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R E B RAN DI NG ORGAN I ZATION, R E I N FORCI NG VALU E /48

PA G E S 7 6 VOLUME O4 | OCTOBER 2016

ISSUE 03

WWW.ENTERPRISECHANNELSMEA.COM

ITS ‘PURE’LY

POSSIBLE! JONATHAN MARTIN, CMO, PURE STORAGE

INDIAECM112015

WITH ELASTIC SCALE OUT ARCHITECTURES AND HIGH AVAILABILITY STORAGE FOUNDATION, THE GITEX 2016 DEBUTANT SAYS THAT IT IS A ‘COMING OUT PARTY’ FOR THEM WITH THEIR NEW CAMPAIGN ‘HELLO POSSIBLE’. /30

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EDITORIAL

Gitex 2017 to Bring Great Value

S A N J AY M O H A PAT R A S A N J AY @ A C C E N T I N F O M E D I A . C O M

Hello Friends We are entering into a very interesting phase of the market. From the IT perspective, the market is more conducive than ever before. The market is at a perceptional low ebb and this is the right time to invest. This is the right time to acquire the technologies and crack good deals from pricing point of view. Everybody knows how important and aggressive the infrastructure market is in this region with governments at the forefront of all initiatives. Smart cities as the biggest initiative is capturing the top of the recall of all technology vendors and it is true to this region that smart city initiative is happening in all the countries. This region, which is mostly dependent upon the exports finding a very large number of expats residing in this region, who need the basic amenities and necessary tools to access all citizen service services. Along with this, the sectors like BFSI, retail, hospitality, healthcare, Oil & Gas and many sectors are trying to bring convenience to their employees and customers. Most of the organizations are trying to adopt digital technologies to take their organizations to the next level. They want to showcase to their customers that they are open to the customers and their organization to know and access their solutions without much of efforts. The organizations are seriously looking at refreshing their core technologies to create an environment where they can bring in analytics, mobility and IOT. These three technologies are going to change the future of the infrastructure. The old age technologies are gradually becoming passé. This month is offering a huge showcasing of infrastructure requirement and capability in Gitex Technology Week, which is happening from 16th to 20th in DWTC, Dubai. This is going to be a very good intellectual driven convergence of customers and vendors. Enterprise Channels MEA is also present in the event to showcase its capabilities and help the vendors to showcase the capabilities to the prospects. It is believed that the thrust of Gitex Technology Week is around cloud computing, mobility and IOT. Of course security is a big feature there. There are various conferences and one to one meeting opportunities for the customers and partners. There will be a showcase of innovations and country specific solutions in various pavilions. Enterprise Channels MEA has also created specific contents targeted at this expo. We hope there will be more footfall in our booth to understand and initiate engagement with us. ë

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2016 CONTENTS

VOLUME 04 ISSUE 03 OCTOBER 2016 W W W. E N T E R P R I S E C H A N N E L S M E A . C O M

COVER STORY

INFRASTRUCTURE SETS SAIL…. BON VOYAGE FOR THE ENTERPRISES

The region’s venture into cloud and IoT platforms have been giving a tough competition to its regional counterparts with various use cases and implementations stories to foretell.... /24 CIO SPEAK

/34

GOING HAND IN HAND WITH ‘DIGITALIZATION’

INNOVATIONS /73

EPSON’S WORK FORCE DS-1660W AND DS-1630 DOCUMENT SCANNERS

DR ALAEDDIN AL-BADAWNA, VICE PRESIDENT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, ABU DHABI MARINE OPERATING COMPANY (ADMA- OPCO). MY VIEWS

SPECIAL STORY MAY THE ‘POWER’ BE WITH YOU /44

/48

REBRANDING ORGANIZATION, REINFORCING VALUE

These affordable document scanners combine the versatility of a flatbed with the convenience of a highspeed,

TONY ALAM, CEO, EMITAC ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS.

/50

EDITORIAL :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 04

MAKING SECURITY A PRIORITY

CHANNEL STREET :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 06

MY VIEWS

MR ZIAD NASR REGIONAL SALES DIRECTOR MEA, BITDEFENDER

FEATURE- PURE STORAGE :::::::::::::::::::: 30 STRUCTURED CABLING :::::::::::::::::::::::: 36 INNOVATIONS :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 73

ADVERTISER INDEX: VEEAM 02, DARKMATTER 03, EMITAC 07, MINDWARE 09, RIVERBED 11, BITDEFENDER 13, RITTAL 15, CIF 17, DELL EMC 19, NEXANS 21, GITEX 22, EXCLUSIVE NETWORKS 23, OMA EMIRATES 27, STORIT 35, STARLINK 42, FINESSE 46 HID 49, MINDWARE2 51, MINDWARE3 53, CES 55, MINDWARE4 59, MANAGE ENGINE 61, ESET 63, BULWARK 65, GENOME 67, EXCLUSIVE 69, GEC OPEN 71, SOPHOS 72, PURESTORAGE 75, DELLEMC 76

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CHANNEL

STREET DARKMATTER IN DUBAI FUTURE ACCELERATORS PROGRAM

DarkMatter has been selected as one of only 30 companies to participate in the Dubai Future Accelerators programme, which is aimed at solving real challenges faced by Dubai government agencies through the use of innovative technologies. Commenting on DarkMatter’s inclusion in this forwardlooking initiative, Faisal Al Bannai, Chief Executive Officer of DarkMatter said, “It is a phenomenal endorsement for DarkMatter to have been invited to participate in this programme, which affirms our position as a truly pioneering technology company. We also acknowledge the vision of the leadership of Dubai and the UAE to develop initiatives such as this one, which highlights their appreciation that technology innovation will be the solution to many current and future challenges faced by society.”

Avaya brings cloud benefits with IP Office

Avaya revealed the latest version of the Avaya IP Office Platform Avaya IP Office release 10 is available as a cloud, hybrid cloud, or premises-based deployment, allowing organizations to deploy new capabilities based on business need, while benefiting from enhancements in security, resiliency and end-user experience.“Midmarket customers here in the region are looking for solutions that enable them to move to the cloud at their own pace and path, while leveraging their existing investments. Avaya IP Office release 10 gives them the best of both worlds: a solution they know they can trust and that allows them to add new capabilities based on business need,” said Khalid Khan, Mid-market Director – Asia, Middle East and Africa, Avaya.

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MICHAEL DELL, CHAIRMAN AND CEO OF DELL TECHNOLOGIES,

A New Era of Technology Dawns: Dell and EMC Merger Completed Dell Technologies completed the acquisition of EMC Corporation, creating a unique family of businesses that provides the essential infrastructure for organizations to build their digital future, transform IT and protect their most important asset, information. Please find copied below the press release for further information. This combination creates a $74 billion market leader with an expansive technology portfolio that solves complex problems for customers in the industry’s fast-growing areas of hybrid cloud, software-defined data center, converged infrastructure, platform-as-a-service, data analytics, mobility and cybersecurity. Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies, said, “We are at the dawn of the next industrial revolution. Our world is becoming more

intelligent and more connected by the minute, and ultimately will become intertwined with a vast Internet of Things, paving the way for our customers to do incredible things. This is why we created Dell Technologies. We have the products, services, talent and global scale to be a catalyst change and guide customers, large and small, on their digital journey.” Dell Technologies blends Dell’s go-to-market strength with small business and mid-market customers and EMC’s strength with large enterprises and stands as a market leader in many of the most important and high-growth areas of the $2 trillion information technology market, including positions as a “Leader” in 20 Gartner Magic Quadrants and a portfolio of more than 20,000 patents and applications.

CHANNEL STREET

EMC unveils new hybrid cloud platform enhancements EMC revealed general availability for EMC Enterprise Hybrid Cloud v4.0, as well as planned enhancements for both Enterprise Hybrid Cloud and EMC Native Hybrid Cloud, designed to help customers advance their journey for both traditional and cloud-native applications. Peter Cutts, Vice President, Solutions, EMC Corporation said, “EMC’s Enterprise Hybrid Cloud and Native Hybrid Cloud are the fastest, surest path to the cloud based on the unrivaled level of collaboration between EMC and VMware. They enable our customers to shift their focus from building infrastructure to delivering innovative new services that differentiate their business.”

CMCS FORAYS INTO NEW PARTNERSHIP VENTURE WITH LITUM

BASSAM AL SAMMAN, CEO, CMCS

PETER CUTTS, VICE PRESIDENT, SOLUTIONS, EMC CORPORATION

AFFILIATES OF SIRIS CAPITAL GROUP ACQUIRES POLYCOM “We are excited to be a part of Polycom’s next chapter as we jointly work to create sustainable, long-term value for customers and partners,” said Daniel Moloney, Executive Partner, Siris Capital. “Together, with Mary and her team, we will enhance Polycom’s strategy to lead the market in audio, video and content collaboration solutions and continue to provide customers with the same high level of commitment, focus, innovation and support.” Ms. McDowell, who succeeds Peter Leav as CEO and board member, is a technology executive who has led global multi-billion dollar businesses in the mobile, consumer and enterprise sectors.

CMCS has entered into a strategic alliance with LITUM to market, sell and implement LITUM Construction Site Internet of Things solutions in the Middle East. The company will use its experience and expertise in providing consulting and business intelligence products and services to promote LITUM IoT solutions to its clients in the region’s engineering and construction industries. “By partnering with LITUM, we are bringing LITUM IoT solutions that are customised for the region’s construction industry. We are confident that CMCS’s unique experience and LITUM IoT’s occupational safety and tracking systems will usher in a new era of technological advancement in the Middle East’s construction industry,” concluded Bassam Al Samman, CEO, CMCS.

FINESSE AND BYRNE REVEAL THE GO-LIVE OF BI & ANALYTICS SOLUTION Byrne partnered with Finesse to assist with their business and IT platform transformation program using a BI & Analytics solution. Finesse has implemented Qlik, which is a dynamic business intelligence solution for catering to the dynamic reporting

requirements of various branch managements. Finesse has successfully developed the solution using QlikSense and has gone live with the given KPI’s from Byrne. Eljo J P, Director – Global Business Development, Finesse, said, “The BI & Analytics

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solution implemented by Finesse has been designed to streamline Byrne’s business operations as well as to enhance information sharing and business administration efficiencies, thereby unlocking substantial recurring financial benefits.”

ELJO J P, DIRECTOR – GLOBAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, FINESSE, AND PAT FALLON , C.O.O OF BRYNE

CHANNEL STREET IN PUBLIC

We have to be open to reaching across traditional barriers to achieve our shared vision to make Dubai the happiest city H.E DR. AISHA BIN BISHR, DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE SMART DUBAI OFFICE

Zaker’s chooses Epicor ERP to fuel growth

SECONDS

SOPHOS‘ INTERCEPT X PACKED WITH ANTI-EXPLOIT AND ANTI-RANSOMWARE TECHNOLOGY Sophos revealed Sophos Intercept X, a nextgeneration endpoint security product that stops zero-day malware, unknown exploit variants and stealth attacks, and includes an advanced antiransomware feature that can detect previously unknown ransomware within seconds. Sophos Intercept X installs alongside existing endpoint security software from any vendor, immediately boosting endpoint protection by stopping malicious code before it executes. SMARTER DUBAI FORUM GETS ‘INTELLIGENT’ WITH GENETEC Genetec attended the ‘Smarter Dubai Forum for Safety and Security’ to share its expertise in helping cities plan and adopt next generation intelligent security solutions. The regional event highlighted the role of how both the private and public sectors are deploying the latest technolo-

HESHAM EL KOMY, SENIOR DIRECTOR CHANNELS AT EPICOR SOFTWARE.

gies to realize a secure, safe and environmentally friendly urban existence. Genetec facilitated the discussion of how ‘smart cities’ can also be ‘safe cities’ at the conference.

Epicor Software Corporation revealed that Zaker Trading has recently implemented Epicor ERP across all its facilities in the Middle East. The solution is enabling Zaker Trading to streamline and automate their sales, finance and manufacturing processes as well as increase visibility, transparency and information exchange across the organisation. The Epicor ERP solution includes key modules such as financial management, supply chain management and inventory

management and was deployed across all Zaker Group companies in the region, bringing each business unit onto a single platform. “We are delighted to provide Zaker Trading with a platform that allows them to realise operational efficiencies, implement industry practices and processes as well as expand their geographical reach and product portfolio,” said Hesham El Komy, Senior Director Channels at Epicor Software.

SYMANTEC DECODES DDOS ATTACKS Symantec new research demonstrates how cybercriminal networks are taking advantage of lax Internet of Things device security to spread malware and create zombie networks, or botnets, unbeknownst to their device owners.Symantec’s Security Response team has discovered that cybercriminals are hijacking home networks and everyday consumer connected devices to help carry out distributed denial of service attacks on more profitable targets, usually large companies

DUBAI COURTS NEW PACKAGE OF SMART SERVICES AS PART OF NIBRAS APP In line with the active efforts towards smart transformation, Dubai Courts recently launched the ‘Smart Q Ticketing’ service within the updated version of Nibras, the Middle East’s first-of-its-kind smart app with the capacity to host an integrated portfolio of smart services that are specifically designed to support the national efforts to reduce the number of clients in government centers by 80 per cent by 2018. H.E. Tarish Eid Al Mansouri, Director-General of Dubai Courts, said: “Dubai Courts is steadfast on the path drawn by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, for the Government of Dubai in not only addressing but also leading technical development to reach the number one ranking worldwide. Smart transformation was and still is at the forefront of Dubai Courts’ strategic priorities, having made proactive achievements in the innovation of smart and integrated services which have had the utmost impact in facilitating, accelerating and streamlining legal transactions while also raising the bar on performance index and achieving the highest levels of customer satisfaction and happiness.”

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KASPERSKY’S NEW INTERNET SECURITY MULTI DEVICE Kaspersky Lab has presented the new version of its flagship security solution Kaspersky Internet Security – multi-device, which provide users with additional opportunities to manage their Internet protection and to ensure their data safety. Kaspersky Internet Security – multi-device are security solutions for the whole family; they protect Windows, Mac, and Android users against malware, dangerous sites, online tracking, fraud and money theft.

