Think Software Booklet 2016 | Issue 3 Volume 1

ISSUE

03 VOL 1

JULY 2016

SAFETY IN THE CLOUD

DUBAI CULTURE BOOSTS APPLICATION DELIVERY

MARKA TAKES HUGE STEPS IN IT INFRASTRUCTURE GROWTH

GARTNER'S TAKE ON CLOUD PROSPECTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST

THINK SS LAUNCHES GRC DIVISION, THINK CONSULTING

THINK SS LAUNCHES WANNAGO CLOUD Read more p.10 Published by

THINK SS PARTNERS

THINK SS KEY CONTACTS

2

DEEPAK VERMA Managing Director Tel: +971 (0)4 4288388 Email: deepak@thinkss.com

ASHU VERMA Director – Accounts Tel: +971 (0)4 4288376 Email: ashu@thinkss.com

GAUTAM CHAKRABARTY Head of Sales Tel: +971 (0)4 4288330 Email: gautam@thinkss.com

FAHEEM SIDDIQUI Director of Technology Consulting Services Tel: +971 (0)4 4288327 Email: faheem@thinkss.com

RAHUL MATHUR Partner - Governance Risk & Compliance Tel: +971 (0)4 428831 Email: rahul@thinkss.com

MOHIT SHARMA Product Manager Tel: +971 (0)4 4288324 Email: mohit@thinkss.com

KAVITHA ADVANI Marketing Manager Tel: +971 (0)4 4288345 Email: kavita@thinkss.com

SUDIP CHATTERJEE Finance & Operation Manager Tel: +971 (0)4 4288305 Email: sudip@thinkss.com

Issue 03 A special supplement of Think Software Services

INTRODUCTION

Deepak Verma, Managing Director

IT’S GO TIME, WITH WANNAGO CLOUD

I

have no doubt that everyone in this region’s industry is familiar with the concept of ‘SMAC’ – social, mobility, analytics and cloud – but my take on this acronym is to turn it into ‘SMACS’, where ‘security’ underpins everything in this time of IT transition.

Social media is taking over, while the potential of analytics is seemingly endless, with the amount of data now being generated. Every customer now wants analytics in some form or another, whether that means having on-premise solutions or software-asa-service for analytics purposes.

Mobility, meanwhile, is an undeniably fascinating area that has huge potential in this region. Although the UAE has the world’s highest rate of smartphone penetration at 74%, things are still taking off in terms of the enterprise.

Mobile devices are largely used for social platforms in the GCC, while business applications have far from reached their full potential. This presents an interesting opening for end-users.

A lot has been said about applications being phased out by bots. This is undoubtedly a fascinating conversation, but I feel the Middle East is far from reaching this point.

Looking forward, we believe that AV solutions will play a very important role in the digital economy, and, as such, Think SS will be pursuing acquisitions in the space in the near future. The era of the Internet of Things means that as soon as any object becomes connected to the Internet, it has to be led by the CIO. Contractors and procurement will no longer be solely responsible for this aspect of AV. As I said, underpinning all these aspects, of course, is IT security, the overlay that must be considered for everything. Connecting so many ‘things’ to the Internet means more threats. If the Internet is everywhere, then security must be as well. We have positioned ourselves so that our security stack can always expand, and meet customer demands.

A crucial aspect of security is cloud, which is emerging in the same way that the Internet was in 2002. In three or four years, I believe everything will be in the cloud, and it will see the same rise as the Internet. The public cloud has not yet taken off in this region, but that will soon change. With that in mind, I’m very excited about the upcoming launch of Think SS’s disaster recovery-as-a-service, WannaGo Cloud, which is explored in greater detail in this booklet.

We’re here to provide SMEs with the expertise and services that they need to get the best from their technology. In truth, we’re finding that more and more customers are being put off by the complexity of technology offerings that are on the market. Sadly, this complexity often deters them from pursuing ambitious projects. Think SS can remove that layer of complexity for midmarket customers.

With all this in mind, it gives me great pleasure to announce the launch of Think SS’ f lagship cloud service, WannaGo cloud. This truly is a disaster recovery-as-a-service platform you can trust, and is sure to be a game-changer for the UAE.

Issue 03 A special supplement of Think Software Services

3

CASE STUDY Dubai Culture

THE ART OF INFRASTRUCTURE WITH CITIZENS OF THE EMIRATE FIERCELY PASSIONATE ABOUT THEIR HERITAGE, DUBAI CULTURE IS TASKED WITH BRINGING HISTORY TO LIFE. WHAT'S MORE, WITH 31 PERCENT OF THE UAE'S POPULATION UNDER THE AGE OF 25, TECHNOLOGY SERVICES NOW TAKE CENTRE STAGE IN THIS ENGAGEMENT. ENTER THINK SS.

Ahmed Al Sharawi, Chief of Administrative Systems and Networking, Dubai Culture

4

Issue 03 A special supplement of Think Software Services

E

s t a bl i shed in 2 0 0 8, D uba i C u lt u r e i s a gove r n me nt e nt it y t a sked w it h ove r s e e i n g t he l ib ra r ie s, he r it a ge site s a nd mus e u m s of t he e m i rate. Wit h 2 4 site s a c r os s D uba i, t he or g a ni s at ion’s work ce nt r e s a r ou nd or g a n i si n g a nu m b e r of h ig hp r of i le ex h i bit ion s, i nc lu d i n g t he l i ke s of D uba i I nte r n at ion a l Fi l m Fe s t iva l a nd Em i rate s Fe s t iva l of Lite rat u r e.

He r it age plays a n i mpor t a nt role i n D uba i C u lt u re’s work , w it h a host of mu se u m s a nd sites i nclud i ng Hat t a He r it age Vi l lage a nd A l Fa h id i H istor ica l Neig hbou rhood u nde r it s stewa rd sh ip.

Fo r a n a t io n w it h 31 p e rc e n t of it s p o p u l a t io n u nd e r t he a ge of 2 5, e n t it ie s i n t he Un it-

THEY HAVE A GREAT AND PROFESSIONAL TEAM, AND HAVE ALWAYS BEEN FANTASTIC IN TERMS OF DELIVERY AND TIMELINESS.”

e d A r a b Em i r a t e s h ave a du t y t o p r ov id e mo d e r n t e c h nolog y pl a t fo r m s t h a t c a n he lp b r i n g h i s t o r y a nd c u lt u r e t o l i fe.

D u b a i C u lt u r e’s c h ie f of a d m i n i s t r a t i ve s y s t e m s a nd ne t wo r ki n g , A h me d A l S h a r aw i , k now s t h i s a s we l l a s a nyo ne.

At t he cor e of D uba i C u lt u r e’s te c h nolog y s e r v ice of fe ri n g s a r e t wo ap pl ic at ion s t h at A l Sh a raw i a nd t he I T te a m h ave d e velo p ed ove r t he l a s t t wo ye a r s. O ne i s a l i b ra r y ap pl ic at ion , wh ic h e n a ble s u s e r s to p e r u s e t he va s t q u a nt it y of b o ok s on of fe r, a s wel l a s b o oki n g f a c i l it y r o om s for g r oup s t u dy a nd h a nd l i n g me m b e r sh ip s e r v ice s. T he ot he r i s t he D uba i C u lt u r e of f ic i a l ap p, wh ic h cont a i n s i n for m at ion on he r it a ge site s w it h i n t he e m i rate, a nd a s ele c t ion of f a s c i n at i n g 3 6 0 - d e g r e e d r one i m a ge s a nd v id e o fo ot a ge, a nd au g me nted r e a l it y fe at u r e s, b r i n g i n g to l i fe some of D uba i’s mos t f a mou s h i s tor ic a l site s.

