CXO Insight Middle East - Healthy outcomes - August 2020

ISSUE 22 \ AUGUST 2020

HEALTHY OUTCOMES Lebanon’s Rafik Hariri University Hospital provides exemplary care with the help of a modern communications and collaboration system

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CONTENTS

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PRODUCTS

LEBANON’S RAFIK HARIRI UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL PROVIDES EXEMPLARY CARE WITH THE HELP OF A MODERN COMMUNICATIONS AND COLLABORATION SYSTEM

HEALTHY OUTCOMES

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34

OUR BRAVE 16

NEW NORMAL 18 CHAMPIONS OF

EMBRACING 36

THE DIGITAL FUTURE

RIPE FOR 24 DISRUPTION

INTELLIGENCE 40 AINRTIFICIAL ACTION

THE EDGE OF 28 AATNEW WORLD

AGENTS OF 42 TRANSFORMATION

30 RISE OF THE BOTS

THE IMPORTANCE OF 44

MOBILE SECURITY

34 WHY YOU NEED GREEN IT

46 SHIELDS UP

BUSINESS CONTINUITY

PUBLISHED BY INSIGHT MEDIA & PUBLISHING LLC

FUEL IN 39 THE CYBERSECURITY ENGINE

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NEWS

DATA BREACHES COST $6.53M ON AVERAGE IN THE MIDDLE EAST: IBM INFOR INTRODUCES CONTACTLESS APPLICATIONS FOR HOSPITALITY CITRIX, MICROSOFT PARTNER TO ACCELERATE THE FUTURE OF WORK

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EDITORIAL

EMERGING FROM THE CRISIS

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he last five months have been a bit of a roller coaster ride for all of us. The pandemic has turned the world upside down, changing the way we live, work, socialise and do business. Now, we are talking about the new normal, which is yet to play out.

Though life is beginning to get back to normal, many of us are still working from homes, and there is an increasing acknowledgement that this work from home trend is here to stay. In fact, I read a study recently which said nearly half of the employees working from home would like to continue and they feel productive working from home than in office.

This is putting so much pressure on IT because IT has to set up remote working capabilities at scale, build resiliency into core systems, make sure employees have access to information and tools, deliver 24/7 customers and of course, address the security challenges of remote work.

The crisis is far from over, and the real challenge for CIOs is how to plan for the post-pandemic

world. There is a huge cost pressure on businesses and we are going to see a fundamental shift in business models in the near future. CIOs now will have to think of a plan to revive and revitalise the businesses.

The pandemic is also forcing IT leaders to recalibrate their digital transformation strategies and prioritise transformative technologies such as video conferencing and cloud-based collaboration tools. They’d also need to think of putting in place a business continuity plan that can respond to unexpected events such as the coronavirus crisis. In fact, various studies suggest that one in enterprises did not have a BCP pre-pandemic.

Last month, we organised our inaugural Business Continuity Champions awards to recognise organisations that have turned challenges into opportunities and vendors behind their success stories of business resilience. Flip the pages to find out about these champions who have raised the bar in business continuity, cybersecurity and resilience.

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Managing Editor Jeevan Thankappan jeevant@insightmediame.com +97156 - 4156425

Sales Director Merle Carrasco merlec@insightmediame.com +97155 - 1181730

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Designer Anup Sathyan

While the publisher has made all efforts to ensure the accuracy of information in this magazine, they will not be held responsible for any errors

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NEWS

DATA BREACHES COST $6.53M ON AVERAGE IN THE MIDDLE EAST: IBM

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BM Security has announced the results of a Middle East study examining the financial impact of data breaches on organisations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Based on the in-depth analysis, the cost of a data breach in KSA and UAE has risen by 9.4% over the past year. These incidents cost companies studied in the region $6.53 million per breach on average, which is higher than the global average of $3.86 million per breach and is the second highest average breach cost amongst the 17 regions studied.

In KSA and UAE, breaches cost companies $188 per lost or stolen record on average, which represents an

increase of 8.5% from 2019. Healthcare was found to incur the highest per record cost of a data breach, followed by Financial Services and then Technology.

The study found that malicious attacks were the root cause for 59% of data breaches in KSA and UAE, followed by system glitches at 24% and human error at 17%. Data breaches which originated from a malicious attack were not only the most common root

cause of a breach, but also the most expensive, costing companies in KSA and UAE an average total cost per data breach of $6.86 million.

Sponsored by IBM Security and conducted by the Ponemon Institute, the 2020 Cost of a Data Breach Report is based on in-depth interviews with more than 3,200 security professional in organisations that suffered a data breach over the past year.

INFOR INTRODUCES CONTACTLESS APPLICATIONS FOR HOSPITALITY

Infor has announced a fully contactless suite of applications for the hospitality industry, specifically designed for hotels and resorts, casinos and gaming, restaurants and food services, and event sales and table reservations. With guest and hotel staff safety in mind, Infor Hospitality Cloud Solutions are designed to address hotel operational needs for social distancing and contactless processes – including mobile check-in/ 6

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check-out, digital keys, and the ability to order room service via one’s own device.

Specifically, Infor Hospitality Management Solution (HMS), Infor HMS Online Check In, Infor HMS Online Check Out, and Infor POS Order Now have been added to the Infor Hospitality Cloud Solution Suite to deliver convenience, clarity, and care with every stay. New to the suite, web-based tools empower guests to

manage their check-in and check-out experiences according to preference — often en route and on their phones, allowing minimal contact with hotel staff. Accessible in real time, this tool helps hoteliers keep pace with the busy lives and schedules of the modern guest and helps deliver a tailored, seamless and contactless guest self-service check-in and checkout experience, delivering a welcoming experience every time. In addition, Infor’s restaurant technology (Infor Point of Sale) has been enhanced with the Self- Service Order Now solution to online food ordering. Guests can order food online on their smart device in the comfort of their hotel room or in a restaurant facility without having to interact with staff keeping socialdistancing norms. Lastly, Infor’s Table Reservations solutions allow establishments to book tables for diners and other resources requiring social distancing, such as gym space, bowling alleys and equipment.

FORTINET ACQUIRES OPAQ NETWORKS

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PAQ’s Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) cloud solution protects organisations’ distributed networks – from data centres, to branch offices, to remote users, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

Ken Xie, Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO said, “The recent SASE market momentum further validates our Security-driven Networking approach and underscores what we’ve been saying for years.

In this era of hyperconnectivity and expanding networks; with the network edge stretching across the entire digital infrastructure, networking and security must converge. In fact the acquisition of OPAQ actually further enhances our existing SASE offering enabling Fortinet to deliver the most complete SASE platform on the market. The Fortinet SASE platform delivers the broadest security and industry-leading SDWAN and networking offerings that can all be delivered to customers and partners through a flexible, cost efficient and patented zero-trust cloud architecture.”

RAQMIYAT TEAMS UP WITH AUTOMATION ANYWHERE Raqmiyat, a system integrator and a provider of Digital Transformation solutions and services, is now a regional business partner and authorised reseller of Automation Anywhere. The collaboration will help Raqmiyat to strengthen its RPA capabilities across the GCC region by efficiently catering to the growing demand for automation.

“Enterprise adoption of automation is growing at a rapid pace. Together with Automation Anywhere, we anticipate helping customers increase the footprint for intelligent automation across the region to increase efficiency, optimise cost thereby increase ROI and improve your bottom line. In this Digital Age,

investing in automation has become a necessity and a core strategy to grow and serve more customers,” said Melvin S. D’Souza, Vice President, Banking and Financial Services, Raqmiyat.

“Effective Digital Transformation is often a myth without Automation, an infrastructure might have various processes that are working in silos

and delivering output. AI infused Automation helps in increasing process efficiency by seamlessly connecting with the applications residing both on the front and back end of any operation.

This will help the organisation scale much faster and derive effective ROI,” said Milan Sheth, EVP-IMEA, Automation Anywhere.

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NEWS

CITRIX, MICROSOFT PARTNER TO ACCELERATE THE FUTURE OF WORK

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he workplace of the future will look a lot different than it did just a few months ago. The global pandemic has caused both employees and companies to rethink how and where work gets done.

More organisations will make remote work a permanent part of their cost and workforce management strategies.

They will also reexamine the structure and role of their office environments to keep employees safe and productive and enable greater agility across the enterprise.

To drive business continuity and growth, organisations will need to embrace more flexible work models that accommodate these new priorities. Citrix and Microsoft are joining forces to reimagine this new, flexible workplace. Employees need a consistent experience and seamless access to the applications and insights

vital to doing their best work wherever work needs to get done. To address this challenge, the technology leaders today announced they will partner to help organisations accelerate the move to the cloud and speed adoption of digital workspaces and virtual desktops.

The multi-year agreement builds upon and expands one of the industry’s longest strategic partnerships. Under

MORO HUB LAUNCHES SMART CITIES COMMAND AND CONTROL CENTRE

HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has inaugurated the Smart Cities Command and Control Centre of Moro Hub (Data Hub Integrated Solutions), a whollyowned subsidiary of DEWA. As a Dubai 10X enabler, Moro Hub’s new centre 8

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provides services in Intelligent IoT Platforms, Cyber Security and Managed Services to support the Government and Enterprise customers in their digital transformation journey.

Aligning with the government directives, Moro Hub’s edge Smart Cities Command and Control Centre enables government and enterprise clients to fast track the adoption of new-age digital technologies such as IoT, cybersecurity, cloud and more. The new centre will allow digital leaders to make well-informed decisions based on

the terms of the deal, Microsoft will select Citrix Workspace as a preferred digital workspace solution, and Citrix will select Microsoft Azure as a preferred cloud platform to move existing onpremises Citrix customers to Microsoft Azure and enable people to work anywhere across devices.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has forced businesses around the world to change the way that employees work, while still meeting the speed and security requirements that today’s uncertain business environment demands.

Looking forward, hybrid-work models will become the standard for many customers, requiring a flexible infrastructure to support, secure and empower their teams,” said David Henshall, President and CEO, Citrix.

“Together, Citrix and Microsoft can deliver a powerful digital workspace in a trusted and secure public cloud where employees can access everything they need to engage and be productive whether they are at home, in the office or on the road.”

data-driven analysis.

HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, said, “We work according to the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to make Dubai the city of the future. We strive to achieve the objectives of the Dubai 10X initiative, which mandates the Government of Dubai to be a global leader that is 10 years ahead of all other cities through government innovation and the reformation of traditional work mechanisms.

Regional clients can now benefit from innovative solutions that provide smart cities, smart buildings, fire alarm monitoring, video surveillance, environmental monitoring, energy management, M&V (measurement & validation) and associated services leveraging on Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Analytics. Clients will also enjoy Moro Hub’s managed services and 24x7x365 aftersale support.

ORACLE DEBUTS CLOUD@CUSTOMER

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racle has announced Oracle Dedicated Region Cloud@ Customer, a fully-managed cloud region that brings all of the vendor’s second-generation cloud services, including Autonomous Database and Oracle Cloud applications, to customer data centres, starting at only $500K a month.

With this offering, enterprises get the exact same complete set of modern cloud services, APIs, industry-leading SLAs, superior price-performance, and highest levels of security available from Oracle’s public cloud regions in their own data centres. This is ideal for highly regulated or securityfocused businesses needing to meet demanding latency and data residency requirements, reduce operational costs, and modernise legacy applications.

Over the past few years, enterprise adoption of public clouds has gone mainstream as companies took

AVEVA LAUNCHES SMART APP WITH EMBEDDED AI AVEVA has announced the launch of the AVEVA Insight OMI app. According to the firm, the app is a first in the industry to infuse real-time artificial intelligence into an operator’s decisionmaking as well as improve overall operational agility.

The smart app provides industrial businesses with an accelerated path toward implementing artificial intelligence in the control room or on the plant floor, presenting real-time anomaly detection in a context-aware OMI visualization display. It will benefit operators, engineers, and operations managers from various industries including Water and Wastewater, Energy, Food & Beverage among others.

The AVEVA Insight OMI app introduces AI capabilities into the

advantage of the pay-as-you-go economics, scale, and agility of cloud computing. However, most enterprises expect to continue to run a portion of their workloads in on-premises data centres for the foreseeable future. This has resulted in strong demand from

AVEVA System Platform, formerly Wonderware, and leverages predictive early warning and automatic detection of unusual operational behaviour. This provides users with early notification so

customers for a hybrid architecture where the same services, same functionality, and easy portability of applications exists between their public and on-premises cloud environments. But until today, Oracle sys no solution was able to bridge the gap between cloud and on-premises environments. Onpremises offerings from other cloud providers offer a very small subset of the services available in their public cloud regions. With today’s announcement, Oracle is making all of its cloud services — more than 50 services — available on-premises so enterprises can use Oracle’s cloud services wherever they need them – in the cloud or on-premises via Cloud@Customer.

they can quickly resolve issues before they become critical business problems such as unplanned downtime and production losses.

“IIoT applications have driven a massive increase in the collection of real-time operations and manufacturing data. As a result, operators face alarm overload and often cannot effectively react to or distinguish between process-critical situations and false positive alarm conditions, resulting in the loss of operational time and resources. By harnessing the power of AI and advanced cloud analytics, AVEVA is enabling operators to take proactive action, before process and maintenance problems occur,” said Rashesh Mody, Vice President, Monitoring and Control, AVEVA.