CHANNEL STREET

Mindware appoints new Chief of Sales and Marketing & Deputy GM

NICHOLAS ARGYRIDES, CHIEF OF SALES AND MARKETING & DEPUTY GM, MINDWARE

Mindware has announced the appointment of Nicholas Argyrides as the IT distributor’s new Chief of Sales and Marketing & Deputy General Manager. Argyrides previously served as the General Manager of Logicom Dubai until 2010 and as the Managing Director of EMPA Middle East, before returning back to Logicom as the Group Director of Sales & Marketing in 2013. His professional career experience mostly revolves around IT distribution across the Middle East and South Eastern Europe. Having joined Mindware at a very crucial time, Argyrides believes that the Company’s main challenge is balancing the channel and vendor requirements in a profitable manner for the distributor. “Given the rather harsh commercial climate the region is recently undergoing, such task

requires the careful handling of credit availability to the market and the close alignment with both partners and suppliers,” he said. “I am confident that, with the help of the Mindware team, I will be able to contribute my part to the future accomplishments of this fine organization.” Regarding the distributor’s 2017 development plans, Argyrides hinted towards both the horizontal (based on geography) and vertical (based on technologies/vendor portfolio) expansion of Mindware along with projects such as a Cloud Marketplace and Client Services also running in parallel. “It is worth noting here that the recent grim business climate in the region has been, definitely, contributing to the surfacing some significant commercial opportunities and, at Mindware, we certainly have our radars focused on a number of such prospects”, he added.

SMART DUBAI HOSTS WORKSHOP WITH SMART CITY EXPERTS The Smart Dubai Office hosted six international smart city experts for a workshop on The Future of Smart Cities, held at the Four Seasons Hotel, DIFC. The workshop was attended by thought leaders and smart city transformation consultants from leading global institutions including McKinsey, Ernst & Young, Boston Consulting Group, PricewaterhouseCoopers, IBM and CISCO. Opened by H.E Dr. Aisha Bin Bishr, Director General of the Smart Dubai Office, the workshop featured case studies on city digital transformation projects from the United States, China, South East Asia, and other emerging cities across the globe. “Smart Dubai has been consistently committed to collaborating and engaging with our local and international smart city peers. Working together and learning from each other will enhance our smart city transformation,” said Dr.Aisha Bin Bishr, Director General of the Smart Dubai Office “Learning from their experiences, we will be able to validate and refine our approach to achieve maximum benefits from smart services and infrastructure in our digital transformation, for all businesses, residents and visitors of Dubai,” said Dr. Okan Geray, Strategic Planning Consultant, Smart Dubai Office.

JUNIPER NETWORKS EXTENDS SOFTWARE-DEFINED SECURE NETWORKS Juniper Networks revealed its security portfolio enhancements that extend threat prevention deeper into the network – down to the switch level. These new and upgraded solutions, launched at Juniper’s NXTWORK 2016 user conference, include a new Policy Enforcer, which automates the enforcement of security policies across the network

and quarantines infected endpoints to prevent threats across firewalls and switches through Junos Space Security Director. Additionally, Juniper Networks Sky Advanced Threat Prevention (ATP) is now available on the vSRX Virtual Firewall as well as across the SRX Series Services Gateways, extending protection from sophisticated malware across

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virtual and physical firewalls. Juniper has also given customers the flexibility to meet their specific needs through new mid-range SRX4000 Series firewalls, optimized for hybrid cloud and enterprise campus environments.. Juniper’s Software-Defined Secure Networks (SDSN) platform addresses this need with an open

and unified architecture, and by extending security enforcement across the entire network. These security solutions enable policy, detection and enforcement, which are crucial to delivering a secure network,” said Denise Shiffman, Senior Vice President, Juniper Development and Innovation, Juniper Networks.

CHANNEL STREET

VMware adds innovations to digital workspace VMware revealed a new unified endpoint management approach for managing Windows 10, along with advancements to VMware Horizon and VMware Workspace ONE. T. Sanjay Poonen, Executive VP and GM, End-User Computing and Head of Global Marketing and Communications, VMware. “VMware’s digital workspace uses industry-leading technology from AirWatch and Horizon, coupled with identity management, and can immediately help solve fundamental challenges businesses face today ike deploying Windows 10.

WEB CLIPS HOTELS IN UAE TO DELIGHT TRAVELERS WITH MOBILITY SOLUTIONS’, PREDICTS ARUBA Mr. Essam ElHawary, Hospitality Manager at Aruba, says, “The existing Wi-Fi network can no longer handle skyrocketing mobile device densities and accompanying demands. Predictive, proactive, and actionable data opens the door to new travel experiences – from offering a personal booking experience, to a seamless and personalized check-in, to a room specially configured to the guest’s preferences, to ensuring guests never get lost on property.

SANJAY POONEN, EXECUTIVE VP AND GM, END-USER COMPUTING AND HEAD OF GLOBAL MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS, VMWARE.

FINTECH CASHING-IN ON ‘MONEYHAWKS’ GCC Financial Technology (FinTech) startups are cashing in on the always-connected

BT JOINS FORCES WITH MICROSOFT TO SIMPLIFY HYBRID CLOUD

banking habits of Millennials, industry experts

BT revealed BT Compute for Microsoft Azure, a new service that allows BT customers to order Microsoft Azure alongside BT’s own cloud services through its Compute Management System online management tool. The service enables customers to build hybrid cloud infrastructure with a single service wrap, contract and on a single bill. BT customers already use hybrid cloud – hosted in BT Compute’s 48 data centres globally. With BT acting as their cloud services integrator, and by using CMS, customers can manage their cloud services end-to-end from datacentre to network, maximising the benefits and minimising the complexity, risk and costs of moving to the cloud.

the high-income, and under-35-year-old custom-

announced today in the build-up to GITEX 2016. There is a surge in growth of “moneyhawks” – ers who want constant mobile access to their banking and finance accounts. UAE FinTech Startup Trriple will be showcasing Digital Payment Innovations at GITEX. At last year’s GITEX, Trriple launched as a company and signed a partnership with Ericsson on mobile wallet solutions in banking and Smart Cities. BENTLEY SYSTEMS ‘CONNECT’ EDITION

MOVEMENTS SHUKRI EID is Managing Director for Cisco’s East Region

RIVERBED has appointed RAMZI ITANI as Regional Channel Sales Director

JONATHAN GILL appointed as VP EMEA for RSA

BRIAL LILLIE promoted as CCO and EVP of Technology Sercices, Equinix

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129 NUMBER GAME

percent

Total DDoS attacks increased 129 percent in Q2 2016 from Q2 2015 according to Akamai

THRIVES ON INNOVATION Bentley Systems announces OpenRoads Navigator CONNECT Edition, an innovative application that provides civil and transportation professionals an easy-to-use, dynamic product for quick access to civil design information in the field. OpenRoads Navigator supports Windows, iOS, and Android. EMIRATES PALACE CHOOSES ALE TO ENHANCE GUEST EXPERIENCE Emirates Palace has implemented a mobile services tool to provide guests a new comprehensive personalized mobile experience. The solution, offered by ALE connects guests with hotel services via their own smartphone device for an enhanced guest experience.The AlcatelLucent Enterprise Mobile Guest Softphone solution enables guests to leverage BYOD and connect 24/7 to enable a better way to interact with the hotel facilities, as well access free in-hotel voice communications via the hotel’s wireless network

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CHANNEL STREET

SUSE & Intel deliver high performance computing stack Intel will distribute SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for High Performance Computing as an option for the recently introduced Intel HPC Orchestrator. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server is the first commercially supported Linux to be included as an operating system option with Intel HPC Orchestrator system software stack, and the companies will offer joint support for the combined solution. As a result, enterprise customers can accelerate innovation with faster access to relevant, business-changing data. Intel HPC Orchestrator, reduces the burden of integrating and validating an HPC software stack. Michael Miller, President of Strategy, Alliances and Marketing for SUSE said, “The SUSE and Intel collaboration on Intel HPC Orchestrator and OpenHPC puts this power within reach of a whole new range of industries and enterprises that need data-driven insights to compete and advance.

MICHAEL MILLER, PRESIDENT OF STRATEGY, ALLIANCES AND MARKETING FOR SUSE

GULF AIR CHOOSES FINESSE FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF BI Gulf Air established partnership with Finesse for the implementation of a sophisticated Business Intelligence solution using Qlik, one of the market-leading products in this field. Finesse has been selected by Gulf Air as a strategic partner to define a robust Business Intelligence platform to be used across the airline and to implement enterprise-level dashboards and reports. Such platform will also perform complex scenario-based analysis, to create visualization of data and view reports and dashboards in all forms across devices. This initiative comes as a part of Gulf Air’s IT strategy and roadmap to use Business Intelligence platform to provide better and enhanced visibility and insights on the airline’s operations.

DELL ACCELERATES THE ADOPTION OF CONVERGED INFRASTRUCTURE At VMworld 2016, Dell ushered in the next phase of the multi-billion dollar converged systems market with the introduction of the Dell Validated System for Virtualization, Dell also revealed new client virtualization solutions with enhanced performance for demanding power users and VMware has selected Dell Financial Services as its preferred financing partner. “For more than a decade, Dell and VMware have closely collaborated to help customers achieve greater efficiencies from their data centers and simplify IT operations,” said Jim Ganthier, VP and GM, Dell Engineered Systems, HPC and Cloud.Enabled through robust automation and extensive testing and validation, it is the most flexible converged system in the industry. Dell is expanding its client virtualization solutions for VMware to provide customers with the manageability, flexibility and performance they require in their virtual desktop infrastructure environments.Dell is introducing two new security solutions, Dell Data Protection | Threat Defense for Windows Embedded (WES) thin clients and Dell Data Protection | Endpoint Security Suite Enterprise for persistent virtual machines.for our customers.”

RITTAL AND IBM EXPAND ALLIANCE FOR PROFESSIONAL DATA CENTRES Rittal and IBM have signed a global alliance agreement, which had previously applied for the EMEA region. Rittal is thus one of the world’s leading IT infrastructure providers regularly working together with IBM’s resiliency services in planning, constructing, operating and servicing data centres. As part of this, IBM is increasingly supplying Rittal IT infrastructure components in its project business for resiliency services.

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“With this agreement, customers all over the world will now be able to rely on our common and innovative portfolio of services for constructing and modernising energy-efficient data centres”, said Hans Sondermann, Managing Director Sales and Marketing at Rittal. “Together with IBM, we are supporting the fast and easy development of modern and sustainable data centres with modular and pre-defined container solutions.”

“Digital transformation, Industry 4.0 and Big Data are key drivers behind the expansion and modernisation of data centres. In addition, the ever-increasing demand for IT services from the cloud means that nowadays, data centres with maximum energy efficiency are needed”, said Marcus Fischbach, Director Global Business Development IT and Global Alliance Lead at Rittal.

THE CRITICAL

INFRASTRUCTURE FORUM 2016 13 DEC 2016 | BURJ AL ARAB HOTEL, DUBAI, UAE

THE NEXUS OF GCC COUNTRIES FOR FUTURE ECONOMY Unveiling the investments, roadmap, technolgies and key infrastructure pillars that put GCC on the map of global competitiveness ORGANISED BY

SECTORS IN FOCUS

BROUGHT BY

Sustainable Energy

Healthcare

Financial Services

http://gec360.org/TCI2016/

Transportation and Logistics

Telecom

CHANNEL STREET

Bulwark signs distribution agreement with Acunetix Acunetix has signed a distribution agreement with Bulwark Technologies. Under this agreement, Bulwark’s channel partners will offer the vendor’s web application security solutions to enterprise customers across the Middle East. Bulwark will assist Acunetix to build and grow the vendor’s success story in the region through a strong channel network and a complete focus on partner enablement. Bulwark will organize sales and technical training sessions along with various marketing initiatives to boost sales in the Middle East. Bulwark will also be providing technical support to the channel community through its team of technical experts. Mr. Jose Thomas Menacherry, Managing Director, Bulwark Technologies, said, “Bulwark is a focused and specialized Distributor in the cybersecurity area. There is a perfect synergy between our companies. The addition of Acunetix in our product portfolio complements our current offering of security solutions and would provide Bulwark with new avenues for growth and revenue opportunities for both of us.’’

VEEAM POSITIONED IN GARTNER’S LEADERS QUADRANT 2016 Veeam Software has been positioned by Gartner in the Leaders quadrant of the June 2016 Magic Quadrant for Data Center Backup and Recovery Software. This 2016 “Magic Quadrant for Data Center Backup and Recovery Software” is a refocus and update to the “Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Backup Software and Integrated Appliances” that was last published in June 2015. The renamed Magic Quadrant and updated market criteria are in response to Gartner client requests to focus more on backup and recovery software for the upper midsize to large enterprises that protect data center workloads managed by data center personnel. Ratmir Timashev, CEO of Veeam said, “As Gartner states, ‘A fundamental sea change is occurring in the backup and recovery market. For vendors to have long-term success, they must plan to address the legacy requirements of traditional backup and recovery, while looking to expand their integration with and exploitation of emerging applications, hypervisors, snapshot and replication technologies, and public cloud capabilities.” Veeam announced a 24 percent year-on-year (YoY) growth in total bookings revenue for Q1 2016, further demonstrating the industry’s growing appetite for Availability. With 75 percent YoY increase in total bookings revenue from large-sized deals,

RTA SIGNS A STRATEGIC CONTRACT WITH AVAYA Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority and Avaya have signed a three-year strategic contract to support the RTA’s 8009090 Contact Center operations under a managed services agreement. The three-year contract will see Avaya partner with the RTA to deliver a richer customer experience to the residents and visitors of Dubai. This new agreement builds on the strong relationship between Avaya and the RTA, which has deployed Avaya customer engagement and Contact Center solutions to develop it’s 8009090 Contact Center project. The Avaya Contact Center technology aligns with the RTA’s vision of delivering excellence in the customer experience, and is one of the key elements in its transformation to a ‘Smart Service’ organization. “As a forward-thinking organization the RTA understands the importance of creating the right customer experience, and of working with the right partners to achieve digital transformation. By leveraging Avaya’s strength in professional services and consulting expertise, the RTA will be able to focus on its key strategic goals and objectives,” said Mohammed Areff, Vice President, Middle East, Africa and Turkey, Avaya Ahmed Hasan Mahboub, Director of RTA’s Customers Service said, “The Avaya Professional Services team has been instrumental in the development of our Contact Center operations. AVAYA has worked with the RTA from the early stages to understand our business objectives, deploying the technology to fulfill them, and helping to create a rich customer experience that delivers greater satisfaction for everybody that interacts with the RTA.”.

