to regulatory compliance and legal discovery requests. Unstructured and previously untagged dark data can then be leveraged to create informed and strategic business decisions, ensuring that the business becomes more productive and more efficient across its departments.

An additional contributing factor to an effective data compliance solution involves the use of an integrated

platform for functions such as enterprise search and eDiscovery, securing fast and seamless accessibility to required data when companies need it most. A study by Osterman has revealed that as many as 55 percent of organisations have been ordered to produce email by a court or regulatory body.

Rather than hiring an external body to sort through an entire data set to find this information, an effective data compliance solution ensures the availability of preliminary case assessments that will refine data sets and enable you to exchange only the information required under a guarantee of accuracy and safety.

A third fundamental aspect of an efficient data compliance solution is the availability of an effective email archiving system. Proactive data compliance necessitates the ability to seamlessly navigate large data streams. IDC found that 60 percent of critical information for businesses is stored in email; in other words, it is critical for email storage to be appropriately accessible and structured. An adaptive email archiving strategy secures business continuity and the ready availability of critical information. www.cnmeonline.com

What does progress look like for you?

Infor software delivers last mile functionality to help eliminate the need for costly customization, scientific insights for select industries, and a user experience that is fun and engaging.

Designed for progress

infor.com Copyright Š2016 Infor. www.infor.com. All rights reserved.

OPINION

Anshul Srivastav, CIO, Union Insurance

Reinsurance V2.x Union Insurance CIO Anshul Srivastav examines the transformation of the reinsurance industry.

S

hift, transform, innovate and change (STIC) is the noisiest acronym making inroads to boardrooms. The regulated world is going through a turmoil of continuous change, and STIC is not a problem unique to reinsurers and insurers. It is difficult to innovate from within, and those in regulated industries have been laggards.

Early adopters of technology are gaining advantages in terms of redefining new market opportunities.

Peer-to-peer (P2P) is taking new shape after many centuries of development. P2P was the way to conduct business a couple of centuries ago for any kind of transaction, but that was limited to geographies or communities.

Historically, there were no banks or no regulations in P2P business, but it is now back in the 21st century and is reshaping transactions.

Blockchain P2P ledger-based transaction technology and P2P insurance are now being piloted across the world. With cash economies shrinking, the global population will see a shift in P2P protection and investment beyond geographies and local communities.

Virtual malls and marketplaces are being created in the P2P arena, with the global convergence of communities and geographies on the rise. This may be a scratch rather than a dent in operating and strategic business models, especially in the financial services side at this point in time.

62

DECEMBER 2016

The reinsurance model has evolved and been nurtured through peer to peer setups, and it’s all a case of sharing risk. Reinsurers are operating under a new business model, by moving into alternative sources of creating capacities.

Cutting-edge technologies are making headway in the reinsurance world, but a major shift is required to change for existence and remain immortal. Reinsurers now have to go back to the drawing board and proactively start crafting their strategies for a new evolving ecosystem.

BLOCKCHAIN Blockchain will be the largest decentralised trust system. Potential use cases for the reinsurance industry for Blockchain range from virtual marketplace to exchange and trade risks. It can help reinsurers cut massive costs in transactions and reduce the heavy cost of operations through automation, which will encourage better rates for insurers, increase capacities and thus enable growth. The entire payment and settlement process can be conducted through Blockchain, whilst also supporting any volume of risk data for claims and underwriting for decision analytics in real-time.

VIRTUAL MARKETPLACE Traditional reinsurance marketplaces should be transitioning into digital and real-time available marketplaces,

whilst simultaneously aggregating the rates for any risks by using risk data analysis in real-time. Customer and partner data should support decisions on acceptance and subsequent provisioning of risk. This will empower reinsurers and insurers to decide instantly on the placement of risk.

DATA AND ANALYTICS AS A MODEL FOR MACHINE LEARNING Data is the most respected unit of truth, required by reinsurers to create value and manage risk. Globally, the $5 trillion insurance industry is sitting on a huge amount of data. Having the access to such insight allows reinsurers to predict and prescribe capacities to primary insurers on endto-end risk and capital management.

Data can build any form of intelligence, from competitive intelligence to market intelligence to internal intelligence. With the help of machine learning algorithms, the likes of catastrophic modelling, mortality modelling and risk forecasting can now also be predicted. As a result of this, incumbents should start exploring how they too can be automated through machine learning.