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NEWS

AVAYA EMPOWERS WORKFORCE WITH DEVICES AVAILABLE VIA SUBSCRIPTION

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vaya has announced the expansion of its Device as a Service offering into the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and eleven more new markets. This offering enables businesses to acquire Avaya’s latest business communication devices with the flexibility of a monthly subscription rather than an upfront purchase.

The expansion of this offering comes during a time of increased demand for flexible payment programs to help customers manage costs and future-proof their investments.

Avaya reported 200 percent quarter-over-quarter growth in subscription based services in its latest earnings report.

“The success of the Avaya Subscription program is the result of customers accelerating their digital transformation activities – including establishing a new ‘all weather workforce’ that can work securely from anywhere and adding technologies that enable them to better serve customers,” said Steve Brock, Director, Avaya Subscription Marketing, Avaya.

“They want the latest software and support at a price point that lets them more forward immediately, so that they can innovate when they have needs, with additional financial options.”

Avaya’s Device as a Service offering complements the Avaya Subscription program – equipping customers with the

HELP AG, CROWDSTRIKE TEAM UP TO ADVANCE ENDPOINT PROTECTION

With endpoint protection becoming a top priority for businesses, especially in the new normal with increased remote work models in place, Help AG, the cybersecurity arm of Etisalat 10

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devices required to maximise the potential of this software, and enabling customers to purchase them in the same flexible, predictable manner.

Digital, has announced its partnership with CrowdStrike, a global clouddelivered endpoint protection provider.

As a member of the CrowdStrike Elevate Partner Program, Help AG will

offer CrowdStrike Falcon platform for comprehensive, real-time endpoint protection to businesses in the Middle East, with an initial focus on organisations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

In recent months, the uptake of cloud-based technologies has been accelerated in the region, owing to the urgent need for the rapid, remote deployment of advanced IT solutions as businesses strive to maintain continuity by enhancing their digital footprint and services. Highlighting the region’s growing acceptance and appetite for cloud-delivered services, Gartner estimates that public cloud services revenue in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) will total nearly $3 billion this year. “This partnership with CrowdStrike aligns with Help AG’s cloud-first strategy and offers our customers near-instant access to one of the industry’s highest-rated endpoint detection and response solutions with no upfront CapEx,” said Stephan Berner, Chief Executive Officer at Help AG.

MIMECAST BUYS ETORCH

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imecast has acquired eTorch, (trading as MessageControl), a messaging security provider with solutions designed to help stop social engineering and human identity attacks with the use of machine learning technology. The acquisition of MessageControl strengthens Mimecast’s Email Security 3.0 strategy that is designed to improve cybersecurity at the email perimeter, inside the organisation and beyond the perimeter. The powerful combination of Mimecast and MessageControl is engineered to provide customers using productivity apps, such as Microsoft 365, even stronger protection against advanced phishing and impersonation attacks. Additionally, it is designed to prevent the inadvertent loss of

F5 ANNOUNCES FIRST MIDDLE EAST-BASED POINT OF PRESENCE F5 Networks has announced the launch of a new Silverline Cloud Platform Point of Presence (PoP) in Bahrain.

The move is part a global expansion strategy to help customers better adapt to rapidly evolving threat imperatives and a new diversity of cloud consumption opportunities.

Silverline enables the deployment of security services for every app – regardless of location – without upfront investments in IT infrastructure and support.

The new PoP will provide improved application performance and reduced latency for Silverline Managed Services customers in the Middle East, Africa,

sensitive and confidential data, while also serving as an additional sensor to further enrich Mimecast’s threat intelligence.

“The first half of 2020 has been unlike anything we’ve experienced

before. It’s becoming increasingly clear that better innovation is required to protect against the latest weaponized and unweaponized attacks,” said Peter Bauer, Chief Executive Officer at Mimecast.

“MessageControl is a natural complement to Mimecast’s suite of cyber resilience solutions – from email and web security through brand protection, security awareness training, and data protection. Its artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities will offer additional layers of defense by evolving and ‘learning’ the customer environment and user behaviors over time. We believe this acquisition allows Mimecast to continue to evolve our Email Security 3.0 strategy and provide the best protection for productivity cloud applications like Microsoft 365.”

and adjacent regions. It encompasses F5’s Silverline Web Application Firewall (WAF), Silverline DDoS Protection, Silverline Shape Defense and Silverline Threat Intelligence offerings.

Bahrain is F5’s third Silverline PoP serving the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, with the others located in the UK and Germany. F5 currently operates 12 other Silverline PoPs worldwide.

“The Bahrain PoP significantly enhances our ability to provide high-value managed security services that optimise and secure applications wherever they reside. It is also an acknowledgement of the Middle East’s continued and growing leadership in the cloud computing space,” said Mohammed Abukhater, F5’s RVP for Middle East and Africa.

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COVER STORY

HEALTHY OUTCOMES RAFIK HARIRI UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL DELIVERS OUTSTANDING HEALTHCARE WITH A MODERN DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS AND COLLABORATIONS SYSTEM FROM MITEL.

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ebanon-based Rafik Hariri University Hospital specialises in hospitalisation and medical services by ensuring care in an academic frame. The hospital offers academic training to young doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and dietitians through affiliations with several universities.

Even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the hospital was already on a digital-first trajectory, having deployed upgraded state-ofthe-art data centres featuring latest servers and storage; and had installed advanced PACS Systems. It is also served by a fully automated medical information system and electronic patient health record. The hospital additionally provides remote medical services through telemedicine offerings.

Abbass Bassam, IT Manager, Rafik Hariri University Hospital, said, “The pandemic further pushed us to continue our digital endeavour and implement innovative virtual solutions for the safety of our patients and employees.”

Rising to the challenge The emergence of the pandemic has led to unprecedented challenges across all segments of society. It has been especially demanding for healthcare institutes and providers. In addition to patient care, it poses unique challenges to the clinical clerkship model, where resident doctors attend rounds with an attending physician on a daily basis.

“However,” Bassam said, “with the outbreak of Coronavirus pandemic, it became a safety hazard to have groups of people gathered around in close quarters. As a teaching hospital, we had to urgently find a solution to address this issue so as to not cause disruption to the clerkship learning environment for students.”

Besides this, the hospital was increasingly finding it difficult to stay in touch with staff using its existing

outdated pager systems. Often, the paging devices would break down, or messages would be lost in transit, paving the way for miscommunications and errors, which could prove to be fatal in the healthcare space.

“The creation of a platform for doctors, nurses, and clerks to communicate quickly and efficiently is very important. Every second matter in a life-saving situation,” said Bassam.

As the IT Manager, Bassam and his team decided to double down on their digital efforts and move to an advanced and modern communications system.

Going digital Having already experienced the unparalleled expertise of Mitel in previous projects, Rafik Hariri University Hospital selected the vendor’s mobile-first unified communications and collaboration solution – MiCollab. Designed for today’s fast-paced, mobile workplace, the solution was perfectly in line with what the hospital was looking for, according to Bassam.

By choosing MiCollab, Rafik Hariri enabled its employees to connect, communicate and collaborate across any environment, quickening decisionmaking processes among other benefits.

THE PANDEMIC FURTHER PUSHED US TO CONTINUE OUR DIGITAL ENDEAVOUR AND IMPLEMENT INNOVATIVE VIRTUAL SOLUTIONS FOR THE SAFETY OF OUR PATIENTS AND EMPLOYEES.

RAFIK HARIRI’S DIGITISED INFRASTRUCTURE • Upgraded datacenters with new storage and new servers • Thermal Cameras at the entrance gates of the hospital were installed to measure people temperatures quickly and without any inconveniences • Installed Facial Recognition system to allow employees to check-in and check-out without touching the machines • Reduced the number of physical meetings with the use of online meeting applications • Developed a tracking system to keep track of PCR tests results and a database of tested people • Designed a Passport Reader to make registration faster for PCR tests.

• Deployed Cloud AI system that uses AI to analyse a larger number CTs with fewer physicians

The advanced enterprise communications solution offers a single application for voice, video, messaging, presence, audio conferencing, mobility, and team collaboration. This allows for consistent and seamless conversations across devices and environments.

“While we had greatly progressed in terms of our digital objectives, the COVID-19 pandemic made us further realise the importance of being able to communicate and collaborate effortlessly on digital platforms,” explained Bassam.

Results “Thanks to Mitel’s MiCollab solution, we now have a lot more visibility on the whereabouts of our resident doctors and nurses,” he said.

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COVER STORY

DIGITAL SERVICES FOR PATIENTS • Installed Wi-Fi in patients’ room to make them feel more comfortable and connected • Installed Mobile app for patients to get lab tests results as well as X-Ray reports • Introduced Monitoring room that allows doctors to see everything they need in isolations rooms without going in • Introduced Wireless telemetry for taking vital signs for patients and send data automatically to the main system • Introduced Robots that can deliver food trays or other items into isolation rooms.

• Enabled attending doctors with IPAD on a stand for communication and collaboration

KEY MICOLLAB COLLABORATION FEATURES • Single, unified experience • Connects unified communication with team collaboration • Mobile-first design • Real-time voice and video calling • Audio conferencing with web sharing • Single number reach • Persistent collaborative workspaces • Individual and group chat • Outlook integration • Secure remote working

The MiCollab solution also allowed the attending physician to evaluate and educate resident doctors on a patient’s case remotely through a video conferencing app on the iPad. This way, the hospital was able to restrict the interaction between resident 14

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doctors and patients, ensuring a safe environment.

“We are also in the process of implementing Microsoft’s mixed reality smart glasses HoloLens to enhance this environment further and add more value to the teaching process,” said Bassam.

The hospital also upgraded its telephones to Mitel’s latest digital and IP phones.

“We could now connect with all staff through a mobile app, even if they were outside the hospital premises,” Bassam said. “And what’s more – we also have considerably reduced our telephone invoices by around 70%, which otherwise used to amount to huge figures calling out-stationed residents.”

Rafik Hariri University Hospital has undergone a massive transformation not just with its communication system but its whole IT infrastructure in the past six months. With innovation at the heart of its transformation, Rafik Hariri has always been ahead of the curve in digital solutions within the country.

It was one of the first hospitals in Lebanon to install thermal cameras at its entrance gates to monitor temperatures of anyone entering its premises without any hassle.

“COVID-19 forced us to make decisions very quickly to ensure everyone’s safety,” said Bassam. “We also installed a facial recognition system to allow employees to check-in and checkout without touching any machines.

Previously, we were using a fingerprint system. In light of the pandemic, we had to innovate. We also introduced a separate mobile app that uses Google Maps to help with employee check-in and checkout of the premises.”

The hospital has also introduced a monitoring room that allows doctors to see everything they need in isolation rooms without going in.

The hospital also revolutionised its IT systems keeping patients as a priority.

It upgraded its Wi-Fi to faster speeds in in-patients’ rooms to make sure they are comfortable and connected.

THE MICOLLAB SOLUTION ALSO ALLOWED THE ATTENDING PHYSICIAN TO EVALUATE AND EDUCATE RESIDENT DOCTORS ON A PATIENT’S CASE REMOTELY THROUGH A VIDEO CONFERENCING APP ON THE IPAD. “We also created a smart app, which made it easy and quick for patients to receive their lab, blood work and other results. We introduced wireless telemetry for assessing patients’ vital signs periodically and having the data automatically sent to the main system.

We even have robots to deliver food to patients, limiting human interactions to control the spread of the pandemic.

This is an area which we will continue to work on and enhance.

“All of this is still only a fragment of what we actually achieved in the past few months. We have also deployed a cloud and AI system that uses AI to analyse a larger number of CTs with fewer physicians, where you upload CTs that automatically detect the existence of COVID-19 within two minutes. We have created a tracking system for PCR test results and introduced a passport reader to make registrations faster for COVID-19 patients,” said Bassam.

He also reiterated the importance of staying updated and regularly upgrading to the latest technologies.

With no plans to rest on its laurels, the IT manager said the next item for Rafik Hariri on its digital agenda is to create an application for COVID-19 contact tracing and further develop the potential with Microsoft’s HoloLens.

VIEWPOINT

OUR BRAVE NEW NORMAL CRAIG HAYMAN, CEO OF AVEVA, ON HOW AI AND CLOUD WILL DRIVE SUCCESS IN THE POST-COVID19 WORLD

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n the past two months, we have found ourselves in a brave new world of remote working, digitalled interactions, and increased uncertainty. At AVEVA, it’s our mission to help teams seize the opportunities this environment brings, striving to protect lives and livelihoods for the companies and communities we serve.

As a company specialising in digital transformation, we have pivoted to digital-first working practices for our own team and to support our customers.

But success in a post-COVID-19 world will be about more than connecting your workforce and shifting to IIOTenabled operating models. It will be about thinking differently, both in terms of scale and how we approach business challenges. And here, there are two transformative opportunities which we believe will shape a sustainable future for 16

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the industries we serve, and the world around us. These are: cloud and artificial intelligence, known as AI. How do cloud and AI change the game?

Let’s start with AI. It’s been around for more than 30 years, and it’s becoming broader and more sophisticated.

