CARBON BLACK: CHANNEL ENABLEMENT ALL THE WAY/ 18
PA G E S 4 8 VOLUME O5 | ISSUE 06 JANUARY 2018 WWW.EC-MEA.COM
DR. AYAD ALDAIJY, FORMER CIO AND ADVISOR TO THE SAUDI ARABIAN MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, WATER AND AGRICULTURE
2018 THROUGH A VETERAN’S
LOOKING GLASS In 2018, the priorities for enterprise should be to build IT capabilities that are responsive to the needs of the organization’s growth and objectives. / 32
Some wait for Thursday to end! Some wait for Sunday to Begin!
WINNERS OF 2017 HAPPY COMPANIES 1. GOOGLE 2. NETAPP 3. GBM 4. VEEAM 5. SPIRE SOLUTIONS 6. SOPHOS 7. WEGO MIDDLE EAST 8. PAYFORT 9. STORIT 10. TECHSOURCE
HAPPY COMPANIES CREATE HAPPY EMPLOYEES NOMINATE YOUR ORGANIZATION NOW AND STAY TUNED TO SEE WHICH COMPANIES EMERGE AS THE ‘HAPPIEST’. CATEGORIES SMBs (0-150 EMPLOYEES) ENTERPRISES (151-5000 EMPLOYEES) LAST DATE FOR NOMINATION: 15TH FEB, 2018 WINNERS WILL BE FELICITATED AT THE CATALYST AWARDS 2018 ON 14TH MARCH 2018 AT BURJ AL ARAB, DUBAI.
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EDITORIAL
Aggressive strategies, Gentle steps!
ANUSHREE DIXIT A S S I S TA N T E D I T O R A N U S H R E E @ G E C M E D I A G R O U P. C O M
Enterprise Channels MEA wishes all its readers and well wishers a very happy and prosperous new year 2018. What is a new year without some great predictions at our disposal? So, basic touch points in daily lives and enterprises have been bettered by digitization. DX platforms are hence considered to be the spine of the next gen transformation. By leveraging the current technologies, DX platform is reworking enterprises and its strategies. The technologies that we are popularizing today existed even three to four decades back. The only difference is the way in which they are being approached. APPROACH— This term will have a great significance in 2018. Primarily, the approach to cyber security. Studies and surveys have shown that more than 50% of organizations in the Middle East are confident about their security infrastructure, but the reality is that they have been victims to many. Over cover feature for the opening issue of 2018 features a veteran in Cyber security, Mr Ayad Aldaijy, Former CIO and Advisor to the Saudi Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture who takes a deep dive into the cybersecurity landscape of the region and based on his years of experience, what should organizations look forward to in 2018. Secondly, the approach to investment in AI-enabled technologies. According to Gartner, by 2020 artificial intelligence will create more jobs than it will eliminate. Decision makers will have to make a calculated approach towards empowering people with AI and help them rethink their job roles in this light. Last but not the least, the approach towards the channel ecosystem. In 2017, we saw a great shift in the approach of the vendors and tier one partner in their go-to-market. A handful of market leaders whom we spoke to were of the opinion that 2018 would be a great platform for the Reseller community to change the game. The market is saturated with solutions and resellers have a great role to play in guiding customers to the right solution and winning the audience. The strategies, thus, have to be aggressive. But let the steps towards it be gentle. Follow the lion’s game here. Take a pause and scrutinize the target carefully before pouncing upon the opportunity. Maybe the opportunity that looks ripe is just stale. We, as your trusted media partners, are also overhauling our approach to addressing some critical points through our magazine and events in 2018. Do not forget to have a look into our 2018 media kit, it you have not already. Wishing you all a blessed and successful year! ë
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2018 CONTENTS
VOLUME 05 ISSUE 06 JANUARY 2018 W W W. E C - M E A . C O M
COVER STORY
COLOCATION MORE THAN JUST A SERVICE
The demand for colocation services is on the rise and vendors are now providing unique features with increased control to enterprises/24
THE CHANNEL VERDICT /18
CHANNEL ENABLEMENT ALL THE WAY CHRISTIAN HEWITT, REGIONAL CHANNEL MANAGER - MIDDLE-EAST, TURKEY, AFRICA CARBON BLACK
INTERVIEW /20
SPOTTING THE THREATS PRADEEP ANGEVEETIL, VICE PRESIDENT MEA, FORCESPOT
INNOVATIONS /46
SPECIAL STORY
VIRTUALLY YOURS
SIEMON Z-MAX 45
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Siemon launched its new Z-MAX 45 shielded Category 6A outlet in the Middle East which features a shorter, compact design with the ability to terminate cable at a 45-degree angle, reducing rear depth requirements whilst maintaining proper bend radius.
EXECUTIVE MOVEMENT /45
BUILDING NEW STRATEGIES SAEED KHAN, VP & HEAD OF SALES (ME), AGC NETWORKS
EDITORIAL::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 04 CHANNEL STREET : ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 06 FOCUS STORY : :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 28 GEC OPEN ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 40 INNOVATIONS : ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 46
ADVERTISER INDEX: TOSHIBA 02, TOP 10 COMAPNY TO WORK FOR 2018 03, GBM 07, TALARIAX 09, VALUE MENTOR 11, RITTAL13, ACCELION15, INNOVATIVE SOLUTION 17, STORIT 19, CATALYST 21, INFINITE WIRELESS 23, FINNESE 31, VEEAM 47, FUTURE IT 48
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STREET Thailand Lifts the Champions Trophy at GEC Open Grand Finale 2017 After 26 gruelling golf rounds across 18 countries in the eastern hemisphere, 60 top amateurs and industry stalwarts made it to the World Final of GEC Open in Dubai. The world final – Dubai Corporate Golf World Cup was held over
two days at Jumeirah Golf Estates – Earth Course and Emirates Golf Club – Majlis Course. The amateurs displayed grit and determination in their endeavour for the coveted trophy. Yukol Yingyongkij from Thailand consolidated on his first-
DELL EMC ENABLES KSA TO ACCELERATE DIGITIZATION Dell EMC hosted its flagship Forum at the Four Seasons Hotel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. At this one-day event, Mohammed Amin, Senior Vice President, Middle East, Turkey and Africa at Dell EMC discussed the importance of fostering public-private partnerships and increasing the employment rate to advance the national vision. In addition, addressing Information Technology as an enabler, facilitator and accelerator of the transformation envisioned by Vision 2030, he outlined the heightened need to adopt new technologies and most importantly, invest in new skillsets to drive the vision for the Kingdom’s digital future.
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day score of 34 points with a superb round of 39 Stableford points. The overall score of 73 Stableford points was enough to propel him to the top of the leaderboard. A special note of thanks to our sponsors and partners, OMA Emirates, Callaway, bizgolf,
Chase54, African+Eastern, CNBC, Club Mahindra, Indigo, The New Indian Express, Holiday Inn, Pepsi, Bond, Direct, Mimecast, GBM, Toshiba, Sophos, Veeam, and Pure Storage for their continued support and patronage for the event.
VEEAM AVAILABILITY SUITE 9.5 UPDATE 3 RELEASED Veeam Software revealed their Availability Suite (VAS) 9.5 Update 3 (U3), to extend comprehensive data management and ensure Availability for all workloads—virtual, physical, and cloud—centrally managed via a single Veeam “pane of glass.” With this breakthrough release, enterprises can now replace legacy backup offerings, which have hindered business transformation for so long, and ensure Availability across their enterprise with a single, consistent platform. In one, unified Veeam solution, customers can manage their entire environment – virtual, physical, or cloud – and ensure No. 1 Availability for any app, any data, any cloud” said Peter McKay, Co-CEO and President at Veeam.
Are you the NEXT victim?
Envision Next Generation Security Architecture with GBM THE REGION’S NUMBER ONE PROVIDER OF IT SOLUTIONS
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CHANNEL STREET
Etisalat Unveils Open Innovation Center
Etisalat opened its ultramodern ‘Open Innovation Center’ in Dubai taking the lead in creating a hub to showcase the most innovative solutions and help drive digital transformation by enabling the use of latest technologies. The Open Innovation Center is a first of its kind in the region showcasing digital innovation, its capabilities and how digitalization can come to life for all Etisalat customers and partners.
These businesses will have the opportunity to experience Etisalat solutions applied to realworld scenarios and get a comprehensive view of technologies that deliver concrete business outcomes. This initiative is in line with the UAE Vision 2021, where the national innovation strategy has identified digital technology as one of the top seven primary national sectors..
EQUINIX TO CONNECT ITS DATA CENTERS GLOBALLY Equinix revealed the next phase in the evolution of its global platform through the direct physical and virtual connection of its International Business Exchange data centers around the world, enabling customers to connect on demand to any other customer from any Equinix location. Over the coming months, Equinix will announce a series of coverage, connectivity and service initiatives that will deliver increasing value to customers by enabling them to rapidly scale their digital businesses through a dynamic data center and interconnection platform.. The new inter-metro connectivity will be delivered through the Equinix Cloud Exchange, which has been renamed the Equinix Cloud Exchange Fabric.
