EC-MEA March 2023

RISE OF THE POWER !

Taking place from July to September, the roadshow will span 50 countries, gathering over 5,000 IT leaders.

2023, year of industry events

The year has opened with highly successful industry events with record breaking visitor footfalls. These included Intersec and IDEX in UAE and LEAP in Saudi Arabia. Industry specific events are opportunities for end users, channel partners and solution provides to come together and engage around the latest innovations, business use cases, and pain points and challenges ahead.

GEC Media Group has also announced the launch of its flagship global roadshow, across 50+ countries from July to September, targeting 5,000 IT leaders, titled The World CIO 200 2023. This year’s theme will be Rise of the Power!

Continuing with another flagship roadshow event, GEC Media Group successfully completed the ninth edition of its Future IT Summit 2023 roadshow.

This was attended by close to 200 industry executives and enterprise IT decision makers. Other than the welcome speech, keynote speakers, panel discussions, the event also saw recognition for top executives through the various awards including Titans Badge of Honour, Catalyst Awards and Top 10 IT Awards.

The keynote speakers included Charbel Zreiby from Dell Technologies; Manish Narayanaswami from Kissflow; Ali El Kontar from Zero&One; Murthy Sadasivan from Securenet; Manas Sarkar from Trend Micro; Gaurav Singh founder of JPIN, among others.

The panel discussions covered CIO Power Panel: Who leads the enterprises’ ESG strategy and how can CIOs enable this; CIO Power panel: Are vendor solutions mature enough for enterprises large scale automation rollout; and Rapid Fire - Leadership in 2023.

Turn these pages for full coverage of the event.

In other deep dive we look at how IDC views the impact of digital transformation on the CIO and the IT enterprise. According to IDC’s Jyoti Lalchandani, digital transformation has made information technology embedded inside business processes and operations. This has made IT decision making distributed across the enterprises. Today, technology has relevance for the C-suite, for business and for the IT organisation as well.

The ecosystem of decision makers for IT investments was previously concentrated. Now we are going to see that ecosystem expand. We are going to see expansion in the decisionmaking ecosystem beyond IT. Within IT, we are going to see other stakeholders of CXT, AI, DevOps, infrastructure teams, application teams in decision making.

Technology is now so embedded across business units, across functions, that it is no longer an operational part of the business. We are going to see a shift from task-based automation to end-to-end process automation. With AI enabled and AI embedded within automation, that means machines are able to predict and even deliver the service.

On the global front we are now talking about end-to-end sovereignty. It is no longer just a data discussion, but a digital sovereignty discussion. The focus is shifting from geopolitics to geoeconomics. Technology is going to become an area of focus for public sector and governments around the world.

More on these disruptive changes in the pages ahead.

We wish all our readers Ramadan Kareem for the holy month ahead.

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SEC _ RITY IS NOT COMPLETE WITHOUT U!

BIG DATA AND SPORTS ANALYTICS

Big data analytics has been used in a variety of sports, most notably by Americans involved in decision making in sports like baseball and basketball.

Over the years, sports data analytics has transformed decision-making and other strategies such as preparing defensive strategies, drafting players, and so on.

Data analytics has revolutionised the sports era with its principles and data collection methods. Sports data analytics is a boon to the sports industry and has well established its roots in the foreground of the institution.

Each major sport has since had its own analytics evolution with teams hiring data scientists and seeking ways to objectively analyse players and gain a statistical edge. The global sports analytics industry is expected to reach $3.4 billion by 2028, according to a 2021 report from Research and Markets.

Big data analytics has been used successfully in a variety of sports, most notably by the Americans involved in decision making in sports like baseball and basketball. The more global games of football and tennis were slow off the blocks but have caught up with the American sports. And when it comes to cricket, the advent of T20 leagues all over the world made it necessary to use data as best possible before making decisions.

The monetary stake being very high has made the use of data crunching an absolute must. Given that it has been embraced glob ally by franchises, the national teams too have followed suit. Teams of analysts look at every possible part of the play and convert them into quantifiable data. The data is then looked into in detail and the inferences often lead to clear-cut strategies.

Additionally, in line with the FIFA President’s Vision 2020-2023 to harness technology to further improve football, players at the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar will be able to get insights into their onfield performance through the FIFA Player App. FIFA has developed the FIFA Player App, based on input from professional players, in collaboration with FIFPRO, the global representative of professional footballers.

The FIFA Player App was used for the first time at a FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The survey and interviews conducted show that players are very interested in their performance data and want to have easy access to this information. The FIFA Player App will provide the opportunity for each player to access their individual playerperformance data shortly after each match.

The data collected will include enhanced football data metrics, physical performance metrics and enhanced football intelligence metrics. This data is then synchronised with match footage to enable players to watch all key moments of their own performance in detail, using different camera angles.

JADD ELLIOT DIB

However, relying only on sports analytics does not make a difference unless the coaches and players imply backbreaking efforts and sheer hard work for improving their game mobility. It benefits them to seek and understand information throughout the course of a season of a game.

Everybody loves to watch sports with detailed and insightful commentary. Have we ever stopped to think, though, about how broadcasters and athletes make sports so compelling for us insatiable viewers?

l Data helps coaches make more insight-driven recruitment decisions

l Big data analytics helps broadcasters create a better viewing experience

l Big data is helping us create better sporting strategies

l It has become easier to boost fan engagement with fantasy sports

Big data has improved many industries over the last few years, and is no stranger to the sporting field. It has helped athletes enhance their performance, broadcasters their fan engagement, and coaches their gameplay tactics. Marketing data analytics plays a huge role in this process too. ë

Founder and CEO at Pangaea X.

GO THE HARD WAY OR THE HIGHWAY

DNS traffic can easily be compared to the route you take to the campsite in the South of France. You can go to your destination via the toll road, or you can take a B-road.

Where is your data stored? Where is the software located? You used to be able to answer these questions by pointing to the cabinet where your server was located. Today it is more difficult. Is it on your own server? In the cloud? Both, everywhere and nowhere? Without Domain Name System, DNS, you have no idea.

In a world in which organisations increasingly work decentralised, it becomes all the more important that you arrive at the right destinations. This makes the system that regulates this, DNS, even more important for the organisation. Bad DNS management not only limits productivity, but also brings increasing security risks.

DNS has traditionally been referred to as the telephone directory of the Internet. In daily use, you get online access to information via domain names, such as wikipedia.org. Browsers, on the other hand, communicate via Internet Protocol , IP addresses. DNS translates domain names into IP addresses so that browsers can find the correct information.

Every device connected to the internet has a unique IP address that other machines use to communicate with this device. DNS servers save people from having to remember long, complex IP addresses.

Role of DNS

About a decade ago, chances were your applications and data lived in the physical infrastructure of a single data centre. Today, all that has changed: Applications and data are typically spread across multiple endpoints thanks to the rise of cloud technologies.

Over time, the tools that control traffic have also changed. Like the rest of your digital infrastructure, DNS is more dynamic than ever today. You are selling DNS short by calling it a telephone book. The DNS servers act as hubs for countless connections between applications, data, and users. The title of ‘traffic controller’ is therefore not out of place.

Challenge in DNS

Safety is an important responsibility for every air traffic controller. Security has also become a hot topic for DNS. Because DNS is an attractive target for attacks. For example, it is increasingly used as a tool in DDoS attacks, but DNS is also attacked to redirect web traffic to malicious servers.