BITDEFENDER AND OXYGEN PARTNER TO DELIVER BUSINESS SECURITY SOLUTIONS Bitdefender entered in a new partnership with Oxygen. The partnership, which has been in effect as of May this year, will ensure the delivery of world’s most appreciated security solutions to an increasingly security-aware market in the region. “Bitdefender is a channel

driven company, and our business partners play a key role in our regional business strategy. We signed this Value Added Distribution partnership with Oxygen as part of our commitment to deliver our award-winning solutions in the right way to our Middle East partners,” said

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Ahmad Tello, Channel Manager at Bitdefender. “Bitdefender is a major investor in large R&D projects, which allows their products to define new technology standards that are trusted by hundreds of millions of users worldwide. As top-tier distributors, we are starting to see

increased demand in such solutions and our partnership with Bitdefender will ensure that we are able to meet the demand and supply gap on a very mature market,” said Amjad Aldari, Sales Director at Oxygen.

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Xerox is Leader in IDC Market Scape Report Xerox has been recognized as a leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Document Workflow Services Hardcopy 2016 Vendor Assessment. This marks the sixth year that Xerox has held a leadership position in IDC MarketScape reports evaluating managed print and document services, and its evolution to document workflow services “Xerox managed workflow services deliver benefits to a wide array of industries and lines of business within an organization – from reducing paper and cutting costs to enhancing employee productivity and ensuring data and document security,” said Mike Feldman, president, Large Enterprise Operations, Xerox. “Our longstanding leadership position in the market is representative of our consistent growth and adoption of software and service solutions that deliver the best and most tailored benefits to our customers.”

MIKE FELDMAN, PRESIDENT, LARGE ENTERPRISE OPERATIONS, XEROX.

NOKIA UNVEILS NETACT Nokia unveliled the NetActTM Compact, an advanced virtualized mobile network management system that meets the rising demand for smaller radio and core networks coming from a diverse range of industries outside of the telecommunications sector NetAct Compact is optimized to meet the operational and budget requirements of smaller operators, as well as organizations in public sector markets. Key target markets for NetAct Compact include: public safety networks (including TETRA customers), enterprise and public sector networks (healthcare, oil and gas, mining, railways, airports and universities), and smaller telecommunications operators.

DELL EMC EMEA PRESIDENT OUTLINES ROADMAP FOR THE REGION Senior executives from Dell EMC – part of Dell Technologies met customers and channel partners to discuss their roadmaps to transform the UAE’s business and economic landscapes.Dell EMC highlighted how the newly-combined company is built to help customers thrive in the digital era and resolve the region’s most pressing business challenges including cloud, converged infrastructure, security, and mobility in the public, financial services, energy, education, and SME sectors.Aongus Hegarty, President of the EMEA region at Dell EMC said, “This region and the UAE specifically has the opportunity to make a quantum leap in using technology solutions to resolve pressing business issues – the lack of outdated infrastructure combined with the public and private sectors’ focus on creating employment opportunities and forging a digital transformation in education, financial services, government and other key sectors providing tremendous opportunity for collaborative problemsolving with Dell Technologies.” “With Dell EMC coming together, our customers and partners can now leverage a trusted advisor who has a rich understanding of this region, extends an unmatched portfolio of solutions to meet diverse needs and offers best in class expertise,” said Mohammed Amin, VP, Turkey, Eastern Europe, Africa and Middle East at EMC Corporation.

GOVERNMENTS IN MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA ON PACE TO SPEND US $11.7 BILLION ON IT IN 2016 Governments in the Middle East and North Africa are on pace to spend US $11.7 billion on IT products and services in 2016, according to Gartner, Inc. This forecast includes spending on internal services, software, IT services, data center systems, devices and telecom services. Government comprises state and local governments and national government.Telecom services, which include fixed and mobile telecom services,

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will be the largest overall spending category through 2020 within the government sector. It is expected to be US $4.8 billion in 2016, with mobile network services being the largest sub-segment with US $3.2 billion in spending.“The software segment includes enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain management (SCM), customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise application

software, infrastructure software and vertical specific software (VSS). Software spending will grow 6.1 percent over 2016 spending, to reach US $1.2 billion,” said Moutusi Sau, principal research analyst at Gartner. “Applications will grow 11.8 percent in 2016 to reach USD $394 million.” The top priority for Middle East governments is cybersecurity due to some recent high-profile targeted cyberattacks. .

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COVER STORY

INFRASTRUCTURE MARKET

INFRASTRUCTURE

SETS SAIL…. BON VOYAGE FOR

THE ENTERPRISES The region’s venture into cloud and IoT platforms have been giving a tough competition to its regional counterparts with various use cases and implementations stories to foretell. The infrastructure is on a roller coaster ride and the seats are buckled! n B Y: A N U S H R E E D I X I T < A N U S H R E E @ A C C E N T I N F O M E D I A . C O M > n P H O T O : S H U T T E R S T O C K

he infrastructure of the Middle East market can be defined as— ‘Fragmented in opportunity and challenge’. Governed by the varying growth parameters, the Middle East region and specially the GCC, has seen a drastic and rapid development in adapting to the newer technologies, especially the third platform technologies. The region’s venture into cloud and IoT platforms have been giving a tough competition to its regional counterparts with various use cases and implementations stories to foretell.

FROM BRICKS TO BECHMARKS- THE GCC INFRASTRUCTURE GROWTH Middle East IT spending is projected to reach $212.9 billion in 2016 a 3.7 percent increase from 2015, according to the latest forecast by Gartner. “We expect growth in the realm of e-services – for both government and commercial organizations - and Big Data Analytics. Allowing consumers of your services to interact with your organization in a manner they choose is a key requirement for both commercial success and efficiency of service delivery. This aligned with the ability to identify

O C TO B E R 2016

trends and sentiment from those consumers, through Big Data Analytics, is a key advantage for our customers,” says IlterisSule, MEA Systems - Private Cloud Strategic Sales Director, Oracle.Telecommunications remains extremely competitive, with numerous operators per GCC country vying for business which drives both core network infrastructure investment as well as the requirement to enhance Business Intelligence to enable more effective targeted offerings to be promoted. Manufacturing, Retail, Transportation, Construction and Education all have significant players looking to both enhance their service capability and reduce their cost of service delivery. According to NecipOzyucel, Cloud and Enterprise Business Solutions Lead, Microsoft Gulf, “Advanced Services on Azure creates strong competitive edge for companies. Companies are trying to adapt them as soon as possible to create additional products, services or gain insights to improve their operations. For example, Data Scientist role is a new role but we strong hiring in enterprise companies. They are expected to use machine learning, advanced analytics to gain more insights and advance the business. Considering bots, artificial intelligence are picking up, we are expecting more such new roles will be introduced.” Shams Hassan, Enterprise Product Manager Middle

COVER STORY

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 6

COVER STORY

WHAT THE CIOs SAYS

MR. AHMED MADANI,

AJAY RATHI,

DIRECTOR IT, MERAAS HOLDING

Investment in IT infrastructure will continue to rise in the foreseeable future. Software defined networks and converged infrastructure will play a bigger role. However slowly there will be a shift towards digital infrastructure.Information technology is creating a world of smart enterprises, smart governments, and smart cities. All this requires creation of smart infrastructure to support them. The clear goal will be to transform traditionalinfrastructure into digital infrastructure. This is where the Internet of everything ( IOT) will play a major role. More and more investment will be made by organization to implement smart lighting, smart garbage collection and smart monitoring. To support the enormous data generated, converged infrastructure will be more in demand. The future is digital infrastructure and Predictive analytics. Road, bridges, aviation, surface transportation, parking, garbage collection etc all these are becoming smarter and based on the analytics we can have different charging models. Today a heavy garbage generator and light generator pays the same amount. Also a heavy internet broadband user and light user pays the same amount. The data centers can be on premise or on cloud but the digitization of physical things in the environment surrounding us is where the major investment will be channelized in coming years.

East, Integration Ambassador, Dell EMC believes that this is a time of unprecedented change, especially in the GCC, which many have described as the next Industrial Revolution. â€œScalable, flexible cloud-native applications connected to real-time data analytics are the architecture of the future. The Internet of Everything presents untapped opportunity for almost limitless value creation from the power of data. Competitive advantage belongs to those who embrace third-platform technologies,â€? says Shams.

INFRASTRUCTURE AS A SERVICE- REIGNING IN

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GENERAL PENSION & SOCIAL SECURITY AUTHORITY

The IT Infrastructure market is growing tremendously, It is adding value to the business with new technologies and challenges.I can see Cloud Infrastructure or Iaas (Infrastructure-as-a-service) is the trend and opportunity in the future for small and medium enterprises. Cloud computing is picking up in a good pace and Iaas market is growing day by day. Iaas reduces the cost in terms of procuring new hardware, storage, scalability and computing additional resources for built-in infrastructure, where asIaas is having the flexibility to pay only for the services and resources utilized like pay-as-you-go model. For every new box in your data center needs a network configuration setup and security solution as we know the complexity of security vulnerable and threats are rising each and every day. These security solutions with network infrastructure add up more cost for in-built data centers. I believe Iaas is definitely a ROI solution for small and medium scale enterprises if they are not planning to build their own in-house Data Centers.

THE CLOUD KINGDOM The worldwide public cloud services market is projected to grow 16.5 percent in 2016 to total $204 billion, up from $175 billion in 2015, according to Gartner. The highest growth will come from cloud system infrastructure services (infrastructure as a service [IaaS]), which is projected to grow 38.4 percent in 2016.Genome sees a lot of investment happening in the Education, Healthcare, Construction, Airport & Hotel projects. Telecommunication and IT sector also seeing a massive growth rate. IaaS (Infrastructure as a service) type is estimated to have the largest market share in 2016, it helps organizations to

reduce the total cost of ownership as the infrastructure is provided by third-party vendors in the form of cloud-based data centers. Necip says thatTechnology should form around your business, not the other way around. In the past this was a difficult nut to crack, but with the arrival of cloud computing, large-scale technologies have become available to businesses of all sizes.

HYPE, HYPE HURRAYTHE GROWTH OF HYPERCONVERGED DATA CENTERS Hyper converged infrastructure has quickly

COVER STORY

SULTAN SAID ALI AL WADHAHI,

DG OF ICT, ROYAL COURT AFFAIRS, SULTANATE OF OMAN

Although the region is under current economic instability, a positive IT growth is expected as most of industries are refocusing to generate new economic development beyond the oil industry. The smart government initiatives will also play critical role to enhance the ICT industry as well. This may drive the demand on cloud infrastructure services in the Middle East markets for both Government and Private sectors for the need of business agility, cost savings, and assertion of business continuity.

ILTERIS SULE, MEA SYSTEMS - PRIVATE CLOUD STRATEGIC SALES DIRECTOR, ORACLE

NECIP OZYUCEL, CLOUD AND ENTERPRISE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS LEAD, MICROSOFT GULF

“Allowing consumers of your services to interact with your organization in a manner they choose is a key requirement for both commercial success and efficiency of service delivery.”

“Understanding business priorities, pain points and translating them to find the right solutions in terms of both business and technology solutions is the right way to harness the power of Microsoft Azure”

ligence and mobility solutions. Dynamics delivers end-to-end ERP, CRM and analytics. Office brings collaboration and operational productivity. And the cloud knits all of this together so that costs become simple, trackable and manageable.”

DCIM_THE WAY AHEAD become one of the hottest trends in IT today. “This is for Enterprises with on-premise infrastructure keen to realize some of the efficiency benefits of cloud technologies and new application models. However, hyper-converged infrastructure is also seen as a way of bridging the gap to the public cloud by at least getting to Private Cloud,” says AnandLakhwani, Business Head-IT Infrastructure Solutions and Services at Finesse Global. Necip says, “Our advice is to make your decision-makers aware of the business benefits of cloud. Solutions such as SQL Server 2016 allow you to take advantage of both business intel-

O CTO B E R 2016

Digitalization and its sweeping impact across enterprises across the globe and a wider adoption of cloud services has given birth to an overwhelming demand for new generation data center. the value of the data center infrastructure management (DCIM) sector in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region is expected to reach USD 397.1 million in 2017 – up from USD 41.6 million in 2012 - at a compound annual growth rate of 57 per cent, according to a recent report released by MicroMarketMonitor. According to Transparency Market Research, Global Data Center Infrastructure Management market is expected to reach US$ 2,859.3 Mn by 2024.

AnandLakhwani believes that the physical layer has increasingly become the single point of IT operational dependency in a world of increasing convergence. DCIM is the natural evolution of this process. Hence the Criteria’s should be Energy Management, Asset Management, Availability Management, Risk management, Services and IT automation. Talking about the value that a service provider should bring to the customers and IT decision makers, LeennaJayachaandran, Coach, Mentor, Consulting Partner, Genome Technology Consultants (A Middle East Partner- MHI Global) says, “They need to be able to see, understand, manage, and optimize the numerous complex interrelationships that drive the modern data center. They need holistic information and visibility into the entire IT infrastructure, information that that is instantly meaningful and actionable. IT decisionmakers must make a careful evaluation of today’s vendors, products, and promises. They should carry no misconceptions about any sort.