This is important, because it enables companies to accelerate how they work. With unified smart analytics that span complete data stacks, teams can leverage mathematical thought processes across all their activities.

This gives individuals scale and capacity that they would not otherwise have – knowledge, data-led intelligence, the ability to spot opportunities. It enables people to make better decisions – and to use smart systems to recommend courses of action – that enhance the capabilities of the human workforce.

At AVEVA, we use our broad portfolio

to infuse AI across all aspects of the value chain, making it smarter. We’ve been doing this for 15 years in the maintenance and asset performance space with predictive analytics. Now using the cloud, we can integrate individual products, connecting AI modules together into a broader intelligence.

With integrated systems comes integrated analysis – this enables companies to generate more complex insights and recommendations for their human workforce, meaning teams can manage more complex processes, and execute them quicker. Cloud is the glue and AI the intelligence that underpins better decision-making.

Two examples of how this works in practice: Duke Energy & ENEL Duke Energy uses AI on rotating and non-rotating equipment and achieved

savings of more than $5 million in a single catch – an operational failure that was avoided thanks to artificial intelligence. Now, we’re starting to see AI applied to manufacturing, where AI-infused manufacturing execution system (MES) can enable teams to identify issues not previously visible to the human eye. For example, using fault diagnostics AI can use predictive asset strategies to recommend mitigation actions to keep plants running efficiently.

ENEL is using next-gen predictive maintenance to leverage AI-driven simulation and forecasting, benefitting from a 360-degree view of risk that improves decision-making throughout its operations. Once an issue is identified with predictive maintenance, the team can ask: can we make it to the next planned outage, or do we need to schedule an emergency maintenance shutdown? When is the optimal time to perform maintenance in order to minimise adverse impacts on operations and associated costs?

What is the likely impact of an outage and what prescriptive actions can we pre-emptively take to mitigate it? This is how next-gen technology is transforming energy production, driving efficiency and sustainability throughout an optimised value chain.

In the past, narrow AI was infused into various products. Today, using the cloud, we can scale AI to span a whole portfolio.

This broader AI is the first step towards general artificial intelligence – the ability to make a complex decision using combinations of different types of AI, to learn something and apply it in another situation. This is a continuum, and it’s exciting to see the progress already being made. With the shift to digital business models following COVID-19, we see this trend accelerating, and we’re already working with customers across the globe to make that happen.

How does this affect the human workforce?

A decade ago, AI was a concept that was widely misunderstood and sometimes feared. I’m delighted to see how ever-wider adoption is dispelling

AT AVEVA, WE USE OUR BROAD PORTFOLIO TO INFUSE AI ACROSS ALL ASPECTS OF THE VALUE CHAIN, MAKING IT SMARTER. WE’VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR 15 YEARS IN THE MAINTENANCE AND ASSET PERFORMANCE SPACE WITH PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS. that fear and showing how AI will make workers better at what they do and enhance the human experience.

With an ageing workforce, senior experts are retiring and leaving us with a knowledge gap. Connected content, prescriptive actions and engineering that uses intelligent capabilities is transforming how companies plan,

whether through predictive operations, predictive MES, or smart SCADA. AI can provide the entire knowledge graph that spans engineering, operations and performance. By applying AI knowledge, companies are bridging generational knowledge, accelerating training and teaching people be more expert at what they do, enabling them to work more efficiently and more accurately. This same approach could be applied across other scenarios such as remote working, asset performance management and even value chain optimisation.

This is why McKinsey can so predict that AI will drive 2% growth in manufacturing and energy for the next ten years – around $1 Trillion every year. For our customers, we typically see ROI on AI investments in the $100s of millions, within a very short timescale. This is how AI will be crucial to supporting efficiency, sustainability and the ongoing viability of agile industries, in the post-COVID world. Through more efficient deployment of resources and better decision making, AI is already helping us realise the sustainable industries of the future. I’m invigorated by the fresh growth that AI and cloud together can drive, and how we are working with customers to harness this opportunity in our brave new future.

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AWARDS

CHAMPIONS OF BUSINESS CONTINUITY CXO INSIGHT MIDDLE EAST HOSTED FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND LIVE VIRTUAL BUSINESS CONTINUITY CHAMPIONS CONFERENCE AND AWARDS 2020 LAST MONTH TO CELEBRATE BUSINESS RESILIENCE IN THE REGION.

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ligning to the demands of the new normal, over 200 attendees joined the live event to celebrate the success of companies who have effortlessly transitioned their businesses into remote models and to listen to interesting insights from reputed speakers and panelists.

The live event kicked off with the first speaker for the day – Sebastian Samuel, CIO, AW Rostamani, who shared the lessons learned while leading the firm through the pandemic.

KEY TAKEAWAYS • Remote working will be increasingly preferred going forward. No longer is it a nice to have element but an essential component for business continuity.

• Cybersecurity and business resiliency is of paramount importance in the new normal • Data Management and secure data access is another critical element.

• Technologies CIOs must focus on and invest in are Artificial Intelligence, 5G, 3D printing, applications, drones, Machine Learning, automation and so on.

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He emphasised on the importance of those in leadership roles to show empathy to employees during this time.

“We must put an end to ‘command and control’ way of operating and empower ‘empathy and care’. It is all about collaboration, trust, empathy and passion,” Samuel explained. “We have to build our organisations for resiliency. We cannot stop catastrophes from happening but can have adequate measures in place to face any situation and recover quickly.”

The next speaker Mubarik Hassan, Director of IT, Bloom Holding, shared his thoughts on how to brace for the new normal. He explained the importance of having sound technology implemented within one’s business environment. If organisations do not have platforms enabling digital transformation today, they are not only left behind but also locked out from the business environment.

“Once people have experienced the convenience of remote working and digital solutions, then there is no turning back to the old ways. In addition to helping with energy efficiencies, cost and time savings, remote working also increases productivity as we have seen first hand in our firm,” he said. “While there maybe initial challenges of getting the workforce familiar with new digital online systems, but once they are used

to it and are given proper training, the potential is great.”

Hassan’s talk was followed by a thought-provoking live virtual discussion, where our panelists spoke about how technology will shape the post-pandemic new normal. Moderated by Jeevan Thankappan, Managing Editor, CXO Insight Middle East, the panel included Abdulrehman Tariq, Regional Sales Director, Pulse Secure; Filip Verloy, EMEA Field CTO, Rubrik; Taj El-Khayat, Regional Director, Citrix and Tony Zabaneh, Manager Systems Engineering, Fortinet.

The live virtual event concluded with the Awards ceremony where 14 winners were commended for their exceptional efforts for business continuity initiatives during the last few months.

DR. ESAM AL FALASI, MORO HUB “On behalf of Moro Hub team and management, we thank you for recognising the efforts that were taken during the global pandemic. Business continuity is a critical element for our clients. As we enable them to reach their digital potential, Moro Hub’s mission is to create value for our clients, open new possibilities for them through myriad secured and scalable services in their digital transformation journeys.”

ENG. FAHAD MASHAN AL SOLAIE, MINISTRY OF JUSTICE, SAUDI ARABIA

FATIMA AL MANSOORI, DEPARTMENT OF MUNICIPALITIES AND TRANSPORT, ABU DHABI

“I gift this win to my team. I couldn’t have done it without their efforts and support.”

JAYESH MAGANLAL, MAJID AL FUTTAIM PROPERTIES

The time we are in isn’t business as usual anymore, it’s a time of new ways of working for many people and organizations. Thank you CXO Insight ME for this recognition and to the unsung heroes of technology teams everywhere that deserves the same.

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AWARDS

DR. MOHAMED BAKA, CERT

MUBARIK HUSSAIN, BLOOM HOLDING

“The Business Continuity Champions award embodies our efforts over the course of the pandemic to ensure the continuity of learning and business for our stakeholders by placing their safety first and launching the first online platform to deliver vocational and technical training in the region – Menasati.”

“It is an honour to receive the award, we appreciate CXO Insight Middle East recognising individuals and companies in their efforts to support their businesses in these challenging times and highlighting the importance of technology solutions to enable businesses to operate and continue to grow in the new normal.”

SAJID LOKHANDWALA, AL KHAYYAT INVESTMENTS “AKI and its distribution arm Alphamed experienced unprecedented customer demand during March to June 2020 along with constraints on supply side.

AKI IT team enabled business units to work remotely and fine-tuned their supply chain and delivery systems to accommodate the unique business needs during challenging times. Uninterrupted supply of pharmaceuticals and consumer goods was successfully managed at record volumes.”

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CITRIX TAJ EL-KHAYAT “I would like to thank CXO Insight Middle East for acknowledging the community that has put tremendous effort navigating during the pandemic. At Citrix we take pride of what we accomplished with our customers and partners to ensure their business continuity and enabling their employees to continue to be productive while working remotely. We are grateful for this recognition and endorsement of the value we bring through our cuttingedge technology.”

FORTINET ALAIN PENEL “Fortinet understands how crucial it is to continue operations during a crisis. We’ve been committed to helping our customers secure not only their remote and tele workers but also continue to secure their core IT environments. We continue helping our customers and partners maintain continuity and security in the midst of rapid changes and new risks. It is an honor to be recognized for our efforts in driving business continuity for our customers in the time of global and regional crisis.”

DELL TECHNOLOGIES ISSA FANNOUN “Dell Technologies always adapting to win, this is one of the main reasons of being selected as the vendor of choice by our strategic distributors and channel partners. I am very excited and proud for winning this award, it is a reflection for the great appreciation by our strategic distributors.”

PULSE SECURE ABDUL REHMAN TARIQ “We are very proud of our efforts to provide business continuity during the tough times at COVID-19. Pulse Secure has been at the forefront of providing Secure Access to its customers and ensuring people stay productive. On top of our efforts during COVID, we have now also announced Pulse Zero Trust Access, a cloudbased, multi-tenant secure access service that enables organizations to provide users easy, anywhere access to multi-cloud and data center applications with Zero Trust assurance.”

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AWARDS

RUBRIK MOHAMMED TAMIMI

THALES JOHN DOLEY

“It’s a great honour to be recognized by CXO, especially in the current situation where it’s really difficult to distinguish yourself and show the importance of “business continuity”.

I have always believed in: “Ignoring reality doesn’t make it any less real” and “Not being prepared for something, doesn’t prevent it from happening.”

“We are honoured to have received this and to be recognized at this very moment. We in Thales have always believed in delivering the best and have been very specific and relevant to what the market needs are – especially during COVID, business continuity dominates all discussions and now what matters the most is to keep everything going. We will continue to innovate and deliver the best and look forward to a better future.”

VEEAM NAGHAM HALABY “I would like to thank CXO Insight ME for rising up to the challenge by holding this event! This is a true business continuity model. Also, proud to receive this award, which goes to the whole Veeam team who has worked harder than any other time, making sure to deliver the same level of service and support to our customers and partners, which resulted in tremendous YoY growth.”

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Perfected to your vision.

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FEATURE

RIPE FOR DISRUPTION HOW DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES LIKE CLOUD, AI AND IOT ARE RESHAPING THE FUTURE OF THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY.

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he Covid-19 crisis is forcing healthcare sector to use digital technologies to enable better care, streamline operations and cut costs. Historically, this sector has been a laggard when it comes to digital transformation. Now, the pandemic has served as a catalyst for change, forcing healthcare providers to rethink their IT strategies.

Gartner says the volatility brought in by the coronavirus pandemic is challenging the current operating and business models in the healthcare industry. With effective preparation

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vand response plans, healthcare CIOs and digital health leaders can use this as an opportunity to drive meaningful change.

“In the Middle East, chronic diseases are prevalent due to citizens adopting more sedentary and unhealthy lifestyles. As a result, it has become more important to track disease trends and monitor chronic patients’ adherence to treatment schedules and recovery progress. Technology is constantly evolving across the globe, adapting to current challenges in many industries. The health care industry has not been excluded from

this transformation, with digital technologies contributing to the early detection and prevention of communicable and chronic diseases,” says Alaa Adel, managing director, Cerner Middle East & Africa Manish Ranjan, program manager from IDC, says there is increasing use of emerging technologies within the healthcare industry. Technologies like AI, RPA, analytics, IoT and robotics are helping the healthcare facilities and professionals to provide much more efficient and personalised care.

One of the key trends set to transform the healthcare landscape

Alaa Adel

is telemedicine. Cerner identifies telemedicine as a key capability, both in the context of virtual health and virtual care, empowering organisations to increase access while lowering the cost of delivering health care services across the continuum of care. Using an ecosystem of virtual and remote services and technology, organisations can provide care at a distance, thereby enabling the delivery of quality costeffective care anywhere.

Another major trend that is reshaping healthcare is artificial intelligence, which is being applied in everything from diagnosis to data management.

Fadi Kanafani, general manager and MD, Middle East – NetApp, explains why AI will have a significant impact on healthcare: “It achieves business outcomes in minutes and hours through deep learning which used to require months and years of studies and analytics before. As a result, this allows physicians access to knowledge that has not been available before. It helps scientists and pharmaceutical companies find the best medication needed for certain diseases or outbreaks and perform a surgery with all required relevant historical data to ensure a successful operation.”

Rohit Bhargava, practice head – could and security, Cloud Box Technologies, points out at some other technologies infiltrating the industry.