When everyone works in the office, the role of security is reserved for firewalls and similar measures. But when employees, applications and data are decentralised, DNS also needs to know which routes an

MOHAMMED AL-MONEER

Senior Regional Director META at Infoblox.

information request can and may take.

In concrete terms, this means that DNS blocks the visit of known malware sites for all users in the network. When a user clicks on a phishing link, DNS blocks access so that no malware is downloaded. In its role as traffic controller, DNS thus ensures that you do not accidentally download malware.

It is important that you as an organisation have control over this. Great to let your navigation system determine which route will lead you the fastest to your holiday destination, but is it desirable to give an external party control over the routes within your organisation?

If possible, Google’s traffic controller will always refer you via and or to Google. The same goes for every major cloud provider. This quickly leads to dependencies, making it less easy to set up a multicloud environment, for example. Therefore, do not bet on one.

DNS traffic can easily be compared to the route you take to the campsite in the South of France. You can go to your destination via the toll road, or you can take a B-road. If you take the toll road you are safe and in control, but via the B-road there are more obstacles. Do you want to be sure that you will arrive safely at your destination in this rapidly changing world?

UAE CIOs meet at The Loop, Meydan to participate in wellness cycling event

After the successful Future IT Summit 2023 event, GEC Media Group organized the ‘Unite to Sustain’ Pedalling event at The Loop, Meydan. It was an exciting event, attended by 50+ CIOs and IT leaders from UAE who became cycling enthusiasts, not concentrating much on the skills required but cherishing the exhilarating experience that the event promised to deliver throughout the route.

The cycling event provided an opportunity to connect with colleagues and professionals in the community while inculcating healthy habits through physical activity. This event helped

to build camaraderie among participants and inspired everyone to prioritize their health and well-being. Besides the physical benefits of cycling, this event provided a unique opportunity to network and build relationships with other professionals in the area. The purpose was to connect with others who share a common goal of promoting wellness and fitness.

The WELLFIT at Loop Meydan was full of CIOs’ positive energies and spirits who attended the event as part of their social responsibility towards health and fitness leading to sustainable living. The event started at 7:00 am

and UAE weather was a pleasant one to allow participants to take a 12 km long drive by pedaling. Energetic participants pedaled to be a part of the Wellness and Health sustainability initiative.

The vendor and channel partners for this event were:

l Eveium

l CAAS

l OPX Technology

l WELLFIT

Cybersecurity VAD CyberKnight to distribute XDR solution from NetWitness in Middle East

NetWitness, a globally trusted provider of cybersecurity technologies and incident response services, announced it is partnering with cybersecurity focused value-added-distributor headquartered in Dubai, CyberKnight, to bring NetWitness’ extended detection and response XDR solutions to enterprises in the Middle East.

Together, NetWitness and CyberKnight will enable enterprise and government customers in the Middle East with fast detection and automatic response capabilities to combat today’s advanced cybersecurity threats.

The NetWitness Platform is an open XDR

solution that enables security teams to detect, understand the full scope of a compromise, and automatically respond to security threats across modern IT infrastructures, accelerating threat detection and response. NetWitness delivers enhanced visibility across all capture points, including logs, network packets, net flow, endpoints, and computing platforms on premise, in the cloud, or as a hybrid of the two.

The NetWitness Platform applies threat intelligence as well as user and entity behaviour analytics to detect, prioritise, investigate threats, and automate responses, improving the effectiveness and efficiency of security strategies.

Organisations have been embracing digital transformation to improve customer experience and enhance infrastructure which is in line with the Saudi Vision 2030 to build a futuristic city by harnessing data. There has also been a rising demand for cutting-edge surveillance technology and better control of network devices, without compromising on privacy.

Understanding this, AFET is bringing its renowned portfolio of Infrastructure Technology services, and solutions to offer end to end IT services in the Saudi Arabia.

The solutions of security and surveillance in the current market situation are not only limited to the supply and integration, but also its extension to provide world-class customer service and support. Al-Futtaim Engineering and Technologies has developed a strong base of skilled engineers and technicians to manage such necessities.

Al-Futtaim

Engineering and Technologies partners with Dahua in Saudi Arabia

At the seminar, AFET introduced its Infrastructure Services division’s strong competencies to deliver Dahua Technology’s surveillance solution across various sectors. These sectors include Smart City surveillance, road and

transport security and surveillance systems, education smart surveillance monitoring solution, hospitality surveillance systems, and multilocation monitoring and recording solutions.

Through a shared vision of using premium quality products and holistic solutions, both companies have a proven track record of enabling their customers to grow their businesses and create value for end users. These smart integrated safety and security systems are made available to customers and businesses in the Saudi market by Al-Futtaim Engineering and Technologies, the multi-disciplinary engineering provider operating across the region.

(Left to right) Motaz Al Mohamady, Head of Channel Sales Middle East, Turkey, and Africa, NetWitness and Avinash Advani, Founder and CEO, CyberKnight.

Zero&One announces multi-year regional strategic collaboration agreement with AWS

Zero&One is thrilled to announce its strategic collaboration agreement with Amazon Web Services, AWS, playing a key role in helping customers drive innovation and build solutions on AWS in the MENA region.

This agreement reflects a commitment between Zero&One and AWS, through investing in people, new services, and technology to support customers in their cloud transformation journey. As part of this commitment, the Zero&One team aims to double the workforce and attain 500+ AWS certifications, further strengthening their ability to deliver

exceptional cloud services.

The Zero&One team is embarking on a 5-year programme with ambitious goals to aid customers in elevating their operations and driving innovation through cutting-edge solutions in Cloud Migration, AI, ML, Data and

Analytics, Managed Services, and Application Modernisation. The digital transformation era presents the perfect opportunity to implement this agreement and solidify the team’s commitment to driving progress and success for their customers.

SAS partners with Basserah in Saudi Arabia for advanced analytics, AI, RPA

SAS recently announced its partnership with Basserah, a Saudi company established by NOMD holding. This strategic partnership will drive a new era of advanced analytics and AI in Saudi Arabia with a focus on data and robotics process automation, RPA. This initiative aims to help organisations in the Saudi Arabia capitalise on business and customer intelligence and automate repetitive business and operational processes through its products and services in order to maximise return on investment, ROI, meet commercial and strategic objectives.

With SAS industry-leading solutions a part of Basserah’s product portfolio, customers can experience the potential of analytics first-hand and its capabilities to solve problems, improve productivity, streamline operations, and support sustainable innovation faster for businesses of all sizes. These offerings range from scalable, cloud-native SAS Viya and advanced fraud detection solutions to AI, composite AI,

and AI-driven decision-making with real-time analytics.

Since Saudi Arabia has set specific goals to transform into a digital society and economy by leveraging data as a national asset, Basserah’s

collaboration with SAS opened up an entirely new world of possibilities for Saudi organisations. Baseerah and SAS’ focus for LEAP this year is on the public sector, telecommunications, and manufacturing.

HPE and Alfanar announce high-tech production in Saudi Arabia, Middle East HQ in Riyadh

Hewlett Packard Enterprise announced its intent to launch a new production site in Saudi Arabia to support the development of the Saudi Arabia’s digital economy and meet growing customer demand. With sponsorship, support and participation from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Ministry of Investment and the Local Content and Government Procurement Authority, HPE will partner with Alfanar, a manufacturer and digital solutions provider, to produce models from its market leading compute portfolio in the Saudi Arabia.

HPE and Alfanar intend to make a longterm multi-million-dollar investment that will support critical national initiatives in the public and private sectors, including education, health, oil and gas, financial services, and manufacturing. The investment will strengthen HPE’s deep rooted commitment to Saudi Arabia which goes back more than 30 years. The project will support the goals of the Saudi Vision 2030 initiative and is predicted to contribute up to $500m to Saudi GDP.