COVER STORY

SHAMS HASSAN, ENTERPRISE PRODUCT MANAGER MIDDLE EAST, INTEGRATION AMBASSADOR, DELL EMC

ANAND LAKHWANI, BUSINESS HEAD-IT INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS AND SERVICES AT FINESSE GLOBAL

“The region is ready to #GoBigWinBig! As Dell Technologies we are best positioned to address region’s customers’ critical IT needs in the data center in their digital transformation strategies, plans, and executions”

“Finesse has been expanding its Infrastructure portfolio to the next level by leveraging global partnerships and reaching to the SME and enterprise customers as one Stop shop for Applications integration”

US$ tn

Saudi Arabia has committed US$ 2 trillion for the diversification of its economy towards IT

US$

5.3bn

United Arab Emirates will see a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in IT spend of 3.4% from now until 2020, inflating the sector to US$ 5.3 billion

FINALLY The market is ripe, but the platforms are diverse. For some cloud is a passe, for some cloud is the way to go ahead. IoT is still a myth for some while

3.2bn

LEENNAJAYA CHAANDRAN, COACH, MENTOR, CONSULTING PARTNER, GENOME TECHNOLOGY CONSULTANTS, (A MIDDLE EAST PARTNER- MHI GLOBAL)

“Irrespective of the regional challenges faced, our focus remains on adding value for our clients, and driving the message of quality, sustainability and technology in everything we do.”

AR/VR hardware elements to grow from $118 million in 2016 to reach more than $3.2 billion in 2020

others are already claiming to reap benefits from it. Nevertheless, being a diverse market that GCC is, these factors would just add uo to the race if excellence in superior infrastructure benchmarks.

181.59m

IDC’s ‘Worldwide Augmented and Virtual Reality Spending Guide’ expects the MEA market to expand from $181.59m this year to $6bn in 2020.

Set sail, pull of your anchors, try new depths and dont worry about the tempests, build your ship wisely. ë

O CTO B E R 2 016

COVER FEATURE

JONATHAN MARTIN, CMO, PURE STORAGE

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COVER FEATURE

ITS ‘PURE’LY POSSIBLE WITH ELASTIC SCALE OUT ARCHITECTURES AND HIGH AVAILABILITY STORAGE FOUNDATION, THE GITEX 2016 DEBUTANT SAYS IT’S A ‘COMING OUT PARTY’ FOR THEM WITH THEIR NEW CAMPAIGN ‘HELLO POSSIBLE’. WITH THE STORAGE NEWBIES— FLASHBLADE AND EVERGREEN STORAGE, PURE IS ALL SET TO DISRUPT THE STORAGE OF, NOT ONLY TODAY, BUT TOMORROW AS WELL. n WORDS: ANUSHREE DIXIT <ANUSHREE@ACCENTINFOMEDIA.COM>

ince its establishment in 2009, Pure Storage has been forcing the market and the industry to rethink how they approach and define storage. While the market is busy in thinking about the various possibilities of pushing the limits of storage to new arenas, Pure is actually claiming to accelerate those possibilities and putting the organizations and the customers right at the center of innovations. As big data, IoT and digitalization pushes the data growth curve extensively, Pure sees itself standing in a scoring position.

THE LIGHT BULB MOMENT As the data gets bigger, the time frame is shrinking equally. “There was a non-stop thirst for faster answers, real-time analytics,

richer queries, and interactive simulations. Yet, because of the sheer data size, everyone had come to the conclusion that it had to be done on disk or after the fact using batch oriented jobs,” says Jonathan Martin, CMO, Pure Storage. And so Pure had their (LED) light bulb moment. “What if we could build an all-flash platform that could tackle the growing data challenges of the next decade? What if we could fundamentally change what was possible with data: how much could be stored, how fast it was accessed, how it was queried, and what types of insights could be gleaned, even in real-time? And what if we could do it affordably enough that it could even cost less than many of the disk-based systems that were in-use today?” Out of this mission was born FlashBlade which is built on an innovative elastic scaleout architecture, which combines commodity

“We came to market and said there is an opportunity to deliver storage that actually costs less to buy and is at least 10 times better in every dimension that businesses care about. It’s 10 times faster, it’s 10 times denser, it’s 10 times more power efficient, and it’s way more than 10 times reliable.” hardware components with unique software and ultra-dense packaging to achieve extreme performance, scale, density and efficiency, at a cost of less than US$1 per usable GB.

THE REIGNING SUPREMACY Playing with words, one can actually say that the growth of Pure Storage in the All Flash and

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COVER FEATURE

Solid Arrays has been ‘Solid’ and in a ‘Flash’. They entered the market at a time when the market was saturated with the belief that flash storage is predominantly expensive than traditional disk. Pure stormed into the market with the AFAs that disrupted the existing market belief. Pure’s Evergreen Business Model also challenged the existing customer satisfaction and service models to rethink it on a sustainability platform. “Most of the technology in use today is more than 20 years old. It was designed far in advance of cloud computing and flash memory, and cannot take advantage of these technologies in the way products specifically deigned for this era can. You can retrofit a Chrysler with an electric engine, but you’re not going to get a Tesla! Traditional data storage platforms were built from the ground up for a different era,” says Jonathan.

THREE FOR TANGO:DECODING THE GARTNER HAT-TRICK According to Gartner, By 2020, 50% of data centers will use only SSAs for primary data, instead of hybrid arrays, up from less than 1% today. This comes as a clear opportunity for Pure Storage. Pure was ranked for the third consecutive time in the Gartner’s magic quadrant for Solid State Arrays. When asked about the key attributes that helped in achieving this vision, Jonathan says that, “Gartner points out our ability to understand customer pain points through successful pricing and support programs, ability to innovate and expand use cases and gain customer trust as our key strengths. This market perception is tremendous validation of our three core strategies which is also essentially what sets us apart from our competition:

‘PURE’ FACTS 451

In a recent report from 451Research, IT professionals voted all-flash arrays as the “hottest” technology for the second year in a row, and Pure Storage as the “most exciting” vendor, unseating EMC from a position that it held for a decade.

92.8%

In the second quarter ended July 31, 2016, Pure recorded quarterly revenue of $163.2 million, up 92.8% Y/Y, and ahead of the guidance range of $153 million to $157 million

Research

Pure Storage grew revenues 93 per per cent yearon-year in its second fiscal 2017 quarter to a record $163.2m, achieving an annual run rate of $650m

93%

In 2015, Pure experienced a 122 percent increase in its customer base, which stretches across more than 50 countries, including the Middle East

122%

Invest in product innovation Innovate the business model n Deliver the best customer experience “Pure Storage is a pure-play on the all-flash array market, which we see disrupting a $24B market. We believe Pure can gain significant share and grow revenue, even assuming cloud takes over half of the storage market in three years. The company will also increase its Total Addressable Market (TAM) by expanding into the secondary storage, scale-out, and software markets.” n n

VENDOR OF CHOICE— As a marketer, perhaps the one I am most proud of is the partnership with Mercedes AMG PETRONAS Formula One team. With Pure Storage, the team is accelerating analysis of data-centric transactions that impact car performance and lap time, and is raising the bar for mission-critical business applications that underpin the entire organization.

FIGHTING ALL THE ODDS The Dell EMC merger is a colossal event that will reign over the market for a light year. The storage markets would be completely overhauled as the customers would be now spoilt for choice given a wider and stronger choice at their disposal. This of course would send down worry vibes down the spines of the storage vendors. At this moment, Pure says that it is confident of continuing as the vendor of choice for the regional market. “To be honest, I do not see the Dell-EMC merger having any material impact on Pure Storage for a couple of reasons,” says Jonathan. “For one, while most vendors were investing heavily in traditional storage, we took a bet day #1 that Flash would be the future of the data center and as such have staked out a niche for ourselves.” In addition to focusing solely on all flash, we have also embraced the cloud. Cloud is providing the impetus for vendors like Pure Storage to shed decades of accumulated complexity in storage to deliver storage that’s approaching the ease of use of consumer tech.

PARTNERS ALONG THE JOURNEY

83(NPS)

Pure Storage’s laser focus on relationships continues to drive industry-best customer satisfaction – as evidenced by a Satmetrix-certified net promoter score (NPS) of 83.

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Like majority of its regional colleagues, Pure also claims that it is a 100% channel driven company. Pure currently has two partners in the region – Global Distribution and Spectrami DMCC. Jonathan says “Any partner we bring on has to meet two key criteria; first and foremost, we

COVER FEATURE

KEEPING UP THE MARKETING CHARM Big Data, Analytics, Mobile and Social are rewriting the rules of customer interaction. Branding and marketing your product in an already saturated market is a hard nut to crack. As the CMO, Jonathan feels that there is no magic wand that can get your things done in a swish. In order to stay competitive in this market, once has to deeply understand customer buying behavior across a plethora of channels. When asked about the attributes of the modern day CMO, Jonathan flashes a peculiar smile and says that, “While it might sound like stating the obvious, I would say the ability to think creatively is key to being a successful CMO. At Pure, we are looking at how we can take things out of the consumer playbook and use them in B2B. For example, we’re looking to have more fun, be less formal and more edgy, and we’re happy to make fun of ourselves and be more human, which gets people interested in what we do.”

THE GROWTH CURVE PROFITABLY ‘PURE’ $440.3m

For the financial year ended Jan 31,2016, Pure recorded revenues of US$440.3M.

92.8%

Quarterly revenue: $163.2 million, up 92.8% Y/Y, and ahead of the guidance range of $153 million to $157 million.

PROMISINGLY ‘PURE’ With the Evergreen Storage Policy, Pure promises that they will never increase the maintenance unless the customer increases their capacity

PASSIONATELY ‘PURE’ Together Pure StorageFlashBlade and the Pure Storage FlashArray family of products form a complete platform for organizations to build their all-flash cloud. In addition to FlashBlade and FlashArray//m10, Pure recently enhanced their ‘Evergreen Storage’ program. Evergreen Storage is the disruptive business model that allows customers to deploy storage once and independently upgrade performance, capacity & connectivity with no-downtime while keeping maintenance costs flat for the lifespan of the array and enterprises. As a result, organizations can avoid “Forklift Upgrades” every 3 years which are expensive, risky & wasteful.

PURE= ? n In Economic Impact, Pure Storage = Cost Predictability

n In Partner Empowerment, Pure Storage= Trusted

n In redefining enterprise storage, Pure Storage= Disruptive

n For Future defining solutions, Pure Storage= Visionary

are looking for partners that have significant long term customer relationships rather than short term opportunistic one-off projects. This is because if they are really going to be able to bring the Pure benefits such as Evergreen Storage and Forever Flash to customers, these are 3-4-5-year program of benefits that customers are going to see. And we want our partners to benefit from that. Secondly, we are focusing on system integrators and solution providers. We want to help partners in this region understand what their cost base will look like with Pur e.”

UNLOCKING THE GITEX POTENTIAL WITH ‘HELLO POSSIBLE’ As a GITEX Debutant, the Pure team is infecting the industry with its high note enthusiasm. “This is the first year that we will be exhibiting at GITEX so this is really our ‘coming out party!’Our theme for GITEX is ‘Hello Possible’ - Our radically simple flash storage is the catalyst that gets companies to their next big thing faster by helping them unlock their future possibilities, today. So our focus will be on highlighting how our solutions, built with simplicity and the Cloud in mind, can help customers on their journey to the all-flash datacenter.” Pure Storage will also have the regional launch of the recently released FlashArray//m10 and FlashBlade solutions.

FINALLY With an NPS Score of 83, Pure claims that their customers are some of the most happiest people in the world. Three things are at stake: Happiness, Smartness, and Digitalization. It would be woth a wait to see how ‘Hello Possible’ would strike an equilibrium between these aspects in the modern enterprises. ë

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CIO SPEAK

DR ALAEDDIN AL-BADAWNA,

VICE PRESIDENT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, ABU DHABI MARINE OPERATING COMPANY (ADMA- OPCO)

Going hand in hand with ‘Digitalization’ ADMA-OPCO HAS RECENTLY ACHIEVED CERTIFICATION-ISO/IEC 20000-1:2011 FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. DR.ALAEDDIN AL-BADAWNA, VP OF IT AT THE ABU DHABI MARINE OPERATING COMPANY TALKS ABOUT THE OIL AND GAS SECTOR ALONG WITH THE WAY THE REGION’S TECHNOLOGICAL APPETITE HAS INCREASED. IN A TÊTE-À-TÊTE WITH SONAL LUNAWAT FROM ECMEA, DR ALAEDDIN SPEAKS ABOUT HIS ORGANIZATION, MIDDLE EAST REGION AND ABOUT THE WORLD WITH ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES.