Howeve r, a lot of prec ise pla nn i ng is needed beh i nd t he sce nes to br i ng t h is tech nolog y to l i fe.

“T he most i mpor t a nt t h i ng for u s is ou r I T i n f ra st r uc t u re,” A l Sha raw i says. “I’m ve r y plea sed a nd proud to say we’ve bu i lt a ve r y st rong i n f ra st r uc t u re t hat l i n k s ou r 2 4 sites, a nd T h i n k SS played a big role i n t h is process.”

A l Sha raw i a nd D uba i C u lt u re bega n work i ng w it h T h i n k SS ju st ove r t wo yea r s ago, a nd t he pa r t ne r sh ip ha s a l ready prove n to be prospe rou s. “We had st rong system s a nd a d at a

I’M VERY PLEASED AND PROUD TO SAY WE’VE BUILT A VERY STRONG INFRASTRUCTURE THAT LINKS OUR 24 SITES, AND THINK SS PLAYED A BIG ROLE IN THIS PROCESS.” ce nt re pr ior to work i ng w it h T h i n k SS, but we we re not u si ng t hem to t hei r f u l l pote nt ia l,” A l Sha raw i says. “T he equ ipme nt wa s t he re, but wa s l i m ited to ou r l ibra r y system a nd doma i n se rv ices – ba sic I T t h i ng s.”

T h i n k SS set to work on a ssist i ng D uba i C u lt u re w it h it s system s desig n, a nd w it h t he help of f ig u res f rom Del l, made a se r ies of ga me- cha ng i ng i nt ro duc t ion s to t he i n f ra st r uc t u re.

T h i n k SS i nt roduced Del l Blade Se r ve r s, Equ a l L og ic storage, Com mvau lt back up a nd Son icWa l l sec u r it y appl ia nces.

“T hey helped u s desig n how

Issue 03 A special supplement of Think Software Services

5

CASE STUDY Dubai Culture

t hese system s we re st r uc t u red, a nd how t hey wou ld com mu n icate w it h each ot he r,” A l Sha raw i says. “Moreove r, t hey helped a lot i n te r m s of est abl ish i ng d at a ce nt re hea lt h: powe r, cool i ng a nd f i re sa fet y.”

Wit h a n i nte r n a l p ol ic y of r e pl a c i n g PC s once e ve r y f ive ye a r s, T h i n k SS wa s once a g a i n on h a nd to help. “ T he y p r ov ided t he l ate s t te c h nolog y for u s to r e pl a ce lot s of t he 6 0 0+ PC s w it h i n t he or g a n i s at ion ,” A l Sh a raw i s ays.

Hav i ng worked w it h T h i n k SS, D uba i C u lt u re’s I T system s a nd processes have bee n sig n i f ica nt ly shored up. “It ’s g reat to have a con s u lt a nt t hat we ca n rely on for s uppor t,” A l Sha raw i says. “T hei r adv ice ha s a l lowed u s to ma ke g reat cha nges a nd up g rades to ou r d at a ce nt re. T h is ha s made a huge d i f fe re nce i n te r m s of ou r abi l it y to host new

IT’S GREAT TO HAVE A CONSULTANT THAT WE CAN RELY ON FOR SUPPORT.” 6

Issue 03 A special supplement of Think Software Services

appl icat ion s a nd system s, a s wel l a s va st ly i nc rea si ng t he ava i labi l it y of ou r se r v ices.”

Wit h sca labi l it y a nd ag i l it y bot h i mpor t a nt bu si ness iss ues for D uba i C u lt u re, A l Sha raw i is sat isf ied bot h ma nd ates have bee n f i l led t h roug h work i ng w it h T h i n k SS. “We have bu i lt a ve r y st rong e nv i ron me nt to host ou r v i r t u a l se r ve r s, a nd we have e noug h storage to ef fec t ively ma nage ou r d at a a nd back ups.

O u r sec u r it y level is ve r y h ig h, u si ng t he f i rewa l l a nd V PN commu nc iat ion s. We have a ve r y st able net work now.”

A l S h a r aw i b e l ie ve s D u b a i C u lt u r e h a s t a k e n i m p o r t a n t s t e p s i n g r ow i n g it s t e c h nol og y p r o c e s s e s t h a t w i l l c a t e r fo r t he d e ve lo p me n t of t he o rg a n i s a t io n a s a whole. “ We a r e g r ow i n g a t a f a s t p a c e, a nd t he s y s t e m i s now r e a dy t o ho s t a ny c h a n ge s t h a t m ay c o me,” he s ay s. “ We h a d a me e t i n g w it h t he s t r a t e g y d e p a r t me n t , who s a id t h a t o u r I T d e p a r t me n t h a s d o ne a f a n t a s t ic jo b b u i ld i n g t h i s i n f r a s t r u c t u r e. We c a n q u ic k ly i n s t a l l a p p s, wh ic h w i l l he lp D u b a i C u lt u r e’s g r ow t h a nd a b i l it y t o d e l i ve r s e r v ic e s.”

L ook i ng for wa rd, A l Sha raw i a nd h is tea m have developed t he I T i n f ra st r uc t u re a nd t he con f ide nce to pu sh on w it h a nu mbe r of a mbit iou s tech nolog y i n it iat ives. “We wa nt to pu sh D uba i C u lt u re i nto ‘Sma r t ’ projec t s,” he says. “We wa nt to develop more mobi le apps t hat ca n e ngage u se r s to i nte rac t w it h u s,

WE WANT TO DEVELOP MORE MOBILE APPS THAT CAN ENGAGE USERS TO INTERACT WITH US, AS WELL AS USE MORE AUGMENTED REALITY IN OUR SYSTEMS.” a s wel l a s u se more aug me nted rea l it y i n ou r system s. Automat ion w i l l be key for u s. We a re a lso de ploy i ng new system s, l i ke a rch iv i ng a nd l ice n si ng.”

A l Sha raw i spea k s ve r y h ig hly of one pa r t ic u la r f ig u re at T h i n k SS who ha s g u ided D uba i C u lt u re i n it s t ra n sit ion. “Mo h it is a g reat accou nt ma nage r, who is a lways t he re to s uppor t ou r need s. T hey have a g reat a nd professiona l tea m, a nd have a lways bee n fa nt a st ic i n te r m s of del ive r y a nd t i mel i ness.”

AMC

Annual Maintenance Contract

AWARD WINNING DUBAI SME 100 COMPANY SINCE 2001

In today’s world, quality and consistency are the key element to success from installed systems and equipment’s.