“Virtual Reality is lending itself to strengthening the delivery of patient

care through education, whether it is about remaining updated on personal health, preparation for medical procedures, etc. At the same time, robotics are making their way into the industry by entering the areas of surgery, pharma, hospital disinfection, and nano technology will be used a lot more for drug delivery to or for more precise medical diagnosis. The healthcare industry is on the brink of some massive changes that will provide far greater healthcare possibilities.”

IoT has also opened up a myriad of opportunities in healthcare, including remote monitoring. “IoT is already well on its way to transforming healthcare.

Personal care devices for detecting blood sugar level, personal EKG on smart watches, connected ultrasounds etc, are becoming more common,” says Yossi Naar, chief visionary officer and cofounder, Cybereason.

Feras Zeidan, regional director from Mitel says from wearables to locating the physical location of heart machines (RTLS), IoT will be used in a minimum of 35 different applications in healthcare. “Previously, budgets were mainly spent on passive and active infrastructure. Budgets are now spent on applications, communications and IoT integration platforms.”

The burden of privacy Healthcare providers amass huge amounts of data that is difficult to use and secure. Data breaches in the healthcare sector can prove to be more costly, where phishing campaigns and targeted cyberattacks have become more common these days.

The recent pandemic, and the dramatic shift to a new normal where remote working has become the de facto standard, has left many organisations exposed and unprepared.

This is particularly true for healthcare organisations where remote working wasn’t as pervasive as say it was in technology companies,” says Marco Rottigni, CTSO, EMEA, Qualys. “As a consequence, these organisations are realising that their existing security measures are often inadequate and

Fadi Kanafani

Rohit Bhargava

lack some fundamental capabilities.”

“While digital healthcare has rapidly evolved, the underpinning networks have not; many still operate a flat trust model. Once you log in, access to vital data and services is relatively unimpeded. This is an ideal environment for cyberattacks to quickly propagate. By stealing a clinician’s digital credentials via email phishing or social engineering, the attacker essentially has free rein.

Attackers are increasingly using AI too, to customise and personalise attacks at speed and scale,” says Ammar Enaya, regional director – Middle East, Turkey and North Africa at Vectra.

Perhaps, what makes cybersecurity a unique challenge for healthcare providers is the fact the biggest threat comes from insiders, not external actors.

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FEATURE

Feras Zeidan

“Healthcare is the only industry where employees are the predominant cause of breaches. Without data leak prevention measures in place, organisations may expose patient data and risk substantial fines. Having data loss prevention software in place to control what data is shared via emails, is therefore an essential component of data protection. Unfortunately, now is not the time to ignore security, even though other IT considerations may seem more pressing,” says Werno Gevers, cybersecurity specialist at Mimecast.

Morey Haber, CTO & CISO, BeyondTrust says healthcare organisations must implement an identity governance program to manage an identities access to sensitive data and a privileged access management program to safeguard the most sensitive accounts. This includes even the removal of administrator accounts in favor of least privileged access.

“Ensure all users are trained on cybersecurity threats including recommended practices for safeguarding credentials and threats like phishing attacks,” he adds.

Shifting priorities How’s Covid-19 impacting hospitals’ IT purchasing decisions?

“The healthcare sector has played a major role during COVID-19, and technology has been a key enabler to maintaining continuity of operations, ongoing patient care, and speeding 26

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Ammar Enaya

AT THE SAME TIME, ROBOTICS ARE MAKING THEIR WAY INTO THE INDUSTRY

BY ENTERING THE AREAS OF SURGERY, PHARMA, HOSPITAL DISINFECTION, AND NANO TECHNOLOGY WILL BE USED A LOT MORE FOR DRUG DELIVERY TO OR FOR MORE PRECISE MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS. diagnosis of diseases. As technology has evolved, the cloud has become more prevalent in healthcare and the need to keep things onprem and inhouse has diminished. Cloud has leveled the playing field and truly democratised IT. What this means in practicality is that smaller hospitals have the opportunity to buy solutions that they previously could not have afforded, because it can be purchased as-a-

Werno Gevers

service,” says Kanafani from NetApp. Adel from Cerner says health organisations may postpone implementations due to the lack of resources to support these plans.

“However, some technologies, particularly telehealth, are crucial for clinicians to stay connected with patients. In addition, these facilities are increasing their spending on technologies that help them deal with COVID-19 pressures with a growing interest in telemedicine capabilities and communication platforms.

Strategic organisations will continue to evaluate what do these new digital tools mean post the pandemic in what they plan to adopt and use, for example, communication tools that will be used with the clinically integrated network.”

The current COVID-19 situation has changed the way every business is tackling the situation, and in line with that, the healthcare sector has also been reviewing their IT expenditure in the short run. “Hospitals, in particular, were forced to invest in enabling their staff to work from home, which involved focusing on connectivity, access to information, etc. This led to a steep increase in cloud services to ensure business agility. However, a greater emphasis was also laid on ensuring that hospital data continued to be treated with the highest levels of security giving rise to cybersecurity technology being implemented,” Bhargawa from CloudBox concludes.

Trusted Intelligence.

Stop account takeover Manage ransomware Avoid fraud losses Identify insider threats Expand your team Prioritize vulnerabilities Protect physical assets Reduce risk

www.cyberknight.tech

VIEWPOINT

AT THE EDGE OF A NEW WORLD

JOE BAGULEY, VP & CTO VMWARE EMEA, ON HOW ORGANISATIONS CAN GAIN AN INTELLIGENT EDGE AND WHY IT MATTERS

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ince the dawn of time, organisations and individuals have sought ways to gain an advantage. It’s why we’ve been in the ‘age of innovation’ for more than 200 years, and speed has often been key to finding that edge.

You can look as far back as the 1830s and the tale of how François and Joseph Blanc found an elaborate, albeit illegal, way to influence how information was transmitted from Paris to the stock exchange in Bordeaux. As bankers trading in government Bonds, they quickly realised they could make money by being one step ahead of their competition as information was passed along the mechanical telegraph system.

As optimistic technologists, we believe we are currently in the golden age of 28

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innovation – an age in which digital technology is transforming the underpinnings of human existence.

During the last few months, and with the various roles technology has played in our collective response to the pandemic, we’ve seen why. Now, with technologies like edge computing and ML/AI, we can look to what’s possible as businesses, governments and even communities plan their next moves in a world that no one was prepared for.

Information + speed What links the above scenarios is the speed of decision-making: the right person having the right information to make decisions, at the right time, and being able to act on this at speed.

And while a whole bunch of technologies

is enabling this – cloud, mobile, networking among many – the use of ML/AI and edge computing in support of application delivery – so getting that information intelligently into the hands of users to effect change – can offer a wealth of possibilities in this new world we are trying to map out. The intelligent computing that ML/AI brings, combined with the movement of compute and data to the location where it is needed (that edge computing delivers), can improve response times and play a role in contact tracing and social distancing efforts to help people live and work, and businesses to operate, as close to normal as is possible.

In healthcare, AI is being embraced in track, trace and test applications to deliver accurate and real-time insights. This type of app can support the appropriate

restrictions for small geographical groups in society where there are COVID infection outbreaks, rather than bringing a whole country to a stand-still. And in surveillance and monitoring, where AI is built into surveillance cameras, labourers could be monitored on building sites to ensure they are wearing face masks or protective clothing when it’s essential they do so – enabling the building industry to be operational, yet safe. Of course, this type of monitoring technology can also be used for more nefarious reasons. In fact, IBM recently said it would no longer be developing general purpose facial recognition technology in a push to control the ethics of emerging technologies. So, we need to specific and considered in our way forward, yet we should move forward and show how these technologies can be a force for good.

Take any transport network – which are vital to getting economies running again – and the reality that micro-managing massive volumes of people will be critical in a socially distanced world. Whether it’s the number of passengers on a train platform, the number of people on a bus, the capacity of the arriving and departing vehicles – all of these situations require split-second decision making to take into account the number of people and the various routes they will all be taking. This is a great use case for these emerging technologies. With this, an AI system combined with sensors could holistically assess demand management and identify pinch points in, effectively, in real-time.

Thanks to the edge positioning, the AIgenerated information could be relayed to staff instantly to implement rapid deployment of updates, re-routing or additional capacity as needed. By moving the application away from a cloud-based data center and to the edge, this can all be done in microseconds, rather than seconds or even minutes – the difference between the system working and not.

Elsewhere, in many countries shops are now open with strict social distancing measures. But managing large shopping malls – and the volume and flow of people – is a difficult proposition. Using multifunctional sensors to track human motion and traffic, applications at the Edge that use AI can help reveal and predict which

locations are most likely to experience high levels of shoppers and relay information to teams who can put counter measures in place. This could be anything from curbing the numbers entering the mall in real-time, to automatically alerting security systems to restrict access when the maximum amount has been reached.

Then think about warehousing.

A recent study among shoppers found a 96% increase in online orders from April 2019 to April 2020 (for comparison – March closed with a 21% YOY increase in order count).

Think about the pressure on the back-end warehousing and distribution, particularly at a time when staffing numbers are down? Even with minimal workers on-site, edge and AI technologies can support the scaling of activity safely – helping distribute workers

most effectively all the while ensuring social distancing and, through predictive maintenance, detecting minor anomalies proactively and redirecting resources before any threat to operations and people becomes real.

An app-centric world What all of these use cases show is that more and more apps are being required by governments and businesses to solve problems that require speed of decisionmaking. This is what this AI and edge, or indeed a combination of the two, can provide. Processing data closer to its source, to radically improve response times, reduce latency and save bandwidth.

For decades, AI lived in data centres, where there was sufficient compute power to perform processor-demanding cognitive tasks. This works fine when immediacy is not paramount – the issue is that more and more applications require instant or near-instant reactions to the information they are delivering.

Moving that front-end informationgathering part of the app to the edge, and then applying AI intelligence at the same point, allows AI systems to use inference (how AI uses observation and background to reach a logical conclusion) for faster decision-making.

However, it is critical that we realise the security risks involved. By processing more data at the edge, an enterprise’s digital footprint expands. This must be secured. The rest of the application resides in a cloud or data centre. In doing so, enterprises can deliver security and compliance, without hampering the overall experience.

Unprecedented, Edge-enabled decision-making As we get closer to capturing and processing data at the point of need, organisations can offer unprecedented levels of genuine innovation – in healthcare, warehousing, rail networks and beyond.

But at each endpoint, there are security risks involved in the data transfer. That’s why edge isn’t going to replace cloud-based apps; it’s going to sit alongside it, as a necessary complement to allow organisations to get the most from their applications and data. In doing so, organisations can ensure that the right data is secure and compliant, without compromising on the experience. Being able to control and manage that in a secure, simplified manner will be key, and having global consistency knits it all together.

Looking at edge as part of a whole means being able to make changes as required, secure applications as appropriate and, with the use of AI, bring the intelligence to make better decisions faster. It is helping organisations to manage disruption by finding a way to sharpen their edges intelligently in this new world.

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FEATURE

RISE OF THE BOTS RPA OFFERS QUICK AND EASY WAY TO PRODUCTIVITY FOR ORGANISATIONS EMBRACING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN THIS AGE OF THE PANDEMIC. HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BUSINESS PROCESS AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGY.

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ovid-19 has accelerated the pace of digital transformation initiatives in the region as companies respond to unprecedented changes in business models and customer behaviour. Automation has reached an inflection point in the wake of the pandemic, and one of the technologies considered as a key component of digital transformation is 30

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robotic process automation (RPA).

The rapid shift to the remote work model has made automation of business processes an imperative, and some predict the RPA market will reach $25 billion by 2025. Apart from pure-play vendors such as UiPath, Automation Anywhere, and Blue Prism, lately, many tech behemoths, including Microsoft and IBM, have ventured into the booming RPA market.

“We believe that the RPA is a key component of the Digital Transformation program within institutions. It provides a bridge between legacy applications to digital channels while allowing the automation of the last mile. By learning to perform repetitive tasks, ranging from simple clicks and copy-paste activities to more complex tasks and workflows such as document understanding or invoicing, network management, customer/

TSME, concurs and says RPA plays an extremely vital role in today’s digital transformation technology toolset.

“The rapidly growing adoption of RPA, an extremely user-friendly business tool, enables businesses to automate their processes and quickly realise benefits – in days and weeks instead of months, hence elevating efficiency and effectiveness levels. In simple words, RPA enables enterprises to apply technology that can be governed by business logic and structured inputs.”

According to Varun Goswami, Global head– New Products COE, Newgen Software, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, organisations have asked their employees to work remotely to optimise costs and have been trying to ensure continued and uninterrupted business operations. In such a scenario, robotic process automation (RPA) plays a vital role in managing repetitive and mundane tasks.

The service industry, for instance, is heavily dependent on humans. It’s time for such organisations to identify the right set of processes and automate them with bots to reduce dependency on manual and paper-based processes, he says.

employee support desk etc, software robots support orsanisations to tackle large amounts of activities,” comments Karan Dixit, Regional Vice President Middle East & Africa for UiPath.