DIGITAL ASSISTANTS WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE NNTC, a Dubai-based IT consulting and training company and IT solution developer, is rolling out its custom chatbots to help businesses and government organizations in the UAE digitize their business functions and automate internal processes. For companies committed to client services, NNTC develops custom chatbots on public platforms, which have been widely used as messengers (Telegram, Facebook Messenger, and Viber). A chatbot improves the efficiency of communications and makes services more customer-focused. For example, it can be a digital concierge in a hotel: a chatbot will inform guests of a restaurant menu, guest Wi-Fi access, near-hotel services, the nearest ATM, the best sightseeing routes, and how to order food to a hotel room. Event bots can send event agenda and help users make their own agenda, arrange meetings with visitors and receive prompt information about key events. University chatbots can provide a digital lecture schedule and show a queue in a campus canteen, probation options available, university news, a library debt, and even a lecturer’s name. Healthcare chatbots can help make appointments with physicians and then send reminders which means it will operate as a clinical information desk, etc.
FINESSE, KOFAX SHOWCASE JOINT SESSION OF VAT IMPLEMENTATION THROUGH RPA Finesse along with Kofax jointly hosted the session on Automation of tasks within VAT implementation through Robotic Process Automation. Addressing the two buzz words of the time, VAT and RPA, the
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event saw CXOs of select clients and customers of Finesse get together over half a day for a very informative and interactive sessions.A financial expert brought out the implications of VAT in the UAE
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while clearing an array of doubts for the audience in an interactive session. This was followed by the key note and demo session by Kofax. The Kofax team showed how Kofax captures information and automates
information-intensive processes, increasing operational efficiency while reducing costs. By enabling organizations to digitally transform their business processes, Kofax improves customer engagement
and enhances competitive advantage. Together with the financial expert, they drove home how RPA can automate manual tasks within VAT implementation using Kofax Kapow.
CHANNEL STREET
McAfee Releases December 2017 Threats Report
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SECONDS
ETISALAT DIGITAL, SONICWALL OFFER SECURITY SOLUTIONS Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, Etisalat Digital is now a SonicWall SecureFirst partner that offers technology solutions to more than 300,000 SMBs in the UAE. Etisalat Digital is a business division of the Etisalat Group that serves 140 million subscribers across 16 countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. The partnership allows Etisalat to further expand its SMB portfolio from popular broadband and telecommunication services to end-to-end managed services. LENOVO DCG APPOINTS INGRAM MICRO AS VAD IN KSA As a part of this agreement, Ingram Micro will be responsible for providing specialization, coverage
VINCENT WEAFER, VICE PRESIDENT - MCAFEE LABS
and operational management of Lenovo DCG’s portfolio in the Kingdom. Lenovo’s data center portfolio spans servers, storage, converged and hyper-converged, networking, hyperscale, software and services. Shaikh Mohammed Abdullah, General Manager, Ingram Micro KSA said, “Being appointed as VAD for Lenovo DCG in Saudi Arabia will allow us to expand our solutions to a wide-range of partners from small business to
McAfee examined the growth and trends of new malware, ransomware, and other threats in Q3 2017 in its latest Lab Report. McAfee Labs saw malware reach an all-time high of 57.6 million new samples—four new samples per second— featuring developments such as new fileless malware using malicious macros, a new version of Locky ransomware dubbed Lukitus, and new variations of the banking Trojans Trickbot and Emotet. Threats attempting to exploit Microsoft technology vulnerabilities were very prominent despite the fact that the platform vendor
addressed these issues with patches as early as the first quarter of 2017. Fileless threats continued to be a growing concern in Q3, with PowerShell malware growing by 119%. “By leveraging trusted applications or gaining access to native system operating tools such as PowerShell or JavaScript, attackers have made the development leap forward to take control of computers without downloading any executable files, at least in the initial stages of the attack,” said Vincent Weafer, Vice President for McAfee Labs.
AKAMAI IDENTIFIED AS A DDOS MITIGATION LEADER Akamai Technologies was among the select companies that Forrester invited to participate in: The Forrester Wave: DDoS Mitigation Solutions, Q4 2017 evaluation. In this evaluation, Akamai was cited as a Leader in DDoS Mitigation Solutions. Forrester’s research has found that having a DDoS mitigation solution in place is a best practice to protect internet-facing websites, applications, and infrastructure. “We have been protecting customers from large and sophisticated DDoS attacks for nearly two decades, introduced the first purpose-built DDoS protection solution in the cloud, and have continued to grow the most expansive DDoS mitigation platform in the world that has mitigated some of the largest attacks seen on the Internet ” said Josh Shaul, Vice President of Web Security, Akamai
large-scale enterprise”. JUNIPER UPGRADES ITS CYBER SECURITY PLATFORM Juniper Networks revealed the advancements to its cybersecurity platform to help security teams save time, simplify operations and speed time to remediation. The resulting “always on” nature of cybercrime puts strain on understaffed security teams that are already bogged down by manual processes and complex policies, as revealed in a recent study from Juniper Networks and Vanson Bourne. MENLO SECURITY RAISES $40M FOR MALWARE ISOLATION TECHNOLOGY The Menlo Security Isolation Platform acts like a digital partition, isolating and executing all web content, email links and documents in the cloud, then streaming a malware-free version of the content to employees’ computers via Menlo’s patented Adaptive Clientless Rendering (ACR) technology, with a completely native experience. Given the challenge of staying ahead of new, more sophisticated types of attacks, adoption of Menlo’s platform is accelerating across geographies and sectors, including finance, technology, manufacturing, hospitality, healthcare and the government.
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CHANNEL STREET
Al Muhaidib Group Advances Its Digital Transformation Strategy
GLOBAL SECURITY SPENDING WILL REACH $96 BN IN 2018; GARTNER Gartner forecasts worldwide security spending to total $96.3 billion in 2018, an increase of 8% from 2017. Organizations are spending more on security as a result of regulations, shifting buyer mindset, awareness of emerging threats and the evolution to a digital business strategy. “Overall, a large portion of security spending is driven by an organization’s reaction toward security breaches as more high profile cyberattacks and data breaches affect organizations worldwide,” said Ruggero Contu, research director at Gartner. “Cyberattacks such as WannaCry and NotPetya, and most recently the Equifax breach, have a direct effect on security spend, because these types of attacks last up to three years.”
Al Muhaidib Group, launched its digital business strategy, with digital transformation enabler SAP in an enterprise agreement signed by Abdulkareem AlKhaliwi, Vice President of IT at Al Muhaidib Group, and Steve Tzikakis, President of Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) South at SAP. As part of its digital transformation, Al Muhaidib Group’s eight largest entities will run on the SAP HANA in-memory platform. “Saudi’s
largest organizations need to run in real-time to enhance their business competitiveness. Using SAP HANA, Al Muhaidib Group now has the real-time analytics to ensure our customers have the right products at the right time. We have enhanced our performance, improved our reporting time, and can better fuel our regional and international expansion,” said Abdulkareem Al Khalawi, VP of IT, Al Muhaidib Group.
This is validated by Gartner’s 2016 security buying behavior survey. Of the 53 percent of organizations that cited security risks as the No. 1 driver for overall security spending, the highest percentage of respondents said that a security breach is the main security risk influencing their security spending. As a result, security testing, IT outsourcing and security information and event management (SIEM) will be among the fastest-growing security subsegments driving growth in the infrastructure protection and security services segments Gartner forecasts that by 2020, more than 60 percent of organizations will invest in multiple data security tools such as data loss prevention, encryption and data-centric audit and protections tools, up from approximately 35 percent today.
GROUP-IB UNCOVERS RUSSIAN HACKING GROUP ‘MONEYTAKER’ Group-IB has released a report detailing the operations of a Russianspeaking targeted attack group dubbed by Group-IB as MoneyTaker. In less than two years,
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this group has conducted over 20 successful attacks on financial institutions and legal firms around the world. Although the group has been successful at targeting a number
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of banks in different countries, to date, they have gone unreported. By constantly changing their tools and tactics to bypass antivirus and traditional security solutions and
most importantly carefully eliminating their traces after completing their operations, the group has largely gone unnoticed. The first attack that Group-IB attributes to this
group was conducted in the US in May 2016 while the most recent attack took place in November 2017 in Russia.
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CHANNEL STREET
Red Hat Releases its OpenShift Application Runtimes
WEB CLIPS ZAIN GROUP CHOOSES CISCO TO UPGRADE IP/MPLS NETWORK
Red Hat revealed the general availability of its OpenShift Application Runtimes, enabling organizations to accelerate cloud-native app development with a curated set of frameworks and runtimes for prescriptively building and running microservices-based applications. Red Hat OpenShift Application Runtimes supports multiple runtimes, languages, frameworks and architectures, with the following key features and benefits: Simplified development: The offering reduces the complexity of developing cloud-native applications by integrating
OpenShift Container Platform capabilities with multiple runtimes and frameworks, including wizard-based setup, service discovery, external configurations, and circuit breakers for fault tolerance. Strategic flexibility: Red Hat OpenShift Application Runtimes supports hybrid cloud configurations, helping avoid cloud provider lock-in. The distributed nature of cloud computing means that a “one size fits all” approach to runtimes and frameworks is becoming less effective for enterprise productivity.