Think Software Services has introduced Annual Maintenance Contracts in UAE for SME Customers with the following features: · Maintenance of IT infrastructure has become essential to various customers looking for better and better option to keep their system up running with minimum downtime. · Provides services between 9 am to 6 pm, Monday to Sunday and 24/7, 365 days with 6 hour resolution commitment · Giant technical team to take care on maintenance. · Better service levels at lower overall cost. technicians skilled in cross-platform environments. · Ability to provide or supplement ln-house maintenance. · Get special prices on the consumables & IT needs of your growing organization

Call Our AMC Specialist Priya on +971 44 288 310

EVENTS Q2 2016

THINK SS & DELL DISASTER RECOVERY EVENT - 12 APR 2016 AT ETIHAD TOWERS, ABU DHABI

THINK SS & FIRE SAFETY TECHNOLOGY FORUM (DUBAI CIVIL DEFENSE, ESIS, ABU DHABI) - 27 APR 2016 AT INTERCONTINENTAL, DUBAI

THINK SS & AKAMAI EVENT - 24 MAY 2016 AT ATLANTIS, DUBAI

8

Issue 03 A special supplement of Think Software Services

THINK SS & DELL SOFTWARE SECURITY EVENT - 20 APR 2016 AT BURJ AL ARAB, DUBAI

Think SS has successfully participated at the Fire Safety Technology Forum, which was organised by the Dubai Civil Defense.

THINK CONSULTING & METRICSTREAM EVENT - 30 MAY 2016 AT ST.REGIS, DUBAI

Think Consulting and MetricStream have successfully hosted its first seminar that brought together governance, risk and compliance professionals in the UAE to discuss the latest trends and best practices in the field of IT GRC. Issue 03 A special supplement of Think Software Services

9

FEATURE WannaGo Cloud

ALL SYSTEMS GO

THINK SS IS DELIGHTED TO ANNOUNCE THAT IT IS VENTURING INTO THE CLOUD SPACE, WITH ITS DISASTER RECOVERY-AS-A-SERVICE (DRAAS) OFFERING, WANNAGO CLOUD.

Zaki Ahmad, Think SS

10

Issue 03 A special supplement of Think Software Services

D

eveloping the service has been a labour of love for Zaki and the Think SS team, which is due to be released in Q4 2016.

“We are all poised to push the button now,” says Zaki. “Disaster recovery is often perceived as an investment in a type of IT insurance that may never be utilised. With this in mind, we feel it has been our duty to provide a DRaaS solution which not only brings upfront capital cost reduction, but also allows customers to utilise their investment in innovative ways, such as parallel off site backups or conducting database OLAP functions.”

The service will help companies to drastically reduce IT costs through the use of a cloud as opposed to an on-premise disaster recovery (DR) of-

WANNAGO PROVIDES THE SHORTEST RECOVERY TIME OBJECTIVES AVAILABLE WITHIN THE UAE, WITH PROVISIONING FOR REVERSE REPLICATION OVER 1-10GBE.”

fering. The shift to this cloud service provides an elastic, scalable, pay as you grow model and lower per-person access costs.

“To take advantage of the cloud, your organisation needs a trusted adviser and partner who understands the cloud’s potential to provide agile IT that is focused on your business needs,” Zaki says. “Think SS works closely with its customers to develop a DR strategy that is customised to meet your organisation’s specific needs and goals.”It’s now widely accepted in today’s business climate that companies of all sizes must actively engage in developing, implementing and regularly testing DR plans for their business-critical information. It’s far from hyperbolic to say that those who fail to do so are gambling with their company’s future. Although many companies choose to implement their own DR – which is a responsible attitude, and must be lauded – this can lead to significantly higher costs than those who choose to outsource this duty to a third-party that offers DRaaS. IT organisations not only face increasingly complex environments, but also have to meet constantly changing business conditions. Focusing on the simplification of an IT infrastructure, while aligning solutions to business objectives is the strategy advocated by Think SS. “We work with you to understand your key business drivers and recommend the cloud and Infrastructure solutions that best fit your needs.”

WannaGo Cloud has a range of powerful, leading technologies at its core. Dell is at the cornerstone of WannaGo’s infrastructure, providing the servers, storage and network equipment for the base, while VMware and Microsoft software com-

pletes the package. “Dell’s world-class infrastructure sets our solution apart,” Ahmad says. “In combination with our superior SLAs, this constitutes the perfect marriage.”

The solution is packed with a host of benefits. “WannaGo provides the shortest recovery time objectives (RTOs) available within UAE, with provisioning for reverse replication over 1-10GbE,” Zaki says. “Security is built-in, with dedicated firewall ports for ingress and egress traffic.”

In terms of the skills supplied by Think SS, customers’ minds can be put at ease knowing that 24/7/365 email and phone support are available for maintenance of recovery point objectives and RTOs. “Think SS employs the highest possible SLA standards for its customers, and has a team of highly-skilled consultants.”

Customers can sleep safe with the knowledge that the security surrounding WannaGo Cloud is of the highest order, with Think SS’s data centre residing within the shores of UAE. The space is compliant with key international standards including ISO/ IEC 27001 for information security management systems, while customers have the option to encrypt their data.

Besides its many technical benefits, WannaGo also stands to help organisation’s from a business perspective.

“It’s very competitively priced,” and has no setup fees. It becomes very easy to justify this kind of investment to business stakeholders.”

Zaki believes the solution stands to benefit a host of organisations, but has high hopes for specific sectors.

“Educational establishments are ideally positioned to make the most of WannaGo Cloud,” he says. “Equally, the solution is apt for a broad range of public and private entities.”

Issue 03 A special supplement of Think Software Services

11

FEATURE Gartner

CLEAR FORECAST

GARTNER STUDY REVEALS THE GCC'S CLOUD PROSPECTS, AND STEPS FOR WOULD-BE CUSTOMERS TO CONSIDER BEFORE OPTING FOR CLOUD SOLUTIONS.

P

ublic cloud services have shown a lot of promise in the Middle East. However, adoption has failed to pick up due to concerns around security (physical/logical/ compliance and perception), latency, data protection and privacy, maturity and reliability of services and a lack of local service providers.

12

Issue 03 A special supplement of Think Software Services

Agility, elasticity and cost considerations, which are the main reasons for cloud adoption globally, are still not a consideration for most CIOs in the region. Although some organisations have adopted basic non-critical SaaS-based applications (such as email, instant messaging/chat, advertising and travel planning), they have not been very happy with the SLAs

and support that they have received from their cloud service providers.

Adoption barriers In their interactions with Gartner, customers have complained of latency issues when applications are hosted in far-off places such as Singapore, the United States or Western Europe. Due to latency and compli-

ance issues, customers definitely like applications and infrastructure to be hosted in the region. Some organisations in verticals such as oil and gas, banking finance and insurance, and government, do not want any of their data moving out of the region or their home country.

Consequently, it is a legitimate concern for companies when they are offered cloud services from Europe or the United States. If latency is also a major concern, then it is always advisable to look for local cloud-based solutions.

Verifying maturity It is always advisable that organisations planning to adopt the cloud in any form (whether public, private or hybrid) be at least at Level 3 in the Gartner IT Score for I&O. The global average is 2.33, which means that most organisations need to improve in regard to one of the various components such as process, technology, people or business management.

Organisations in the Middle East are slowly improving their maturity levels for cloud, but in general, they are lower than the global average. If internal IT operations remains ad hoc or reactive, cloud adoption will never lead to any substantial improvement in service quality or cost. In fact, cloud adoption in such scenarios may be counterproductive.

However, improving the maturity of an organisation cannot be a one-time affair nor can it be achieved overnight. It is a step-bystep approach and takes time.

Cost Most organisations in the Middle East are more open to capital investment rather than operating expenses. Hence, the movement from capital expenditure (CAPEX) to

plete study of all the cost elements be done before embarking on a cloud journey.