Across industries including legal, finance, insurance, transport, and more, RPA automates high volume, timeconsuming tasks either automating them completely or being a digital assistant to employees greatly improving their speed, accuracy and satisfaction. By being able to relegate those to software robots, the organisation can shift the focus on the front office and enable employees to focus on high-value tasks such as marketing or customer support, thus boosting the level of responsiveness at multiple touchpoints across the value chain, he continues.

Seif Alhawatmah, RPA Director,

ACROSS INDUSTRIES INCLUDING LEGAL, FINANCE, INSURANCE, TRANSPORT, AND MORE, RPA AUTOMATES HIGH VOLUME, TIMECONSUMING TASKS EITHER AUTOMATING THEM COMPLETELY OR BEING A DIGITAL ASSISTANT TO EMPLOYEES GREATLY IMPROVING THEIR SPEED, ACCURACY AND SATISFACTION.

Karan Dixit

Some industry pundits caution that RPA is not a silver bullet solution. “In the race to outpace digital transformation, robotic RPA is often heralded as a quick and easy way to streamline critical processes, often extending the life of legacy systems. While RPA is valuable to furthering the overall path to digital transformation, it is best used as a short-term fix. To eliminate tactical band-aids and costly disruption, organisations need to focus on a longterm intelligent automation strategy,” notes Anas. Abdul-Haiy, Director and Deputy CEO of Proven Consult.

How to avoid RPA pitfalls Statistics suggest that around 30-50% of RPA projects fail, and organisations struggle to realise the desired results.

“RPA is well-known for its ease of adoption. However, that doesn’t mean that deploying automation software doesn’t come with challenges.

Firstly, due to the relative ease of implementation, companies can decide to implement RPA without clarifying at a cross-organisational level how their automation goals fit within the larger company strategy. A successful PoC should not be viewed as a recipe for a successful RPA implementation strategy,” says Dixit.

According to UiPath, one of the possible pitfalls is failing to enable a close business-IT collaboration.

Typically, a company’s business operations team brings to the table

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Anas A. Abdul-Haiy

Manish Ranjan

a complete macro perspective on its long-term goals and the strategy to accomplish them. The IT department, in its turn, provides advance technical knowledge of how the existing IT infrastructure operates, starting with testing and maintenance and including data security oversight as well as overall software deployment support. That is why, a successful RPA implementation must rely on a close collaboration between business and IT, which must both ensure long-term governance for the deployment.

Alhawatmah from TSME warns that unlike other technologies, not all processes are fit to be implemented on RPA. RPA is a tool that basically mimics human actions. Hence it is vital to identify processes that can be automated through RPA as some of 32

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WITH RPA, BUSINESSES CAN AUTOMATE THE MUNDANE TASKS, AI/ML BRING INTELLIGENCE TO THE TASKS, AND, A BPM PLATFORM EXECUTES THE PROCESS END-TOEND IN REAL-TIME WITH STRAIGHT-THROUGH PROCESSING, WITH THE FLEXIBILITY TO INTERVENE OR ROUTE IT FOR EXCEPTIONS, IF ANY. these processes will continue to require the human element. Identifying the right processes from stage one will result in effective implementations and will avoid failed attempts.

Manish Ranjan, Program ManagerSoftware & Cloud, IDC MEA Region, advices organisations to build a comprehensive and scalable automation plan, which is linked with the wider digital transformation and other strategic initiatives. Organisations planning to leverage RPA needs to identify the repetitive, mundane, and time-consuming processes which are likely to benefit from the automation. “Once these use cases are identified that minimise productivity and strain workforce, organisations should indulge in automation process planning with appropriate technology portfolio, start with a few RPA bots in selective departments to measure the ROI and benefits, and then expand RPA deployment across multiple departments and eventually across the entire organisation.”

What’s next?

Hyperautomation is said to be the

next trend in the evolution of RPA. Hyperautomation refers to an effective combination of RPA and AI functions such as Machine Learning (ML) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to automate processes that augment humans. Gartner has named hyperautomation among the top 10 strategic trends for 2020.

“Hyperautomation connects applications, understands data, can make decisions based on logic, and can even help with predictions. This is set of logical processes, managed by software that goes hand in hand with humans,” says Abdul-Haiy from Proven Consult.

Goswami from Newgen says hyperautomation will help bridge the gaps in RPA implementation by enhancing RPA capability along with intelligence. With RPA, businesses can automate the mundane tasks, AI/ML bring intelligence to the tasks, and, a BPM platform executes the process end-to-end in real-time with straightthrough processing, with the flexibility to intervene or route it for exceptions, if any. It also triggers RPA bots for realtime execution of traditionally manual routine steps.

Ranjan from IDC points out that most of the key vendors within the RPA market like UiPath, Automation Anywhere and BluePrism, have integrated AI within their RPA solutions. As deployments of AI and cognitive solutions based on machine learning increase, demand for intelligent solutions capable of selflearning and self-healing will rise from organisations looking to enable true digital transformation.

“Hyperautomation brings together several components of process automation, and integrates technologies and tools that amplify the ability to automate work. Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of them.

Thanks to additional capabilities, such as machine learning (ML), natural language processing (NLP), intelligent optical character recognition (OCR), and AI computer vision, software robots can see and read texts like a human would,” sums up Dixit.

NOMINATE NOW!

SAUDI ARABIA

14 SEPTEMBER 2020

EGYPT

The Middle East is a bubbling cauldron of innovation. The pace of digital transformation in the region is accelerating in the wake of the pandemic with the rapid adoption of digital technologies such as AI, blockchain, and cloud computing. ICT Leaderships Awards 2020, to be held on 14th September, will recognize companies in Saudi Arabia and Egypt whose practice of ICT has led to substantial benefits and weathered business disruption during lockdown.

Chosen by CXO Insight Middle East editors, we are going to turn the spotlight on organisations that are making smart business decisions with emerging technologies.

Nominate yourself today to be part of this awards programme that celebrates business and technology excellence.

VIEWPOINT

WHY YOU NEED GREEN IT PATRICK SMITH, EMEA FIELD CTO, PURE STORAGE, ON A SUSTAINABLE STRATEGY BLUEPRINT FOR MIDDLE EAST INNOVATORS

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reen initiatives are nothing new in the Middle East, where carbon emissions are a constant concern for governments undergoing economic-growth. In 2017, Abu Dhabi Ports introduced a sustainable paper-usage initiative as part of a wider eco-friendly strategy.

In the same year, the UAE’s Ministry of Justice launched a sustainability project as part of Vision 2021. Saudi Arabia is also setting its sights on green issues as part of its own national economic programmes, with paperless courts being front and centre of its justice ministry’s eco-efforts.

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All Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) economies, and many throughout the Middle East, have seen the potential of technology and Industry 4.0 to propel their economies to greater heights.

Innovation and competitiveness are buzz words now across the region — shorthand for a renewed sense of destiny.

Each nation sees itself as a potential world leader, whether economically, technologically or environmentally.

In the GCC region, which produces a fifth of the world’s oil, leaders are faced with green-minded consumers around the world leaning away from petrochemical reliance, while new technologies continue to intensify competition. As a result, much

of the economic activity in the region over the past decade has been inspired by governments’ efforts to diversify their economies.

Energy consumption in a data centre world This eco-friendly mindset now pervades all policy, down to the private sector that relies on cloud computing to reduce the cost of ownership of its technology suite. As more and more data centres are established to serve the digital transformation ambitions of countless industries, energy consumption balloons. These facilities require a great deal of electricity, not only for running

equipment, but also for powering the necessary cooling systems that support 24/7 operations. Organisations that administrate physical machines are also now required to ponder more carefully what happens to them when they are no longer in service.

Some estimates predict that ICT will account for as much as 21 percent of global electricity consumption by 2030 if current trends persist. Enterprises of all scales and industry can do something to curb this escalation. One does not have to have a formal carbon-neutral plan in place to select IT solutions aligned with sustainability. When procurement cycles kick in, keep in mind that, for example, adopting a more efficient storage system would lessen environmental impact.

We regularly see reports of individual companies that equal the energy consumption of tens of thousands of average households. If these companies replaced just one third of their IT infrastructure with more energy-efficient elements, they could see reductions in energy costs of up to 15 percent of their typical data centre bill.

The need for greener solutions Middle East businesses continue to cry out for more local data centres that allow them to move to the cloud without flouting data-residency regulations.

This demand can be seen in the plans of provider giants such as Microsoft, which has already built two data centres

in the UAE and is planning a third in Qatar. Google and Oracle have also intimated their plans for Middle East cloud locations.

Innovation with regard to enterprises’ technology mixes will be vital if regional governments are to realise their ambitions of sustainable smart societies.

The good news is that there is no tradeoff between technological advancement and sustainability. Solutions that reduce carbon-footprint and run more efficiently offer the same, or even better, functionality as those that do not. Greener solutions can also allow the continual scaling up of infrastructure, and allow enterprises enjoying stratospheric growth to tailor their storage facilities to expected data volume as they need it.

Storage vendors have made considerable strides in efficiency in recent years. The arrival of affordable flash technology has shrunk the physical space required to accommodate each terabyte of storage. Now flash has undergone its own evolution, giving way to Quad Level Cell (QLC) technology that further increases data-density capabilities — allowing, in some cases, 150 times the data volume with no increase in physicalspace requirements or carbon footprint, compared to traditional storage like spinning disk. Such architectures can lead to massive reductions in power consumption.

New procurement methodologies Sustainable IT emanates from the integration of such technologies into existing stacks, thereby shielding customers from arduous swap-out projects. IT leaders will not only welcome the sustainability attributes of these solutions. They normally endure the headache of five-year cycles for procurement, where amortised solutions are replaced with new ones that fit updated five-year business plans. These old procurement approaches do not fit regional sustainability ambitions, and they are also not aligned with current market conditions in many industries.

Digital business models mean that competing organisations are continually updating their business approaches as

their analytics engines tell them what customers want in real-time. Five-year strategies are often outdated before they even begin.

When formulating a Green IT strategy, enterprises need to consider three environmental impacts when procuring solutions — the impact of the disposal of IT equipment; the impact of energy consumption in operations; and the fiscal sustainability of the investment. The processor of an electronic device may have a lifetime of only three years, but many other parts, such as chassis, power supplies or cables can live on.

Any carbon-neutral strategy should take this into account. Sustainable IT is all about replacing only that which is out of date. Upgrades to hardware that are granular and continual, lead to a healthier environment, both ecologically and functionally. This is, of course, a radical paradigm shift for IT teams, but has the added advantage of being just what the business-development director ordered, in terms of agility and storage requirements.

Mounting pressure — but good news Environmental responsibility is exactly what the general public has been demanding of companies and governments for several years now. Society has evolved over time, and today it is made up of an everexpanding number of millennials and Generation Z-ers. For the most part these digital natives are more environmentally-focused than their predecessors, and naturally as time moves on they are becoming the customers of IT vendors. They demand green IT solutions all the more fiercely.

Now, at last, we are delivering the technologies and strategies necessary to cater to those demands.

The pressure on IT teams to deliver sustainable IT will only ramp up in the future. The good news for them is that green solutions are reducing in cost every day; no longer requiring organisations to make tough choices or compromises. All that is left is for businesses to take the leap and go green.

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CASE STUDY

EMBRACING THE DIGITAL FUTURE SAYMAAD MANSOOR, HEAD OF IT, SPEED HOUSE GROUP, EXPLAINS HOW THE 46-YEAROLD FIRM INITIATED A DIGITAL JOURNEY THAT RESULTED IN THE COMPLETE OVERHAUL OF ITS EXISTING SYSTEMS AND INFRASTRUCTURE, ONLY TO LEVERAGE UNIMAGINABLE BENEFITS AND NEW AVENUES OF OPPORTUNITIES.

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ight from its inception in 1974 in Ajman, UAE, Speed House Group has been serving the construction industry across the Middle East and North Africa. The company provides turnkey solutions and services in civil, infrastructure and contracting, modular buildings, container conversion, interior fit-outs and furniture, kitchen 36

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and bathroom pods, GRP/GRC, and lubricant trading. Commencing with just 50 employees, the company has grown its workforce to over 1200 today and boasts more than 500 customers across five continents distributed over 27 countries.

Having set up the business almost 50 years ago, the company’s IT infrastructure was running on obsolete systems. This meant vendor support and

updates for various operating systems and technologies were discontinued, resulting in huge security lapses, making the organisation highly susceptible to cybersecurity threats and attacks.

Embarking on a digital journey Understanding the immediate need to make the shift to digital technologies, the company began to recruit experts in the

field. So, when Saymaad Mansoor joined Speed House Group as the Head of IT, last September, he had his work cut out.

Along with his team, Mansoor identified three key pillars where the company had to undergo a complete overhaul in terms of infrastructure. This included collaboration between employees and various departments, accessibility to key information and security of systems and infrastructures.

Mansoor says, “There were many vulnerabilities that needed to be patched.

We had assessed a long list of critical items that needed to be either updated or removed. Additionally, even systems that were not critical but still important had to be changed. The previous operating system, which was running all the company’s data, business, critical applications – everything that was confidential – was no longer supported by the vendor. We were not going to risk losing everything we have because of these outdated systems.

“This led to the decision that we had to overhaul the complete infrastructure,

including that of the data centre, and implement a new one, a mix of on-prem and cloud.”

Over the past ten months, Mansoor and his team went about digitising Speed House Group’s end-to-end business.