At launch, the project will bring enterprise IT production to Saudi Arabia, with HPE and Alfanar producing thousands of units annually from the leading HPE ProLiant Gen11 server family. Customised products will be produced that include multiple sophisticated configurations such as GPUs, processors, memory, and a wide variety of storage options and network implementations.

Following the success of the project kick off, HPE and Alfanar have ambitious plans for additional product lines in the coming years

and production may be ramped up to support exports to the wider Middle East region.

Located in the city of Riyadh, the development of the Alfanar facility will support highly skilled jobs and help to develop the Saudi technology ecosystem. With a stated commitment to Saudization, HPE and Alfanar intend to train Saudi professionals in high-tech manufacturing and solution building.

HPE announces new Riyadh Headquarters for ME region

HPE announced the launch of its new Middle East organisation with its headquarters in Riyadh. The new organisation is led by Mohammad Alrehaili, who is responsible for HPE’s operations in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Iraq and Yemen.

Mohammad joined HPE in 2022 as the Managing Director for HPE in Saudi Arabia, where he was tasked with driving business growth,

expanding the talent pool and delivering an innovation agenda. Mohammad has more than 15 years of experience working in the technology industry in both the public and private sectors. He joined HPE from Mobily, where he served as a Senior Vice President for Business Sales. Prior to this, he worked at Cisco Systems in Riyadh, including roles in channel sales and business development.

Based at the new Riyadh headquarters, Mohammad will be responsible for building a culture of collaboration across the Middle East and into the global organisation. He will strengthen HPE’s partner ecosystem in the region to help drive continued growth and success with the HPE portfolio, particularly with the HPE GreenLake edge-to-cloud platform. Mohammad will also act as sales leader for Saudi Arabia, supporting public and private sector organisations with digital transformation programs that help them meet the Vision 2030 objectives.

LinkShadow opens META hub office in Riyadh as part of regional expansion

LinkShadow, a vendor in cybersecurity analytics announced opening of an office in Riyadh which will function as the META hub and facilitate regional expansion. Most importantly drive the core objective of empowering enterprises across the region to build greater cyber resiliency.

The new office premises located in the heart of Riyadh will largely contribute to the growth and development of The Saudi Arabia’s cybersecurity landscape. This move is in alignment

with the Saudi Vision 2030 which emphasizes on deploying robust cybersecurity solutions to thwart potential threats and build a buoyant cyber environment which is critical to many upcoming Saudi projects.

This also demonstrates the Company’s commitment to empowering human capabilities with advanced security tools to enhance their organisations’ defences from an ever-evolving sophisticated cybercriminal world.

Fadi Sharaf, Regional Sales Director, LinkShadow.

Mobileum recognised in two categories of Juniper Future Digital Awards

Mobileum, a global provider of telecom analytics solutions, announced that it has been named a Platinum winner in two categories for the Juniper Future Digital Awards, Best Steering of Roaming Solution and Most Innovative Anti-SMS Fraud Solution. These awards recognise the most innovative and disruptive solutions operating across the telco, security, and network operator markets. This is the fourth year in a row that Juniper has recognised Mobileum solutions for its outstanding contributions to the telecommunications industry.

Since 2020, Mobileum has consistently been awarded top honours for its Roaming solutions. This year Mobileum holds the position for its Mobileum SoR solution. With a footprint of over 350+ Steering of Roam-

ing active users, it optimises roaming margins by guiding roaming traffic to an operator’s preferred networks based on analytics-driven insight into technology, price, quality of service, mutual traffic deals, and wholesale costs.

Mobileum took Platinum this year for its SMS Firewall solution, advancing from last year’s gold nomination. Mobileum’s SMS Firewall offers real-time protection to operators’ current and future messaging services, keeping their subscribers’ personal preferences and privacy policies intact. Relying on an AI, ML based approach, it discovers unknown threat patterns automatically for improved threat protection, faster response times, and easier threat management.

Mindware partners with Cloudflare to provide sales support, go-to-market in MENA, Levant, Pakistan

Mindware, a value-added distributor in Middle East and Africa, announced its strategic partnership with Cloudflare. Mindware will provide sales support, go-to-market programs and after-sales services for Cloudflare solutions in the GCC, Levant, North Africa and Pakistan.

(Left to right) Nicholas Argyrides, General Manager Gulf, Mindware and Bashar Bashaireh, Managing Director, Middle East and Turkey, MET, Cloudflare.

HE Ibrahem N Al-Nasser, Deputy Minister for Technology of MCIT, Saudi Arabia, and Ram Ramachandran, Head -Middle East and Africa, Tech Mahindra signing the MoU in the presence CP Gurnani, MD and CEO, Tech Mahindra and H.E Haitham AlOhali Vice Minister, MCIT, Saudi Arabia.

Tech Mahindra will set up Data and AI, Cloud Centre of Excellence in Saudi Arabia

Tech Mahindra, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Saudi Arabia to establish a Data and AI, Cloud Centre of Excellence in Riyadh. The CoE will combine academic and socio-economic goals to build national Hi-tech talent capacity, create high quality jobs, promote digital innovation and upscale small and medium enterprises.

The MoU was signed between Ibrahem N Al-Nasser, Deputy Minister for Technology

of MCIT, and Ram Ramachandran, Head -Middle East and Africa, Tech Mahindra, in the presence CP Gurnani, MD and CEO, Tech Mahindra. The MoU signing was also attended by Saudi government officials and top management team of Tech Mahindra. Data, AI, Cloud CoE by Tech Mahindra will enable accelerated and sustainable adoption of Data Analytics and Ethical AI.

It will further drive cloud-enabled transformation across industries to develop local assets,

Intellectual Property and promote a cognitive approach across smart services to contribute to Saudi Vision 2030’s digital-led transformation objectives.

Tech Mahindra will host design thinking workshops, hackathons around Data and AI and Cloud to nurture innovation and accelerate the Saudi Arabia’s transformation to a digital economy. The partnership will provide training and development for 2500 Saudi nationals by providing project deployment programs that enhance skills and develop careers in Data and AI and Cloud.

This partnership is in line with Tech Mahindra’s DigitALL philosophy for comprehensive Business Transformation. As part of NXT. NOW framework, which aims to enhance ‘Human Centric Experience’, Tech Mahindra focuses on investing in emerging technologies and solutions that enable digital transformation and meet the evolving needs of its customers.

AmiViz strengthens relationship with Swimlane, low code security player, in Middle East

AmiViz, the Middle East region’s first enterprise B2B marketplace, announced that it has strengthened its relationship with Swimlane, the world’s low-code security automation company. Swimlane is at the forefront of innovation thanks to its breakthrough low-code security automation solution that transcends traditional SOAR by capturing hard-to-reach telemetry and expanding actionability closer to the point of threat inception.

The company ranks among the top 25 fastest-growing cybersecurity companies on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 for its exponential revenue growth to become the largest and fastest-growing pure-play security automation company in the world.

Ilyas Mohammed, COO, AmiViz.

PwC Middle East signs MoUs with Digital Government Authority, Flat6Labs

At Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, PwC Middle East demonstrated its expertise with a number of key activations and the signing of strategic agreements with prominent entities; DGA, IPA and Flat6Labs across the four-day event, reinforcing the firm’s commitment towards supporting the Saudi Arabia’s digital economic growth and Vision 2030.