CUSTOMERS HAVE COMPLAINED OF LATENCY ISSUES WHEN APPLICATIONS ARE HOSTED IN FAROFF PLACES SUCH AS SINGAPORE, THE UNITED STATES OR WESTERN EUROPE. operating expenditure (OPEX) is not the main reason for moving to the cloud. In fact, for many organisations, especially those in government, any increase in operating expenses is a concern, whereas getting budgetary approvals for CAPEX is easier (if backed by a good business and technical case).

Consequently, Gartner recommends having a discussion with the CFO or IT finance department, or any other person or group responsible for finance in the organisation, to understand the priorities of the organisation before pursuing cloud-based solutions that increase OPEX and reduce CAPEX. Costing is the most critical part in determining the actual cost of any cloud-based solution (both public and private cloud). Most cloud discussions are initiated due to the projected cost difference in running the same infrastructure on-premise compared with via public, private or hybrid cloud.

Gartner recommends that a com-

Customisation, localisation and integration cost This is the trickiest, and most openended, part of cloud costing and can be covered only after a thorough investigation is performed of the existing applications, infrastructure and future requirements.

Infrastructure upgrade cost Some cloud offerings may require the consumer (the ultimate end user) and the enterprise to make changes in their infrastructure. This may include security upgrades, a bandwidth pipe upgrade, an upgrade of machines and servers, replacing routers, and many more. In any case, some of these may have been required due to the movement to the cloud. It is important to do an assessment of the infrastructure and have an understanding of the cost escalations due to cloud movement.

In the move to cloud, CIOs in the GCC are recommended to: • Finish data centre modernisation, virtualise to a realistic level, and consolidate and standardise hardware and applications before moving to cloud.

• Experiment with private cloud and move only non-critical applications to it.

• Give first preference to local data centres in the region and check for locally hosted applications before venturing outside the region.

• Work with your existing telecommunication providers and system integrators (SIs) to build a cloud movement plan.

• Clearly understand and strongly consider relevant risks and legal/regulatory constraints before putting any sensitive, private data on any public cloud outside the region.

Issue 03 A special supplement of Think Software Services

13

INSIGHT Microsoft

FIRM FOUNDATIONS

MUKESH PARMAR GIVES HIS TAKE ON THE BENEFITS OF COLOCATION SERVICES FOR GCC CUSTOMERS.

C

loud computing has swept through the IT infrastructure industry.

This change has made it easier for companies to use servers, storage and software applications on-demand and as-aservice.

But what about the data centre colocation industry? It has changed very little over the last eight years and remains as inf lexible as ever, with multi-year term agreements and high minimum space requirements.

Bu si nesses wa nt more f lex ibi l it y to r u n tempora r y work load s, bu i ld pr ivate cloud s a nd have a less r isk y pat h to m ig rat i ng appl icat ion s to a hybr id publ ic-pr ivate cloud model. W hat ca n be done to ma ke colocat ion ea sie r a nd more ‘cloud-l i ke?’

The future of cloud computing Gartner has predicted that “this is the end of the beginning phase of cloud computing.” While this may be true for large enterprises and startup tech companies, the vast majority of applications still run on IT infrastructure dedicated to a single company, and are housed either onpremise or within a third-party colocation facility.

Businesses, especially those who are small and medium-sized, will take small steps to migrate their on-premise data centre environments into more secure and reliable environments. The majority of businesses will run their

14

Issue 03 A special supplement of Think Software Services

should have options for on-demand colocation with no minimum term commitments.

Mukesh Parmar, IT Consultant, ThinkSS

applications across a hybrid cloud environment, made up of dedicated infrastructure, private cloud and public cloud IaaS and Software-asa-Service (SaaS).

To support a hybrid cloud environment, we need to re-think colocation. Colocation services need to be more f lexible and cloud-like to better align with cloud consumption models.

Keeping up with the cloud Here are five ways that colocation services need to change to keep up with the cloud.

1. Commitment-free contracts: Contracting for colocation services typically requires a multi-year agreement and large minimum space requirements. In order to align with the on-demand nature of the cloud, colocation services agreements

2. Online ordering: Pricing, terms and conditions for colocation services should be available online. In order to support temporary workloads and to scale private cloud deployments, organisations should be able to order colocation services online and expect fast fulfillment. Combining online ordering and commitmentfree contracts will allow companies to realise the benefits of agility and scale in a secure dedicated colocation environment.

3. Direct connect: Colocation should have easy ‘direct connect’ access to public cloud providers as well as local ondemand infrastructure. As much as possible, interconnection to cloud IaaS should be automated.

4. Managed services: With cloud IaaS, you’re able to deploy virtual servers, configure virtual firewalls and use cloud-based storage through automated webbased interfaces and application programming interfaces (APIs). In order to replicate this, colocation providers need to offer more than just remote hands. They need to offer basic managed services such as firewall management, server management, backup and recovery services as well as other managed IT

operations services for the dedicated infrastructure of each client.

5. Customer service: Colocation customer service needs an overhaul. Today, most customers are treated like tenants, especially as colocation providers try to think more like real estate investment trusts. Cloud users want easy access to information and the ability to speak with a knowledgeable customer service manager or technical support person.

If colocation services are altered in these five ways, the gap between the way businesses consume infrastructure and the way they have been buying colocation will quickly begin to shrink. By changing colocation as we know it, businesses will realise true added value, especially as they seek to meet regulatory compliance requirements or create private or hybrid cloud environments.

Changing an entire industry’s way of doing business isn’t easy.

However, for businesses to realise the value of colocation, change has to be a priority.

Questions 1: Colocation facilities have a reputation as a roof over your servers’ head, so why move into colocation space when you could go straight to cloud?

Answer: Colocation services and public clouds move IT workloads out of your corporate data centre and into theirs, but the similarities end there. Whether you should use cloud hosting or colocation services depends on how you want to implement private and hybrid enterprise cloud.

Colocation services can be a gateway to hosted private cloud or to a hybrid cloud that bypasses public Internet connections.

Question 2: Should we use colocation services or cloud hosting?

Answer: There are several reasons to avoid the leap from an onpremise data centre to a cloudhosted infrastructure. Enterprises with existing IT equipment can waste a lot of invested capital by turning to cloud hosting. Instead, IT could move its infrastructure into a colocation provider’s modern facility with room to grow but no loss of control. In the cloud, you have no control.

Question 3: What are the benefits of data centre colocation?

Answer: It’s an affordable alternative to building your own

IT’S A COMMON MISCONCEPTION THAT COLOCATION IS JUST A BOX FOR YOUR EQUIPMENT. computer room. These CoLo (data centre) is built for redundancy in the areas of power, cooling, and network. This redundancy means your equipment will always be on, located in a climate-controlled environment, and will be accessible to you and your customers.

Colocation is great for organisations interested in extending their own infrastructure or creating a hybrid offsite location for disaster recovery. Colocation provides a way for you to secure and protect your compute infrastructure and leverage

the cost benefits of owning hardware.

With collocation, you know where your equipment is located and that you have have physical access to the equipment at all times.

Additionally, you have access to an on-site professional IT staff who are available to assist any time.

Question 4: Cloud vs. colocation: Which is better?

Answer: Many decisions will be made based on the perception – rather than the reality – that public cloud is somehow less secure, more outage-prone and harder to control than a privately owned platform.

These discussions are likely to drive organisations more to a colocation environment than public cloud.