Zain Group is leveraging Cisco advanced segment routing platforms and WAN automation to bring the benefits of distributed intelligence and centralized control to its network. Cisco’s innovation around cloud-scale and automation will deliver next-generation network capabilities to Zain Group to enable simplification, scalability and open innovation that drive business results. The deployment is a bold move toward network automation and represents a significant step towards a more resilient network. ORANGE BUSINESS SERVICES &
IMDAAD DRIVES DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION WITH MICROSOFT CLOUD
CARGOTEC SIGN IOT AGREEMENT
Imdaad has adopted Microsoft cloud and productivity solutions to transform into a modern workplace of the digital era. The move has revolutionized the company’s operations by improving efficiency, enhancing security and reducing overall IT costs, empowering Imdaad to achieve more. Imdaad’s digital transformation journey to empower employees and optimise its operations began with the implementation of Microsoft Office 365 and Microsoft StaffHub, a cloud-based business collaboration app designed for the mobile workforce, that puts the office in their pocket and take it with them wherever they go.
enabling new digital services and delivering a
The Orange IoT connectivity service provides tangible business benefits for Cargotec, much higher degree of operational efficiency, both internally and further down the value chain at the customer level. These include: seamless IoT SIM card ordering, simple activation and tracking through a dedicated portal; one price per IoT SIM card regardless of location; and scalable connectivity reaching 220 countries and territories. DED AJMAN ENABLES AUTOMATIC RENEWAL OF TRADE LICENSES The Department of Economic Development
NETWORK INTERNATIONAL STRENGTHENS HOSPITALITY PAYMENT SOLUTION CAPABILITIES Network International has strengthened its product proposition to the hospitality sector following a partnership with 3C Payment, a global provider of payment solutions. Network International is the first in the region to offer hospitality merchants access to an integrated F&B solution on the 3C Integra terminal range. The company’s solution is geared to meet the specific needs of table service restaurant outlets, enabling them to recall a list of open bills by table or waiter id. To help with large group billing, waiting staff can recall and print itemised table bills from the POS device in addition to offering split bill payments via cash or card payment, without affecting the till functionality or tip handling.
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NUMBER GAME
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%
CIOs believe revenue can increase by 5% over 3 years when employees are empowered acc to VMware findings
has launched an innovative new service that allows investors to automatically renew their trade licenses via SMS. The move demonstrates the department’s continuing commitment towards providing investors and businesses with an easier and smoother processing of documents, which in turn, will play a key role in the efforts towards achieving total sustainable development for the emirate. AWS LAUNCHES AMAZON SUMERIAN Amazon Sumerian makes it easy for any developer to build Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and 3D applications, and run them on mobile devices, head-mounted displays, digital signage, or web browsers. With Amazon Sumerian’s editor, developers can build realistic virtual environments, populate them with 3D objects and animated characters, and script how they interact with each other and the application’s users.
CHANNEL STREET
Mimecast Report Shows Rise in Impersonation Attacks “This latest ESRA report reveals that many email security providers are leaving organizations very vulnerable to these often hard to detect impersonation attacks. Cybercriminals know that many traditional email security services are improving their ability to stop email-borne malware, but remain ineffective against impersonation attacks,” said Ed Jennings, COO, Mimecast. The latest ESRA reflects findings by inspecting the actual inbound email of almost 100,000 users over a cumulative 631 days received. These organizations used a variety of common email security systems. More than 55 million emails to date have been inspected as part of the Mimecast ESRA program, all of which had passed through the organization’s incumbent email security vendor. Completed ESRA assessments have found more than 12,400,000 pieces of spam, 9,055 emails containing dangerous file types, 1,844 known and 691 unknown emails with malware attachments, and 18,971 impersonation attacks missed by incumbent providers and delivered to users’ inboxes.
ED JENNINGS, COO, MIMECAST
CENTRIFY INNOVATIONS EMBRACE ZERO TRUST SECURITY Centrify revealed its Zero Trust approach to security. Zero Trust assumes that everything—users, endpoints, resources—is untrusted and must always be verified to decrease the chance of a major breach. “The modern hybrid enterprise must adopt a Zero Trust security model,” said Bill Mann, Chief Product Officer at Centrify. “The old days of the guarded castle with a moat, where all interactions inside the castle were trusted and all interactions outside the castle were suspect, no longer applies. Remote employees on BYOD devices accessing SaaS applications are as much a reality today as someone sitting at their workstation inside the office. At Centrify, we are committed to helping our customers embrace this new reality and move towards a Zero Trust security model where all access must be authenticated, authorized and encrypted.”
UNIVERSITY IN MIDDLE EAST SELECTS HID FOR ID CARD ISSUANCE An education institution in the Middle East has selected HID Global’s FARGO DTC4500 card printers/encoders to meet its requirement for secure ID card issuance. The solution will be used to produce more than 42,000 student and faculty ID cards each year. By deploying HID Global’s direct-to-card printing capabilities, the university now has the most advanced; easily upgradable and scalable secure card issuance solution available on the market today. The deployment reinforces HID’s leadership position in providing universities with the latest and most secure technology. “Among several crucial deciding factors, the university was specific about the high security requirements, as well as the speed and accuracy at which the printer needed to issue student ID cards,” said Hussam Judeh, CEO of Judeh Cards Technology. “HID Global’s secure card issuance offering was our preferred choice, based on its ability to help streamline the card personalization process and provide a cost effective, high-performance solution.” The university’s IT Director further stated that HID successfully met all of their criteria for efficiently yet securely issuing high volumes of student ID cards within a short time period. This was an important part of the university’s goal to provide students and faculty with a convenient, single access card, while also complying to its stringent security requirements.
LOGRHYTHM NAMED A LEADER IN MAGIC QUADRANT FOR SIEM LogRhythm has been positioned as a Leader by Gartner in the 2017 “Magic Quadrant for Security Information and Event Management” research report, for its Threat Lifecycle Management
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Platform. “As data breaches continue to come fast and furious, it’s critical that companies rapidly detect, neutralize and recover from security threats. We believe this research report speaks
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volumes about LogRhythm’s leadership in the market and our ability to meet the challenges of today’s continually evolving threat landscape for enterprise Security Operations Centers (SOCs) across the globe”
said LogRhythm CTO and SVP of Research & Development, Chris Petersen. According to Gartner, “the SIEM Leaders quadrant is composed of vendors that provide products that are a strong functional match
to general market requirements, have been the most successful in building an installed base and revenue stream within the SIEM market, and have a relatively high viability rating.”
THE CHANNEL VERDICT
CHANNEL ENABLEMENT ALL THE WAY CHRISTIAN HEWITT, REGIONAL CHANNEL MANAGER - META, CARBON BLACK SHARES WITH EC MEA HIS MARKET VIEWS FROM THE CHANNEL PERSPECTIVE AND ALSO HOW THE COMPANY PLANS TO GO AHEAD IN 2018
resolutions that you would be taking? Enablement, Enablement and Enablement. It’s crucial that Carbon Black equip our partners with the skills, knowledge and services capabilities they need to recognize opportunities, advise and consult on Cb’s solutions, professionally deploy and maintain our end point security solutions. Key investments are planned in education initiatives and will be critical to 2018. Are you planning for any customer/partner enablement programs in 2018? Or any enhancements to the existing ones? Carbon Black will deliver our knowledge on a regular basis through a myriad of mediums….. Social, self-paced, video and face-to-face training sessions.
CHRISTIAN HEWITT,
REGIONAL CHANNEL MANAGER MIDDLE-EAST, TURKEY, AFRICA CARBON BLACK
From a channel perspective, how bright or dull does the 2018 market look to you? 2018 is extremely bright for Carbon Black. As the threat landscape continues to evolve and bypass traditional AV and previous deployed security solutions, customers recognize that new or next generation solutions are required to prevent, detect and respond to these threats. Carbon Black’s partners are well positioned to react to these client’s needs. What would be the top 3 priorities for you to lead the channel? Are there any particular
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How will you define your go-tomarket strategy for 2018? How are you bucking up to manage competitive threats? Carbon Black’s GTM focus will be “Partner Centric” and directed to the enterprise. Key focus on developing our traditional security VAR’s, driving new opportunities in the “Incident Response” area, this being a profitable and potentially new line of business for many partners, Carbon Black has a unique program, adding value and driving real tangible sales leads while assisting vulnerable or clients that have been breached. For your regional colleagues: What would be your one DO and DON’T suggestion? DO- continue to evaluate cloud delivered solutions, the business and technology benefits far outweigh any possible downside. DON’T - assume vendors will continue to deliver the technical pre-sales / solution demonstrations. Having partners certified in security solutions will become a defacto expectation moving forward. ë
DATA MANAGEMENT StorIT Distribution fzco P.O.Box 17417 Dubai, United Arab Emirates Tel: +971 4 881 9690 | Fax: +971 4 887 1637 Email: info@storit.ae
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Tel: +966.1.276.8014 | Email: ksa@storit.ae www.storit.ae
AUTHORIZED VALUE ADDED DISTRIBUTOR FOR
INTERVIEW
Spotting the Threats A FOCUSED VAD IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA REGION, FORCESPOT BELIEVES TO HAVE A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF THE CYBER SECURITY THREATS AND WORKS TOWARDS CREATING AN IDEAL SECURITY SOLUTION. PRADEEP ANGEVEETIL, VICE PRESIDENT – MEA OF FORCESPOT SHARES WITH US MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION.
Tell us more about Forcespot and its operations. Forcespot is a focused VAD addressing the Cyber Security market in Middle East and Africa. This also includes providing assistance on services which the channel can leverage to make their proposition stronger with their clients. The portfolio that we handle is carefully chosen to give a holistic Malware Management solution to the partner. One of the most important factors that we always ensure is to have trained technical resources in our team. What does your partner ecosystem look like? What is your go to market strategy? We work with focused cyber security partners in the region. Partner Training, Joint Channel initiatives and focused events with our vendors are all part of our GTM strategy. We do ensure that a lot of emphasis is placed on the Proof of Concepts carried on by our partners at the end client premise and ensure that we are there to assist the partner in the first few deals before they become independent on their own. This also comes out from the fact that partners are quite busy with their existing portfolio which may include the large vendors. So herein comes the opportunity of getting the mindshare of the partners by showing value.