PwC Middle East highlighted some of the

latest emerging technologies, including virtual reality simulations in the sports, tourism, ESG and financial sectors, while emphasising the importance of technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, AI, Metaverse and Digital Twins, in accelerating the Saudi Arabia’s digital economy and economic growth.

PwC Middle East explored trends and applications in clean technology, future energy and

Digital Twins, as well as discussing world-class sustainable development practices to address growing urbanisation challenges in the Saudi Arabia. This comes during a number of key panel discussions, workshops and showcasing disruptive solutions at the firm’s interactive booth.

Aligned with the Saudi Arabia’s economic growth and digital advances, PwC also signed an MoU with Flat6Labs, the MENA region’s leading seed and early-stage venture capital firm, to develop corporate innovation programs and offer mentorship and opportunities under PwC’s Technology Consulting practice. Additionally, our MoU with IPA aims to support government and private entities in their digital transformation journey in Saudi Arabia.

PwC Middle East also published its ‘Buildings of the future’ paper during LEAP, highlighting the main factors that influence investments in cognitive buildings, its use cases, and the ways that governments and private entities may successfully provide customised and futuristic solutions to their consumers by using cuttingedge technology in buildings.

Investcorp to become majority shareholder in Finland based DevOps provider Eficode

Investcorp, a global alternative investment firm, announced that it has agreed to make a significant investment to become a majority shareholder in Eficode, a global provider of DevOps consulting and managed services. Investcorp will partner with the Company’s founder, Risto Virkkala, and its CEO, Ilari Nurmi, to support Eficode through its next phase of ambitious growth and international expansion. Virkkala, Nurmi and the rest of the Eficode management team will continue to be significant shareholders in the Company alongside Investcorp.

Founded in 2005 in Helsinki, Finland, Eficode is a pioneer of DevOps and Agile practices that have transformed how companies across industries develop software. Eficode grew its revenues from €22 million to over €150 million in the last 4 years, and now serves over 1,400 customers.

Eficode is present in 10 countries around the world, including Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, the UK and the US, and employs approximately 600 professionals. Eficode is the partner of choice for many of the world’s companies, including Volvo, P&G,

Nokia, The Royal Bank of Scotland, OP Financial Group, Vodafone, ABB, Kone, Rovio and Vestas, among others.

Eficode is amongst the most significant

Atlassian, GitHub and GitLab partners worldwide, measured by number of certified professionals, partnerships, and acclaimed industry awards.

Investcorp has a history of investing in and successfully growing technology and professional services businesses, with some notable investments including Swedish-based Electronic Health Record software and services provider Cambio; global provider of ticketing software solutions Vivaticket; tech-enabled digital sales and marketing solutions platform CloudCare; modern data, technology, and digital transformation consulting firm Resultant, formerly KSM Consulting; business advisory firm CrossCountry; and global consulting firm AlixPartners.

As a global investor, Investcorp also has significant experience investing in the Nordics. Current investments in Nordic countries in addition to Cambio include telematics solutions provider ABAX, manufacturer of premium skiing and cycling apparel and equipment POC, and provider of specialised clinical trial services Sanos.

(Left to right) Tarek AlMahjoub, Head of UAE and Oman for Investcorp’s Private Wealth and Yusef Al Yusef, Head of Investcorp’s Private Wealth.

Pakistan’s Systems establishes regional office in Saudi Arabia, acquires Temenos partner NdcTech

To expand its global footprint, after successful operations across the Middle East, UAE, Egypt, Qatar, Systems has established Systems Arabia, a subsidiary headquartered in Riyadh. The company has received tremendous traction from large enterprise clients in the telecommunications, banking and government sector providing scalable software solutions and managed services to enhance transformation across different business operations.

With the recent acquisition of NdcTech, an award-winning partner of Temenos, by its parent company Systems; Systems Arabia is uniquely equipped to help digital banks, fintech companies, and payment service providers succeed with their digital needs to deliver a truly omni-channel experience.

In a matter of a few months, Systems Arabia has initiated and executed breakthrough solutions for multiple clients which have resulted in future-readiness and enhanced performance for its clientele. The company specialises in ver-

ticals like Telecommunications, Banking and Finance, and the Government Sector, offering services such as Application Modernisation and Development, Customer Experience and Digital Consultancy, Core and Digital Banking, Data and AI, and Enterprise Business solutions. Moreover, the company implements projects from large principal solution providers like SAP, IBM and RedHat, Huawei Cloud, Microsoft and Sprinklr.

Rao Hamid, a senior tech veteran with a strong track record of driving enterprise-wide transformations is positioned at the helm of affairs as General Manager for Systems Arabia and is based out of Riyadh. He has worked across multiple geographies for global market leaders like IBM and Teradata and is accredited for true business impact during his tenure at each company. Prior to moving to Saudi Arabia, he led operations for five years at Systems Pakistan as the GM and is now geared to bring the same level of impact and disruption to Saudi Arabia.

Automation Anywhere expanding presence in Saudi Arabia across market verticals

Automation Anywhere, a cloud-native intelligent automation vendor, announced it will be strengthening its presence across Saudi Arabia with greater focus on customer acquisition across all major industry verticals.

The Automation Success Platform, a connected portfolio of automation tools and technology, helps enterprises engage with employees and connect disparate applications – whether cloudnative or on-premises – enabling business growth and workforce productivity. In 2022, the company’s cloud customers have run an estimated 50 million automations, with enterprises deploying thousands of bots across their organisations.

Gartner forecasts automation to add an estimated $15 trillion of benefit to the global economy by 2030. Today, every company is operating in the Automation Economy, with 95 percent of organisations embracing automation.

Rao Hamid, General Manager, Systems Arabia.

Dinesh Chandra, Regional Vice President Middle East and Turkey, Automation Anywhere.

KPMG Lower Gulf, G42 Cloud partner to migrate enterprises, public sector to next-gen cloud

KPMG Lower Gulf has announced a partnership with G42 Cloud – the largest and most influential cloud platform in the region – for cross-collaboration on a number of priority solutions, including new opportunities and projects, and complementary service offerings that will enhance both their service portfolios. Emilio Pera, CEO of KPMG Lower Gulf and Talal Al Kaissi, CEO of G42 Cloud, signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the presence of other senior dignitaries.

Many organisations in the region have a defined cloud strategy but others are yet to unlock its full potential. Outdated systems and legacy architecture are still a major obstacle. To maximise the advantage of the cloud, organisations will need to apply new technologies to modernise, as well as introduce agile methods and techniques.

The partnership between KPMG Lower Gulf and G42 Cloud will empower enterprises and public sector entities, to elevate their business using a smart, secure and next-generation cloud computing platform.

HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer inaugurates Eaton’s customer experience centre in Dubai

The opening ceremony was attended by HE Dr Mohammed Al Zarooni, Chairman of Dubai Integrated Economic Zone Authority, DIEZ, and Abdulla Bin Damithan, CEO and Managing Director, DP World UAE, in addition to Eaton’s senior leaders in Europe and Middle East. Also, in attendance was Frank Joseph, Commercial Counsellor of the Consulate General of the United States of America in Dubai.

Energy storage vendor Sungrow appoints AlBabtain LeBlanc as Saudi distributor

Sungrow, the global inverter and energy storage system solution supplier, signed a strategic distribution agreement for PV inverter solutions with the reputed AlBabtain Leblanc, further facilitating Saudi Vision 2030 ambitions to accelerate the energy transition and achieve sustainability goals, proven their level of commitment with the region.