INTERNET OF ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING Before too long, anything and everything will be smart. Therefore, it is vital for reinsurers to have the right data strategy in place to unearth valuable insights. They should now be looking at collaborating with tech start-up www.cnmeonline.com

Anshul Srivastav, CIO, Union Insurance

Cutting-edge technologies are making headway in the reinsurance world, but a major shift is required to change for existence and remain immortal.

companies in order to pave new ways of doing business. Start-ups have full potential to play the data game, which will support reinsurers in enabling a predict and prescribe ecosystem.

Reinsurers have to reinvent and reincarnate. Transformation and shift to a new version Reinsurance V2. x. is inevitable, and reinsurers should look to catch the first flight towards this new evolving ecosystem and land in the geography of new ways to do business. www.cnmeonline.com

DECEMBER 2016

63

INSIGHT

David Whitton, general manager, Kodak Alaris, eastern cluster

ON THE GO

David Whitton, general manager, Kodak Alaris Eastern Cluster, discusses how information should be entered into systems on the move and accessed at points of need without compromise.

T

oday, we create more information than ever before.

In fact, current estimates predict that by 2020, 1.7 MB of new data will be created every second for every person in the world.

However, a variety of businesses will be negatively impacted by the era of ‘data chaos.’ The key to harnessing the power of data is to simplify systems, so that it’s easier to extract the relevant information out of the noise and make better business decisions. This is where web-based capture solutions can help. Here’s how: Start by getting paper out of the process Despite the widespread interest in digital technology, much of business is still conducted on paper. 46 percent of businesses see the removal of paper processes as the single greatest opportunity for the improvement of productivity. When you catch documents at the start of a process and convert them to a digital format, especially in high-touch customerfacing scenarios such as on-boarding, you can automate low-value, labour intensive activities. That puts your team’s hands to more important work. To really unlock the power of your data, look to capture solutions that automatically extract critical 64

DECEMBER 2016

information and connect to your business processes.

Consolidate inputs In a perfect world, no process would ever have exceptions. Every invoice would be submitted electronically.

All new client applications would be submitted through one common web-form. We know that’s not the case. We live in a multi-channel world, where our people and our customers communicate to us in lots of ways, and send us documents in lots of formats. This is where a business could quickly get lost in data chaos.

When documents enter a process in different formats and through different channels, it’s tempting to either handle them as exceptions to a legacy process or in discrete silos. It’s more effective – and more impactful to your business agility – to integrate data from multiple sources upfront into a single business process.

Give mobile workers time back with web-based capture People who are responsible for big picture objectives and client relationships are short on time, and they can’t afford to lose time to legacy processes that delay progress.

Web-based capture enables mobile workers to snap photos of receipts on the road, and rely on the document

management system to deal with them. The receipts are now in the right hands, and they can free themselves up to focus on what really matters.

Centralise control and enable remote locations One of the most compelling reasons for implementing web-based capture is to lighten your IT department’s load.

Web-based capture allows: Scalability: web-based capture solutions live in the cloud, so they don’t require the commitment (or investment) that comes with an onpremise solution. Scaling up or scaling down is much simpler with this model.

Remote administration: IT support staff don’t need to install software locally or train users for each new process.

Using a web-based tool means that drivers and applications can be deployed centrally in a fraction of the time.

The result?

The benefits to web-based capture for distributed teams and mobile workers are clear: improved customer experience and internal efficiency.

Solutions like this can be set up and securely deployed wherever an Internet connection exists.

Considering the clear connection to growth, what is stopping today’s leaders from investing in tomorrow’s technology? www.cnmeonline.com

INSIGHT

Nick Jones, vice president, Gartner

Why CIOs should care about the connected home Nick Jones, vice president at Gartner, outlines how CIOs should be considering product development, team building, and digital ethics of IoT within the connected home.

I

n the connected home, a garden watering system might monitor and irrigate plants and be connected to and controlled by a smartphone app. In a more complex system, the watering system would be connected to the water supply utility and use intelligent cloud services to combine weather forecasts and pricing the minimise costs. In times of drought, the system might prioritise using limited water supplies for more valuable plants.

The technological and commercial effects of the connected home could have a wide reaching impact on the role of CIOs, and they could be directly or indirectly impacted by the smart home, depending on whether the company is creating the connected products and services or determining how other companies’ products will affect security.

Because smart homes introduce many types of connected devices to a new environment, CIOs must be involved in the security and architectural management of the integration, and host conversations about the ethics of connected home products. With the right preparation and team, CIOs can tackle the issues and smoothly navigate into the world of smart homes.

66

DECEMBER 2016

Support the connected home Since no company will dominate all facets of the connected home, devices from different suppliers and industries will need to communicate and work together to serve the customer. Products from established vendors in existing industries will need to communicate with unproven companies and new technologies in a world containing up to 10 wireless standards. The smart home will require new architectures and infrastructures, and even novel solutions to allow all of the companies that create the technology to converse.