PRADEEP ANGEVEETIL,
VICE PRESIDENT MEA, FORCESPOT
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How do you see the cyber security space evolving in the next two years? The cyber security market will only continue to grow. The attacks that we see every day will only continue to grow and this will have a direct impact on the budgets. It will definitely be a growth above average.
How grave is the skill shortage problem in the region? We do see some good talent within the cybersecurity partners in the region. However, the issue is that they are burdened by a plethora of new technologies and it is important that there is stability in employee turnover to ensure that skills are continually disseminated. It is important to stakeholders in every value of the chain to contribute to this to ensure that a shortage in skills is not created or allowed to prolong. What do you think are the potential information security threats that companies might face in the future? Today wars and conflicts between nations involve Cyberwarfare. Corporate battles are also fought on those lines. Apart from these criminals have found this to be lucrative. It may also be noted that just as organisations are building and fortifying their infrastructure, the malware developers too are using Artificial Intelligence techniques to detect the presence of key cyber security tools within the organisation to ensure they achieve their objectives. One needs to ensure that there is no single silver bullet. Threats need to be identified and stopped on a constant basis. Tell us one differentiating factor of you as a VAD. We work with niche technology vendors and create a good story around an effective cyber security solution. This is not one size that fits all but rather best of breed in each space offered to the client. ĂŤ
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INTERVIEW
Adding Value to Customers WITHIN A SHORT SPAN OF TIME, ETHOS TECHNOLOGIES HAVE GROWN TO BE ONE OF THE EMERGING DISTRIBUTORS IN THE REGION AND BELIEVES THAT IT WAS POSSIBLE ONLY THROUGH TEAM EFFORT. BY OFFERING NICHE SOLUTIONS, THE VAD IS HERE TO CREATE A BIGGER FOOTPRINT IN THE REGION.
Tell us more about Ethos Technologies and its operations. Ethos Technologies is a Regional Networking and Security VAD, based out of Dubai, UAE with a branch in Lahore, Pakistan covering the entire Middle East, Pakistan and Afghanistan. We are focused on introducing new and niche technologies to our partner ecosystem so as to offer better value and bottom-line during these challenging times. We have a very tight operation with quick turn around and decision making enabling us to generate more momentum in the market and provide immediate support to our partners and customers.
IMTIAZ GHANI,
GENERAL MANAGER, ETHOS TECHNOLOGIES
Tell us about your major partnerships this year. What is your go to market strategy? This year we have expanded our SMB market by incorporating TP-Link SMB Networking products into our portfolio. Also, we have recently included HUBNETIX (Network Infrastructure Solutions), INFOSEC (UPS Systems), HillStone Networks (Enterprise Firewalls), OceanBlue Cloud (WAN Optimisation), Synology (NAS Storage) and BitGlass (Cloud Access Security Broker) to further strengthen our Security and Infrastructure offerings. Our go-to-market strategy has always been partner-driven. We are here to help the channel expand and improve their offerings and bottom-line. We are now pro-actively positioning our niche solutions with end customers directly to create a demand for these solutions that can be provided through our value channel partners. What are the solutions provided by you? What demand do you see for your solutions in this region?
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We provide a comprehensive Networking and Security offering, which can give our channel a great opportunity to position a proper end-to-end solution. Our focused solutions are Database Management Solutions, Application Monitoring, Enterprise Firewalls, Secure Connectivity, Cloud Apps Security, Wireless and Data Centre Infrastructure. As we have consistently provided the market with niche and unique offerings are demand generation has always been high. We are able to offer end customers technically sound and financially attractive solutions that provide them an excellent alternative to the so-called market leaders. This gives us a unique market opportunity and space to grow and bring in more channel partners. What are your plans for 2018? In 2018, we are looking at adding on 2-3 more vendors in the networking and security domain to complement our existing offerings and provide our channel with more tools to provide the best solution to the end user. We will also be growing our team and also will look to expand our channel with specific focus on our technologies. We will also be conducting multiple road shows and trainings to empower our channel to provide the best possible solution and support to the customer. Tell us one differentiating factor of you as a VAD. Our differentiating factor is our team. TEAM ETHOS is a close-knit family that pushes ahead together to support our channel. Our team fights together to achieve our collective aim. We will not be among the Emerging Distributors in the region within such a short time if it wasn’t for the dedication and commitment of our TEAM. Í
COVER STORY
Colocation More Than Just A Service
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COVER STORY
The demand for colocation services is on the rise and vendors are now providing unique features with increased control to enterprises. The flexibility offered by colocation providers with solutions ranging from simple data warehousing to high-velocity data analytics solutions is outstanding. The reduced expense and greater ease of use makes colocation a good investment for business. n B Y: D I V S H A B H AT < D I V S H A @ G E C M E D I A G R O U P. C O M > n P H O T O : S H U T T E R S T O C K
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ith businesses expanding globally, the need for space has increased to unprecedented levels. Colocation helps businesses to strengthen operation in their specific industries by
taking advantage of managed data center services. This is enabling companies to focus on revenue generation by streamlining their workflows and reducing operating IT expenses.In such a dynamic and ever-changing industry, it is important to learn from the colocation providers about
the quickly evolving challenges and trends which they witness in their customers businesses. According to the industry experts, the demand for colocation will continue to witness high growth, on account of the movement of enterprises towards cloud, big data analytics and virtualization solutions.
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“For businesses, when they colocate their servers, they can cut down on their operating expenses and allow the IT team to focus on the core business, thus maximising the RoI,” -JEROEN SCHLOSSER,
“Increasing numbers of buyers are also challenging these providers to address security in their offerings,” -ADRIAN DAVIS, MANAGING DIRECTOR EMEA, (ISC)2
MANAGING DIRECTOR, EQUINIX MENA.
Rising cost of owning large data centers has provided significant impetus to the colocation market, leading to colocation providers offering deals which are client-centric. According to ResearchandMarkets, Data Center Colocation market is estimated to witness a compound annual growth rate of 14.45% over the forecast period to reach a total market size of $55.31 billion by the end of 2021.
BENEFITS OF COLOCATION FOR BUSINESSES The organizations these days have more options when it comes to taking care of their IT needs. Colocation is one of the options for businesses that want to outsource their computing needs. As colocation’s role in everything from the hybrid cloud, digital business and data center consolidation increases, innovative market players, new technologies and growing investments will combine to create a market in flux predicts Gartner. “For businesses, when they colocate their servers, they can cut down on their operating expenses and allow the IT team to focus on the core business, thus maximising the RoI. Colocation servers provide businesses with resilient internet connection ensuring faster connectivity. In the wake of the rising cases of data breaches, coloca-
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“By using dedicated storage, customers can easily scale their cloud environment to hundreds of thousands of IOPS, opening the cloud to many traditional applications,” -HORST THIEME, MANAGER CLOUD BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT EMEA, NETAPP.
tion provides businesses with multiple layers of security against forced entry, unauthorised access and natural disasters like fire. This is because the server's location is off-site so the equipment and applications remain available and working,” says Jeroen Schlosser, Managing Director, Equinix MENA.
IMPROVING BUSINESS SECURITY WITH COLOCATION Businesses can be assured with colocation services that they are completely protected because they have diverse power feeds, dual generators, distribution paths and on-site fuel reserves. The other benefits of colocation services are UPS support, diverse cooling systems, and round the clock monitoring so that there is hundred percent uptime. On how their colocation service helps to safeguard critical data, Equinix said – “Our colocation services help you safeguard missioncritical data with the highest levels of security and operational reliability. Equinix International Business Exchange data centers provide access to vital ecosystems where major networks, enterprises and business partners interconnect to each other and to more than 1,100+ available networks.” Security is a vital concern when it comes to
putting the data in a third-party data center. The increase in malware and cyber-attacks have influenced managed service providers to work on increasing their quality of services. Now-a-days, managed service providers offer colocation which focuses more resources on security and provides solutions that can go a long way supporting data protection goals. They also provide customers with a secure link between third party, data center and corporate headquarters which adds a layer of protection from threats. Also, having a welltrained IT team, the latest tools and adhering to data regulations such as GDPR will achieve better security outcomes. Multi-cloud is increasingly being embraced by companies because of the flexibility and security benefits it provides. Different cloud service providers tend to excel in different areas – so companies that use just one cloud provider tend to find their needs well met in some sectors, and under-served in others. The Manager for Cloud Business Development EMEA for NetApp, Horst Thieme says – “For colocation, we have built an architecture called NetApp Private Storage. Each NPS for Cloud solution consists of a NetApp FAS or FlexArray storage system, collocated in an Equinix data center, and directly connected with a service provider’s cloud compute using a
COVER STORY
WHY IS COLOCATION IMPORTANT?