The distribution agreement plays a vital role in positioning Al-Babtain LeBlanc as the “partner of choice” for the Saudi Arabia market as a new distributor in the country for residential, commercial, and industrial solar energy products.

In line with its vision to develop a sustainable environment for a greener tomorrow, Al-Babtain LeBlanc, through innovative, energy-efficient, eco-friendly, and reliable quality serves to the best their valued customers in Saudi Arabia. Together with Sungrow, Al-Babtain LeBlanc will meet a wide range of distributed applications with a comprehensive product portfolio covering commercial and industrial, residential, and hybrid market needs.

The new facility will serve as a centre of excellence for Eaton to showcase, train and demonstrate Eaton’s products and integrated solutions for industry professionals, end-users and consultants. It will represent an enabler for customers to accelerate the adoption of digital power management solutions in their business.

The facility is a state-of-the art feature-ready experience centre that will enable both theoretical and practical training for different types of technologies supporting customers to achieve their sustainability, energy transition and digital transformation targets.

The customer experience centre showcases several products from smart power management and industrial control, critical power systems, Power Quality, Life Safety, Oil and Gas and Utility applications. Customers from across the region will also benefit from handson training with products in a true application and address knowledge gaps through training designed for seasoned and new engineers.

HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, inaugurated power management company Eaton’s new Customer Experience Centre in National Industries Park, Jebel Ali, Dubai.

(Left to right) Emilio Pera, CEO of KPMG Lower Gulf and Talal M. Al Kaissi, CEO of G42 Cloud.

38% UAE respondents say expectations from cryptocurrency were not met finds Kaspersky

Kaspersky explored user trends in cryptocurrency and found out that over half of 55% cryptocurrency users fear losing money due to volatility, and no longer use digital currencies, according to the latest Kaspersky research. Additionally, 16% of respondents have already

lost money and stopped investing as a result.

The recent market downturn in 2022, coupled with ongoing malicious activity, has led to a liquidity crisis, and left many crypto owners feeling uncertain about their investments. These challenges frighten holders of digital

currencies, leading some to avoid investing or even leave the industry altogether. Trends like these are among the main factors Kaspersky’s latest survey* identified leading some cryptocurrency enthusiasts to stop using digital currencies.

Currency volatility is a major barrier to the wider adoption of cryptocurrency. In fact, 48% of respondents said they were afraid to use crypto because they do not want to risk losing their money. Unfortunately, 10 percent of respondents had already experienced losses due to a drop in currency values. Concerns about losing money due to currency volatility also extend to those who don’t own crypto.

Other barriers to adoption include the lack of tangible assets backing crypto, 18% of respondents and the risk of revealing personal data during a cyberattack, 10% of respondents. These findings suggest that stability and security are key issues for the wider adoption of cryptocurrency. In fact, 11% of respondents no longer trust crypto at all.

When it comes to user presumptions, 38% of the respondents from the UAE stated that their expectations from cryptocurrencies were not fully met, while only 32% are satisfied or their expectations are even exceeded.

UAE cybersecurity professionals say board does not pay attention to digital security finds Trellix

42%

New research from Trellix, the cybersecurity company delivering the future of extended detection and response, reveals a disconnect between cybersecurity professionals and senior management. Despite widespread board-level ownership of cyber risk, almost half, 42% of UAE cybersecurity professionals say the board doesn’t pay sufficient attention to digital security. This points to a concerning trend that cyber security is being treated as a tick-box exercise.

In the UAE, a huge majority, 89% of cybersecurity professionals agree that there is a welldefined ownership of cyber risk at the board and management level, whether that sits with one individual, 38% or a committee, taskforce, 51%. Yet, about a quarter, 26% of respondents highlighted that cybersecurity is not being considered a priority by C-suite, board level which has become a significant challenge for

the business. With ownership not equating to prioritisation in the cyber space, it’s no surprise that 44% of UAE cyber professionals call out

feeling undervalued by their business and 36% call out feeling undervalued by their boss as two of their biggest frustrations.

Fortunately, cybersecurity conversations are taking place in an organisation, with little over two-thirds, 67% confirm that regular discussions on cybersecurity and compliance are held with management and the senior leadership team. Cyber resilience comes from collaboration and communication, yet these vary from business to business when a significant cybersecurity incident or cyber-attack occurs.

For example, while a third, 34% of UAE cybersecurity professionals confirm that it is typically reported to the board within one hour, 19% admit it takes at least a couple of days or longer to report it to senior management. This delay can mean the difference between successfully mitigating an attack and being faced with difficult consequences.

Adam Philpott, Chief Revenue Officer, at Trellix.

Zonar Systems selects AMD-powered Google Cloud Confidential Computing platform

Customer privacy and data protection are essential elements for any responsible company and measures must be taken seriously when complying with strict privacy protection laws, especially those in Europe. However, when it comes to entrusting mission-critical workloads

in cloud-native environments, many businesses lack the confidence that their data is securely protected, despite modern-day platforms being more secure than ever.

At a time when 59% of enterprise leaders believe cyberattacks are more sophisticated

Oracle and Uber Technologies announce seven-year strategic cloud partnership

Oracle and Uber Technologies, announced a seven-year strategic cloud partnership to accelerate Uber’s innovation, help deliver new products to market, and drive increased profitability.

As Uber continues to grow and enter new markets, it is increasingly important for the business to focus resources on its core strengths and strategic initiatives. By migrating some of the company’s most critical workloads to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, Uber will be in a position to modernise its infrastructure while also accelerating its path to profitability.

This new strategic partnership with Uber along with recent analyst reports serve as powerful validation of OCI’s strategy and product vision. Customers want both flexibility and

best-in-class price-performance infrastructure across a global footprint. Uber can now take advantage of these capabilities that only OCI provides.

Along with the OCI agreement, the strategic partnership includes other areas of collaboration between the two companies. Oracle will become a global Uber for Business client, selecting Uber as a preferred rideshare for its employees to travel and eat around the world. Uber and Oracle will also continue co-innovating on additional retail and delivery solutions that will evolve from the cloud partnership including consumer experiences with last-mile logistics.

than they were two years ago, and 45% indicate that they are happening more frequently, it’s surprising to find that only 8% of cybersecurity and IT professionals fully understand the model for all types of cloud services, leading people to make assumptions about default cloud security levels and create false confidence that data is protected in an unencrypted state.

That’s why companies like Zonar Systems, a smart fleet management and mobility solutions company, are choosing cloud platforms such as the AMD-powered Google Cloud Confidential Computing platform, to support its GDPR and Schrems II compliance efforts. By moving its legacy datacentre environment to one that is cloud-native, Zonar Systems is able to encrypt not only at-rest and in-transit data, but also in-use data which is typically unencrypted.

Google Cloud Confidential Computing’s makes use of AMD Encryption Virtualisation on AMD EPYC CPUs. This hardwareaccelerated memory encryption uses keys to keep data encrypted, even when it’s being accessed, indexed, or searched. What’s more, users of Microsoft’s recently announced Azure DCasv5, ECasv5 confidential virtual machines means that customers can take advantage of the security features of AMD Infinity Guard inside Azure confidential VMs with a minimal performance impact.

Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO, Uber.

Ericsson, stc, Qualcomm, test pre-commercial software to improve uplink performance

Ericsson, stc, and Qualcomm Technologies, have successfully tested a pre-commercial software in a solution that improves the uplink performance of mobile networks by aggregating four 5G mm Wave component carriers to boost the uplink throughput to Gigabits per second by utilising 4 component carriers Uplink Heavy Time Division Duplex pattern feature in top of NR-DC functionality.