The team upgraded the legacy operating systems, computer and network security.

“With an archaic operating system and an outdated antivirus, you cannot upgrade to the latest Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solution. If we were going to sign up with a managed EDR, unless we upgraded, the vendor would not be responsible for any kind of threats or attack within our network. In whichever way we viewed it, an overhaul was the only answer. The decision to embark on a digital transformation journey was based on clear, tangible benefits.”

Ensuring that its whole workforce is communicating securely with both internal and external stakeholders, Speed House has also deployed a robust Email Threat Protection (ETP) solution from a leading vendor. The team worked with several technology leaders to migrate emails and server backups to cloud.

He explains, “If we were going to have a mix of on-prem network and cloud with the latest technologies, we had to upgrade our servers that were supporting legacy operating systems and outdated ERP. We could no longer have a core ERP application running on an aged-old framework from the 1990s. We moved to a next-gen ERP from a prominent provider.”

Overcoming COVID-19 challenges Executing the whole project was especially demanding for Speed House as they were also faced with unprecedented challenges of the ongoing pandemic.

“While we had all the infrastructures and plans in place by February, the software implementation began in mid-March this year. The lockdown measures to control COVID-19 came into effect around the same time, resulting in unexpected issues,” says Mansoor. “We all were forced to work from home. However, we took it as a challenge and an opportunity. Had it not been for the ongoing pandemic, we could not have implemented everything in such a short time.”

According to the IT Head, the most challenging part was the “penetration of technology.”

He says, “We had all these great products and solutions with the best features from leading global vendors. But how do we penetrate all these technologies into employees’ computers, which were

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF CORE FUNCTIONS Speed House Group carried out a complete overhaul of legacy systems and outdated technologies. The core areas included: Upgraded Legacy Operating Systems Vendor – Microsoft Upgraded Computer Security Vendor – FireEye Upgraded Network Security Vendor – Fortinet Secured Email Communication Vendor – FireEye Migrated Server Backups to Cloud Vendor – Veeam Migrated Emails to Cloud Vendor – Microsoft Moved to a Next Gen ERP Vendor – Epicor Replication between on-Prem and Cloud Vendor – Nakivo High Availability & Redundancy Vendors – HP and VMware

no longer available to us. It was extremely challenging to manage and install the whole implementation remotely.

“Additionally, we had to work through a lot of security protocols, we had to make many changes to install everything and then ensure everyone is trained on how to use it. It was even more difficult as we were dealing with a workforce that was barely used to responding to emails.”

Adopting technology was another challenge - making the workforce understand that the move to digital technologies was to help them become

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CASE STUDY

more productive and establish solid business continuity plans. This was not an easy task considering the company, born in the 1970s, relied heavily on traditional methods such as Yellowpages, brochures, personal goodwill for marketing and finding new business.

“People are reluctant to use technology and the first reaction is usually resistance to any change. However, COVID-19 did not give us any other choice and compelled us to embrace technology in its full glory.”

With work from home models now in place, employees had access to confidential corporate data from their homes on their personal devices.

“This was unimaginable just a few months ago,” says Mansoor. “With data security, historically we had to look into Data Loss Prevention (DLP) solutions and ensure USBs are not connected to corporate devices. This was critical to ensure data was not going out or being shared with competitors. However, with remote working models, everything changes.”

Cybersecurity was one of the biggest and most critical elements of Speed House’s digital journey, especially as it was implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He adds, “The approach is to have multiple layers of protection. People and technology together to form the effective line of defence against cyberattacks. Through detailed and extensive virtual trainings across all levels of the workforce during the lockdown period, we have educated our staff why they must comply with security protocols, how to create strong passwords, importance of backing up data and saving information on SharePoint websites rather on personal devices and so on.”

Conducting these trainings virtually was certainly a challenge Mansoor and his team didn’t anticipate in the beginning of the initiative. With over 100 people attending a session on cybersecurity at a time, the team managed to train all employees painstakingly, that too in different languages.

“The IT training programme was delivered in multiple languages to ensure everyone thoroughly understood how to 38

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PEOPLE ARE RELUCTANT TO USE TECHNOLOGY AND THE FIRST REACTION IS USUALLY RESISTANCE TO ANY KIND OF CHANGE. HOWEVER, COVID-19 DID NOT GIVE US ANY OTHER CHOICE AND COMPELLED US TO EMBRACE TECHNOLOGY IN ITS FULL GLORY. function within this new digital premise.

The successful implementation of the allencompassing project was only possible by working relentlessly and extra hours during the lockdown period,” he says.

Reaping in the benefits Ensuing the digital transformation project, the biggest benefit that Speed House witnessed was the growth in customer satisfaction ratio. The company began to use its revamped website and leveraged its newly updated social media platforms to communicate with its customer base, drastically shrinking the turnaround time to convert an enquiry into a quotation.

“Previously, we were only focusing on our biggest spending customers.

However, with the introduction of analytical and data mapping tools integrated into our modern website, now we could see what the figure would have been, had we catered to smaller deals.

It was surprising to learn that what we thought as smaller business accumulated to more than whopping half a million at the end of the each month,” he says.

“With digital technologies in place, we are now able to tap into the complete potential of our growth. Responding to customers in their preferred application, be it, Facebook, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Instagram, email, or the website, helped us to boost the customer satisfaction ratio.”

This has not only opened up newer

demographics and markets but has also resulted in exclusive production and distribution rights for German based LTG Loft’s spectacular, retrofuturistic “coodos” housing units for the organisation as it had expanded its target audience with the use of digital apps and advanced technologies.

Additionally, Speed House also created an option for customers to view the progress of units that were being developed, live on its portal. This meant customers no longer had to make prior appointments and go through security clearances to enter the firm’s factory to review the unit they had purchased. With the live streaming option, the customer is given a secure access through the company’s portal, where he can view the progress and give instant feedback while the prefabricated unit is being modified to the customer’s preferences, saving time and unnecessary disputes.

Mansoor further explains, “Now customers can check in on their purchases at any time they wish. It brings in transparency and builds trust. This helps us with customer retention, business growth and better visibility to profit and loss in terms of quotations and enquiries.”

Paving the future Mansoor says once the ROI on the current implementation increases as the technologies in place propel the firm into the digital era, the next priority will be getting into robotics.

He adds, “We are not a conventional construction company as we offer distributive, modern and technologically advanced construction solutions.. We are already experimenting with IoT and trying to see how it can change the manufacturing lines. Speed House was also among the few who transformed the space with 3D printing. For example, we fabricate a villa in our factories, ship it to the desired location and reassemble it at the customer’s place. These components can be 3D printed as well.

“Further automation, deeper analytics, data warehousing, leveraging Big Data and robotics – this is definitely the next chapter in our digital transformation journey,” concludes Mansoor.

VIEWPOINT

THE FUEL IN CYBERSECURITY ENGINE ANTHONY PERRIDGE, VP OF INTERNATIONAL AT THREATQUOTIENT, ON HOW THREAT INTELLIGENCE CAN ENHANCE SECURITY ORCHESTRATION

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hese days we believe that “it’s not a matter of if, but when and how” we’ll be attacked. So, we’ve expanded our focus from prevention to include detection and response, and organisations are talking about using Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR) tools.

According to Gartner’s Market Guide for Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR) Solutions, by yearend 2022, 30% of organisations with a security team larger than five people will leverage SOAR tools in their security operations, up from less than 5% in 2019.

There are many factors driving demand, chief among them the shortage of skilled cybersecurity talent which is compelling most organisations to look for ways to automate routine, repeatable tasks.

Orchestration tools, specifically playbooks, are good for automating processes that we know we always perform the same way. The system responds reflexively, thus reducing the need for humans in this capacity.

Playbooks help Incident Response (IR) teams accelerate response and mitigate risk, while freeing up expert resources to focus on higher value tasks which also helps with employee retention.

An organisation’s Threat Intelligence practice has a different role – gathering external and internal threat and event data, normalising it for analysis, and automatically scoring and prioritising it based on organisation-specific parameters. With a platform that serves as a central repository and organisational memory, teams and tools have access to the organisation’s history of investigations, observations and learnings about adversaries and

their tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs). Adding new data and learnings over time, the platform automatically reevaluates and reprioritises intelligence to support ongoing detection, investigation and response.

Both orchestration tools and a threat intelligence platform serve the same highlevel goal: Optimise people’s time so they can focus on areas where their intelligence, experience and skills are needed, and don’t waste time on things that can be easily automated. What makes these tools even stronger is when they work together.

The fact is, there is more we can do to optimise playbooks so that they save exponentially more time. When driven by threat intelligence, an orchestration tool can recognise connections and patterns, and adjust playbook runs to maximise efficiency. And when a threat intelligence platform brings in learnings from the IR practice, it can augment and enrich threat intelligence with greater context to further accelerate detection and response.

Using a phishing campaign as an example, let’s say that the organisation has been targeted with 100 emails. The playbook flags something unknown, forwards it to a tool for inspection which confirms it is suspicious, then sends it to a sandbox that validates it is malware. The file is then added to the reputation block list. When the next suspicious email comes in, the playbook repeats the same process.

Over time the reputation list gets longer and longer, and system performance gets slower and slower responding repeatedly to the same requests.

But if the orchestration tool works in concert with the threat intelligence solution, then the full playbook does not need to be executed each time. The

threat intelligence platform remembers activity from the same malware family and campaign and recognises that it is an immediate and actual threat to the organisation and scores it accordingly at a 9 or 10. The playbook can be written to adjust processes based on scoring so, for example, a score of 7-10 may trigger automatic blocking. A score of 3 to 7 may send the file directly to the sandbox.

Anything lower initiates the full playbook.

The ability for playbooks to dynamically adjust based on scoring increases the efficiency of tools and teams.

Another aspect that improves when orchestration and threat intelligence work together, is reputation list management.

It isn’t the job of the orchestration tool to curate the reputation list which can become unwieldy very quickly. However, a threat intelligence platform tracks and stores threat and event data from all sources and groups and remembers what it has seen, which allows it to understand the lifecycle of the threat and when to cull the reputation list. Because information that is no longer relevant is removed, new information can be added without the risk of overloading the reputation list.

The orchestration tool is about working the reflex, while the threat intelligence practice is about working the memory.

Although their approaches are different, orchestration tools and threat intelligence platforms share the same goal: to accelerate detection, response and risk mitigation. And when they work together, they save teams more time and deliver even better results.

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VIEWPOINT

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN ACTION AI IS BEING USED FOR DISCOVERY AND DEVELOPMENT OF DRUGS, ACCESSIBILITY, PERSONALISED EDUCATION, AND FOR CREATING A MORE EFFICIENT AND RESILIENT HEALTH SERVICE, SAYS THIERRY NICAULT, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA, AND CENTRAL EUROPE, SALESFORCE.

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I is being used for discovery and development of drugs, accessibility, personalised education, and for creating a more efficient and resilient health service, says Thierry Nicault, Executive Vice President, Middle East, Africa, and Central Europe, Salesforce.

Today, Artificial Intelligence (AI) still feels pretty new, yet in the years ahead, like electricity, it will become part of the fabric of everyday life in the Middle East. It’s already changing our lives for the better, and in many ways you might not expect. If you have a computer, smartphone, or other smart device, you’re using AI. It’s reminding us to follow up on emails, helping us make reservations at restaurants, and making shopping easier on the go.

As the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic has evolved over recent months, the application of AI technologies is proving essential in transforming how we live our lives, do business, and how we tackle the virus head-on. At Salesforce, we have always believed in the power to use AI for good, and that encouragement for innovators to develop this new technology must be matched with citizens’ confidence in how it is applied.

We’re used to embedding AI functionality directly into apps used by businesses everyday, saving them time and money, and helping them make smarter decisions. With voice technology, in particular, Salesforce’s development of “two-way bots” means that AI systems of the future won’t just learn the knowledge we teach them, they will also gain the capability to analyse a user’s sentiment and engage in full conversations.

We envision a world in which AI will be democratized for everyone in society, a natural part of human interaction. By baking trust into every step of the AI journey we can ensure it’s safe, inclusive for all, and works for us instead of against us. At Salesforce we’re already doing this, employing

AI architects committed to ensuring that our AI products are designed with ethics at their core. Simply put, we see the future of AI as conversational, evolving with purpose and nurtured by values.

Here are three ways that AI is being used for good – to tackle the spread of the coronavirus and better protect communities now and long into the future.

1. Speeding up discovery and development of drugs Drug discovery for rare diseases, a traditionally slow process, has proved much easier, faster and likelier to succeed with the assistance of AI systems. Beyond helping us to understand the coronavirus, how it can be managed and its effects can be contained, algorithms and machine learning are speeding up the development of the design and re-purposing of drugs as well as the planning of clinical trials.

As medical researchers seek a treatment for the coronavirus, AI systems are being applied to study mounting literature relating to the virus to highlight commonalities and differences and spot things scientists may have missed, consider the suitability of drugs, and propose a list of drug candidates for clinical trials.

What’s more, it’s estimated that using AI to generate new medicines cuts the early-stage drug development cost by nearly a third.