Other decisions will be driven by business leaders who want to move away from a capital expenditure model to an operational expenditure one, or the need for greater levels of business availability, based on the use of warm images, provisioned across multiple platforms.

This can be achieved via colocation, but means replication of all the hardware across multiple facilities, which can be expensive.

It may be that a hybrid model could meet the requirements for many – a colocation centre as the primary site with public cloud acting as the failover environment – as well as providing burst resources as necessary.

Whatever approach an organisation opts for, the IT platform they choose has to adequately support the business in its aims.

This is increasingly the case where a fully in-house facility or platform model is failing. As yet, the end game is not decided. Colocation and public cloud both have their parts to play in any system – just do not write one or the other off for any ivory tower reasons.

Issue 03 A special supplement of Think Software Services

15

CASE STUDY MARKA

RETAIL THERAPY

DETERMINED TO DERIVE THE MAXIMUM VALUE FROM THE DATA COMING INTO ITS ORGANISATION, RETAIL FIRM MARKA KNEW ITS IT SYSTEMS NEEDED TO BE PERFORMING AT THEIR BEST. CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER SALAH KANAAN ENLISTED THINK SS TO BOOST MARKA'S INFRASTRUCTURE.

M

Salah Kanaan, Chief Technology Officer, Marka

16

Issue 03 A special supplement of Think Software Services

arka is the UAE’s first publicly traded retail operator focusing exclusively on fashion, hospitality and sports segments. Incorporated with a capital of AED 500 million and headquartered in Dubai, the company targets the mid-to-high-range and luxury segments, and since its incorporation in 2014, has partnered with leading global brands in the retail and hospitality sectors. The company is currently pursuing a growth strategy focused on acquisitions, franchise agreements and homegrown retail concepts.

“Marka is committed to offering value to its customers through high quality products and services at optimum cost, simultaneously generating value for its shareholders and giving back to the communities in which it operates,” says company chief technology officer Salah Kanaan. “In order to achieve these objectives, it’s imperative that we deliver the best possible technology services at our backend to get the most out of our operations.”

Over time,

THE RIGHT DATA, IN THE RIGHT FORM, TO THE RIGHT SET OF PEOPLE AT THE RIGHT TIME, IS ONE OF THE GREATEST TOOLS IN THE HANDS OF THE RETAILER.”

Kanaan’s vision of the how technology can impact the retail industry has evolved, and he now believes one crucial aspect holds the key to success.

“The importance of information technology in retail stems from the importance of data,” he says. “Data is nothing but information that aids decision making.” He goes on to add, however, that if this facet can be manipulated correctly, huge opportunities await for its custodians. “The right data, in the right form, to the right set of people at the right time, is one of the greatest tools in the hands of the retailer. Information is at its most powerful in a particular time frame, and that has to be exploited.”

Behind the scenes, Kanaan also believes that IT can deliver smooth operations for a retail organisation, which in turn has a positive impact on customer experience. “The use of information technology serves as a basis for integrating the functioning of various departments,” he says.

“When a retailer decides to use the power of technology to aid business, the investment in terms of money is usually high. However, the benefits of the use of information technology are many. As processes become automated, the time involved in particular tasks is reduced.”

With Marka’s senior management defining goals to adopt “state-ofthe-art” technology, Kanaan and his team enlisted the assistance of Think SS to give a boost to its systems performance. “The world today runs on various information systems and ERP types,” Kanaan says. “Information systems functionality is increasingly becoming a necessity, and not an option. Any fault in the software can lead to significant losses in revenue.

Thus, robustness and security of the system are equally important to ensure system confidentiality, integrity and availability.”

As with any transformative tech-

nology project, Kanaan was always sure to undertake his due diligence before the changes. “The two main challenges facing today’s information systems are operational and technical challenges,” he says. “These challenges must be addressed from the very beginning to ensure software projects do not fail.”

He goes on to add that alleviating risk was crucial. “Having the adequate skills at our disposal is of course a concern in the event of nasty surprises,” he says. “We are extreme-

platform which has would provide solutions for the core, edge and access layers. A new disaster recovery solution was also installed.

Following the enhancements to Marka’s infrastructure, Kanaan and the company’s senior management have noticed an increase in the speed of its operations, and are satisfied with the performance and availability of the new systems. The piece of mind offered by the security enhancements eased the burden on Marka’s security operations, meanwhile.

THINK SS STAFF WERE VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE, AND SEEMED GENUINELY INTERESTED IN SUPPORTING RATHER THAN JUST BEING FOCUSED ON MAKING A QUICK SALE.” ly committed to concise prior planning, but some things cannot be accounted for, and that always has to be considered.”

Kanaan and Marka opted to employ Think SS’s expertise and services in deploying Dell’s converged data centre functionality and performance, which integrates servers, storage, networking and management in a single, compact chassis. This would feature office-optimised dimensions and acoustics, power requirements, and data protection and security features.

Another key addition to Marka’s infrastructure would be Fortinet’s high-performance network security

Kanaan speaks very highly of the support received from Think SS, saying they have provided consistent support for a considerable time period. “Over the years, the team has provided me the huge benefit of their full dedication and expertise,” he says. “I appreciate their outstanding customer service that their staff provide to meet customer expectations.”

Kanaan goes on to add that the level of post-sales support was exemplary, and that Think SS provided an admirable level of integrity in their work.

“Their staff were very knowledgeable, and seemed genuinely interested in supporting rather than just being focused on making a quick sale.”

Issue 03 A special supplement of Think Software Services

17

OVERVIEW IT Security Trends

PREDICT AND PROTECT

THINK SS'S DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY CONSULTING SERVICES, FAHEEM SIDDIQUI, GIVES HIS TAKE ON THE HOTTEST IT SECURITY TRENDS FOR H2 2016.

Organisations are only as strong as their weakest link, and some of the largest breaches in the UAE BFSI sector in the last 12 months have highlighted this.

In the UAE, seeking cybersecurity advisory services from a few identified names is common and that’s also a threat to intra-organisational confidential data leakage. There will be an increasing focus on trying to assess the risks these partnerships create and how businesses prevent them from being the single points

Faheem Siddiqui, Director of Technology Consulting Services, Think SS

S

hrinking traditional business networks By the end of 2016, there will be three times as many active IP-enabled devices as people, over a zetabyte of data crossing global networks, and 90% of the world’s data having been created in the last two years. Businesses are no longer able to justify the cost to build large, complex networks, and are increasingly looking to outsource, ‘cloudsource’ and consumerise their IT systems.

18

Issue 03 A special supplement of Think Software Services

Business networks are shrinking as organisations shift to digital entities, with only the most rudimentary core networks. Business tools such as CRM, email and file sharing are moving to the cloud.

Middle East, the skillsets supply chain and cybersecurity While many have kept focusing on the need for state-of-the-art cybersecurity, they remain dependent on the few who operate this supply chain.

THERE WILL BE A MUCH GREATER EMPHASIS ON INTELLIGENCELED SECURITY, AS TRADITIONAL TECHNOLOGIES FAIL TO DELIVER THE TRACKING OF SECURITY INCIDENTS AND BEHAVIOUR.”

of entry. More players with niche skillsets are set to enter the arena, increasing the costs of executing security solutions.

Phishing has new bait Vigilance around phishing emails, particularly spear phishing (targeted attacks), will be important in 2016.

Phishing is not new, although cybercriminals continue to capitalise on opportunities in the market.