Enterprises in a ‘digital’ light ‘If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change’. The idea of digitalization may be a much talked about concept, but how exactly does this notion of digitalization fit in the enterprise infrastructure explains Dr. Alaeddin Al-Badawna as he expresses his delight on digital transformation which is readily adopted by the GCC countries. Dr.Alaeddin says ‘Digitalization is inevitable’, systems become obsolete, there is a need to move to new systems and enterprises must break free from their legacy models and readily rework on deploying digitalized solutions. Being a crucial part of the IDC IT Forum

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2016 he stated that, “The idea of this forum was to exchange information about different experiences with various customers from different verticals. As a panelist at the forum I had a chance to get ample of fruitful information on how various technology implementers come across challenges and issues with regards to digital transformation.” Under the depths of Oil and Gas There is always a curiosity factor associated to the Oil and Gas sector, challenges and IT implementations are quite different from other verticals. Shedding light on the IT operations and breaking free from old legacy models, Dr.Alaeddin

explained, that the facilities in Oil plants go back to more than 50years so implementing digital technology is a complex process. He said, “Despite the ground work to decide on the right technologies to implement we come across some surprises when it comes to infrastructure. Digitalization is driven by end users and not IT providers.” ADMA is a big name in the Oil and Gas industry and people are keen to understand more about its technological implementations and the kind of developments it has instilled, when asked about ADMA, Dr.Alaeddin proudly smiled and said, “We implemented IP, we replaced our analog to IP. We believe in innovation, with digital transformation one can innovate, integrate and incorporate. We implemented multi phased flow meter, this equipment reads the water and gas ratio in the oil and one can determine the flow of oil coming up. This multi phased equipment requires fiber and power, with old towers this isn’t possible and therefore you need to study your infrastructure and then deploy the ideal technology. We operate in off shore areas, our employees want information which is accurate and in real-time, so we associate importance to digital transformation. The latest state-of-art green technology, a pre-manufactured scalable Modular Data Centre (MDC) has been introduced at one of the company’s location to achieve infrastructure convergence.” Managing the wraths of risk ADMA as an organization recognizes that the eco-system is surrounded by unforeseen and foreseen risk. Combatting risk with efficient and innovative ways thrives in the veins of ADMA. Highlighting ways incorporated by ADMA for risk management Dr. Alaeddin revealed, “With whatever technology we are introducing in the company there is always a risk involved and with incidents happening in Oil and Gas companies we have to be extra careful, in the last 5 years the amount of attacks in Oil and Gas in the Gulf region has increased 50 to 60 times. We ensure our vital information is protected by our systems. We understand the ugly face of attacks and therefore we have industrial security along with business and operations security. We have empowered our IT, we don’t compromise on budget and for us security is a priority. We also deploy the best professionals to manage the risks. We have frequent risk assessments for security.” An expert eye for the Oil and Gas Industry and a dynamic outlook towards advanced IT implementations, Dr. Alaeddin summed up the conversation by his thought, “Business is like a wheel and CIO is like an accelerator of a car, if they are well synchronized they can move together with great speed.” ë

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FEATURE

Building blocks of

future-ready enterprises

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FEATURE

How crucial is the internet to you? How does one justify the need of instant access to information, file sharing and networking? The growing use of smartphones, tablets and other devices lead to an increased demand of speed and data storing which definitely lays pressure on the data center capacity thereby fueling the market of structured cabling. n W O R D S : S O N A L L U N A W AT < S O N A L @ A C C E N T I N F O M E D I A . C O M >

he world is going â€˜wirelessâ€™ and the enterprises want to stay upbeat with the global notion of advancement, but the wireless infrastructure can only be complemented by a dedicated and well managed structured cabling system which not only supports high bandwidths but also provides efficiency. The structured cabling market continues to show an upsurge, reason being the increasing demand for structured cabling components across different

networks globally and the expansion of communication infrastructure. Traditional coaxial cabling has taken a back seat as enterprises aim to deploy structured cabling solutions to ensure lesser consumption of power and cost effective means along with long transmission distance capability. This is no surprise that the vendors are competing to improve and provide structured cabling solutions after analyzing the future of the networking market and innovatively introducing

$13.13bn

The global structured cabling market is expected to reach $13.13 Billion by 2020, at a CAGR of 9.0% between 2015 and 2020. -MarketsandMarkets

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FEATURE

ALDO STRAWBRIDGE

MR. ASEM SHADID

MANAGING DIRECTOR, LEVITON ME

MANAGING DIRECTOR, DATWYLER

“A reliable, high performing structured cabling backbone is absolutely critical to support the “always connected” wireless world around us.”

“We have lately launched the GPON Powerhouse that is an all in one GPON rack that comes preassembled and configured for an FTTX project.”

CIO CHALLENGES

MARIO VELJOVIC VICE PRESIDENT SOLUTIONS MEA GLOBAL SOLUTIONS NETWORK

“A Structured Cabling Solution is a long term investment and can’t be easily replaced.”

products that are ideal for today’s real time operations, but will the fluctuating price of copper and fiber optics, customized requirements and changing dynamics continue the escalation of this industry?

MIDDLE EAST’S STRONG ‘CONNECTION’ RAPID TECHNICAL ADVANCEMENTS

BUDGET CONSTRAINTS

DIVERSE DEMANDS OF EMPLOYEES

STRAIN ON SYSTEMS DUE TO BYOD

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MAKING THE RIGHT SELECTION OF PRODUCTS

The MEA region has witnessed a high penetration of internet, the reason for this can be deemed as the young tech savvy population investing in newer devices and increase in the demand of means and ways to stay connected 24/7. Managing Director of Datwyler, Asem Shadid is positive about the implementation of structured cabling solutions in the Middle East region and especially in UAE. Qatar’s telecom industry has also been active in the implementation of structured cabling solution. Asem said, “We can see that in transportation, healthcare and hospitality there is reasonable investments in the network infrastructure. However, we are still way far when we look at the education, and residential verticals.” As Middle East is a home to many MNCs there is a huge market out there when it comes to innovations and deploying cabling solu-

FEATURE

STRUCTURED CABLING PRODUCT

Cables, communication outlets, patch panels and cross connects, racks and cabinets, cable accessories, installation tools

SERVICE

Installation and consulation, maintainence and support, software and managed service

APPLICATION

Residential or commercial, IT and Telecom, government organization, military and defence, industrial application etc.

tions to support the enterprise infrastructure. Aldo Strawbridge, Managing Director, Leviton ME explains the vitality of having a sound and well placed cabling solutions within the enterprise, he said, “As wireless demand increases and the Internet of Things connects more and more objects around us, access to greater bandwidth will be essential to ensuring uninterrupted transfer of data. Data centers typically stand out on the vanguard when it comes to upgrading to the latest high-bandwith networks and active equipment.” One may question the need of structured cabling, how does it actually support the wireless environment? Will the cabling industry see a dead-end? What lies in the

world of these intertwined wires?

SHOULDERING THE GIGANTIC BURDEN OF ENTERPRISES Imagine a situation where the cabling of your organization has been neglected or rather compromised. The scenario will not only lead to loss of precious time but will also affect the overall operations since majority of the business thrives on a sound network infrastructure. The alignment of wires is crucial to going wireless. As Asem Shadid rightly says, “Wireless and cabling systems complement each other rather than compete. Wireless solutions cannot survive without the

wired backbone.” ‘Go Wireless’ is the new mantra adapted by organizations and the wireless trend will not take a backseat. Aldo Strawbridge from Eaton feels that as enterprise environments rely more and more on wireless connectivity and power over Ethernet, they will require structured cabling systems that support higher bandwidths to maintain high levels of operational efficiency. The extensive growth of the LED lighting systems market, transition from analog to IP-based video surveillance systems, and increasing usage of FTTH/FTTP are expected to create a lot of growth opportunities for the said market. Asem from Datwyler expresses his point of view and feels that there will be a dependence on fiber and implementing more FTTX networks in the enterprise is a trend that will hit the market, however this isn’t fruitful for the cabling industry as it will reduce the volume of structured cabling networks. Aldo from Eaton said, “Fiber cabling systems will continue to gain a stronger presence in data centers and backbones, with the ability to scale to higher bandwidths like 40Gb/s, 100Gb/s, and even 400Gb/s. But cost-effective categoryrated copper systems still play an important role in data centers.” Enterprises are keen on taking the road to digitalization and seldom put ‘going wireless’ as one of their priorities but what should be taken into consideration while deploying solutions? Organizations are always at loggerheads since they want to take into consideration various aspects before making the right long term selection. Mario Veljovic, VP Solutions MEA, Global Distribution explains, “ Budget is the key issue. A Structured Cabling Solution is a long term investment and can’t be easily replaced. Hence you should evaluate your supplier carefully and ensure you get the quality you require. Furthermore, always go for the highest available standards to ensure you are still able to meet any future requirements.”

FINALLY… Structured Cabling outlines most other networking components, however it represents just 5% of total network investment. Optimization of network infrastructure will continue ruling the CIO’s plans for 2017. POE will be a major contributor in the LAN and structured cabling business. Digitalization has been a major catalyst to ignite minds of enterprises trying to have a sound infrastructure using well defined cabling components and give a boost to the operations. ë

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SPECIAL STORY

Don’t talk about services…create it! Services are like a bundle of delight; everyone likes that extra cherry on the cake. The IT industry is moving from products to solutions to services and with the widespread knowledge base consumers have, service providers race in this game to deliver something more than just solutions- a platter of services to create that added emphasis to stay afresh in the customer mind as well as position themselves as an innovative market player. n W O R D S : S O N A L L U N A W AT < S O N A L @ A C C E N T I N F O M E D I A . C O M >

s the famous saying goes- if you can’t beat them, join them. This holds true when it comes to the cumulative and competitive market of services. Vendors, system integrators and distributors chalk out ways and means to not just provide solutions but understand the pinch points of the enterprises to give them an added deal and cater to the dynamic needs of the customers. Gone are the days when the role of the vendors and system integrators was defined, the channel has been revived and services has not become another portfolio of functions but aligned with the entire process of pre-sales, sales and post- sales.

NO LOOKING BACK FOR ‘SERVICES’ IN GCC Large organizations can provide multiple services to their clients and may cater to the end-to-end needs of the customers by offering various services on one platform and eradicating the time invested by the enterprises to hire multiple organizations for different tasks. When it comes to small and mid-sized vendors who provide specific services they normally operate as niche players or partner with local service providers to address the needs of the clients. IDC sees the big data technology and services market growing at a compound annual growth rate of 23.1% over the

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2014-2019 forecast period with annual spending reaching $48.6 billion in 2019. The outcome economy has room for every IT function as a service and hence the new wave of XaaS has been keeping the service providers on their toes. The Middle East region particularly shows a robust growth when it comes to the service industry with a recent adoption of outsourcing activities as well. The key reason for this is the government’s forward looking approach in various arenas of services, especially MPS and automation. The government has also been encouraging enterprises to take the digital stride and contribute to the smart city initiatives, services play a very vital role in contributing to the multiple spheres of smart city plans. Sachin Bhardwaj, Director, Marketing & Business Development, eHostingDataFort sees a surge in the adoption of IT across transportation, telecom, hospitality, healthcare, education, finance and banking, etc. in the MEA region, he says, “The overall IT trends in the Middle East have been showing large uptake of technology. This is spurred by governments in the region laying heavy emphasis on improving citizen and resident services to building Smart Cities.” According to Sunil Paul, Co-founder and COO of Finesse, the highest demand for Managed services is from KSA, UAE and Qatar, he also explains that organizations in the Middle

SPECIAL STORY

3.8%

The worldwide IT services market will reach $929 billion in 2016, growing 3.8% in constant currency in 2016. With outsourcing contributing 60% of market growth in constant currency, the market will reach $1.1 trillion in 2020. -Gartner

ANOOP SHARDA

SACHIN BHARDWAJ

CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER, BUZINESSWARE

DIRECTOR, MARKETING & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, EHOSTINGDATAFORT

“SaaS will see an upward growth in the region more for non-mission critical business softwares.”

“The arrival of cloud based solutions, is making CIOs relook and revisit the approach to Business Continuity”

East have started adopting hybrid cloud IT services approach and part of the IT infrastructure need to run on applications will no longer be hosted in the organizations’ data centers. As the term ‘services’ has finally been accepted and made use of there is a growth of SaaS, PaaS,

DRaaS as well as IaaS, however with every new trait of development in IT comes the skepticism of analysts. What are the future services one can expect to see in the limelight? How has the MEA service market evolved in comparison to the global market?

BLURRING LINES BETWEEN PRODUCTS AND SERVICES Managing services is a key component of the service portfolio. Cloud managed services are witnessing a rising demand across the globe due to the growing need of businesses to curb down operational and infrastructural costs involved in business processes. The expanding Big Data space has facilitated a greater demand for managed analytical services and cloud storage services according to a report on Cloud Managed Services published by IDC, the report also notified that the cloud managed services market size is estimated to grow from USD 35.54 Billion in 2016 to USD 76.73 Billion by 2021, at expected CAGR of 16.6% from 2016 to 2021. Saeed Khan, Head of Sales – Managed Ser-

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SPECIAL STORY

SERVICE SHOWCASE BUZINESSWARE

SAEED KHAN

SUNIL PAUL

HEAD OF SALES – MANAGED SERVICES- EMITAC ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS

“Companies are beginning to look for software’s that answers their needs more specifically rather than utilizing any enterprise level SaaS that offers a more ‘platform’ approach.”

CO-FOUNDER AND COO, FINESSE

“Finesse is warming up to becoming full-fledged IT services provider, cloud provider and managed services provider in addition to the integration expertise we offer to the market.”

MIDDLE EAST CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES MARKET, BY SERVICE TYPE, (USD BILLION)

CAGR (2016-2021)

eHostingDataFort

eHDF offers Cloud Infrastructure, Managed Hosting and Data Centre services, all of which can be outsourced by businesses across all verticals. eHDF partnered with Netcure, its sister entity, to provide a comprehensive suite of advanced Managed Security Services which includes DDoS, Security Log Collection and Management, Real Time Security Monitoring, End Point Security Management, etc.

FINESSE

Finesse is a full-fledged IT services provider, cloud provider and managed services provider in addition to system integrator. Finesse puts a greater emphasis on end to end business processes. It caters to the use of cloud, mobility, social and virtualization.

EMITAC ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS

Emitac Enterprise Solution offers end to end services which include consulting services, professional services, IT infrastructure and application management services under a hybrid delivery model. It also provides project based outsourcing services and out-tasking of resources based on specific requirements of our customers.

PaaS CDN

Buzinessware provides Infrastructure as a Service which allows companies to outsource most of their online infrastructure needs to a reliable UAE based service provider. The web services division offers domains, hosting, emails & other related web services at an affordable value where people can make informed decisions, transparently buy online & get 24*7 UAE based support.

IaaS

Managed Hostting

Colocation Services

Market Size in 2021 Source: markets and markets

“With an increase in cyber-attacks many services are becoming imperative for businesses to outsource from a Managed Services Provider due to the expertise they bring to the table.”