REDUNDANT CONNECTIONS
NO NETWORK CLOGGING
Redundant connections will guarantee your data is always available
No Network Clogging – No risk of having your network clogged with traffic coming from or going through the server
NO WORRIES ABOUT PHYSICAL SPACE
POWER BACKUP Special battery backups and automatic transfer switches to ensure there are no power outages
The server will not be in your office, so you don’t need to worry about infrastructure
MORE SCALABILITY
SUPPORT SERVICES 24/7
Ability to upgrade on demand
dedicated, high-bandwidth, low-latency network connection. With such an approach, the cloud compute is in essence local, while data remains protected, meeting privacy, regulatory, and sovereignty requirements. By using dedicated storage, customers can easily scale their cloud environment to hundreds of thousands of IOPS, opening the cloud to many traditional applications that would otherwise not be suitable for the cloud such as data analytics.”
TRENDS IMPACTING MANAGED DATA CENTER SERVICES According to Frost & Sullivan, the Managed Services Market growth within the Gulf Cooperation Council states is set to expand from USD 1,073 million in 2012 to USD 3,112 million by 2018-year end. Faced with the need to reduce operating expenses and increase operational efficiency, organizations in the Middle East are now looking at Managed Services as an alternative to manage and expand their IT infrastructures.
Access to a trained staff of technicians ready to assist you 24/7
Digital disruption is also forcing enterprises to shift their businesses from a centralized system to a distributed network as today’s centralized and siloed architectures cannot support a digitized, customer-centric model that is needed for driving new business.
CHALLENGES FACED Managed Service Providers today are dealing with an ever-changing set of buyers, evolving customer demands and a growing list of emerging technology such as IoT and next generation edge computing. They have to deal with potential decision makers like CIO’s COO’s, CFO’s and even CDO’s. Adrian Davis, Managing Director EMEA for ISC2 believes providers are also facing challenges in terms of meeting data volume and processing requirements as organizations demand cloud based and associated services. “Increasing numbers of buyers are also challenging these providers to address security in their offerings. Data centre providers, many of whom were pio-
neers in building security into their services, are starting to reassess how to deliver secure services as demand increases exponentially. Furthermore, these services are now woven into information and physical supply chains, underpinning public cloud, mobile, smart cities and Internet of Things (IoT) revolution driving dynamic changes across business and society today.”
MOVING INTO THE FUTURE What does the future for the data center and colocation market look like? It is visible that colocation is gaining popularity and poses major advantages. It is going through substantial change, as providers seek ways to cost-effectively meet customer needs that are growing in complexity and scale. The experts agree that colocation centers are the way to go for businesses that want quality and flexibility. So, regardless of what evolutions occur in the technology sector, colocation data centers are here to stay and will continue to the needs of IT infrastructure. ë
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FOCUS STORY
INDUSTRY FOCUS
The ‘Power’ Packed
Infrastructure For centuries now, the Middle East region has been home to the blazing and glaring sun. Solar energy does fit in as the most optimistic source of renewable energy. But, can the overriding demands of an urbanized and modernized infrastructure be satiated by a single power source? A close look into how digitization and smart grids are giving the power and utilities sector, a new meaning.
n B Y: A N U S H R E E D I X I T < A N U S H R E E @ G E C M E D I A G R O U P. C O M > n PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
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iddle East, especially the GCC region has been rising up in its demand for electricity. Rapid urbanization, the need for higher density power supplies in state-of-the-art facilities, next gen data centers, industrial growth akin to other developments have been some of the prime factors that are driving the need for accelerating the generating capacity. Intelligence driven data that is extracted from analytics, sensor networks and
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FOCUS STORY
THE INDUSTRY INCLINATION
WHAT SAYS THE CIO?
n New regulatory
structures for cost reduction n Infrastructure upgrades and grid modernization n Growth of global smart transformers market n High investment needed from distribution sector n Renewable energy driving the change
TECHNOLOGIES AND
OPPORTUNITIES
EXISTING
n Green bonds- the
emerging financial tool n Accelerating smart grid technology n Substation digitization n Private partnerships n Stronger government commitments
“With digitization in utility & power segment , the below objectives would be achieved”
-
FAHAD DESHMUKH, IT MANAGER, JAZEERA POWER
l Renewable energy generation at very marginal cost l Distribution of utility and power that is going to be smart and efficient l Services that balance both supply and demand concerns l Omnichannel distribution in utilities for smart customers
Smart electronics and home products are more than just a convenience for consumers. These technological advancements have a big impact on the utility market. At their simplest, smart products create smart consumers, enabling them to measure their utility usage and better understand where their energy is coming from and how it is being used.In addition, they have a better understanding of their bills and can make better choices regarding energy usage. On a deeper level, the smart home and smart device industries provide utility companies with Big Data—data that may have never been available before—which allows companies to adjust their offerings.
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FOCUS STORY
KEY NUMBERS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES
$30bn
About $30bn-worth of major power contracts were awarded across the Mena region in the 12 months according to MEED Projects
$264.8bn
New investment of $264.8bn is expected in renewable energy
297.4gw
In 2016, total available electricity generation capacity in the Mena region increased to about 297.4GW
15%
Kuwait plans to meet 15 per cent of its energy requirements from renewable resources by 2030
804bn
Demand for natural gas in the Middle East will reach 804 billion cubic metres a year in 2040
$587m
NBAD issued $587m five-year green bond on March 2017 to fight climate change – the first ever green bond from a Middle East issuer.
141 Twh
The UAE’s gross domestic electricity consumption will reach 141 TWh in 2020, up from 103 TWh in 2014.
mobile computing have changed the course of the utilities sector. A serious research shows that, Among utilities that call themselves digital leaders, more than half concede that their investments in these new technologies are at best medium and often low. Let’s have a look..
benefits of the new and smart measuring systems and eco-friendly standards. Digitization has made way into the mainstream utility by disrupting the modes of payment, bill notification, comprehensive mobile apps, etc.
THE PRESENT SITUATION
THE RISE OF GREEN BUILDINGS
The industrial landscape has been disrupted heavily by digitization. New arenas of business are opening and regulatory bodies are basking in the
According to reports, 1,433 green building projects have been completed in Dubai alone since 2010, helping the UAE rank ninth globally
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for green buildings outside the US, according to a report from the Green Building Council. Green building standards have been made compliant and Dubai is seen abiding by the compliance. This trend would be further dominated by the penetration of smart technologies as connected buildings and home take lead. According to studies, Digital management of distributed energy resources, from individual sites to entire systems, has already begun.
LOOKING AT THE ALTERNATIVES Gone are the days when renewable energy was just another alternative to save cost or was the advocate of being close to nature. Today, at par with other power sources, renewable energy has a profitable position of its own against the conventional sources of power generation. The region is certainly taking some mammoth steps towards reducing the reliance on gas imports. On the other hand, it is important to note that the demand for power is unceasing, as countries like Syria, Yemen, Iraq etc gear up for some major infrastructure upheavel. The Middle East has been thriving under the blazing sun. According to reports, countries in the GCC have set an objective that a minimum of 10% of their overall power production by 2020 should come from renewable sources of energy. Industry experts estimate that 85 to 90% of the region’s investment on renewable energy is poured into the development of solar power facilities, with UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait leading the way.
HOW SMART IS THAT? The latest trend gaining momentum in the market is Evolution of smart grids. The rising investment in smart grids in APAC and GCC is currently on the rise because of the increasing demand for electricity in these regions. Though all smart grids do not need be equipped with smart transformers, it is expected that the upcoming smart grids may be equipped with smart transformers to enhance the efficiency.
FINALLY Clean energy projects are definitely on the rise. The region has been steadily opening doors for technology to revamp the industry on a new platform. What the service providers need to understand is that, there is potential at every level and there is a lot of room for transformative enhancements. If right steps are taken, digitization is claimed to boost the profitability of the sector by 20-30%. So, may the power be with you! ë
COVER FEATURE
2018 Through a Veteran’s Looking Glass In 2018, the priorities for enterprise should be to build IT capabilities that are responsive to the needs of the organization’s growth and objectives. Our exclusive rendezvous with a veteran in Cyber security, Mr Ayad Aldaijy, Former CIO and Advisor to the Saudi Arabian Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture who takes a deep dive into the cybersecurity landscape of the region. Based on his years of experience as an advisor, mentor and visionary for critical government organizations, he shares with us his viewpoints on what should organizations look forward to in 2018.
n W O R D S : A N U S H R E E D I X I T < A N U S H R E E @ G E C M E D I A G R O U P. C O M >
Tell us about your initial interaction with Technology. When did you realize that the passion for IT runs in your veins? My first interaction with technology was when I had the Atari 2600 console video game with joystick. Two years later that video game evolved into an Atari 130XE which had a tape drive and a 5 1/4” drive. This kind of advancement in technology had brought to my attention that technology will keep developing and never stop. During that time, I started to learn more about this new technology and I was following up the newest and updates of those technolo-
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gies. I remember the first personal computer I bought back in 1985 and it was an IBM portable computer. It came with a BASIC programming interface and an interpreter, so it was also the first computer that I did any programming on. What I loved about programming was the ability to make the computer do things like manipulating text, graphing graphics from text characters, etc. Talking about the year when you began your career and all the way to 2017… how has the various roles and responsibilities that you shoulder shaped your passion?