For example, with recent highprofile breaches of customer data, those affected may legitimately expect an email from the organisation concerned on what action they should take (e.g. changing password credentials).

In these instances, phishing is likely to be rife and it is easy to take these emails at face value. All relevant (and legitimate) information should be on the organisation’s own website.

Emergence of identity and access management There will be emphasis on identity and access management, as traditional technologies fail to deliver the tracking of security incidents and behaviour, with social engineering exploits on the rise. Varied authentication mechanisms and applications hosted in-house and on the cloud will lead to the mass adoption of single sign-on and identity management solutions to make sense of ‘who’ accesses ‘what’ and ‘when’.

There will also be more widespread adoption of real-time monitoring and advanced analytics with businesses responding quickly to incidents based on clear actionable intelligence.

Solutions and not products - the intelligence-led approach There will be a much greater em-

IT EXECUTIVES WILL NEED TO ENSURE THAT SOURCING REQUIREMENTS ARE GUIDED

BY DEMAND MANAGEMENT, TO REDUCE THE RISK OF OPPORTUNISTIC PROCUREMENT OF CLOUD SOLUTIONS THAT COULD DRIVE INSTANCES OF SHADOW IT. phasis on an intelligence-led security, as traditional technologies fail to deliver the tracking of security incidents and behaviour, and are simply unable to analyse the huge amounts of data from across a customer’s network.

There will be widespread adoption of real-time monitoring and advanced analytics, with businesses responding quickly to incidents based on clear actionable intelligence. Those offering holistic security metrics and dashboards across critical data flow points will have higher chances of gaining customer interest.

Back to the Pareto Principle – CIS/ SANS Top 20 We continue to see how organisations react when breaches happen, but for an incident response to be fully effective, it relies on robust preparation and good practice.

Processes, procedures and awareness are essential ingredients for risk mitigation, along with the right technologies to help protect from and detect any malicious activity.

NTT Com Security’s 2015 Global Threat Intelligence Report highlighted the need for organisations to concentrate on getting the basics right. It showed that a staggering 76% of the vulnerabilities identified had been known for two or more years. Nearly 10% were over ten years old. Getting the fundamentals right that put risk in context for organisations is the foundation of a coherent and thorough response plan. The CIS Critical Security Controls for Effective Cyber Defense will be back in the limelight.

Cloud controls security Cloud security will be all about governance and sourcing management. IT executives will need to ensure that all sourcing requirements are guided by demand management to reduce the risk of opportunistic procurement of cloud solutions that may lead to multiple instances of ‘shadow IT’ operating within the organisation. It will be important to maximise the ability to select the most suitable model with which to realise the business strategy. Ensure that IT uses a single service portfolio that is technology-agnostic and driven by business outcomes, and where all application services continuously align with the security architecture. Also, IT execs will ensure that all application service integration efforts encompass data, identity, access and business process management to support end-to-end application and process control.

Issue 03 A special supplement of Think Software Services

19

FEATURE Think Revitel

CUSTOMER IS KING

FOR ANY ORGANISATION, HAPPY CLIENTS ARE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS IN DRIVING SUCCESS. THIS RINGS TRUE FOR THINK SS, WHOSE MARKETING AND SALES INITIATIVE REVITEL CENTRES ON CUSTOMER RETENTION AND SATISFACTION.

T

Rohit Save, Sales Manager and Revitel Lead UAE, Think SS

20

Issue 03 A special supplement of Think Software Services

hink Revitel is an initiative introduced by systems integrator Think SS in 2004. The objective of the programme is ensuring high levels of customer satisfaction and retention within the company’s customer base, and finding new approaches to bringing better customer experiences.

“Essentially, what we want to achieve through Revitel is faster customer growth,” says Rohit Save, Sales Manager and Revitel lead UAE. According to Rohit, there are two ways through which a company can attract customers. “‘Hunting’, the first of the two methods, basically means finding and approaching prospective customers who you could potentially on-board,” he says. “Upon doing so, we make sure that we give them a good impression of our services, hence, building good will and a sense of loyalty. We don’t want to sell a solution or service just for the sake of it. We want to make sure that we give them the best value by providing them with the optimum price possible and good support pre-, during and post-implementation.” The second aspect homes in on what is already available. “On the other hand, ‘farming’ is all about putting the focus on your existing client base. This means giving them more services that will further add value to their business and in turn continuously cultivate a good relationship with them.”

Rohit points out that Revitel is being offered to customers who have been with Think SS at an average of four years. “Currently, in terms of our

pure Revitel business, I believe we have around 1200-plus customers under our wing,” he says. “Retention is a top priority for Revitel, and we want to ensure that our customers stay happy and loyal.

This is very important, especially in our operations here in the UAE, which is the smaller market in terms of demography and where customer references are an integral part of our expansion strategy.”

Another notable aspect of the initiative is the service and licence renewal offering. “We offer end-to-end assistance for contracts and licences renewals,” explains Rohit. “Our team provides support to clients from the initial notification, with 30-60 days advance notification and renewal quotations, to completion of the transaction until the final notification.”

Think SS also engages with a number of original equipment manufacturers of their vendor partners like McAfee and Dell, to ensure that they are able to provide optimum assistance to their customers throughout the renewal process.

“We believe that maintaining a good relationship with both our customers and vendor partners is what makes systems integration work well,” Rohit says.

Another key benefit that customers can get from the initiative is improved and accurate budgeting for yearly operational expenditures (OPEX), as the Revitel team can help customers consolidate their OPEX budget plans and reports. “Often, IT is seen as a costcentre rather than a profit-centre,” explains Rohit. “Whenever IT leaders ask for budgets for their projects, they tend to face restrictions from the finance department’s side. However, at Revitel, we support our customers throughout all operational needs that they may require, the licences renewal, services renewal, the upselling and upgrading of their technologies and so on.

“We also assist them during the budget planning process. Towards the end of the year when budgets are being evaluat-

Shubhapriya Shetty, Account Manager, Think SS We aim to drive Revitel’s growth through having regular engagement with existing customers, and focusing on new solutions to prove our commitment to them, as well as generating new opportunities.

Rishi Krishna K, Enterprise Account Manager, Think SS Revitel is all about proactive engagement with our customers to ensure uninterrupted support to them, both from Think Software Services as well from the vendors.

It is a vital part of our business as this echoes in improving our overall customer experience.

We will uphold our strategy to upsell and cross-sell, and help customers make sound investments. Our business development plan for Q3 is to focus more on our services business. We want to reach out to more of our ‘revive’ customers, stay connected with the existing customers, and have ample engagement with them.

ed, we’ll sit with our customers and discuss the data we have on them and help them create a practical plan,” Rohit says.

“We then give them a breakdown of how much they need to spend and how much they can potentially save. That report can then be presented by the IT department to their finance teams, and then it will enable them to easily explain the different parameters of the budget.”

Over the next quarters, Revitel aims to further expand its reach in the UAE by staying committed to its mantra, which is ‘retain, upsell and cross-sell’.

“Retention is always very important for any organisation,” he says. “For Think SS, we want to ensure that we maintain 98 percent of our customers. We want to continue to build a good rapport between all our customers by ensuring that they feel supported and valued. That’s the strategy across our operations.

According to Rohit, Think SS, under the leadership of managing director Deepak Verma, also endeavours to instigate the ‘Land and Expand’ (L&E)

strategy for their Revitel arm. He explains that L&E is a business strategy that must be embraced by every member of the company with every executive, manager and employee incentivised and compensated for the success achieved by their customers in using the organisation’s products and services.