The software addresses the growing demand for higher uplink speeds in hotspots such as stadiums and cultural arenas. The solution utilises this high- and mid-band designed software and Qualcomm devices based on Snapdragon X65 Modem-RF System.

The solution improves the user experience

and gives enterprises, particularly media houses, the ability to use cellular technology for live broadcasting without compromising on quality. The solution consists of Standalone New Radio Dual Connectivity software that uses 4x100MHz of millimetre wave band and 1x100MHz of mid-band. It is powered by Snapdragon X65 Modem-RF System on the user equipment side.

Ericsson has a long history with stc, serving as a major network supplier since the inception of GSM, 2G. This partnership further strengthens Ericsson’s position in Saudi Arabia’s 5G market and is set to enable new 5G use cases requiring high uplink capacity and throughput.

Major concerns in UAE, Saudi Arabia are cryptoinvestment fraud, fake crypto-currency apps

Kaspersky has explored cryptocurrency user trends, finding that just 33% of respondents felt well informed about potential cryptocurrency cyberthreats, while 11% had no information at all. In a survey, Kaspersky also discovered that half of the respondents had been affected by cryptocurrency crime in some way, with 55% of crypto owners did not believe current protection systems for cryptocurrency were effective.

These and other findings are in Kaspersky’s new report.

According to the recent survey, a significant proportion of individuals are unaware of the potential threats faced by cryptocurrency owners. Despite the increasing popularity of cryptocurrency, only 33% of respondents felt extremely or very well informed about the potential risks of using it, while 11% had no

information at all. Moreover, awareness of these threats decreases with age, with younger consumers under 35 being more informed.

Cyber threats, such as virtual theft and scams, were among the most commonly cited negative aspects of using cryptocurrency, with 34% and 24% of respondents in the UAE respectively highlighting them as their top concerns. While 36% of respondents were unaware they could become a target of crypto threats – even if they do not own cryptocurrency. It is worth noting that anyone can become a target for cryptominers – programs that secretly generate cryptocurrency for their owners using the resources of other computers, whether they own cryptocurrency or not.

The major concerns in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are crypto-investment fraud, 70% and 73%, respectively, and fake crypto-currency apps in the UAE at, 71%, as well as fake crypto-exchanges, 86% in Saudi Arabia.

More than half, 70% of all respondents had been affected by cryptocurrency crime in some way, revealing the wide range of criminal activities in the field. Additionally, 55% of surveyed individuals did not believe that current protection systems for cryptocurrency were effective, with 41% of current crypto owners in the UAE not believing existing protection systems to be sufficient.

Håkan Cervell, Vice President and Head of Ericsson Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

King’s

College Hospital London in Dubai selects Oracle Cerner hosted on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure

King’s College Hospital London – Dubai announced a strategic collaboration to help accelerate innovation with Oracle Cerner. As part of the agreement, Oracle Cerner will utilise Oracle Cloud Infrastructure services via the Oracle Cloud Dubai Region to operate and manage the upgraded and enhanced electronic medical records system on behalf of KCH Dubai.

This will be the first UAE-based cloud deployment by Oracle Cerner in the region. It has the potential to support more than 10,000 concurrent users and will create a new care delivery model that can provide real-time coordination and information exchange among multiple providers, patients, and locations in the country.

The Oracle Cloud Dubai Region will assist

KCH Dubai in driving new advancements and boosting efficiencies by helping reduce its operational and financial obligations. The advancements will cover computing, storage, networking, database, analytics, mobile services, and more. The transition to Oracle Cerner’s cloud solution is also expected to reduce the hospital’s IT expenditure and regain valuable datacentre space at its facilities.

Additional return on investments includes

improved system availability with increased service level protection, managed spending on hardware upgrades, storage, servers, and licenses as well as proactive monitoring and management of the system. Oracle Cerner will own security and technology elements pertaining to the datacentre, network, and patching the system. This will facilitate the hospital’s expansion plans as more assets will join its integrated healthcare network.

stc, Ericsson partner in Saudi to dispose obsolete equipment as part of Ericsson’s Take-Back Programme

As part of the signed Memorandum of Understanding to explore sustainable initiatives, stc and Ericsson partner to manage and dispose of stc’s obsolete equipment as part of the Ericsson Product Take-Back Programme. The programme aims at minimising the potential environmental impact associated with the disposal of decommissioned end-of-life electrical equipment.

As part of the programme, Ericsson will handle stc’s dismantled equipment with the highest international industry standards through the collection, decommissioning, transportation, and recycling of materials.

Launched in 2005, the Ericsson Product Take-Back Programme is part of Ericsson’s extended producer responsibility to retrieve and dispose of Ericsson’s obsolete products safely. Available in 180 countries, Ericsson offers the programme to all customers globally, which guarantees that e-waste is not discarded in traderestricted areas or landfills.

(Left to right) Håkan Cervell, Vice President and Head of Customer Unit stc and Maha Alnuhait, General Manager of Sustainability Programme at stc.

Saudi Arabia’s Novo Genomics first to implement Lenovo’s Genomics Optimisation and Analysis Tool

and whole exomes in about a minute, enabling the processing of more genomes concurrently, finding answers faster, and making breakthroughs sooner.

Lenovo is the only solutions provider who delivers this degree of performance in a costeffective, open source, CPU-based solution. Lenovo ThinkSystem servers that run GOAST currently hold an incredible 196 world records for performance.

Lenovo announced a new partnership with Novo Genomics, one of Saudi Arabia’s biotech start-ups with a focus on localising and applying the latest technologies in genomics and multi-omics. Novo Genomics leverages data through advanced analytics and data mining to promote health and wellness in the region. The partnership will also mark Novo Genomics as the first customer of the Lenovo Genomics Optimisation and Analysis Tool in the EMEA region.

Genomics research is actively expanding in the Saudi Arabia, supported by strong infrastructure for research with the establishment of

dedicated research centres and institutions such as the King AbdulAziz City for Science and Technology and King Abdullah International Medical Research Centre. The Saudi Arabia has made significant investments in genomics research as a part of the country’s Vision 2030, with an aim to increase capacity for scientific research and innovation.

Lenovo, a leader in accelerating genomics analytics with its GOAST, Genomics Optimisation and Scalability Tool solution, enables research that is 167x faster than standard environments. This allows researchers to analyse a whole human genome in less than 53 minutes,

Lenovo’s GOAST solution is simple to use with its plug-and-play system, while also being scalable and reliable with the help of highperformance Lenovo ThinkSystem servers. It is available in two variants, GOAST Base and GOAST Plus which deliver improvements of 18X-45X and 67X-167X respectively. It uses validated and user-trusted software and comes packed with pre-configured genomics analytics solutions.

The optimisations on Lenovo’s servers also accelerate the software which further reduce execution time. Lenovo’s systems also support other bioinformatics workloads, including Transcriptomics, CryoEM and Molecular Dynamics, all on a single, optimised platform.

AMANA Construct completes 37,000 sqm DB Schenker logistics centre using 100% renewable energy

The AMANA Construct, vertical of Group AMANA has delivered the third phase of the DB Schenker mega logistics centre in Dubai, which will serve as a key distribution hub for the GCC.

AMANA completed construction of the enormous 37,000 sqm of green warehouse space utilising 100% renewable energy. This takes the Group’s total logistics footprint in Dubai to 84,000 sqm.