I believe that we all must have certain experiences before our passion can be revealed. I simply could not have been a successful CIO before having had many years of experience as an employee, manager, a leader, an advisor, an instructor, and more. I drew from the best of all experiences, personal and professional, the result is a commitment to living and working my passion.When I am involved with a project at work, I want to do my best to achieve success. I started my professional career with Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) where I engaged and led a number of critical ICT projects for major organizations in RSAF and Ministry of Defense and
COVER FEATURE
DR. AYAD ALDAIJY, FORMER CIO AND ADVISOR TO THE SAUDI ARABIAN MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, WATER AND AGRICULTURE
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The Royal Guard. During that time, the government organizations were supporting the efforts of building the new information infrastructure and automation in the kingdom. Fortunately, I was part of that effort.After 8 years of service, I decided to focus more on learning because I believe that education is the main sources of successful career. I had the opportunity and support from my work to pursue my graduate education in the USA. In 2003, I received the PhD in information technology from George Mason University. The experience of undertaking a doctorate had already enabled me to be more passionate, innovative and influential at work, and supported me to play a key role in changing cultural and organizational practice in the workplace in different organizations and in different domains. In September 2015, I joined the Ministry of Environment, Water & Agriculture, Saudi Arabia, as Advisor to the Minister and Chief Information Officer (CIO). I played a key role with my colleagues in the continued development of the Ministry, serving as an integral and strategic member of its senior management team. I was primarily responsible for the management of the Ministry’s present and future information & communication technology services position, and building a strong and capable team to support the Ministry’s vision to achieve sustainability of environment and natural resources, ensure water security, contribute to achieving food security, and improve quality of life in KSA.In summary, education certainly has shaped my passion, and I have learned three essential skills that shape the person I am today: reading, questioning, and critical thinking. You have been instrumental in developing key strategic plans for various organizations with Digitization as the center. Which has been your most interesting or challenging phase in the journey? The “Information Technology Strategic Plan 2016-2020, Ministry of Environment, Water & Agriculture”, is the most challenging task, according to the time constrains, the critical mission of the Ministry (water, food, and environment), alignment with National Transformation Plan 2020, and the size of the organization. The vision of the strategic plan is to support the achievement of sustainability in environmental & natural resources, ensure water security, contribute to achieving food security, and improve quality of life in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
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You have been the CIO and Advisory board of nearly all the major and critical government organizations in the kingdom? What has your experience taught you? We need always to check our requirements. I believe that everyone is in agreement with difficulty of defining requirements correctly and completely. However, effective communication is a key factor in successful requirements discovery. Research indicates that 40 -60 percent of projects failures can attributed to requirements that were specified incorrectly. These difficulties may lead to uncertainty about requirements. Uncertainty in requirements comes in a variety of forms, such as instability, diversity, and analyzability. These types of requirements often reflect on poor understanding of the business process, insufficient details for engineers to do their tasks, and insufficient feedback from stakeholders over life cycle of the project. Talking about the cyber security landscape of the region, how grave or worrying is the situation? As technologies advance, and also our increasing dependence on technology and web based communication, the risk of cyber-attacks is becoming greater. Over the past several years, and recently, we have seen incidents attacking variety of organizations, public and private.Another danger posed by group of hackers on a global scale is represented by the possibility of cyber-attacks against critical infrastructure, such as gas pipelines, water facilities, and smart grids.The issue is that the majority of processes in modern infrastructure are controlled by SCADA systems that were exposed on the Internet for maintenance purposes without the necessary attention to the cyber security.These kind of attacks could have a severe impact for the new model of the Internet of Things (IoT), and poorly configured IoT devices could be exploited by hackers to compromise the software they run.The rise in cybercrime has occurred despite of heavy investment in cyber protection, and the adoption of various measures including legislation. Talking about the kingdom specifically, what kind of vulnerabilities still exist and how the region is stepping up in the game? New cyber-attacks in the world have exposed a growing number of cybersecurity vulnerabilities, which they come in different types, such as, software bugs, broken processes, ineffective controls, hardware defects, human error, etc...
Saudi Arabia has recognized this issue and challenging, and has taken measures to strengthen its Cyber security to enhancing the cyber-defense capabilities. Recently, Saudi Arabia established a new authority to combat cyber threats. The authority began its regulatory and operational tasks in the area of cyber security by enhancing network protection, IT systems, operating systems, hardware and software components, services and data. Your profile says that you have achieved more than double growth in E-Government services and transactions, according to the 2017 report by “Yesser” (the national e-Government organization) where the e-services rose from 38% in 2015 to 79% in 2017. Tell us more about it? This achievement was one of the objectives of the information technology strategic plan developed for the Ministry of Environment, Water & Agriculture. The strategic objective was to improve the rank of the Ministry from a low rank to a higher rank. This effort reflects the needs of the ministry to ensure the IT capabilities are responsive to the needs of the organization’s growth and objectives.The main purpose of the project is to enable everyone to use the organization’s effective services, in a secure integrated network and ease of use, through various electronic channels. So we set the action plan, built the right team, applied gap analysis methodology by assessing the current position, built the business case, and linkede-service requirements to business, which ultimately transform the culture. This achievement has been considered as distinguished achievement because of passing successfully four main scale categories in two years. You have over 3 decades of experience in executive IT leadership; you have seen major ups and downs of the market. Based on that what would be your advice to— first, the next generation of ITians and second, the next generation of service providers? According to the challenges today in the market, my advice is to have in considerationthe importance of taking customer expectation at the top of all levels, specifically, the delivery of products and services. For service providers, I suggest the following: Build on flexible scale-out storage,your applications and volume performance is completely controlled and predictable, and automate almost all manual tasks. ë
INTERVIEW
Transformation is the Key PLACING THE FOCUS ON CUSTOMER SUCCESS, VALUEMENTOR DOES NOT INTEND TO PROVIDE JUST A POINT IN SERVICE, BUT ENSURES THAT THE CUSTOMER IS SUCCESSFUL IN THE BUSINESS THEY ARE IN.
How challenging was the security market for ValueMentor in 2017? In the services industry, specifically within information security, operational focus and efficiency is the key focus of most companies. However, our focus was to ensure customer success and provide the best customer experience as if we are part of their organization. One of the key challenge our customers face today is the availability of resources who can ensure customer success in terms of cyber security. Our customer success strategy focuses on multiple dimensions of our customers business. This includes plans for “Point in Time” Security, Tactical plans and long terms plans for the organization. What do you think are the potential information security threats that companies might face in the future? We will see a number of malware utilizing AI for fine tuning the attacks. Insecure IOT devices would help adversaries in launching massive scale attacks. New regulatory requirements around the world would result in an increased need for information security and privacy professionals, organizations would find it difficult to find right resources due to the scarcity of skilled people.
BINOY KOONAMMAVU,
CEO & PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT, VALUEMENTOR
Could you highlight a major success story of ValueMentor in the past? ValueMentor had worked with a large hotel chain based for their PCI compliance. We formed a multi-faced customer success team that will improve the security of the hotel while ensuring the business process are not affected, but improved. In 2017, ValueMentor team had helped Oracle finding “Zero-day” vulnerabilities on their Enterprise One platform, exploiting the vulnerability would have resulted in remote code execution on millions on such
implementations. A holding company in the region, used our services to assess the risks associated with its 3rd parties on its environment. Our team had helped in designing the 3rd party risk management program. The holding company had successfully improved the risk posture and reduced the number of risky vendors to less than 5. Give us 3 reasons why enterprises should choose ValueMentor over other security solutions. Our primary focus is “Customer Success”. Every engagement we signup would have customer success team working with the customer, understanding the business requirements of the customer. We do not intend to provide just a point in service, but want to ensure that the customer is successful in the business they are in. Secondly, we focus on speed and agility where it is most critical for our client’s business. This helps our clients achieve competitive advantage against its competitors. Last but not least, our team of security analysts are recognized for their ability to find “Zero-day” vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities are never published until it is fixed and a solution for all affected customers are publicly available. What is your roadmap for 2018? ValueMentor is focused on “Transformation” as the key theme for 2018. By the end of 2018, want to be the “Partner of Choice” for at least 50% of our customers. We are growing, 200% in terms of top line, for the past 3 years. This year, we are aiming for a growth of 300% in terms of top line numbers. In 2018, we will open 2 new Security Intelligence and Operations centres. ValueMentor promotes “woman in cyber security”, we intend to train and recruit a significant number of women in cyber security in the coming years. ë
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SPECIAL STORY
VIRTUALLY YOURS When the lamps lit up from 0 to 9 in an IBM Shoebox over a voice command, way back in 1961, who would have imagined that the future belonged to them. The pace is such that, even Siri, Cortna, Google assistant are history now. There are a new set of VAs and Chatbots that are disrupting the enterprise space and our daily lives like none other.
n B Y: A N U S H R E E D I X I T < A N U S H R E E @ G E C M E D I A G R O U P. C O M > n P H O T O : S H U T T E R S T O C K
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ts been quite a few years since THEY have been in town and we are quite familiar in working with a virtual assistant or a chatbot. But what surprised me lately was a funny conversation with Alexa that took me by surprise. So, I asked Alexa something out of the blue, picking a rather uncanny diction and I was taken aback by her answer. She responded humbly— “Sorry I do not know what it is. But please do not tell my designers, I am working on it and will get back to you.” I expected only the first part of the answer! While some scholars or studies may claim that chatbots are inefficient for a situation elaboration today, this should not be a concern. They are already serving the purpose chronologically and trying to inculcate as much intelligence as possible to their systems or learning platforms.
Leading retailers have made Chatbots their primary mode of communication with the customers and so far there have been more positive reviews than negatives. Of course, as I mentioned in the beginning, Cortana, Siri, Google Assistant can be considered as past now. According to studies, there are 3 next gen VAs/Chatbots that are all set to make future belong to them— Amy, Shae and Otto that are disrupting the emails, healthcare and smart home respectively.