2. Making technology accessible to everyone, and keeping us connected AI, developed and applied correctly, can be a great equaliser. Easy-to-use and easy-to-understand voice-enabled platforms are helping to ease daily interactions with technology during this pandemic, particularly for older people and for those who are not techsavvy, or literate. The device is always there, ready to listen and answer questions. Language translation capabilities also allow AI technologies

to translate audio into different languages, and into text, helping those who are deaf or experiencing hearing loss.

AI is not only helping companies to stay connected with customers during the public health crisis, it’s also ensuring their safety. As the need for AIpowered contact center messaging has risen, for instance, AI agents are helping businesses to solve customer problems while facilitating ‘social distancing’ among their workforce. Businesses are also using Salesforce’s Einstein Voice technology to make everyday business transactions, like logging meeting notes or updating data in CRM systems, as seamless as possible.

Last year, only months before the onset of the global health crisis, research from Salesforce showed that already 75% of business buyers considered emerging technologies such as chatbots and voice assistants are changing their expectations of companies. In future, we can expect voice technology to be an integral part of apps that companies offer, making it easier for customers of all backgrounds to use in any situation, re-framing the way we engage with technology.

3. Creating a more efficient and resilient health service Health providers are also utilizing AI systems to help predict demand for intensive care beds and ventilators – something which has the potential to revolutionize how our health systems operate today and long into the future.

Using machine learning, during the pandemic a number of hospitals in England’s National Health Service (NHS) have trialled a new predictive system which will provide statistics, forecasts and simulation environments to the health provider, helping the service to more effectively plan the deployment of resources and whether to share to capacity with neighboring hospitals.

Beyond coronavirus-related cases, AI solutions are helping hospitals to

streamline decisions around how they assign beds to patients and which patients are ready to leave hospital and who should stay. Where previously medical professionals had to rely on tedious tasks such as phone calls and paper lists, and managers had to guess days in advance whether to discharge patients, AI is helping health provides to score patterns on patients’ individual vital signs. Checking blood pressure and heart rate, for instance, health professional make be able to make smarter decisions faster whilst reducing risks.

How we use AI for good Each of these examples shows how AI is being used for good as we work to tackle the coronavirus and its impact on communities. They also show how crucially important it is that technology evolves with purpose, is provided – effectively trained – with correct data, and is nurtured with values.

As health providers increasingly come to rely on AI systems during this pandemic and into the future, and governments across the globe consider ways to mitigate the risks of new technologies, it’s imperative that the Middle East’s public sector and businesses work together to ensure a values-driven approach to the design and use of AI.

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VIEWPOINT

AGENTS OF TRANSFORMATION DAVID NOËL, VICE PRESIDENT MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA & RUSSIA/CIS AT APPDYNAMICS, ON LEADING THE POST COVID-19 DIGITAL REVOLUTION

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OVID-19 has forever changed the way we work. Remote working — aided by the accelerated adoption of collaboration tools and video conferencing technology — will surely be the norm, rather than the exception, going forward. In fact, according to a recent survey from Robert Half, 80 percent of UAE employees said they would prefer to work from home, post COVID-19, citing savings in time and money, and productivity gains.

But beyond its lasting impact on how we work, the pandemic has challenged businesses to redefine how they deliver 42

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services and products — and ultimately value — to their customers. According to a recent McKinsey study, more than 90 percent of executives expect the fallout from COVID-19 to fundamentally change the way they do business over the next five years, with almost as many asserting that the crisis will have a lasting impact on their customers’ needs.

Organisations have transitioned vast sections of their business online, redefining their operations and strategies to meet new customer demands. Maintaining this dramatic transformation will be critical and ‘Agents of Transformation’ —

technologists who possess the skills, ambition and vision required to drive innovation — will be the difference between success and failure for their organisations in the post-COVID world.

Pandemic shines spotlight on digital transformation and digital customer experiences With the pivot to digital channels in the so-called ‘new normal’, businesses in the UAE have had to rethink their technology investments. This is in line with findings from a recent AppDynamics’ study, The Agents of Transformation Report 2020: COVID-19 Special Edition’, in which 99 percent of

decisions in real-time, and connect application and digital performance to key business outcomes — application performance monitoring (APM) has become absolutely critical.

Without access to APM tools and the visibility and insight they provide, organisations should be concerned about the future success of transformation projects. Certainly, some technologists are nervous that future-proofing is taking a back seat.

86 percent of technologists in UAE express concern about the longerterm impact of digital transformation

UAE technologists reported that their organisation’s technology priorities changed during the pandemic.

Furthermore, change has happened at speed and without warning. 86 percent of technologists reported that digital transformation projects which would typically take more than a year to be approved, have been signed off in a matter of weeks. And 78 percent pointed to digital transformation projects that have been implemented within weeks rather than the months or years it would have taken before the pandemic.

At the heart of these digital transformation initiatives, is a focus on driving improved digital experiences for customers. 92 percent of UAE technologists stated that digital customer experience is now the priority for their organisation. But 88 percent feel held back from delivering the optimal customer experience because of a lack of visibility and insight into the performance of their technology stack.

Managing spikes in website traffic (88 percent) and managing mean time to resolution (MTTR) with a remote IT department (83 percent) were also cited as challenges in delivering seamless customer experiences during the pandemic.

Against this backdrop, technologists must find ways to ensure they have access to the tools and accurate data they need to make informed, strategic

MANAGING SPIKES IN WEBSITE TRAFFIC (88 PERCENT) AND MANAGING MEAN TIME TO RESOLUTION (MTTR) WITH A REMOTE IT DEPARTMENT (83 PERCENT) WERE ALSO CITED AS CHALLENGES IN DELIVERING SEAMLESS CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES DURING THE PANDEMIC. initiatives they have had to implement during COVID-19. Overall, 91 percent of technologists state that the pandemic is a wake-up call to their organisations to focus on digital business and longer term resilience.

Agents of Transformation rising to the challenge It’s clear that technologists are having to deal with a myriad of demands from the business. They are having to accelerate digital transformation projects and mobilise huge sections

of the workforce to operate from home, while at the same time needing to manage the network and maintain security throughout the technology stack. Not surprisingly, technologists are feeling the pressure with 72 percent of UAE IT professionals surveyed in the Agents of Transformation 2020 Report claiming they feel under more pressure at work more than ever before and 66 percent saying they are now being asked to perform tasks and activities they have never done before.

But rather than shrink in the face of these challenges, many IT professionals see this as an opportunity to stepup and raise their profile within their organisation.

Perhaps the major differentiator for success at this time is the quality, attitude and outlook of the technologists themselves. In the Agents of Transformation 2020 report, 88 percent of respondents from UAE saw an opportunity for technology professionals to show their value to the business. A further 81 percent believe the pandemic will separate the strong from the weak in tech teams across the world. We’re seeing a new breed of technologists, primed to deliver transformation and business impact.

Technologists are seizing the opportunity to accelerate their career journey and assume the role of Agents of Transformation immediately.

89 percent say that Agents of Transformation are critical in order for businesses to recover quickly from the COVID-19 pandemic, and there is an urgent need for technologists to operate at the highest level of their profession.

Leaving a lasting legacy of innovation Armed with the data and insight they need to make smarter decisions, the right internal structures and culture, and close support from strategic technology partners, technologists can guide their organisations through the COVID-19 crisis. Furthermore, there is no doubt that the changes they implement in their organisations will have a lasting and positive impact.

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VIEWPOINT

THE IMPORTANCE OF MOBILE SECURITY ALL ENDPOINTS ARE EQUAL, BUT ARE MOBILE ENDPOINTS BEING TREATED THE SAME WAY WITH SECURITY? ASKS BAHAA HUDAIRI, REGIONAL SALES DIRECTOR META, LOOKOUT.

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pple’s iOS and Google’s Android smartphone operating systems and mobile application development have revolutionised the way we work today. It has allowed us to operate on the go, be available anywhere in the world, in any time zone, while offering all manners of convenience and practicality.

In fact, by 2022, the global mobile workforce is expected to increase from 1.45 billion to 1.87 billion. Tasks that were traditionally conducted from a desktop can now be done with the swipe of a finger, including checking 44

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work emails, downloading documents, accessing files remotely and even hosting conference calls.

This technological shift has meant that almost all mobile workers have a smartphone. The fact is that mobile tariff subscriptions account for 97% of Europe’s population. Organisations are seeing increased levels in productivity as a result of this upward mobility and flexible working, which in turn drive corporate mobile management strategies that adopt a BYOD (bring your own device) model. Ultimately, in many organisations, employees are encouraged to use their personal

mobiles, tablets or notebooks to access corporate systems and data, and that flexibility is seen by many as a benefit.

Unfortunately, these developments are creating an expanding attack surface, which is leaving enterprise data and services vulnerable.

Traditional endpoints and security History dictates that protecting traditional, large form factor endpoints running Windows and Mac OS has been a priority for enterprises. Network perimeter solutions like firewalls or endpoint security products like AV have been employed to mitigate

against malware, and provide email security which help reduce cyber attacks. The modern-day cybercriminal is highly advanced, organised, often well funded, and technically astute.

Although effective in maintaining and increasing employee productivity, mobile devices are usually connected outside traditional firewalls, and typically lack endpoint security solutions. That is of course recognised by cyber and security operations teams as a considerable concern as these devices have the same level of access to the company networks, systems and data as other endpoints.

There appears to be an underlying lack of understanding of the key threats challenging the security of the two main mobile operating system platforms we use, and/or a lack of awareness of the threats facing mobile devices. Without visibility into the risks facing smartphone users, the situation for enterprises is troublesome. There is a misconception that smartphones today are immune to malware, but due to the low rate of dedicated security software on mobile devices organisations simply aren’t aware of the spectrum of risks out there today. It is key to understand there are several new attack vectors that expose vulnerabilities that the malicious actor is keen to exploit, and if not addressed, leave both the user and the enterprise open to threats.

Major mobile threats Smartphones have opened a profitable new window of opportunity for cybercriminals who are eager to exploit these pocket-sized super computers.

The manufacturers do their utmost to keep software updated and patched, but this only prevents exploitation from known threats. The reality being that on-device security does not remediate against new threats. For instance, hackers have been known to target the firmware and operating systems of mobile phones by bypassing the Mobile Device Management (MDM) software to obtain full control over the device. The Pegasus spyware is the most relevant example of a highly sophisticated and targeted, high-impact threat for both iOS and Android devices.

Attack methods vary on mobile but generally follow the same ‘mobile kill chain Firstly hackers socially engineer the user, with the most common being malicious URLs either embedded into web pages and emails or more predominantly phishing links sent via SMS and popular social messaging apps. While traditional email-based attacks still remains a problem, the proliferation of social media means hackers are now targeting instant messaging applications. The small form factor of a smartphone means it is more difficult to detect the usual tell-tell signs of a dubious link. In some cases, to maximise the viewing space on the screen, the address bar is completely hidden from the users’ view. This makes it extremely difficult for individuals to ascertain the legitimacy of links/URLs. It is unsurprising then to learn that users are three times more likely to click on a malicious URL on a mobile device.

Mobile design modifications which were intended to improve user experience, have inadvertently exposed individuals by giving hackers the cover to deploy phishing campaigns, resulting in a marked increase in the proliferation of surveillance and spyware, ransomware and stolen credentials.

While mobile phishing is largely

prevalent, enterprises are vigilant to the other risks facing users. The spectrum of mobile risks has expanded, and where network threats were once an issue resolved by having firewalls in place, smartphones give hackers more avenues to exploit weaknesses.

Due to the high number of networks a mobile device encounters in a single day, attackers can exploit insecure or vulnerable networks that could lead to enterprise data being stolen through “man-in-the-middle” attacks and by attaching to rogue Wi-Fi networks.

Organisations should be wary of the applications being downloaded or installed from App stores, as these present a significant challenge. For instance, it is more common to find mobile apps with malware than it is on PC applications. Critical vulnerabilities have been discovered within apps that could allow adversaries to compromise, not only the information a user views in an app, such as business emails and login details, but also a victim’s cloud service account and all of the information tied to that account.

Dedicated mobile security is a necessity Mobile threat defence is climbing up the risk register and will become integral to organisations cybersecurity strategies. The key to success is for organisations to adopt a ZeroTrust approach towards all devices.

This will label the mobile device as untrustworthy with access only granted once the acceptable level of risk has been mitigated and the within expected security parameters.

Implementing network checks, sophisticated jailbreak and root detection prior to authentication into services, and phishing and content protection to act as a defence layer is an excellent starting point. Validating apps and websites, alerting users as to whether a link or app is safe, frequent device health checks, vulnerability assessments and constant auditing are needed and must expand to cover all endpoints.

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SHIELDS UP

PREM RODRIGUES, DIRECTOR FOR THE MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA & INDIA/SAARC AT SIEMON, EXPLAINS WHY SHIELDED CABLING IS SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER SUITED TO SUPPORT MODERN HEALTHCARE ENVIRONMENTS

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he tremendous advancements in networking and IPbased technologies combined with initiatives to promote the secure sharing of digital health records between providers have naturally resulted in the migration of most datagenerating operations and devices in hospital, medical, and outpatient care facilities onto the IT network. Devices can now communicate and share data, making data management and communication between the medical 46

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staff and patients easier, faster, and more reliable.