AMANA is at the forefront of disrupting the construction sector, making it faster, safer, greener, and smarter by leveraging technology and modular construction methodologies through its subsidiary DuBox. As a market leader in building green logistics centres in the region, AMANA used the offsite construction method at the DB Schenker logistics centre to deliver improved product quality and a 30% reduction in construction duration.

AMANA also used BIM and MEP services to streamline the construction process and to col-

laborate through cloud-based and network servers. BIM enhanced project coordination between the various teams and clients. It also ensured standardised products were produced in a factory environment, then shipped and assembled on site. This ensured faster construction, better coordination between departments, safer sites and less waste.

AMANA’s commitment to delivering clean building practices and high quality is reflected in the existing tools and technologies it used throughout the DB Schenker logistics centre. Through its company DuBox, AMANA significantly reduced carbon emissions during construction. By developing various components offsite in factory-controlled conditions, AMANA was able to significantly reduce wastage and other overheads. In addition, AMANA used solar panels on the roof and other special construction materials to further reduce emissions during operations.

Joe Labaky, General Manager of UAE and Emerging Markets, AMANA Contracting.

Lenovo signs MoU with Tatweer Educational Technology at LEAP to enable digital solutions in education

Tatweer Educational Technology, the government company dedicated to supporting educational technologies with high-quality solutions and services, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Lenovo, with a goal of driving digital transformation in the education sector. The collaboration was formalised during LEAP 2023, in the presence of Eng. Abdullah Gahnem Altamimi, CEO, TETCO and Marwan Bsat, General Manager, Lenovo Saudi Arabia, as well as other high-level delegates from TETCO and Lenovo.

The collaboration will see both Lenovo and TETCO working together to create a new framework for future collaborations into building digital transformation and developing educational technologies to be provided to schools and universities across the Saudi Arabia.

The collaboration aligns with the Saudi Vision 2030 and its goals to support the digitalisation of the education sector. The Saudi Arabia aims to drive a digital shift in education and support both teachers and students for a 21st century learning environment. The collaboration will see Lenovo and TETCO playing a key role in driving a technology-enabled learning and preparing the classrooms of the future.

Lenovo announces AI, HPC centre with King Abdulaziz City for Sc and Tech at LEAP

Artificial Intelligence and High-Performance Computing.

The partnership will see KACST and Lenovo collaborate on developing the largest and most sustainable high performance computing cluster with the specific goal to accelerate the research, development and commercialisation of solutions related to multiple verticals including genomics, satellite image interpretation, environment, and clean energy.

The MoU was signed on the side-lines of the LEAP Technical International Conference, in the presence of Hakem Al Sagri, Vice President of Digital Transformation at KACST and Giovanni Di Filippo, EMEA President, Lenovo Infrastructure Solutions Group, as well as other high-level delegates from KACST and Lenovo.

King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology and Lenovo have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to inaugurate the Lenovo Innovation and Creativity Centre in the Saudi

Arabia. The facility is set to become the first innovation centre in the Middle East and North Africa to accelerate digital transformation and enhance cooperation in the fields of

The collaboration will also see Lenovo benefiting from the city’s services and products related technology, particularly in the Innovation Tower. Other benefits include access to laboratories available for the testing and prototyping of new products and consultations from experts in the field of HPC.

(Left to right) Eng. Abdullah Gahnem Altamimi, CEO, TETCO and Marwan Bsat, General Manager, Lenovo Saudi Arabia.

Post-pandemic aviation CIOs want to ensure operations are agile and resilient finds SITA survey

Faced with increased disruptions, baggage mountains, and staff shortages, airports and airlines are ramping up their investment in technology to digitalise their operations and speed up the passenger journey by offering more self-service options. SITA’s 2022 Air Transport IT Insights report, published reveals that with the post-pandemic recovery CIOs want to ensure operations are as agile and resilient as they are efficient, with IT solutions seen as central to their success.

This has spurred an acceleration of digitalisation, with airlines and airports looking to key technology solutions to fortify their operations against disruption while automating the passenger experience.

The industry’s IT spend is projected to continue its steady year-on-year growth trend since 2020 to support this push for digitalisation, with a full 96% of airlines and 93% of airports expecting their IT spend to stay the same or increase in 2023 compared to 2022. Last year airline and airport IT spend rose to an estimated 37 billion USD and 6.8 billion USD respectively.

Airlines are placing great emphasis on IT tools to manage irregular operations and provide the best passenger experience possible even amid staff shortages. Over the next three years, 90% or more of airlines are investing in IT service management enhancement and disruption warning systems, as well as business intelligence initiatives for aircraft turnaround

management, passenger processing, and baggage processing.

Business intelligence solutions are at the forefront of airport IT investment priorities too, with 93% or more planning business intelligence initiatives for asset management and flight operations by 2025. The emphasis on agility, adaptability to disruption, and prompt communication with customers and stakeholders is clear; by 2025 half of airports are seeking to implement automated predictive alerts prior to flight disruption events as well as business intelligence initiatives to enable scaling of

operations based on demand.

Both airlines and airports are investing in key technologies to smooth the passenger experience across every step of the journey, to help curb bottlenecks and in turn allow redistribution of key staff resource to focus on more complex tasks. Biometrics and self-service technologies are seeing major emphasis.

Airlines have identified self-service technologies as key to helping manage irregular operations, and this remained their top investment priority in 2022, with touchless solutions and biometric ID management following closely.

stc to migrate database to Oracle Exadata Cloud@Customer private cloud hosted inside stc

stc Group, the national digital enabler, has announced a collaboration with Oracle to modernise its database technologies and accelerate its transition to the cloud. Under its agreement with Oracle, stc will be migrating its database systems to Oracle Exadata Cloud@ Customer, a high-performance cloud database platform delivered as a managed infrastructure service in stc’s own datacentres. The Oracle platform will enable stc to support and scale mission-critical OSS an BSS systems while retaining control of its data governance and meeting data security and locality regulations. The implementation adds to stc’s long

standing collaboration with Oracle. As a hybrid cloud offering in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure’s distributed cloud strategy, Oracle Exadata Cloud@Customer provides the foundation for

stc’s wider digital strategy as the company consolidates critical systems, reduces operational costs, and accelerates development of new products and services.

82% of people in UAE have heard of Non-Fungible Tokens finds Kaspersky

Kaspersky has conducted research to investigate what people think about digital assets tokenised via blockchain. According to the results of the survey, 82% of people in the UAE have heard of Non-Fungible Tokens. At the same time, 21% of those who have heard of NFTs, know nothing about them. The danger is that lack of awareness increases the likelihood coming across financial and cyber risks in this sphere.

Around 67% who have heard of NFTs suppose

that this technology is used to speculate in the digital sphere and 35% share the opinion that NFT is a technology to scam people online. However, 77% of respondents think it can offer a new progressive way of trading digital assets and 72% believe that it can ensure uniqueness of digital assets and attribute intellectual property.

When it comes to the future of NFT, 72% of people in the UAE think it will become more important and widely applied, 42% suppose that it is a hype bubble.

NEOM subsidiary TONOMUS offers NVIDIA’s AI and Oracle’s Cloud region powered platform for Saudi enterprises

TONOMUS, the cognitive multinational conglomerate and first company to be established as a full-fledged subsidiary of NEOM – announced a collaboration with Oracle and NVIDIA at LEAP23. The collaboration is aimed at boosting the delivery of groundbreaking AI capabilities across NEOM and Saudi Arabia.