FINALLY… vices- Emitac Enterprise Solutions says, “We have done our own survey with some of the leading organizations in the UAE and we see a lot of the enterprise and SMB customers moving towards Managed and Cloud Services on an OPEX model which can provide high quality of services while keeping operational costs under control.” Financial institutions and government still remains a little hesitant when it comes to giving

complete access to the service providers or letting them manage IT functions since the question of security always plays on the minds, however increased investment is seen over the years in IT services especially for data centres, enterprise applications, disaster recovery and infrastructure consolidation. Outsourcing is another facet of IT services which provides a sigh of relief to enterprises. Sachin from eHosting DataFortsays,

The system integrators and service providers will have to tighten their services and adapt to the ever increasing demands for services. Project based services will continue dominating the macro market of services. The three main dimensions of the IT service industry will thrive on technical expertise, innovation and marketing. The idea of B4B will be the new conceived idea rather than B2B which will broadly apply to the enterprises. ë

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SPECIAL STORY

MAY THE

‘POWER’ BE WITH YOU

The DCIM market in EMEA is expected to reach USD 722 million by 2020, growing at a CAGR of close to 18%. The utility market in the Middle East has also set a roadmap of its own to touch new benchmarks by 2020. The demand for sustainable power solutions are rising up the graph as digitalization and the need for a 24/7 business gains pace. n WORDS: ANUSHREE DIXIT <ANUSHREE@ACCENTINFOMEDIA.COM>

n the September 2015 issue of Enterprise Channels MEA, we had talked about the need for the Middle East region to prepare for an expensive oil market. Lo and Behold! We have witnessed the rise and continuation of a shaky economy that was heavily Oil-dependent. Power solutions, management and availability are significant like never before; A transformed data center, ambitious IoT projects, increased dependency on machines and the surge in the real estate market all over the GCC have just added power to the ‘Power ’.

THE POWERED-UP MARKET Before you begin your investment or planning of investment in power solutions, organizations should have a thorough understanding of the organizational infrastructure and the relevant power

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solutions that would go into its spine. According to OGN, Oil and Gas News, the power generation rental markets in the GCC countries are primarily driven by demand from utilities and the construction industry, with Saudi Arabia emerging as the largest power rental market. The global distributed energy generation (DEG) market is expected to reach USD 179.65 billion by 2020, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. High cost involved during installation of transmission lines coupled with loss of electricity over long lines is expected to increase the importance of DEG in the near future. According to Rajesh N.R - Sales Manager - IT Infrastrcuture - Rittal Middle East. “Business continuity depends on uninterrupted power and your resilience towards power interruption. It’s not just the source of power, but its distribution too matters a lot. At Rittal we focus on the modular & scalable 3 phase UPS systems, centralized

power distribution system to distribute the power from the UPS and Rack based Power distribution units to distribute the power within the Rack. Software for remote monitoring of these systems compliment the power portfolio of Rittal”

THE VERTICAL DEMAND The construction, oil and gas industries helped maintain growth in the Middle Eastern power rental market in 2014, bringing its total value to over $500 million (€440 million), according to a Verify Markets report.With demand expected to surge 8.3 per cent a year through 2019 – more than three times the global average – the region will need to install an extra 156 gigawatts of capacity over the next five years along with new transmission and distribution infrastructure, according to a report by the Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation

SPECIAL STORY

GCC DATA CENTER CONSTRUCTION MARKET 2016 REPORT Segmentation by electrical construction and analysis of the data center market in GCC

UPS Energy storage equipment n Generators n Transfer switches and switchgear n Others (PDUs, external lighting, panels, and utility transformers) n n

Mechanical construction n n n

Cooling solutions Racks Others

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SPECIAL STORY

(Apicorp), a development bank owned by regional oil producers.

THE HIGH GROWTH UPS MARKET

RAJESH N.R SALES MANAGER - IT INFRASTRCUTURE - RITTAL MIDDLE EAST

“Advances in technology and the growing “digitalisation” of the world mean that many more IT applications must now be considered critical”

FRANK ACKLAND

GENERAL MANAGER - EATON MIDDLE EAST

“Advances in technology and the growing “digitalisation” of the world mean that many more IT applications must now be considered critical.”

Advances in technology and the growing “digitalisation” of the world mean that many more IT applications must now be considered critical. Simultaneously, environmental concerns have been increasing along with the cost of power, leaving UPS users with difficult choices to make about achieving the right balance between resiliency and efficiency, as it has traditionally been considered that it is necessary to make sacrifices in one of these areas to make gains in the other,” says Frank Ackland, General Manager - Eaton Middle East. He also adds that UPS manufacturers are now addressing this conundrum.

RISING ABOVE THE ‘POWER’ PRESSURE Energy saving and water-wise data center are stealing the show and a critical need of modern business. According to an Emerson report, medium and large data centers are in the dire need to conserve their energy and water while preserving availability. Business critical applications should never be put on the risk of overheating. Power surges, high voltage spikes, transients, power sag, frequency variations, blackouts etc. are the common issues encountered by end users. What other challenges do you foresee when it comes to power solutions? How do you ensure these problems are solved? Rittal believes that the above problems all relate to the source, but even if utmost care is taken in selecting the right power source, an issue can happen also on the distribution side due to many factors, including human error, which can be as trivial an act like accidental disconnection of the power cable. “At Rittal we focus on both the UPS and its distribution to ensure that there are no loose ends,” says Ranjan.

FINALLY… Needless to say, power solutions are the spine of any enterprises. As data centers get hyperconverged, the demand is just set to rise. Power utilization is one of the most ‘pocket worrying’ aspects of a data center. Increased investments and initiatives in reducing carbon footprint, carbon emissions and going green are highly changing the power landscape. Unawareness of the benefits of power management solutions is a very big hindrance that is eating away a big share of the budget. It is time to light the planning bulb. ë

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MY VIEWS

Rebranding Organization, Reinforcing Value Emitac Enterprise Solutions is re-establishing its supremacy in the SI market with a brand new identity. The strategies and roadmap that follows is worth the wait. In a candid conversation with Tony Alam, CEO, Emitac Enterprise Solutions.

TONY ALAM,

CEO, EMITAC ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS.

n WORDS: ANUSHREE DIXIT <ANUSHREE@ACCENTINFOMEDIA.COM>

t has been 6 months since Tony Alam stepped into Emitac Enterprise Solutions as the CEO. Down the months, the company has undergone massive ‘re-visioning’ and structural changes under his leadership. After establishing a strong hold in the UAE market, the top SI is all set to venture into other countries with a quiver that carries more ‘Services’ than ever.

CARRYING FORWARD THE SUCCESS LEGACY As the market evolves to adapt to the ubiquitous technologies, Tony says that he has stepped in at a very exciting phase. The maturity of the market combined with Emitac’s 40 years of leadership has laid a strong foundation for Tony to work and build on it. “We are designing a lot of strategies to groom our business from a structural and management perspective. Cloud and managed services will definitely be our way forward and we are confident that we are moving in the right direction in building our operations, services and client base.” In order to further re-emphasize their position in the market, EES has also opened its offshore office in Bengaluru, India that will work as an extended arm of the UAE market in remote monitoring the services offered to the clients. “India is a pool of IT talent, hence the choice was obvious. We have a headcount of over 40 in the Bengaluru office who will be monitoring our services and offering the required help with a virtual presence.”

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Tony says that he would definitely be cashing on the brand value and reputation that EES has and the organization is all set to take that big step of focusing entirely on services. “My first target was to refine the strategies of the organizationbased on the market requirements and dynamics. We also built our cloud and we are working heavily on the offerings. The results are visible and the visibility is much more than I expected,” says Tony.

EMITAC CLOUD ROLLOUT The Emitac Cloud is in its testing phase, but Tony says that the customers have already started seeing the benefits of it. “Our service motto is to make the life of the customer easier and simpler. They all know about the cloud but they are all coming with a different approach.We are taking certain burdens off the customer’s shoulders.The offerings on the palette include, BaaS, DRaaS, etcand we are increasingly showing them the simplicity and benefits of moving to our cloud. By 2020, the Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) market will be about eight and a half times larger than today, according to research firm and Markets. As the enterprises attach more value to disaster and risk management and EES seesDRaaS as a service gaining more momentum. “The approach is not to move everything to the cloud but do it phase by phase. Customers have already started seeing the benefits of the cloud in terms of cost realization, optimization, and service,” adds Tony.

EES BRAND PHILOSOPHY: “Emitac is more than a Company, It is a Belief. A belief that defies ordinary thinking. This belief has turned Vision into Reality and delivers value to our Clients, Investors, Employees and our Partners.”

SERVICES ALL THE WAY EES will be focusing and investing more on the services as it believes that is where the market is moving towards. “At the end of the day, everything rounds up to services. Customers have realized that at the end of the day, they have to focus on their core business. For many organizations, IT is not a business critical department, hence they wish to cut down costs on IT services as their business became more competitive.Customers are moving from CAPEX to OPEX and a huge focus is on BOT (Build, Operate, Transfer) It is becoming more and more acceptable in this market and more project will come to the surface.2016 was not bad at all and we see a lot of opportunities in 2017 as well. We have made significant investments in Managed Services and our NoC/ SDC.At the end of the day it is all about putting forward the right value proposition. A good number of organizations have forayed into other countries but many of the projects were left halfway. Tony says that he is very positive of their growth and success. “Unlike other service providers we are not here to push what we want … but what the customers NEED.” ë

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MY VIEWS

it before causing any damages. What is your focus for GITEX 2016? Bitdefender’s focus is to offer a security solution especially designed for Hybrid Infrastructures. Bitdefender will showcase GravityZone, the security solution built from the ground up for all infrastructures – physical, hybrid, or virtual, hosted in the public or private Cloud. Bitdefender GravityZone comes now with new features that strengthen even further its protection capabilities: Enhanced Advanced Threat Control with stronger Anti-exploit capabilities. What is the competitive edge of your product/solution portfolio at GITEX 2016? Hypervisor Introspection, developed with Citrix – as a Tech Preview is introduced by Bitdefender What the solution does: l Runs memory introspection at hypervisor-level, where threats cannot hide l Addresses tools & attack techniques, not specific malware l Agentless. Malware cannot reach it. l Runs on top of any existing security solution. l Minimum performance impact on VMs l Already proven for several known APTs

MR ZIAD NASR

REGIONAL SALES DIRECTOR MEA, BITDEFENDER

MAKING SECURITY A PRIORITY AS THE YEAR 2016 SEES THE DUSK, MOST ORGANIZATIONS HAVE PREDICTIONS FOR THE CLOSING OF THE YEAR AND PLANS CHALKED OUT FOR 2017. BITDEFENDER ISN’T BEHIND WHEN IT COMES TO A VISIONARY APPROACH. GITEX PREPARATIONS AND EXPECTATION TO CLOSE 2016 WITH A 200% YOY GROWTH HAS KEPT BITDEFENDER ON ITS TOES.

How has the year been for you and what were the major milestones that you achieved? One of Bitdefender’s major milestones involves the launch of a hypervisor introspection technology, developed in partnership with Citrix, Intel, and the Linux Foundation. This is not only a major achievement for us, but it’s also an industry premiere, as it’s currently the only security technology designed to work at the

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hypervisor level. It identifies unknown threats by analyzing the attack techniques used by the APTs, such as zero-day vulnerabilities and kernel rootkits, plugging advanced threats from compromising an organization’s virtual endpoints. Countering the ransomware threat that business have been facing, we’ve also updated Active Threat Control technology with new ransomware-specific heuristics, aimed at detecting ransomware-like behavior and stopping

What are your partner programs or partner enablement strategy for future? Bitdefender Partner Program’s is a unique approach that enables business partners to reach the maximum benefit. Being a bronze partner, the resellers receive a basic margin and access to NFR licenses. Reaching the Silver level, the benefits are much higher and the margin and extra bonuses increase. Gold partners are the most rewarded by our channel program, as they reach the highest benefits based on their performance.With a full access to a lot of business tools, our partners can have account protection, access lead generation campaigns, NFR, ordering and marketing materials, all in a unique and top ranked partner program. How has Q3 quarter been for Bitdefender and what are the plans for Q4? H1 2016, the MENA office has achieved 149% YoY growth, with 97% of enterprise business which is our focus in this region. By end of H1, we have filled up some more top notch sales/SE positions to cover more areas and territories. We are expecting to close 2016 with a 200% YoY growth. ë

IDC IT FORUM

Painting a ‘Smart’ future for Ajman

As the smart city wave is spreading across Middle East, Ajman is also trying to match pace with rest of the GCC by chalking out well defined plans and a visionary outlook to ensure better services and public convenience. In conversation with Zain Mohammed Al Sharif from Ajman Municipality.

ZAIN MOHAMMED AL SHARIF,

HEAD OF OPERATIONS AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT SECTION

r. Zain Mohammed Al Sharif, Head of Operations and Technical Support Section, Ajman Municipality was an active participant and a panelist at the IDC IT Forum. The discussion revolved around digital transformation where the members spoke about their organization’s roadmap, opportunities and the need for digitization. Expressing his views on the Smart city initiatives, Mr. Zain said, “Our director Mr. Yousuf Al Shaiba has been dreaming of doing bigger projects since

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2006. The smart city plan was a small one when we were working to provide smart services to all public parks and libraries which were earlier under Dubai Municipality. It was a big challenge for us since the technology that time was not matured, but now it’s becoming a reality.” Ajman Municipality has been working to provide services which help the public and contribute to the overall infrastructure. There are many things on the radar for Ajman Municipality, amongst them are health services, parking services, environment services etc. Mr. Zain

expresses the need to have equipments which will help in the growth of Ajman and the distribution of these services should be done widely so that the people can benefit from it and that’s the reason Ajman Municipality is looking to have partners on board to provide innovative and helpful services. Ajman Municipality states that the vision of a smart city with beneficial services isn’t just a mere promise that they want to make to the public and that’s the reason they always look at partnering with organizations who aim to provide the best rather than just looking to associate with the brand of Ajman Municipality. “H.H. Sheikh Rashid Bin Humaid Al Nuaimi. Chairman of the Department of Municipal and Planning, Ajman, is extremely optimistic about the projects we take up and as a result we are always motivated to push our limits and contribute much more to the public. We have a big responsibility on our shoulders and it’s not an easy task,” says Mr.Zain. To get right things in the right place and implement it properly is the biggest challenge according to Mr.Zain. He mentioned during his tenure at Dubai Municipality as Network Infrastructure Manager they built their own man project which connects all the branches with fiber. The project provided them services 24/7 without any issues with Etisalat line. “There are many opportunities in Ajman. Ajman has a small area and therefore one can build their infrastructure easily like L-type or E-type. In Dubai the area is more and therefore infrastructure challenges are also more, one cannot control it properly due to the widespread area. The size and time frame is different for Ajman and Dubai,” concluded Mr. Zain. ë

IDC IT FORUM

SMART CITY, HAPPY PEOPLE- A PERFECT MATCH At the recently held IDC IT Forum, Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority’s SVP for People Happiness, Innovation and Supply Management. Ghanim Al Falasi, talked about the 6 pillars that goes into the building of the smart city and talked about how education plays a key role in building the next generation of smart city leaders.

have a Master’s degree for it. It is a fundamental that we have to build in order to realize the vision of a smart city. So we have One vision and One definition,”

THE 6 PILLARS OF THE SMART CITY

GHANIM AL FALASI,

SVP PEOPLE HAPPINESS, INNOVATION AND SUPPLY MANAGEMENT, DUBAI SILICON OASIS AUTHORITY

ollaboration and Innovation goes into the spine of Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority’s Smart city initiative. In an exclusive conversation with Enterprise Channels MEA, Ghanim Al Falasi, SVP People Happiness, Innovation and Supply Management elaborated on how DSOA is heading 2 major projects for smart city; Silicon Park and Smart city district. “By 2018, we will have a real life model city. We are working in this city to transform ‘things’ into ‘smart things’.