A BUSINESS BEST FRIEND? According to Basak Guler, Regional Manager at NNTC , Chatbots can drastically improve and optimize any contact center performance, regardless of the industry. “Some contact center case studies show that a 5-second reduction in average agent conversation saves millions of dirhams for a company. Managing a contact center with
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“Millennials, who value performance right here, right now are most positive about bots and perceive them as an advanced social media tool.”
“At its very core, intelligent virtual agents make it easy, immediate and effective for customers to engage in a relationship with you 24x7.”
-BASAK GULER, REGIONAL MANAGER AT NNTC
-MARK ACKERMAN, SALES DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST, SERVICENOW
hundreds of agents is truly a rocket science. In addition, here is where unlimited bot’s performance surpasses human one. The key point here is to elaborate the bot behavior logic, scenarios and content to make any bot a smart interactive guide.” “Virtual agents provide a two way flow of interaction in natural language between machines and humans. With machine learning and artificial intelligence as the underpinnings, a virtual agent chatbot can solve problems, answer questions and undertake actions with greater efficiency and faster turnaround. Chatbots provide employees or consumers an experience that can be personalized, accessible and effective. Self service using chatbots frees up human agents who can then focus on higher value work,” says Mark Ackerman, Sales Director, Middle East, ServiceNow.
providing information, MIKA can walk engineers through installation, troubleshooting and the contextual tasks they face on a day-to-day basis. Software ‘robots’ can also carry out simpler repetitive tasks on their behalf – logging into a system, connecting to a network element and running commands to get log files and troubleshoot issues. Mr. Mujeeb Rahman, COO, Bebuzzd, says, “Customer service is a key industry and has its significance among the other sectors. Most brands always tend to have an issue while communicating with their customers. Where customers expect brands or the customer service team to be available 24x7 to attend to their queries, it becomes very difficult for brands to live up to these expectations. In general, clients wait for a response for too long or even don’t get one. This leads to negative reviews and dissatisfied customers. Having chatbots help facilitate customer service in a very efficient manner.”
WHO IS RULING THE ROOST WITH A CHAT? Recently, Emirates NBD opened the region’s first Branch of the Future at Emirates Towers, Dubai, featuring Pepper, an artificial intelligence robot, as well as showcasing emerging breakthroughs in banking and payment technology. EVA, the region’s first intelligent voice-based and chatbot virtual assistant was launched, and the bank’s widely popular 60-second DirectRemit service extended to new corridors including Egypt and Sri Lanka. Not only this, Nokia’s MIKA digital assistant, designed specifically for telecom operators, provides further information to engineers, understanding the complex products, tasks and issues that comprise the telecom industry. Beyond
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“Organizations with successful digital transformation strategies are more likely to include virtual assistants within their digital transformation efforts.” -MR. MUJEEB RAHMAN, COO, BEBUZZD
REDEFINING THE ENTERPRISE SPACE Chatbots were initially implemented to help out with the odd customer care conversation; now, they’re completely changing the way enterprises operate both internally and externally. Chatbots are currently part of a much bigger strategy, allowing enterprises to cut expenses, automate business processes, and empower teams. They have now become a very important and integral part of most businesses. Chatbots make businesses available for customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, without incurring an extra cost. As Mujeeb puts it, “We also think that security is an important factor, and relying on this technology make us ask questions like having a passive listening device sitting inside a meeting room or office. However, since these devices do not transmit information until they are activated by a key word or phrase, these security concerns are somewhat limited.”
UPS AND DOWNS
FINALLY
If you are user or customer who cannot do with personalized human attention and precise answering, then chatbot may not be a friend to you. There are several websites that have chatbots peeping in and out of your screen with unwanted suggestions or sometimes leading you to the wrong answer. Blame it on the early stage of the technology. As Basak puts it, “Some clients do not like chatbots and consider them as indicators of the company’s insufficient attention and poor commitment. Another challenge in the bot market is the need in search engines capable of advanced searching for available bots.
There have been claims that chatbots and digital assistants are here to snatch away the human jobs. Why don’t we think otherwise? I had read somewhere that the purpose of human life it to think beyond today. And, the purpose of any enterprise is to think beyond threats. If chatbots or VAs are automating the redundant process and back end operations that was once manual, why don’t we encourage a workforce that is ready to move away from the comfort zone and push the limits to other boundaries? Think! Because a VA is already on its toes. ë
INTERVIEW
Borderless Communication WITH A WIDE PORTFOLIO OF PRODUCTS, SHURE AIMS TO DIVERSIFY OFFERINGS ACROSS KEY INDUSTRY VERTICALS. THE DIRECTOR FOR SALES & MARKETING AT SHURE MEA, CHICCO HIRANANDANI, SHARES WITH ECMEA ON HOW THECOMPANY PLANS TO GO AHEAD IN 2018 AND BRING VALUE TO VARIOUS SECTORS.
Please tell us about Shure. Shure is a manufacturer of microphones and audio electronics. We were managing via our German office earlier and four years ago opened an office in Dubai to focus on developing the region.
CHICCO HIRANANDANI,
DIRECTOR SALES AND MARKETING, SHURE MEA
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How are audio technologies transforming the way enterprise communication is functioned? Digital technology is taking the front seat as the Middle East economies are driving forward to diversify from oil to a service- and tourism-oriented economy. According to Gartner, IT spending in the Middle East topped USD213 billion in 2016 and is projected to increase to USD220 billion and USD235 billion in 2017 and 2018 respectively. Transformation projects in banking and financial services, retail, healthcare and hospitality are fuelling demand for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) services and hardware. Retail, hospitality, sporting, music and concert events open up immense opportunities for high-quality audio, digital signage, ultra-high definition LED walls and other pro-AV installations. Professional Audiovisual (pro-AV) solutions and especially high-quality audio have a key role to play in projects related to government, education, corporate and the MICE industry. Internet of Things (IoT) and Cloud Computing are transforming industries, including the field of AV technology. Instead of working as an independent system, modern consumers are now looking at AV as a component within a larger, more fully integrated communications field. Shure stands at the forefront of this convergence of audio and IT, delivering innovative, ground-breaking technology with unmatched intelligibility.
What did the company showcase at InfoComm MEA? At InfoComm MEA, Shure showcased their solutions that can bring value to various verticals. Under the education sector, Shure microphone systems provide audio capture for teachers, lecturers and students, improving the clarity of communication. Shure also shared details on Microflex Complete which is an ideal conference system for rooms that are used for organized board meetings, legislative proceedings, or training events in governments. The Microflex Complete Wireless system overcomes cable limitations at off-site meetings, in rooms with flexible seating, or even in historic buildings. What were the key take ways from InfoComm MEA? InfoComm MEA is the region’s foremost Professional Audiovisual (pro-AV) and Information Communications Technology (ICT) show. It is where industry players and experts showcase, share and incubate ideas. We were excited to be there and help influencers and decision-makers seek and find solutions to propel their businesses. How do you plan to go to market in 2018? As technology leader, we understand the importance of high audio quality for increasing business productivity and efficiency and as per our market research, we have found out that the verticals of education, government and corporates see some of the greatest demand for audio electronics. These have also been identified as our key sectors for growth. As the Middle East stands on the cusp of a digital revolution, there is a vast expanse of opportunities and digital boom is up for grabs. It is therefore an important time and a crucial step to diversify our offerings. Í
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GEC OPEN
CHAMPIONS LIFT THE TROPHY
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fter touring the eastern hemisphere hosting national qualifying rounds in 18 countries, the GEC Open 2017, organized in association with OMA Emirates, culminated in Dubai for the coveted world final. Forming a unique melting pot of diverse cultures and ethnicities, as many as 60 world finalists came together for a once-ina-lifetime opportunity to compete under national colours and experience the life of a pro on tour! The two-day extravaganza, Dubai Corporate Golf World Cup, consisted of two rounds of golf on the mighty Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates and the prestigious Majlis Course of Emirates Golf Club on December 13-14, 2017. Informal drink and dine sessions in the evening provided a unique opportunity for networking and building camaraderie. The chic events that followed the competitive golf rounds were abuzz with lively conversations and laughter among new-found friends.
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DUBAI CORPORATE GOLF WORLD CUP Testing their mettle at two very different layouts that are home to few of the most reputed professional tournaments on the European Tour, the amateurs displayed remarkable grit and determination in their endeavor for the coveted trophy.