“This strategy is aimed at customer satisfaction as well as enabling customer success,” he adds.

“The next part of our strategy over the next few months is ‘revive.’ While the majority of our customers remain, it is not unlikely that due to various reasons, we have lost two percent of our customer base, so in the next quarters we want to revive those relationships and continue enhancing our solutions and services. Over the 15 years we have been in the market, I believe we have made good relationships with our customers.

However, I also believe that bringing quality performance to our customers is a journey. It is a continuous process that we will keep on working on.”

Issue 03 A special supplement of Think Software Services

21

INTERVIEW Milestone

Milestone Security Surveillance

EAGLE EYE

SENIOR FIGURES FROM MILESTONE INTERNATIONAL DISCUSS ITS VALUE PROPOSITION AND GROWTH PLANS.

C

an you give a brief overview of Milestone?

Neeraj Sharma, Account Manager, Think SS: Milestone is a Dubai-based security and surveillance company, which was acquired by Think SS three years ago. Our office is situated in the Toyota Building near interchange #1 on Sheikh Zayed Road.

We specialise in providing IP-based CCTV solutions, structured cabling - covering UTP and fibre cabling - and subsequent migrations from old to new networks, time attendance and access control.

Our CCTV portfolio comprises a number of renowned security and surveillance brands, including the likes of CP Plus, Vanguard, Samsung, and MOBOTIX, among others. We have a stack range of 1.3 MP to 6 MP with these brands and different solutions, as per customer and site requirements. As for structured cabling, we do UTP cabling for cameras and Wi-Fi points as well as data and voice points. Anybody who is shifting premises, like schools and universities, or hotels that have complicated interior structures, are looking for solutions like these, and Milestone International is poised to deliver such solutions to our esteemed customers at an affordable price.

Which verticals are you most focused on?

NS: During the earlier years of our opera-

22

Issue 03 A special supplement of Think Software Services

tions, we were mostly focused on the retail sector. We have customers spread across the major shopping malls in Dubai – these are retail outlets that are in need of CCTV and structured cabling services.

Hitesh Vadgama, Technical Lead, Milestone, Think SS: However, we have recently expanded our clientbase and extended our services to organisations in the hospitality, education and industrial sectors.

WE TRY TO ESTABLISH A GOOD RAPPORT WITH OTHER ENTITIES INVOLVED IN THE SECURITY BUSINESS, AS WE THINK IT IS BENEFICIAL FOR BOTH SIDES IN TERMS OF PROVIDING BETTER OFFERINGS TO OUR CURRENT AND POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS.

What’s the go-tomarket strategy for Milestone?

NS: Our strategy is very simple. We contact end-users and conduct meetings with them. So it is a very direct approach.

However, we are now increasingly trying to have engagements with customers through other channels as well, like with third-party bodies such as contractors and project consultants. We also ensure that

Hitesh Vadgama, Technical Lead, Milestone, Think SS

we come up with effective and affordable solutions for our current and potential customers.

I am responsible for the sales, marketing and business development of Milestone here in the UAE. Consequently, Hitesh is in-charge of the technical aspects of the operations. We work hand-in-hand in enhancing Milestone’s offerings as well as in seeking new opportunities for growth. As of now, we have had huge success in Ajman, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

HV: We also try to collaborate with organisations like facilities management companies and other security service providers. We try to establish a good

Milestone Security Surveillance

rapport with other entities involved in the security business, as we think it will be very beneficial for both sides in terms of providing better offerings to our current and potential customers. In addition, we always ensure that we our services and solutions are compliant with all the local and regional regulations in the market.

How complementary is your strategy with Think SS’s market objectives?

NS: We collaborate with them when it comes to the needs of their existing clientele. In fact, a big chunk of our client-base is from Think SS’s customer portfolio.

At the same time, we also try to bring in new customers to them through our own expertise and strengths. As an example, universities like the City University College of Ajman and Repton School have good business relationships with Think SS. These organisations required surveillance and monitoring services, and we have provided them with what they need and helped them to fill the gaps in their security systems.

However, as a company focused on surveillance and monitoring, we adhere to different sets of compliance standards.

Moreover, while we work in close collaboration with Think SS, we operate as a totally different entity and have our own profit centre head.

For potential customers, how can they go about employing your services?

NS: As mentioned, we do have a very direct approach to customers. We have leadgeneration teams that operate in India and in the UAE as well. We also have initiatives like Crazy Days and other similar events, wherein we call and reach out to different companies to get leads. Moreover, we get in touch with a few of our customers through referrals.

HV: Once we attain a list or group of potential customers, we set up meetings with them. After doing so, we do site surveys, study the outline of their facilities and provide them with schematic diagrams. Then, we give them a proposal of what will be the appropriate solution for their respective space, in accordance with the relevant surveillance regulation here in the UAE. From your perspective, how has the security market changed over the years?

NS: A few years back, security and surveillance solutions were relying on analogue tools.

As technologies progress, analogue has shifted to IP. Today, everyone is benefitting from IP systems. With the fast-moving IT landscape, changes happen almost too frequently, and with them, regulatory standards also had to be updated.

This is what concerns businesses most, because they invest in products and solutions that could be outdated only after a short period of time. As a player in this space, we offer solutions that are very flexible and can be updated as and when needed. But that varies from one client to another.

Neeraj Sharma, Enterprise Account Manager, Think SS

LIKE ANY OTHER COMPANY, WE ENDEAVOUR TO BE AHEAD OF THE MARKET CURVE. WE WANT TO BE THE TOP SURVEILLANCE SECURITY VENDOR AND ALSO HAVE A FOOTPRINT ACROSS ALL THE EMIRATES.

What is your vision for Milestone for the years to come?

NS: Like any other company, we en-

deavour to be ahead of the market curve. We want to be the top surveillance security vendor and also have a footprint across all the emirates.

That’s what we are looking at slowly but surely.

Having started as a provider of CCTV solutions to the retail sector, we now have extended our services and capabilities to the enterprise segment. I believe the next step for us will be serving more and more clients in the SME segment and other enterprise or large scale projects.

We can only achieve the growth prospects that we have by having a strong network of customers. That’s why we will continue growing our customer base and ensure good relationships with them.

Issue 03 A special supplement of Think Software Services

23

INTERVIEW Rahul Mathur

GUIDING GROWTH THROUGH GOVERNANCE

THINK CONSULTING PARTNER, RAHUL MATHUR, EXPLAINS HOW THINK CONSULTING AND IN SPECIFIC ITS GOVERNANCE RISK AND COMPLIANCE (GRC) PRACTICE IS ALLEVIATING AWARENESS ON A RANGE OF IT GOVERNANCE AREAS IN GCC ORGANISATIONS.

H

ow long has Think Consulting been operational? What are the origins of the division?

Think Consulting as a brand is a division of Think Software Services and was launched in February 2016, initially focusing on GRC frameworks. The origins of the division lie in providing our esteemed customers a full stack of advisory services from traditional IT governance and strategy to consulting, and includes execution for each of the technologies we advise on.

Specifically, Think Consulting includes advisory and implementation on GRC frameworks and technologies. This includes compliance solutions like NESA, ISO and ISR reviews, governance initiatives including IT transformation strategies, IT assurance, identity and access management and business process outsourcing, including IT managed services and outsourcing.