Build a team with the correct skill set It’s fairly easy to conclude that the smart home will also require CIOs to review staffing needs. Some of the gaps can be filled with training, others will require new types of experts in embedded software development or embedded user experience design.

CIOs may also need staff versed in working with a new type of vendors who specialise in IoT platforms or supporting new products.

In addition to the direct IT team, CIOs will need to educate executives on the current and potential difficulties of the smart home. Most early IoT adopters are

discovering security and integration are more expensive and complex than anticipated, so it’s equally important that business partners understand the complexity of the tasks.

Manage the risks The technology for smart homes comes with inherent security risks.

Most of the smart home involves immature technology that will require security assessment. Before deciding on any methods, CIOs should host a discussion about the digital ethics of what the organisation can and should do with the information. Beyond that, CIO’s teams can contribute to authentication, information management, testing, software licensing, scalability, extensibility, and partner management.

Many of the technologies collect private or sensitive data at the consumer level. For example, some technology is constantly managing data about people’s lives and habits that CIOs will need to secure and ethically manage. Part of the CIOs role in regards to smart homes will involve educating enthusiastic businesses as to the risks of connected technology, and ensuring they are asking the right questions when it comes to hardware or software partners. www.cnmeonline.com

INSIGHT

Natalie Lambert, vice president of marketing, Sapho

A SMALL ARMY Developers are decoupling massive system architectures into small, independent functions that loosely work together to solve complex problems.

A

mazon was the first company to take a large monolithic system and deconstruct it into micro services. Netflix was next, deconstructing its behemoth software stack, seeking a more agile model that could keep up with 2 million daily API requests from more than 800 different device types. Forward-thinking companies like Google, eBay, Uber and Groupon soon followed. Today, enterprises are abandoning monolithic software architectures to usher in the latest era in systems architecture: micro services.

Although not an entirely new concept, micro services represent the latest evolution of software development. Developers are decoupling massive system architectures into independent functions that work together to tackle complex problems.

Each micro service is self-contained and responsible for performing a single operation on a back-end system, such as retrieving a customer record or verifying a person’s credit score.

The result is an army of small services that communicate over a network to seamlessly integrate multiple systems and an army is much nimbler and resilient than one behemoth programme.

Micro services evolved from a desperate need for simplicity in software design. All too often, software projects succumb to glacial development cycles, project bloat, and escalating costs.

That’s because for decades, applications have been designed as top-down monoliths in which all functions are lumped together into a single process, 68

DECEMBER 2016

then replicated on multiple servers.

Most are still built this way. The problem is that any changes require updating and re-deploying the serverside application — an unacceptable disruption in today’s fast-paced digital world, where immediacy and perfect functionality are considered basic requirements.

In the early 2000s, service-oriented architecture (SOA) emerged as a solution. By separating functions into distinct units that communicate over a network, developers gained greater flexibility and interoperability between programmes. But SOAs proved difficult to work with, requiring heavyweight APIs and multiple layers that were often riddled with incompatibilities. Though they didn’t solve the problem, SOAs opened the door to new enterprise IT solutions — cloud computing, for one.

And it ultimately led researchers at Hewlett Packard Labs, charged with making code less brittle and more robust to change, to pioneer the first micro service architecture (MSA).

Keeping enterprises nimble and responsive The main difference between an MSA and SOA is scale. Micro services are more granular, keeping protocols lightweight for fast and easy communication. And they’re succeeding where other service-based models have previously failed.

Their biggest benefit is accessibility.

Micro services rely primarily on the well-known JSON/REST interface, with

straightforward authentication via API keys — usually HTTP or OAuth. Easy to build and deploy, they’re a welcome balm to harried developers struggling to keep up with business software needs.

Micro services help enterprises stay competitive with: Minimal service disruptions. Because they operate independently from each other, micro services can fail without breaking the whole system. The problematic unit simply bows out while the rest of the soldiers keep marching.

They can also be maintained individually, without updating the entire system just to change one set of functions. This allows developers to easily fix bugs and add features without frustrating users.

Incredible flexibility. Micro services aren’t tied to any specific language or platform. They’re free agents that can quickly adapt to fit a system’s evolving needs. That leaves developers free to choose whatever framework is best suited to the project, rather than sticking to one-size-fits-all standards such as XML or SOAP. More cohesion, less coupling. The more interdependent (or coupled) a system’s parts are, the more difficult it is to use, test, and maintain. Micro services are loosely coupled yet form a cohesive whole, creating a more robust and reliable system.