“It was a rich cultural experience meeting and knowing so many like-minded friends from various part of the world,” -YUKOL YINGYONGKIJ, THAILAND 42
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The format of the game was individual Stableford with full handicap allowance with the total score of two days counting towards the final standings in a single best Nett category. Jumeirah Golf Estates - Earth Course hosted the inaugural round of Dubai Corporate Golf World Cup. The picturesque course is also the venue for season-ending DP World Tour
“What a fantastic end to a truly enriching experience. I thoroughly enjoyed my two days at GEC Open world final,” -VERLITO QUINDOZA, SAUDI ARABIA
Championship on the European Tour where the yearly Race to Dubai winner is crowned. As the curtain drew on the first day, playing off scratch, Frenchmen Christophe Callaou carded 35 Stableford points. Christophe had qualified from the national qualifying round at Heritage Golf Club in Mauritius. Susan Drummond scored the equal number points but was edged out for top place owing to a higher handicap to Christophe at 5.7 index. Susan who hails from Scotland booked her berth in the world final at Dreamland Golf Club in Baku, Azerbaijan. Indian national Hassanali Bulsara, who qualified from the Mumbai edition at Willingdon Sports Club of the Indian swing of qualifiers was following them closely with just a one-stroke lag. Yukol Yingyongkij from Nikanti Golf Club in Thailand had the same number of points as Hassanali after round one and found himself in the thick of things at forth. For the final day, the amateur golfers moved to Emirates Golf Club - Majlis Courses- the venue of Dubai Desert Classic. Owing to the course maintenance in the buildup to the Desert Classic in January 2018, the amateurs were asked to ditch their carts and walk the course – a real ‘feel like a pro’ experience! Yukol Yingyongkij from Thailand consolidated on his first-day score of 34 points with a superb
GEC OPEN
round of 39 Stableford points. The overall score of 73 Stableford points was enough to propel him to the top of the leaderboard. Verlito Quindoza, a national winner from Dirab Golf & Country Club in Saudi Arabia, secured an identical two-day score of 73 Stableford points but had to settle for runnerup position due to a higher playing handicap. The third position went to Susan Drummond who carded a two-day total of 70 Stableford .
Late evenings were kept free to enable the world finalists to go out and see the wonders of the ‘city of gold’ Dubai, best known for exquisite hospitality, luxury shopping and a lively nightlife. With phenomenal views of the Persian Gulf and iconic skyscrapers, the players had plenty to sightsee and explore.
DUBAI DELIGHT
The fact that the combined net worth of all participants of GEC Open 2017 was over US$ 30 Billion is a huge testament to the networking and business potential of the tournament. Over 2500 top corporates of fortune 500 companies, independent business owners, influential bureaucrats and key decision makers of various national and international golfing fraternities joined the GEC ecosystem this year. The 2017 edition played
With an aim to encourage camaraderie and keep the ‘fun’ quotient of the event at par with the competitive spirit of the world final, the travelling players were put-up together at the luxurious property at Media One Hotel in Dubai Media City. The evening affairs at both the venues offered Continental and Arabic cuisine along with contemporary music in an upscale yet intimate setting.
GLOBAL ENTERPRISE CONNECT
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“I am glad to have secured a podium finish at the GEC Open World Final. I had a great time socializing with club golfers from far and wide.” -SUSAN DRUMMOND, AZERBAIJAN
a crucial role in bringing together financial mammoths from multiple countries and creating business opportunities. With over 50 national qualifying rounds set to be held across 32 countries in 2018, the GEC platform is on its way to add another 3700+ leading corporates and industry stalwarts.
GLOBAL SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (GSR) GEC Open is an initiative to bring leading global organizations and executives on a unified platform; growing the bond and strength of business while working to improve the lives of others through charitable causes. GEC Open 2017 world final marked the launch the first GSR campaign directed towards Green Energy - OneLight OneEarth. “The feeling is unbelievable right now. The idea of a global golf tournament which provides the participants with a unique blend of competitive sport and networking opportunities started four years ago. It’s been heartening to see the tremendous growth of the event from just an idea to one of the most coveted golf tournament for amateurs in the world today. On behalf of the entire GEC team, I congratulate all winners as well as the whole world finalist contingent. They are the real ambassadors of the sport as well as the GEC community. We look forward to the next edition of the tournament with great anticipation. With 50 rounds in 32 countries, beckons a vast opportunity to grow the game and GEC
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ecosystem”, Tushar Sahoo, Managing Director, GEC Open. “We have been associated with GEC Open because we truly believe in its massive potential to use golf as a medium to bring people together to do great things. We thank all the participants of GEC Open 2017 as its due to them that the event was such a huge success. We look forward to continuing our support to the event in the coming years”, Niranj Sangal, Group CEO, OMA Emirates.
A special note of thanks to the sponsors and partners, OMA Emirates, Callaway, bizgolf, Chase54, African+Eastern, CNBC, Club Mahindra, Indigo, The New Indian Express, Holiday Inn, Pepsi, Bond, Direct, Mimecast, GBM, Toshiba, Sophos, Veeam, and Pure Storage for their continued support and patronage for the event. A big shout out to the management at Jumeirah Golf Estates and Emirates Golf Club for a seamless execution of the competition. ë
EXECUTIVE MOVEMENT
Building New Strategies WITH MORE THAN 20 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE, SAEED KHAN, THE NEWLY APPOINTED VP & HEAD SALES, MIDDLE EAST FOR AGC NETWORKS HAS AGGRESSIVE GROWTH PLANS FOR THE REGION AND LOOKS FORWARD TO DELIVERING THE CUSTOMERS IT LANDSCAPE EXPECTATIONS.
How long has it been since you joined AGC Networks? What was the most appealing factor about the company that attracted you? My association with AGC Networks is very recent and since December 2017. AGC Networks is a global IT organization with operations across US, UK, Africa, Middle East, India, Singapore, Philippines, Australia and New Zealand. Its presence is in the Solution Integration space for over 3 decades now. Recognizing the two most important technological issues sweeping the globe - a need for vigilant cyber security protocols and the importance of Cloud and Managed services across traditional Capex and Opex models in the Hyper Converged Infrastructure (HCI) space – continue to be AGC’s focus, going forward. What roles and responsibilities does your current role entail? I am responsible for the complete operation and expansion of AGC’s business in the region. As the Vice President, I will ensure strong relationships with existing clients and build strategies to build new client base in the marketplace as also drive the company’s operations across Pre-sales, Service Delivery and other support functions.
SAEED KHAN,
VP & HEAD OF SALES (ME), AGC NETWORKS
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What are your TOP 3 Priorities for 2018? 1. Customer focus: Interacting with the customer base in the region and understanding their technology landscape to craft customized solutions 2. Delivery of AGC’s solution portfolio across l Digital and Security l Managed and Cloud Services l Professional Services 3. Strengthening Partner / Alliance association in the region to jointly deliver solutions
to the customer In your current role, what is your responsibility towards your customers and partners? AGC believes in the philosophy of 3 R’s – RRR. Building trustworthy Relationships with partners / Customers; Being Relevant to them to deliver desired impactful Results aligned to customer’s business objectives. These values underline our business approach in the ME regions to augment AGC’s global positioning across the technology domains. I would be responsible to accelerate customer’s business with best in class customized technology solutions delivered along with our alliance partners. Tell us any interesting fact about AGC’s office/employee culture. AGC Employees At AGC, we believe that skilled resources are our core assets. AGC is investing in the right skill sets by training its people to craft solutions, acquaint customers with emerging technologies and finally deliver the right solutions that provide robust return on their technology investments. Our prime focus has been on building a strong ecosystem for employees through the right structure and effective leadership communication systems delivering HR practices and services that support the organization’s business model. We place utmost importance on people and constantly work towards building and maintaining a progressive working environment. To harness a collaborative work culture and building camaraderie, employees are engaged through an assortment of activities encompassing celebrations & events like employee get-together, festival celebrations, social responsibility initiatives, Health & Wellness Programs, etc. ë
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INNOVATIONS
PowerEdge 14G Server Dell EMC’s hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) portfolio has received a substantial boost with the availability of Dell EMC HCI appliances on the newly designed, award-winning Dell EMC PowerEdge 14th generation servers. With this latest PowerEdge server platform, designed and optimised for HCI, customers of all sizes can expect even more powerful and predictable performance with even greater configurability for hosting a wide-range of mission critical software applications on Dell EMC VxRail and XC Series appliances. Dell EMC now combines the simplicity, agility and scalability of its industry-leading HCI portfolio with the power and flexibility of next generation servers, designed and optimised for HCI. This offers greater performance and reliability to meet customer demands as HCI moves into core data centers and is relied on to run a wider range of applications and workloads. Dell EMC PowerEdge 14th generation servers, based on Intel Xeon Processor Scalable Family, include 150 custom requirements for software-defined storage (SDS) built-in, making it uniquely optimised for HCI.
KEY CAPABILITIES n Includes 150 custom requirements for SDS built-in n Support for SSDs in scale-out deployments n Increased drive cooling for improved reliability n Offers faster access to applications and data n Faster initialisation and streamlined data storage management n Faster clock frequency; More memory channels n Faster memory resulting in up to 1.7x more processing power and 62% higher internal bandwidth n Better performance for the most demanding applications n Highly dependable performance n More options for perfectly right-sized deployments n Software-defined NAS support n Increased performance for compute intensive workloads n Up to 93 percent increased compute capability n Expanded use cases in VDI environments
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SIEMON Z-MAX 45 Siemon launched its new Z-MAX 45 shielded Category 6A outlet in the Middle East which features a shorter, compact design with the ability to terminate cable at a 45-degree angle, reducing rear depth requirements whilst maintaining proper bend radius.
KEY CAPABILITIES n Enables cable to exit the outlet at a 45-degree angle to accommodate shallow back boxes and wall-mounted raceway applications n Hybrid design supports both flat and angled mounting orientations n Enables side stacking for high density applications, n Plastic bezels prevent contact between metal housings n Linear lacing features combined with the termination tool offers termination time whilst reducing installation variability for consistent, repeatable performance n Can be terminated to stranded and solid cable types from 22 to 26 AWG. n Features Siemon’s patented crowned jack geometry, for support of the latest PoE applications.
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FUTURE IT
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