Tell me about the event you recently held in partnership with Metric Stream?

Our recent roadshow was around GRC practice and discussed ‘How

24

Issue 03 A special supplement of Think Software Services

Rahul Mathur, Partner, Think Consulting

technology impacts GRC frameworks’. The event was a content-led session and addressed chief audit, risk and compliance officers and chief information officers on how technology assists in automating and integrating both IT and non-IT risks. We also addressed how and why GRC technologies are driving GRC frameworks.

We had keynote speakers representing regional IT management of multinational companies and attendees from different industry verticals including financial institutions, telecoms, large conglomerates and the entertainment industry.

It was a great opportunity for networking with other leading CIOs, auditors, risk and compliance officers to understand how they are progressing towards their GRC journey and how technology is assisting them in their day to day management of risks.

What are the biggest GRC challenges facing organisations across the globe today? Can you define how a customer can build ‘GRC readiness’ and why opt for Think Consulting?

The needs of any organisation’s GRC journey typically move from spreadsheets to office automation to homegrown software, depending on the maturity of the organisation These needs are generally driven by single compliance mandates but grows with multiple mandates including regulatory, operational, technology and legal across different business units Organisations view this as this as a burden and turn to outside support.

Think consulting fills that gap through core capabilities and investments in people who understand business context and advise organisations in transiting them from excel sheets

THE CURRENT PHASE OF GRC IN THE GCC REGION IS OF INCREASED AWARENESS AND DEVELOPMENT, AND WE SEE THIS ONLY GROWING.” framework to a risk-based integrated view of governance.

Think Consulting assists in IT transformation by defining their IT strategic roadmaps, and provides consultancy, training and implementation of simplified and integrated GRC solutions and information security frameworks.

How developed are GRC policies within this region’s enterprises ?

GRC frameworks are prevalent in every organisation in some form and shape. The only challenge is that the frameworks have been unable to keep pace with the incremental growth in operating businesses. This is not limited to any region and is defined by the maturity of different markets, government regulations and other market factors.

Predominantly, in the last couple of decades, the GCC region has seen

good growth due to oil prices, and that has led to many businesses growing substantially, but without a substantial maturity in governance models.

However, the fall in oil prices has led to small to large enterprises faceing various challenges, and the focus has shifted to managing risk now more than ever.

This has led to governance and risk management discussions across c-suites and hence the formulation of GRC policies.

The current phase of GRC in the region is of awareness and development , and we see this only growing.

What methodology does Think Consulting use in providing its advisory services?

Think Consulting believes in assessing current maturity levels of any organisation before embarking on any technology strategy. Our initial engagement includes an IT assurance audit, where we assess the technology posture of any organisation based on global best practices and standards and provide a gap analysis and IT strategic roadmap. This is followed by acceptability and acknowledgement of the roadmap within an organisation, which is key for any successful implementation. Based on the evaluation of various criteria including maturity, budgets etc, we then recommend a technology platform that supports various gaps and fits best.

Due to the strength of the people hired both from business and technology backgrounds, Think Consulting provides professional services of implementing various technologies and also maintaining it.

This entire lifecycle assists customers in having a one stop shop for their entire solution.

Issue 03 A special supplement of Think Software Services

25

PARTNER Dell Software

THE FUTUREREADY CUSTOMER

DELL'S ENTERPRISE PRODUCT MANAGER FOR THE MIDDLE EAST, SHAMS HASAN, EXPLAINS HOW MODERN TECHNOLOGY DEMANDS NOW MEAN THAT CUSTOMERS NEED END-TO-END SOLUTIONS PROVIDERS TO MAXIMISE THEIR LONG-TERM POTENTIAL.

“

For Dell, what matters most is not just what we know about technology, but how technology enables companies to perform at their best,” Shams Hasan explains. “We’re committed to technology that can enable people everywhere to thrive.” As one of Think SS’s most valued partners, the values Dell shares with the systems integrator take on great significance.

In a market where hardware has been commoditised, Dell has been keen to position itself as a differentiated, long-term partner for customers. “It’s important to the client that Dell isn’t just another vendor,” Hasan says. “We want to empower organisations to do more. We focus on reducing the cost of operations. Now it’s true, everyone commits to doing that, but we commit to reducing complexity, which drives out inefficiencies. You need to reduce cost and complexity to make sure growth continues.”

Balancing cost, complexity and capability takes on huge importance for Dell. The thinking behind standardsbased technology this is that customers can evolve their IT environments with minimal hassle.

The ‘future-ready’ customer Dell’s strategy for innovation centres around three core components: build, acquire and partner. “We’re very practical in regards to our approach for innovation in real-world challenges,” Hasan

26

Issue 03 A special supplement of Think Software Services

Shams Hasan , Enterprise Product Manager, Dell

says. “For instance, until around a year ago, Dell was Nutanix’s only major HW tech partner in the software-defined storage space, and other big tech players have since followed in our footsteps.”

Against a backdrop of shifting business models, and new work paradigms, it is becoming increasingly important for technology end-users to ensure that their investments can stand the test of time. Not only this, but owning an infrastructure that is agile, and can transition to emerging technologies is also a must. “There are a range of macroeconomic factors that organisations now face, including disruptive technology,” Hasan says. “It’s crucial to buy technol-

ogy that works today, but will also work tomorrow. Every piece of hardware and software, and every aspect of services, should allow for change. Not only that, but they should be able to enable and motivate change. It’s all about preparing for a digital transformation, and these strategies will enable it.”

Cloud, hyper converged Hasan goes on to highlight how technology shifts are putting more emphasis on devices, and the importance of holistic IT solutions in protection and empowering them.

“When you look at technology today, there has been an evolution of intelligence getting centralised in the data centre,” he says. “The Internet of Things and BYOD culture now mean that this intelligence is being pushed to the device, which brings in issues around security and the protection of assets.”

Networks Having been recognised as a ‘visionary’ networking vendor by Gartner, Dell is well positioned to move customers into the new generation of networking. “We recognise that there are certain proverbial elephants in the room when it comes to networks,” Hasan says. “As such, we have great solutions for open networking that allow customers to innovate their data centres into a future-ready era. Just as virtualisation was the future of servers, SDN is the future of networking, and Dell is leading in this space.”

Hybrid cloud Many businesses will face challenges along their cloud journey including complexity, high cost-risk and a lack of transparency around control, but Hasan says Dell has long-anticipated these challenges. “Years ago, Dell predicted that the route to the evolution of cloud would be through hybrid solutions,” Hasan says. “We made it clear that hybrid would be the way to go, and that’s proved to be a big win for us.”

For More Information on all Dell Related Products. Please Contact THINK SS on

Phone: +971 4 4288 379

Email: sales@thinkss.com

Website: www.thinkss.com

THINK SS YOUR UNIQUE POINT OF DIFFERENCE!

One Stop

Shop For All Your IT Requirements Established since 2001 in UAE Market Think SS has a very Innovative& Smart Portfolio to serve UAE IT Industry!

SYSTEM INTEGRATOR

• Infrastructure & Network • Cloud • Security

SERVICES • Revitel • AMC

AMC

Annual Maintenance Contract

971 44 288379

THINK CONSULTING

Milestone

• Business Continuity • Governance, Risk & Compliance

Consulting

Security Surveillance

www.thinkss.com

sales@thinkss.com