EDUCATION— SPINE OF THE SMART CITY

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Ghanim states that DSOA has taken all the efforts in making sure that the citizens know about the ‘smart city’ that they are living in rather than merely implementing solutions. “We need to have the right materials for educating the citizens. We believe that education and awareness is the basis of all development. So we started with the ‘abc’ of a smart city. We started with a thorough endorsement of the smart city model by the supreme leaderships of the nation andthen our management also realizedthe vision and translated it into a committee and from that committee we came up with an advisory board. This philosophy led us to building the smart city academics. So now we have a diploma for smart city and we also

While some cities went for Green technologies, sustainable energy and other elements of smart city DSOA is looking it from a holistic point of view, touching upon everything and they have erected 6 pillars of a smart city. “Smart people living in a smart city where they use smart mobility in developing a smart economy governed by a smart government”. These are the pillars of a smart city as defined by Ghanim. Accroding to him, it doesn’t always have to be technology; It is all about how you make best use of the cities’ greatest assets—its citizens. Technology and various automated and online services have saved a lot of citizens’ time, so now we have to see how this time can be utilized in a positive way and what good the citizens can do for the country and vice versa.” As an example, DSOA installed the first Smart Street Solution in the Middle East region at the high-tech park. The Smart Street Solution incorporates a number of advanced features geared towards creating a friendly and secure environment for the community. The integrated nature of the solution means it is ‘future ready’ – or ready to add additional services and capabilities in a cost effective and timely manner.

BEING SMART, BEING HAPPY According to Ghanim, happiness is all about having a balanced life or living life in a very integrate way. “So we work to create that equilibrium in the lives of individuals, the community wherein we are striving to build relationships, especially in a place like Dubai which is a melting pot of various nationalities and communities. ë

wh a. Yep, the impossible just happened.

Jan. 5-8, 2017 Î™ Las Vegas, NV

GEC OPEN ..THE JOURNEY SO FAR

CIO SPEAK

What are the opportunities you see when it comes to IT in Africa? Africa is a continent of around 1 billion people, where recent study discovered that only 300 million of that population are plugged in to the internet, mostly accessing social networks. Having been on the ground, I have been seeing and understanding those connected and not connected. I have been surprised to learn of their unexpected capabilities, limitations, and related habits. Lot of governments are doing great things for their people but many still don’t have G2B, G2B2C, B2B, or B2C. We need to understand the needs of those not connected, and solutions to be tailored to their needs.

MR. SOLAYMAN REFAE,

GROUP CIO- HEAD OF IT, WEBCOR GROUP

When technology leads to triumph IF YOU STOP TRYING YOU STOP LEARNING AND EVOLVING, THIS HOLDS TRUE FOR THE VISIONARY GROUP CIO-HEAD OF IT, WEBCOR GROUP- MR. SOLAYMAN REFAE, WHO HAS ANALYZED THE AFRICAN MARKET CLOSELY. WITH SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES WAITING TO BE EXPLORED IN THE CONTINENT OF AFRICA, WEBCOR GROUP IS THRIVING WITH A FORWARD LOOKING APPROACH, KEY IT IMPLEMENTATIONS AND A WELL-DEFINED DIGITAL ROADMAP.

n S O N A L L U N A W AT < S O N A L @ A C C E N T I N F O M E D I A . C O M >

Kindly provide us with a brief about your organization? Webcor is a multi-national group of companies, with its primary business being food trade, wholesale/retail, and manufacturing. Webcor has numerous subsidiaries. Our global presence in Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and Southeast Asia combined with core operations in Africa has given us unparalleled experience in those markets.We supply market-leading brands through our network of companies, and over 110 points-of-sale Which technologies do you think will rule the floors in the coming

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years? Companies are moving from ‘Doing Digital’ to ‘Being Digital’. Business is expecting more from IT than just supporting the back office. Due to gains through digitalization, we are seeing IT significantly influence the Strategic direction of the companies. Convergence of Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Computing, and Connectedness of technology to serve strategic direction and spur innovation: Secure Cloud, NextGen Mobility, CRM, Content Management Systems, Business Activity Monitoring, Data Analytics, IoT, Crowd Sourcing, Enterprise Identity Management and Security, especially in BYOD environments.

In your tenure at Webcor group, what are the major IT implementation projects taken up? I have introduced the bi-modal approach, where we are planning and building future strategic and transformational projects, while we continue with projects and IT support. It has been a key priority for me to restructure and optimize the IT operation, and infuse a measurement and control processes through aProject Management Office which I have introduced last year. To mitigate the unstable and non-existent communications in some of our African locations, we are building a creative and Innovative Microwave and VSAT communication network, to connect 80+ sites across Angola and Mozambique sites, to our group network.We are also creating new efficiencies through our enterprise-wide Intranet/ social network and enterprisePOS/SCM systems, which runs across our wholesale operations in Angolaand operates in online and offline mode. Critical to any transformational success, we have enacted a Change Management Program, to support our IT Transformation programs,to ensure user adoption of various initiatives. In a nutshell can you please share some DOs and DONTs for 2017 for your regional colleagues? DON’T: The CIO shouldn’t only focus on technology aspects yet, he should be a change agent, marketer, influencer, and leader in order to bridge the gap between where the organizations are today and where they need to be on the digital map. DO: It is very critical for the CIO to focus on defining and deploying Process Standards, and close a widening IT skills gap in order to deliver on potential transformational projects.The CIO should mandate his IT Leaders to work with Business Leaders, to define and lead a Digital Transformation Strategy. ë

CASE STUDY

GULF PRECAST

GULF PRECAST’S SMART ‘SWITCH’ SOLUTION DEPLOYED Having different storage and network protocols are always a challenge as multiple devices are required to support different protocols. After in-depth research &study, end to end converged network was deployed which not only provided 10G throughput but supported multiple protocols as well. In virtualized environment, implementing converged network was a challenge. we explored several options and came up with using CNAs in our physical servers to use multiple storage technologies on the same fabric network. We successfully deployed FC, Ethernet, FCoE and iSCSI protocols, and removed the unnecessary switches, network adapters and cables.

MOHAMMAD SHAHZAD,

ICT MANAGER, GULF PRECAST

VENDOR PARTNER Teksalah LLC

PROJECT OBJECTIVE IN DETAIL In line with the Corporate Strategic Objective to enhance & upgrade the ICT infrastructure to support upcoming expansion of company, and to overcome the current performance issue with network infrastructure.We deployed a comprehensive 10G converged network with state of the art Cisco Nexus converged family switches.

THE CHALLENGE Immediate need was to improvise the back-up system performance, to achieve maximum IOPS on the storage nodes and to plan for future company expansion in different countries. While using the virtualized infrastructure there is a need of a wider storage backbone to sustain the workloads from databases, applications and backup jobs. We were using 1G network for our storage backbone and multiple technologies were being used to support multiple storage protocols.

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Our storage backbone was a bottleneck and it was difficult to achieve desired application and backup performance. This headed us to implement converged network which supports multiple storage protocols on the same link and provides maximum throughput.

IMPLEMENTATION PHASE Two Cisco Nexus 5548 converged network fabric switches were commissioned and installed. n Reconfigured the complete VMware network infrastructure with new Storage, Management and VMotion network. n Remapped all the Logical Unit Numbers(LUNs) though new network fabric to all ESXi hosts. n Reconfigured storage infrastructure with new 10G iSCSI and 4G FCoE-FC network over converged fabric. n Tested all the configurations and did performance tuning. n

RESULT We deployed a comprehensive 10G converged network with state of the art Cisco Nexus converged family switches and achieved the following benefits: n Drastic increase in the storage IOPS: l Overall IOPS increased by 87%. l Read IOPS increased by 100%. l Write IOPS increased by 64%. l Average response time decreased by -47%. l Average read response time decreased by -42%. l Average write response time decreased by -64%. n Overall management of the network decreased by 150%. n Backup performance of the current application increased by 100% resulting accommodating multiple server backups at the same time. n Cabling reduced by 50%. n CPU overhead was eliminated completely as CNAs are taking care of TCP overload. ë

Cyber Snipers At Work Advanced Persistent Threats Uncovered 1 Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) APTs are usually targeted at specific industries, organizations, or even individuals and may involve significant research into personnel, offices, IT practices, operations, and much more to help gain a foot-hold

Command & Control Server

3 Discretely Call Home The infected system connects to the command & control (C&C) server for further instructions or to start passing sensitive data

2 Entry Point Targeted or not, the initial system is usually infected by either: • Visiting an infected website • Opening an email attachment • Plugging in a USB stick

4 Covertly Spread The malware may choose to remain undetected and move slowly or it may attempt to spread to other systems by taking advantage of unpatched vulnerabilities or using hijacked credentials

5 Silently Exﬁltrate Data The malware may attempt to steal information from emails, documents, Skype or IM conversations, or even webcams depending on its intentions

68%

OF IT MANAGERS DON’T KNOW WHAT AN APT IS

75%

51%

OF COMPANIES MIGHT HAVE EXPERIENCED A CYBER ATTACK IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS

OF COMPANIES LOST OR HAD SENSITIVE DATA EXPOSED IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS

MOST COMMON TYPES OF CYBER ATTACKS 55%

PHISHING AND SOCIAL ENGINEERING 46%

DENIAL OF SERVICE AND BOTNETS 43%

ADVANCED MALWARE / ZERO DAY ATTACKS 33%

TRADITIONAL VIRUSES AND MALWARE 31%

COMPROMISED DEVICES 25%

MALICIOUS INSIDER 16%

APPLICATION-LEVEL ATTACKS WEB-BASED ATTACK

How Command & Control Works Watch the video

12%

Learn More About Network Threats and watch our short 3 min hacking videos

Advanced Persistent Threats: Detection, Protection and Prevention Get the whitepaper

Sources: http://sophos.ﬁles.wordpress.com/2013/11/2013-ponemon-institute-midmarket-trends-sophos.pdf

GUEST ARTICLE

Finesse provides Big Data & Analytics for the Oil and Gas Sector to enhance IoT adoption. Amongst the most influential industries across the globe, it is the Oil & Gas sector that affects businesses the most. While this sector goes through one of the most transformative periods in its history, it will ultimately redefine the energy business as we know it and can subsequently impact all businesses and life around the world.

To be able to balance the supply and demand of oil across the world, oil and gas producers are increasingly adopting automation solutions so as to efficiently extract, store, and transport oil and gas. Add to it, environmental regulations are forcing oil and gas producers to implement automation solutions in the extraction process to comply with cyber security and Stringent Government Policies and Environmental Regulations. This is where the oil manufacturing companies need enterprise-wide integrated applications, especially those that are integrated with their operational ERP software. Companies are turning increasingly to IoT and Big Data & Analytics to be able to improve decision making, gain insight into the latest threats and to leverage on best industry practices.. More and more companies are adopting IoT technologies to cut costs, improve efficiencies, and to optimize the use of their assets. They are also moving to cloud computing, mostly a hybrid model as typically a majority of the data this industry deals with is significantly sensitive. Another way IoT is influencing the oil and gas industry is all about how industrial mobility and augmented reality provide powerful support to field workers; how to work in intelligent 3D virtual representations of oil rigs, refineries and plants; and how robotics and autonomous machines help to get safely and quickly to places

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hard to reach. This helps to prevent unscheduled maintenance delays, which usually run into millions of dollars in costs for companies. While many industries are still grappling with Big Data and analytics, the oil and gas industry has long dealt with large quantities of data to make technical decisions. So Big Data is not new to this industry; what with the need to learn what lies below the surface and how to bring it out, energy companies have, for many years, invested in seismic software, visualization tools and other digital technologies. Finesse has a very successful practice for Big Data and Analytics. Our solutions and platforms give analytics and insights into ways to maximize assets, optimize supply chain and reduce costs while improving supply-and-demand forecasts. Oil and Gas companies can track leading indicators to adjust their operations to changing market conditions. They can very effectively reduce costs by gaining holistic business visibility of their key assets and supply chain. Maintaining asset integrity in the field, while balancing scarce engineering resources becomes an easy task with these analytics. An important part of tracking health, safety and environmental incidents throughout the supply chain is very imperative and some of our solutions help these companies take care of it. Thus O&G Companies can now accurately predict demand, control costs and

n N I S H R I N S E V W A L A , C O N S U LTA N T - B U S I N E S S D E V E L O P M E N T AT F I N E S S E .

discover answers. They can also improve business decisions about operations, suppliers, assets, risks and more that directly impact business performance. Typically, since Oil and Gas companies have lot of sensitive data like the Test and Development in their Data Centre, they would prefer to host this data to Cloud from the on-premises Data Centers. It becomes a great value for this sector to utilize cloud and save the space for their production unit. Public Cloud, Onshore hosting Cloud within UAE and DR as a service are ways in which Finesse meets the Infrastructure solutions challenges of the Oil and Gas companies. Finesse has a bouquet of solutions for the Oil and Gas industry along with Big Data and Analytics. Being system integrators, most of our solutions are for inter-dependant and can complement each other to provide a holistic solution to our customers in this industry. Some of our solutions and services for the sector includeERP Output Management services, Corporate Performance Management Solution Budgeting, Planning, Forecasting, Consolidation and Management Reporting, Enterprise Content Management and Governance, Risk and Compliance ( GRC ) Solutions. All our solutions in this portfolio help Oil and Gas companies improve performance, optimize supply-chain and reduce costs. ĂŤ

MY VIEWS

the runway of opportunities.” An edge above the rest In order to survive the competition one needs to prepare and face the challenges the dynamic market instills. Mimecast’s entry in such a saturated market surely raises brows on the company’s product portfolio and what makes it unique. Brandon says, “We have set up an operations centre here to provide services, one doesn’t have to go anywhere else to get these services. We have extremely high industry leading customer satisfaction scores. Our technology itself is very strong, as per Gartner quadrant we are leaders. We are the fastest growing when it comes to our services globally. We retain 111% revenue YoY, partners like that, so when they sell our services it is for long term. Our platform is unique, built 13 years ago born in the cloud, single platform all on our IP and that’s unique, none of our competitors have that.” Mimecast claims that it can develop software quickly in cases of new threats, and can deliver services promptly.