Easy data retrieval. A micro service can exchange information with any other service in the network — no human interaction or changes to the underlying programme required. www.cnmeonline.com

10 More Enterprise Customers chose DataTAAG Technologies for their IT Projects in the first half of 2016.

Data TAAG Technologies Middle East LLC PO Box: 121862, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Tel: +971 4 2778252 | Email: info@datataag.com | Website: www.datataag.com

ISO 9001:2008 | ISO 14001:2004 | OHSAS 18001:2007 Certified Company

INSIGHT

John Dunne, chief solutions officer, IR

5 steps to ensure success when migrating UC to the cloud The UC-as-a-Service market as a whole is transitioning to the early mainstream phase for enterprise delivery. John Dunne, chief solutions officer, IR, analyses how IT departments can ensure maximum success when they come to migrate their UC to the cloud.

R

eady or not, unified communications are starting to move to the cloud. Even those enterprises once reluctant to make the transition are gazing upward and putting small groups of users into the cloud, yet many IT teams are still concerned about the risks of migration.

When you’re transitioning to a cloud solution for unified communications, not only do you have to worry about the performance of your own internal network, you also have to worry about the Internet service provider’s network and the public Internet which sits between you and your cloud vendor’s UC service. It’s hard enough to control the performance of your internal network; guaranteeing the performance of the ISP and public Internet is another matter entirely.

For this reason, moving UC to the cloud is a larger challenge than moving other functions. Here are five steps to help ensure success when you decide to move UC to the cloud: Embrace a hybrid approach. Moving to the cloud is not an all-or-nothing proposition. Many organisations take a hybrid approach, 70

DECEMBER 2016

transitioning some systems while continuing to run others on-premise.

This works for UC as well. It might be ideal for some functions to move to the cloud right away, while other functions, such as the contact centre, stay on premise.

Assess and test. It’s crucial to assess and test your environments before, during and after migration to ensure readiness and quality. Don’t just test for the number of users or usage patterns you have today.

Test for what your usage will look like in the future and when you’ve added headcount, and test for the type of usage you envision for your organisation, such as desktop video conferencing. Networks are living, breathing entities and they change continually; that means continual testing is an absolute must.

Avoid the pilot trap. It’s common to conduct a cloud pilot with, say, 500 users to see how it goes. But what happens when you go live and add another 5,000 users? Forced to handle this additional traffic, your new system may suddenly not work so well. At a minimum, you need to ensure your Internet service provider has provisioned you with the right

levels of bandwidth to account for all potential users.

Proactively monitor quality and performance. When you proactively monitor the quality and performance of conferences and calls, you put yourself in position to troubleshoot issues and isolate problems before the user experience is significantly impacted. In a hybrid cloud environment, in particular, there is a lot of equipment from many different vendors in play. This means you must be able to take data from several sources and stitch it together to get a complete picture of what is happening across your entire solution.

Create a long-term management strategy. You need a strategy that supports a broad set of vendors in your journey to the cloud. Most organisations today are not on a single unified communications platform, they’re on disparate platforms from many UC vendors. That’s why you need a holistic communications experience management solution that can accommodate the vendors’ various technologies, especially as you shift from one platform to another and transition more and more of your UC operations to the cloud. www.cnmeonline.com

PRODUCTS Launches and releases

Brand: Samsung Product: Gear S3 WHAT IT DOES: The Gear S3 combines IP68 water resistance, wireless fast charging, SOS and location tracking capabilities and a dedicated speaker. The smartwatch is compatible with a range of Samsung smartphones.

The Gear S3’s signature rotating bezel allows a range of functions, including exercise programmes, with its alti/ barometer and speedometer tracking everything from altitude and atmospheric pressure to sudden changes in weather, distance travelled and speed.

Also, with the built-in speaker, users can activate voice messaging.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW: Priced at AED 1399, the Gear S3 is available in the Frontier and Classic versions. Lasting four days on a single charge, it also features a 16 million colour Super AMOLED screen with Corning Gorilla Glass SR+, an Always On Display (AOD) and a customisable user interface. The Classic edition’s watchstraps are interchangeable.

72

DECEMBER 2016

PRODUCT OF THE MONTH

Brand: Lenovo Product: Phab2 Pro WHAT IT DOES: The Phab2 Pro is “the world’s first Tango-enabled” smartphone.

According to Lenovo, the Phab2 Pro allows monitor depth perception, motion tracking, and gauge area learning features. The 6.4-inch smartphone is also equipped with a fast-focusing 16 MP camera and virtual backgrounds.