Take digital imaging technology for example. X-rays and ultrasounds continue to produce data-heavy 3D and 4D images that are transmitted, stored, accessed, and shared between medical staff anywhere on a connected network. The same applies to tablets and Computers on Wheels that operate through a wireless network and enable access to medical records throughout the healthcare facility. Video conferencing technology uses the IT

network for real-time and face-toface information exchange for patient consultations, and entertainment systems enable Wi-Fi and TV right at the patient’s bed.

These advancements place demand on the technical infrastructure and a well-designed structured cabling deployment is key to supporting highbandwidth applications (e.g., Wi-Fi and imaging) and end devices powered

by PoE (e.g., cameras and lighting), as well as ensuring plug-and-play interoperability between networked equipment in healthcare facilities.

Not only do shielded cabling systems enable advanced network performance due to superior crosstalk and external noise immunity provided by the shield, but they also address interference concerns. In some healthcare environments, cabling might be exposed to high magnetic fields from diagnostic and radiology equipment that can have detrimental effects on the transmission of electronic healthcare information over the network. Here, shielded cabling offers superior EMI/RFI immunity.

Not surprisingly, many areas of a healthcare facility, including laboratories and operating theatres, are considered harsh environments due to wash downs and chemicals. Here, plugs and outlets need extra protection, such as industrial form-factors with chemical-resistant thermoplastic housings and IP66/IP67rated seals that protect plug and outlet contacts from dust, moisture, vibration, and chemicals.

The need for high performance It is recommended to install a minimum of 10Gb/s Ethernet-ready category 6A shielded cabling to support the IT needs of all healthcare environments.

CT scans and PET scans can easily produce files of 10 or 40 gigabytes in size and require a high-performance cabling network to be moved quickly and accurately without incurring high latency (i.e., “slow time”) due to bandwidth saturation.

Considering the increased deployment of wireless devices in healthcare facilities, cabling and equipment connections must be ready to support the required WiFi uplink capacity. This is particularly true for the new wave of wireless technology known as Wi-Fi 6 (IEEE 802.11ax), which has greater than 5 Gb/s “real-world” data rate capability. To support Wi-Fi 6, as well as provide a path to emerging Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 technologies, two- category 6A/class EA or higher rated cabling links are recommended at each wireless uplink connection point.

Cabling design considerations While designing new IT cabling infrastructure, it is important to carefully consider the implications of the grade of network cabling specified. For example, cabling systems supporting less than 10Gb/scapability can become bottlenecks when retrofits and upgrades are required later down the line. Network cabling remains the most difficult and disruptive component of the network infrastructure to upgrade or replace. Further, given the round-the-clock operation in hospitals, cabling moves, adds, and changes (MACS) can have a serious impact on uptime and maintenance of critical hospital protocols such as infectious disease containment.

Shielded category 6A and fully-shielded category 7A/class FA cabling systems provide a lifecycle of 10 to 15 years or more and will support multiple generations of WiFi and active equipment upgrades.

Shielded category 6A and category 7A/ class FA cabling systems provide much higher performance, offer a longer usable lifetime, and provide a much greater return on investment than lower-performing balanced twisted-pair cabling options.

Looking at cabling topology, implementing zone cabling (the

deployment of outlets in zone enclosures logically positioned throughout a floor or overhead space) allows easy access to spare ports located in the work area or ceiling so that changes to existing equipment or the addition of new devices is minimally disruptive. Field-terminated plugs enable quick and reliable customlength connections to equipment outlets and outlets housed in zone enclosures as well as, in special cases, when it’s necessary to terminate a horizontal cable directly to a plug connected to a device.

A helping hand With a number of considerations specific to medical environments, selecting the right cabling can be an overwhelming task, but luckily there are standards and guidelines in place to help. Both TIA and BICSI have updated their healthcare standards to address the changing needs of this environment and network designers are advised to refer to ANSI/ TIA-1179-A (2017), Healthcare Facility Telecommunications Infrastructure Standard and ANSI-BICSI -004-2018, Information Communication Technology Systems Design and Implementation Best Practices for Healthcare Institutions and Facilities. The TIA standard provides a guidance on cabling, distances, pathways and spaces, whereas BICSI offers design guidelines on healthcare system topologies and installation.

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PRODUCTS

Western Digital extends enterprise HDD capacity Western Digital is extending its HDD technology and capacity leadership into its broader portfolio of data center solutions. Leveraging innovations from the Ultrastar 18TB and 20TB HDD technology platform, the WD Gold

family now features new 16TB and 18TB CMR HDD capacities. Also available are an upgraded line of Ultrastar JBOD platforms and an Ultrastar hybrid storage server featuring Ultrastar 16TB and 18TB CMR HDDs. Through Western Digital’s

vertical integration capabilities and broad portfolio, the company continues to be uniquely positioned to help customers meet data demands as they design their storage infrastructures for better efficiency and productivity.

Zebra Computers introduces rugged mobile computers

CANON EOS R5 AND R6 Canon has launched EOS R5 and EOS R6, two advanced full frame mirrorless camera additions to the EOS R System built on the future-proof RF Mount. The pro-level EOS R5 delivers 45 megapixel stills at up to 20fps and is the first full frame mirrorless ever to record 8K RAW up to 29.97fps internally and 4K to 120p. EOS R6 is perfect for enthusiasts and professionals moving to mirrorless and looking for greater capabilities, capturing 20.1 megapixel stills at 20fps, stunning 4K video up to 60p and Full HD at up to 120p. Nothing comes close to the speed and resolution of EOS R5 and EOS R6.

EOS R5 and EOS R6 can shoot up to 20fps with the electronic shutter in complete silence with full auto exposure (AE) and auto focus (AF) tracking. Users can be confident capturing action, both stills and video, in exceptional quality in any location without disturbing subjects. The mechanical and electronic first curtain shutter also delivers high-speed continuous shooting up to 12fps.

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Zebra Technologies has launched enterprise-class mobile computers running on the Android 10 operating system (OS) the TC21/TC26, TC52x/TC57x and MC3300x. With integrated scanning and unique software capabilities enabled by Mobility DNA, the five new devices are designed for retail, transportation and logistics (T&L), field mobility and warehouse environments to improve front-line worker productivity and effectiveness.

Zebra’s TC21/TC26 mobile computers provide the right durability, business features and enterprise-class accessories to boost productivity at an attractive price point. With the industry’s most comprehensive, powerful set of software tools, these devices are designed for small- and mid-sized businesses (SMB), retailers and field service providers. Companies can also easily reuse their existing Android applications on these devices along with Zebra tablets and vehicle-mounted solutions thanks to a common architecture platform.

Nexans debuts iGigaSwitch 10xx family Nexans Data Network Solutions EMEA has announced the availability of Nexans iGigaSwitch 10xx family that can power end devices with the latest PoE++ standard. The switch has up to 10 x 1 Gigabit Ethernet copper and fibre-optic ports in different combinations.

With Power over Ethernet, it is possible to transmit data as well as power via an eightwire network cable. There are plenty of environments where PoE, PoE+ or PoE++ technologies are used to power connected devices: public facilities and cities, highways and tunnels, airports and railways, campuses and many others.

Typical applications are wireless LAN access points, IP cameras and Voice over IP phones.

Aruba delivers Wi-Fi for small businesses Aruba has introduced a new Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 ax) Access Point (AP) designed specifically with the needs of smaller organisations in mind.

The new Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 Aruba Instant On AP22 access point delivers the blazing fast Wi-Fi speeds, reduced latency and advanced security capabilities characteristic of Wi-Fi 6, all with the reliability and ease of deployment and management that organisations have come to expect from Aruba. With the new Instant On AP22 access points, smaller businesses and organisations now have access to simple, secure and smart connectivity solutions that enable SMBs to support enhanced user experiences, without the cost or complexity.

Delivering four times the capacity of 802.11ac access points, the AP22 provides an exceptional user experience no matter the environment, whether it be remote offices, hybrid classrooms, or reimagined retail and hospitality. For those organisations that have had to realign or shift their modes of working in response to the current business climate – from mostly in-person customer interactions to onlineonly or having all staff on-site to many working from home, for example – this additional capacity provides an added safety net to ensure that operations continue to run smoothly.

Belkin Hi-Fi Smart Speaker Belkin has announced the availability of its audio product, the first-of-its-kind SOUNDFORM ELITE Hi-Fi Smart Speaker + Wireless Charger in the Middle East.

The SOUNDFORM ELITE speaker, developed in a partnership between Belkin and high-end audio brand Devialet, is sure to excite the technophile, and is just the beginning of a larger audio portfolio for Belkin, while still maintaining the brand’s global leadership in fast wireless charging. Devialet brings best-in-class technologies and industry-leading expertise across acoustic architecture, loudspeakers and signal processing, over 160 patents, and a premium consumer brand.

The SOUNDFORM ELITE speaker combines premium, highfidelity sound (up to 90dB SPL of max volume), fast wireless charging and integration with a voice assistant. Users can charge their phone, play music, get answers and connect multiple voice assistant-enabled speakers for an immersive multiroom experience. They can also control their smart home with exceptionally powerful and clear sound quality.

Lenovo launches ThinkStation P620 The ThinkStation P620, offers power and performance, as well as the configurability to meet each customer’s unique needs in a way that wasn’t possible until now. By leveraging AMD’s Ryzen Threadripper PRO Processor, Lenovo is delivering the only 64 core workstation platform – a new industry standard. Threadripper PRO processors also offer clock speeds up to 4.0GHz, 128 lanes of PCIe 4.0 bandwidth and 8-channel memory support. In addition to speed and flexibility, Lenovo customers now have unmatched core counts for multi-threaded workloads in a single socket platform – rivaling competing dual socket solutions.

Prior to today, traditionally the max core count that a singleCPU system could handle was 18 cores, while the highest a dualprocessor system could support was 56. The ThinkStation P620 unlocks a new era of what can be accomplished with a single CPU workstation. Now users can achieve seamless 8K streaming in real-time, reduced render times, ultra-fast simulation solving, quick assembly rebuilds and smooth interactivity with 3D assets all without having to scale to a dual socket system.

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HOW IT MANAGED SERVICES EMPOWER BUSINESSES DURING UNCERTAIN TIMES SUNIL PAUL, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF FINESSE, ON WHY MORE AND MORE CUSTOMERS ARE COUNTING ON MANAGED SERVICES PROVIDERS TO ENABLE THEM TO TRANSITION THEIR WORKLOADS TO DIGITAL ENVIRONMENTS SECURELY DURING THESE DIFFICULT TIMES.

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he on-going pandemic has compelled organisations across the globe to implement remote work models and redefine the business landscape as we know it. At the same time, it has also highlighted that IT managed services have become an essential component more than ever during these uncertain times.

Customers are looking to their managed services providers (MSPs) to be their trusted advisors to help them navigate and address IT complexities during the COVID-19 crisis. It is difficult to imagine how companies would have moved their entire workforce to complete digital environments without the support of MSPs, and IT managed services.

Organisations were forced to accelerate their digital strategies overnight and figure out how to action work-from-home policies.

Transitioning to remote work models meant that it was essential to have cloud-based apps and platforms for all departments. A secure VPN Internet access to connect personal devices to corporate networks safely became an immediate need. Employees, too, had to get accustomed to the new normal and ensure they were equipped with video communication tools and other hardware for hassle-free remote working. To achieve this at the scale and speed required, and overcome obstacles, companies had to rely

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on MSPs for customised turnkey solutions.

MSPs help innovate, customise solutions, and effortlessly solve the challenges presented by the rapid transition to new working models. By trusting their IT services to experts like Finesse, customers could use their time to focus on business profitability.

Whether it is to handle a specific project such as cloud migration and automation, or even complete IT requirements, by outsourcing IT support and maintenance to third-party firms, organisations can enhance operational efficiencies and focus on their core business objectives. It allows for cost savings and improved financial planning through a predictable and outcomebased pricing model and reduced susceptibility to financial risks, for both small businesses and large companies.

Besides technical challenges, customers also had to wrestle with the alarming increase in cybercrime over the past few months. Amid COVID-19, global organisations have seen a 148% spike in ransomware attacks, according to a report by VMware Carbon Black.

Cybercriminals capitalise on the situation and exploit the security gaps that emerge as businesses iron out their remote work technologies.

A recent IDC survey reported that 27% of organisations in the Middle East have poor breach detection capabilities, while 34% lack the

security expertise needed to deal with advanced threats. MSPs help customers secure their endto-end IT infrastructures, digital solutions and data across networks, communication and collaboration software against advanced threats.

Now more than ever, cybersecurity solutions are the need of the hour, and MSPs play a critical role in selecting the right security solutions that fit an organisation’s requirements and business environment.

While the crisis will not last forever, experts believe the radical changes it has brought about will remain for a long time. Businesses will continue to depend on IT managed services as they realise its enduring benefits. The 2020 Global Managed Services Report by NTT, based on a survey of 1,250 executives across 29 countries, revealed that 45% of firms would outsource more than insourcing in the next 18 months, with 57% citing security risks as a key challenge of managing IT in-house.

As organisations recover and resume operations, customers will increasingly consult with their MSPs to chart out business continuity plans and implement technologies that will help them to be more efficient and secure. With managed IT services at their disposal, they can solely focus on achieving their business goals without disruptions even during a crisis.