BRANDON BEKKER,

MANAGING DIRECTOR, MIMECAST MEA

Making a mark in Middle East ANALYSTS AND VENDORS HAVE BEEN SKEPTICAL ABOUT THE MARKET AND ITS SLUMP, HOWEVER MIMECAST EMERGES AS A STRONG COMPETITOR IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICAN REGION, THANKS TO THEIR MARKETING DRILLS, VISIONARY OUTLOOK AND NEW DEVELOPMENTS. IN CONVERSATION WITH BRANDON BEKKER, MANAGING DIRECTOR, MIMECAST MEA.

Escalation of Mimecast in ME Mimecast has just established its ground presence in Middle East but has been an active trader in the region for over 8 years, as Brandon Bekker, Managing Director, Mimecast MEA says, “We’ve been in this region, opportunistically and tactically, nothing strategic in terms of investment.” Brandon feels by making an investment in this region they sure can tap the market and have a considerable amount

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of share. Mimecast’s entry after 8 years in the region is worth a notice, Brandon explains the reason why it too them so long to establish a base in Middle East, he said, “The main drive is that the African business needs to grow at a certain rate and we see more opportunities in Middle East than Africa. The economic conditions are more favorable in this region. In South Africa we hold a very dominant market position which means we have nearly ended

Clarity in vision- enhanced solutions? Mimecast’s email archiving solution is quite popular, but there are vendors providing end-to-end services when it comes to security. Aware of its positioning, Mimecast’s way of survival is a little diverse. Brandon feels that a company’s emails and their information is the most important currency they have, that’s the reason Mimecast doesn’t want to divert it’s focus elsewhere and provide the best email archiving solution. Providing better SLAs, deeper development in technology with R&D is what keeps Mimecast on its toes. Every region differs and therefore getting a closer look on its functioning is crucial. Brandon said, “When customers choose their vendor there needs to be a trust factor and that takes time. Our customers act as our spokesperson in the market and regions we operate. 90% of our sales requires our interaction with the clients since we deal with sensitive data.” Mission: Future Possible Mimecast is taking part in GITEX along with its partner Bulwark to showcase their new product line. Brandon concluded his take on the entire hacking scenario by stating that 91% attacks happen through emails. With every organization investing on their email operations this definitely poses a threat to the overall working. Mimecast’s intrinsic world of email archiving solutions and security definitely creates curiosity among customers who want to make sure their most valuable asset is free from the potent threats. ë

A Miller Heiman Group Distribution Partner

YOUR TRUSTED PARTNER FOR TURN KEY IT SOLUTION www.gtcme.com From need Assessment, Planning, Supply, Installation and Support, we provide end to end solution for your entire IT Infrastructure requirement TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS ________________

105B Al Makhawi Building Oud Metha, Dubai. Sales@gtcme.com 04 370 8091 Emerging Integrator of the year

MY OPINION

‘QUEUE’ NO MORE As the payment industry finds itself opening doors to a whole new world of customer experience and technology advancements, OMA Emirates, with the iSMP, is creating and developing opportunities for new product innovations in the Middle East

NIRANJ SANGAL

GROUP CEO, OMA EMIRATES GROUP

n B Y: A N U S H R E E D I X I T < A N U S H R E E @ A C C E N T I N F O M E D I A . C O M >

SMP was introduced in the market in 2011 by Ingenico as “Experience the power of liberty”. It has been focusing on two key segments of the market - shopping and business. iSMP is a unique Smart Mobile POS which has brought accessibility of mobile payments right into the hands of the merchants. As a device it’s a product innovation bringing in the Payment and Mobile together. OMA Emirates as a partner of Ingenico in the Middle East is focusing on creating and developing opportunities for new product innovations and services in the field of payment acceptance. OMA Emirates has introduced iSMP to retailers (shopping and businesses)across the industry. iSMP is a customer delight as it brings in a greater shopping experience for both, the customer and merchant through ease of usage, safe,secure and convenient way of transacting. Today OMA Emirates has opportunities not only from banks/ acquirers but also through retail merchants who are looking at new and innovative products which add value to their brand. iSMP brings in a one–stop-solutions that provide easy sales management by merchants in the stores and provides personalized selling opportunities are well matched with th iSMP. Today, Ingenico has introduced iSMP with Apple Stores all over the world, as the ‘Future of Mobility’ acceptance.

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TARGET SEGMENTS AND USE CASE iSMP is a solution for retailers who want to bring in ease of transacting using innovation along with secure way of transactions. iSMP is for retail Industry focusses on personalized services especially F&B (restaurants), hotels (check-in and check-out), e/m commerce industry and many more avenues. iSMP brings in a greater shopping experience especially in big retail stores during festive discounts and in cases there the footfall is high, eg. hypermarkets where there are serpentine queues for payments. iSMP brings in the value and is a queue burster. It’s simple, the terminal is brought to the customer, customer makes the payment and moves out as a happy customer.

PRODUCT TECHNOLOGY iSMP uses Apple products and turns iPod touch or iPhone into EMV chip and PIN secure mobility payment solution. iSMP is a universal payment platform that accepts all forms of payment, EMV chip and PIN as well as magstripe and contactless. Based on Telium 2, Ingenico’s highly secure payment platformis compatible with its existing worldwide portfolio of payment applications. The iSMP meets all security and payment standards - EMV, PCI PTS, Paypass™, payWave.

“The region is ready for change .Retailers, food and beverage outlets, hotels, in the region are always looking at adopting the latest technologies and many have shown great interest in the Ingenico iSMP range. Their emphasis is always on enhancing the customer experience and raising the satisfaction levels. They make concerted efforts to implement technologies that will support them in these goals.” THE FUTURE Today, market is all about innovations and technology. The retailers are looking at new secure, convenient and smart ways of accepting payment solutions. ISMPis a combination of all of the above and adds value to the retailers with innovations. ë

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GUEST ARTICLE

DRaaS –Taking the Cost and Complexity out of Cloudbased Disaster Recovery For larger enterprises with complex infrastructures and larger data volumes spread across disparate systems, DRaaS has often been too complicated and expensive to implement. As the technology improves, choices increase and costs drop, DRaaS adoption is rising fast across organizations of all sizes.

Downtime saps the energy from organizations. Every minute of lost productivity drains revenue. Meanwhile, competitors get a head start, when they should be left far behind. Availability of applications and data have a direct impact on its top and bottom-line performance for modern businesses. The result? There is absolutely no tolerance for downtime today. To reduce unplanned downtime to an absolute minimum and keep businesses operating smoothly, a secondary site for disaster recovery (DR) is vital. When disaster strikes, organizations need off-site, ready-to-go replicas of all critical apps and data, so they can get back up and running quickly. But setting up and maintaining a separate disaster recovery site is expensive and timeconsuming, which is why cloud based Disaster Recovery-as-a-Service (DRaaS) presents such a compelling alternative. Thus far, DRaaS has mainly been seen as a way for SMBs (small-to-medium sized businesses) to utilize real disaster recovery capabilities. Tight budgets and limited staff were constraining SMBs from maintaining their own remote sites, so DRaaS has helped them overcome this challenge. Now, industry trends confirm that enterprises start to enjoy DRaaS without extra complexity and high cost implementation. A recent report by MarketsandMarkets says that the DRaaS market

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size is estimated to grow from USD 1.68 Billion in 2016 to USD 11.11 Billion by 2021, at an estimated CAGR of 45.9% from 2016 to 2021. Why Choose DRaaS? DRaaS adoption is speeding up, and the most popular reasons to consider DRaaS are a lack of disaster recovery site and lack of disaster recovery expertise. For IT leaders challenged to increase resiliency without increasing costs, DRaaS could soon be seen as an essential piece of the modern data centre puzzle. By overcoming traditional cost and complexity issues, large IT organizations can start to realize the many benefits of DRaaS, including: l Fast recovery — If a disaster occurs, every second your system is down means you are losing money. DRaaS can enable you to restore normal operations in minutes, rather than hours or even days. l Cost control — Building and maintaining a remote disaster recovery site is expensive and complex. DRaaS eliminates the need to run your own disaster recovery site, reduces CapEx (capital expense) and provides predictable OpEx (operating expense) costs with pay-as-you go pricing models. l Flexibility — Rather than traditional disaster recovery’s rigidity, DRaaS allows you to activate

n GREGG PETERSEN, REGIONAL DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST AND SAARC, VEEAM SOFTWARE

virtual off-site resources on demand. And you can choose from a variety of recovery scopes, depending on the nature and severity of the disaster. l Simplicity — New technology advances allow you to quickly and simply implement DRaaS and manage backup and recovery far more easily. l Security and compliance — The best DRaaS solutions ensure that data is encrypted in transit and at rest. They also enable in-house, IT teams to maintain data residency control. Some industry solutions require failover tests periodically. A DRaaS solution with automated testing capabilities can greatly reduce expenses required to run those tests. Bright Future for DRaaS Networking is one of the biggest problems for any cloud-based, enterprise disaster recovery solution. Traditionally, service providers have had to wrestle with complex VPNs, custom rules, network overlaps and the painstaking task of reconfiguring network routing to redirect data to cloud recovery sites. However, new technology is removing the pain points, making it easier for service providers to offer DRaaS and easier for enterprises to take advantage of it. DRaaS is set to surge in adoption and enterprises jumping on the bandwagon early on will reap the most benefits. ë

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KEY CAPABILITIES n One of the fastest scanners in its class - 25ppm scan speed n TWAIN and ISIS drivers for seamless integration with existing document management systems n USB 3.0 connectivity means there is no slow down, even at 300dpi high resolution n Included Epson software enables dual image output scan once and send to two different destinations n Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Direct connectivity (DS-1660W only) n Create up to 30 jobs and take advantage of easy, one-touch scanning to folders, email, online storage accounts and more with the optional network panel (DS-1630 only) n Long document mode makes it possible to scan over three metres of paper (3048mm) (single-sided only)

EPSON’S Work Force DS-1660W and DS-1630 document scanners These affordable document scanners combine the versatility of a flatbed with the convenience of a high-speed, 50-page ADF to tackle virtually any task. Ideal for scanning passports, booklets and fragile documents on their flatbed, the ADF is also ideal for stacks of paper. Both models also benefit from intelligent colour and image adjustments, such as auto crop, skew correction, and blank page

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SIEMON’S LIGHTBOW SYSTEM Siemon’s LightHouse advanced fibre optic cabling solutions, the new system features an exclusive patent-pending termination tool and pre-polished mechanical splice connectors that together reduce termination time, prevent fibre end face contamination and air gaps, and enable easy verification of termination quality. Ergonomically optimised for use in handheld or table-top orientation, the new LightBow termination tool significantly reduces termination time by combining both splice activation and crimping in a single, optimised step and providing universal LC and SC connector compatibility with no time-consuming changeover. KEY CAPABILITIES n Integrated LC and SC strip templates moulded right into the tool to ensure proper strip length of the fibre n The entire termination process is completed with the connector dust-cap in place, protecting the critical end face polish from contamination or damage n Features a built-in verification window in the connector body for use with Siemon’s 0.5mW output power, Laser Class 1 visual fault locator (VFL) n Fast deployment and superior reliability n Entire system is less expensive with a low-cost, lightweight tool

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The new lamination module has been designed to connect to the Evolis card printer Primacy through infrared, creating one single system for encoding (from magnetic stripes to RFID chips), printing and laminating plastic cards. The system, named Primacy Lamination, prints and laminates up to 215 single-sided cards or 110 double-sided cards per hour. Ribbons and lamination films are easily installed and are automatically recognized. The system is up and running after a quick warm up period. Evolis can also design and customize laminates to include unique and highly secure hologram patterns.

Canon XEED 4K501ST is the latest addition to its 4K installation projector range and an upgrade to the XEED 4K500ST model. The XEED 4K501ST benefits from advanced imaging technology to deliver outstanding resolution and image quality, in a compact and lightweight design ideal for simulation, design and exhibition environments. The new model also offers improved functionality with the addition of HDMI 2.0, which enables seamless and beautiful 4K video playback via a single cable.

KEY CAPABILITIES n Enhanced durability and security n A large choice of laminates and specific developments on demand n Official cards, such as driver’s licenses, national ID cards, etc. as well as access control badges obtain maximum durability and a very high level of security n Prevents forgery n Increases the durability of governmental cards or access control badges

KEY CAPABILITIES n With a brightness of 5,000 lumens across the entire zoom range, the high definition 4,096 x 2,400 LCOS panel in the XEED 4K501ST enables content to be projected at a resolution that exceeds 4K digital cinema n The 4K501ST is ideal for environments that can benefit from high quality content from a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player n Equipped with Aspectual Illumination System optical system which delivers deep, pure colours and true reproduction of black areas n Increased contrast ratio for an enhanced viewing experience n XEED 4K501ST is supported by Canon’s 3 Year Lamp Warranty

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