The device is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor, equipped with 4G LTE connectivity, time stamping, camera and sensor processing capabilities. It also features a Dolby Audio Capture 5.1 with Dolby Atmos playback capabilities. In addition, it also has an intelligent Assertive Display with a QHD (2,560 x 1,440) resolution, capable of optimising image quality based on ambient lighting and content.

The Phab2 Plus comes with two 13MP rear cameras that have instant focus, fast F2.0 lenses and the same professionalgrade Futjitsu Milbeaut image signal processor that powers the Leica camera.

Brand: Linksys Product: WRT3200ACM WHAT IT DOES: The WRT3200ACM is a WRT Gigabit MU-MIMO Wi-Fi router, which features Tri-Stream 160 technology making it the “fastest dual band router available.”

The device is open source-ready with OpenWrt or DD-WRT for complete flexibility and customisation of networking functions. It also allows various

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW: The Phab2 Pro, powered by Google’s AR technology, Tango, that senses and maps its surroundings, supports motion tracking, depth perception and area learning features. With motion tracking, the Phab2 Pro’s ‘eye’ sees its own location in 3D. Depth perception lets the device analyse the shape of the world around it by detecting surfaces and obstacles. The smartphone can visualise and understand its surrounding objects and environment via sensors that capture more than 250,000 measurements a second.

The Phab2 Pro is priced at AED 1,999, the Phab2 Plus is priced at AED 1,099, and the Phab2 is priced at AED 799.

optimisation for specific use cases, such as privacy, VoIP, and small office applications. The newly updated Linksys Smart Wi-Fi app allows users to manage and monitor their home or office Wi-Fi via the cloud from their mobile device, anytime, anywhere.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW: The new WRT3200ACM is Dynamic Frequency Selection-certified, to allow operation at 160 MHz channel width in the 5 GHz band. It uses three streams to drive data at 867 Mbps per stream, providing up to 2.6 Gbps. www.cnmeonline.com

Dubai’s BIGGEST Events Are Now Accessible On Your Smart Phone Devices

Access to latest events

Search using the Browse chronologically key name, calendar or map

6 BACKLOG

6 MACHINE LEARNING MISUNDERSTANDINGS

A

s with any technology, machine learning could wreak havoc on a network if improperly implemented.

Before embracing it, enterprises should be aware of the ways machine learning can fall flat to avoid setting back their operations and turning off c-suite members.

Forgetting unexpected variable behaviour It’s amazing what a computer will consider important that a human will immediately dismiss as trivial. This is why it’s imperative to consider as many relevant variables and potential outcomes as possible prior to deploying a machine learning algorithm.

Take for example a model trained to separate images of vehicles into two categories – trucks and cars. If all the images of trucks were taken at night and all the car photos were taken during the day, the model would determine that any image of a vehicle taken at night must be a truck.

Addressing key variables and outcomes will help diminish the possibility of unwanted and unexpected behaviours of the solution.

Neglecting your data homework In order to build a trained statistical model, one has to understand the 74

DECEMBER 2016

origin and collection of the data being analysed. This information is critical to determining the variables and potential outcomes that influence the algorithm’s performance.

Additionally, if a model is misclassifying data, it’s possible that it’s because the model wasn’t trained on the best representative data needed to have an ideal solution.

Ignoring potential blunders A project’s final goal may create new obstacles that can lead to potential blunders.

Not every machine learning project will be so public or give users open access to manipulate data, but awareness of the environment where the algorithm resides will prevent potential blunders.

Develop, test and then unleash the model Producing a useful model comes down to training data structure and quality. Before releasing machine learning into the enterprise, data scientists will test an algorithm model with data sets to ensure its performance. The data has to be diligently visualised and the whole data pipeline monitored as new data is being added for self-training. Data scientists may try to test a model as quickly as possible and use too few testing data sets that don’t represent the information the algorithm will encounter in the real world.

It’s critical to have enough data for the selected variables to be weighted as this properly tests the algorithm model. Feeding more data during this phase helps improve performance substantially and ensures that once in a production environment, the machine learning project truly enhances operations.

Choose more data When testing the model for performance does not yield the expected results, there are two options – design a better learning algorithm or collect more data. Adding more data helps engineers understand performance limitations. If it is easy to collect more data, continue feeding it to your algorithm to see if you achieve the correct outcome without having to do a redesign.

Don’t rule out an ensemble One type of algorithm that has recently been successful in practical applications is ensemble learning – a process by which multiple models combine to solve a computational intelligence problem. One example of ensemble learning is stacking simple classifiers like logistic regressions. These ensemble learning methods can improve predictive performance more than any of these classifiers individually. www.cnmeonline.com