The collaboration is designed to accelerate AI-powered innovation for a broad range of use cases by enterprises and government organisations. TONOMUS will provide customers with direct access to NVIDIA’s advanced AI, digital twin solutions that take advantage of the planned Oracle Cloud Region to be located at NEOM, hosted by ZeroPoint DC hyperscale datacentre and via TONOMUS’ digital cloud platform.

Users of TONOMUS’ seamless, cloud management platform, which combines cloud sales and management with a user-friendly digital interface, will draw a range of valuable benefits from the company’s collaboration with Oracle and NVIDIA. In addition to curating access to the world’s top cloud service providers, the platform allows users to search for and compare a wide range of options, capabilities and costs in real time, and then purchase and manage solutions.

It also facilitates cost monitoring, resource optimisation and visibility, centralises customer management of multiple cloud assets

and costs, and is an asset to finance and accounting departments in accessing information on historic and projected costs based on consumption.

OCI’s comprehensive set of public cloud services and NVIDIA’s accelerated computing stack – from GPUs and networking to software – combined with OCI’s AI cloud infrastructure of bare metal and RDMA cluster networking and storage, will provide NEOM-based enterprises with a broad, easily accessible portfolio of options for AI training and deep learning inference at scale. The availability of the globally adopted NVIDIA AI platform will grant businesses that make NEOM their home the benefits of essential processing engines for each

step of the AI workflow, from data processing and AI model training to simulation and largescale deployment.

The venture will be propelled by technology such as the NVIDIA A100 Tensor Core GPU and the upcoming, NVIDIA H100 – the most advanced accelerator ever produced and an order-of-magnitude leap for accelerated computing. Its combined innovations can speed up large language models by an incredible 30 times over the previous generation to deliver industry-conversational AI.

The strategic partnership between TONOMUS and Oracle has been steadily expanding since the company was named as the first tenant at ZeroPoint DC in October 2021.

Finesse implements Automation Anywhere’s RPA bot at Nesto to accelerate weekly promotions

activities into their inhouse tool for 40+stores.

This process of creating or updating a promotional activity is a repetitive, cumbersome and error-prone process. An incorrect entry would lead to confusion at the many stores where the promotion was present and also result in customer churn.

Nesto is a multinational company that operates a chain of hypermarkets and supermarkets. Since its establishment in 2004, the company has developed a network of more than 100 retail outlets across the GCC and India. The group attributes its rapid growth to its unwavering focus on providing its customers access to top-quality products from world-renowned brands at competitive prices.

With the advent of digital technologies and e-commerce disruptors, supermarkets and hypermarkets have been forced to reinvent their operating models. Nesto Group has invested heavily in its digital transformation and continues to do so, keeping its customers

in mind at all times. They have partnered with Finesse, a digital transformation enabler in the GCC to support them on automating key processes within the business, using Robotic Process Automation.

A top customer need for Nesto Group is the ability to access deals and promotions. The Marketing department, manually create Midweek and Weekend Promotions and upload the respective flyers into their inhouse application for 40 + stores which is mundane and repetitive in nature.

Before approaching Finesse, employees at the group spent a significant amount of time creating, uploading and correcting promotional

SAP partner IntelliSoft to start RISE with SAP at Oman Trading Establishment dealing in vehicles

Oman Trading Establishment Group, one of Oman’s largest business houses with extensive expertise in the automotive sector, is building on its 20-year relationship with global technology company SAP to move to a private cloud and leverage digital solutions that will increase efficiencies, boost sustainability initiatives, and enhance services to customers and engagement with employees. The implementation partner for the digital transformation is IntelliSoft, an SAP gold partner focused on the automotive industry.

Through close collaboration between OTE, SAP and IntelliSoft, a digital roadmap was produced that had RISE with SAP as its starting point to accelerate the transition to cloud. The aim was to go beyond a technical cloud migration, and instead enable OTE to truly transform its business, realising a faster time-to-market for new capabilities

As a use-case for automating this process, Nesto Group and Finesse agreed to use Automation Anywhere’s RPA bot solution. The digital bot, once deployed, would mimic the human task by creating and uploading the weekday or weekend promotions into the inhouse application on a weekly basis.

With the RPA solution provided by Finesse and Automation Anywhere, 100% of the promotion entry process into the inhouse tool has now been automated. The implementation has saved approximately 12 hours of manual effort each week, thus increasing the productivity of the employees involved in this effort by over 80%.

While this RPA implementation has no doubt directly reduced the manual effort for the marketing team at Nesto Group, it has also improved operational efficiencies for the Group, while also providing its customers a better experience, at all times.

and applications through managed services, and allowing for ongoing transformation.

OTE employees, on the other hand, will benefit immediately from the core SAP SuccessFactors human experience management suite. Success Factors Employee Central standardises processes and enables greater visibility, while Performance and Goals assists in aligning company strategy and goals, improving employee performance through ongoing coaching and feedback, and recognising top talent.

Oracle opening additional cloud regions in Saudi Arabia in Riyadh and NEOM investing $1.5B

To meet the rapidly growing demand for its cloud services, Oracle announced plans to open a third public cloud region in Saudi Arabia. Located in Riyadh, the new cloud region will be part of a planned $1.5 billion investment from Oracle to expand cloud infrastructure capabilities in the Saudi Arabia. The Oracle Cloud Riyadh Region will join the existing Oracle Cloud Jeddah Region and the planned Oracle Cloud Region to be located in the futuristic city of NEOM.

This investment is included in an MoU that Oracle has signed with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to help Saudi Arabian businesses take advantage of the

latest innovations in the cloud. The MoU was signed during Oracle CEO, Safra Catz’s recent visit to Riyadh in the presence of His Excellency Eng. Haitham AlOhali, Vice Minister, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. To meet the requirements of its growing cloud business in Saudi Arabia, Oracle will also expand the capacity of the Oracle Cloud Jeddah Region.

As part of the MoU, Oracle will also work with MCIT and the Communications and Information Technology Commission, CITC to establish a commercial and operational model for an additional cloud region in Saudi Arabia that is aligned with Saudi government

In-country public cloud provider eFinance signs MoU with F5 to protect Egypt’s transformation

eFinance has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with F5, a multi-cloud application services and security specialist, to help protect and optimise Egypt’s digital transformation priorities. eFinance, the partner of choice for Egypt’s growing digital economy and financial transformation, as well as in-country public cloud provider, is now set to offer F5’s extensive solutions portfolio to organisations across the country. Initially, the partnership will focus on cloud- and cybersecurity-based technologies.

requirements and local data residency regulations. Oracle will also work with MCIT to help foster the development of Saudi Arabia’s cloud industry.

Unique among hyperscale providers, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure offers customer choice to deploy OCI based on regulations, data residency, or latency requirements. OCI distributed cloud includes its public regions, Dedicated Region, Oracle Exadata Cloud@ Customer, multicloud offerings, and recentlyannounced Oracle Alloy.

“Oracle’s investment will rapidly accelerate the cloud transformation across Saudi Arabia’s business and public sector,” said Richard Smith, Executive Vice President, Technology – EMEA, Oracle. “Oracle Cloud delivers pioneering innovation in technologies like AI, Machine Learning, and IoT, and it will help fuel the economic growth and digital transformation that is an integral part of the Saudi Vision 2030.”

Underscoring its ongoing focus on sustainability, Oracle has committed to powering all worldwide Oracle Cloud Regions with 100 percent renewable energy by 2025. Several Oracle Cloud regions, including regions in North America, South America, and all 10 regions in Europe, are already powered by 100 percent renewable energy, which enables customers to run their computing services more sustainably and with a lower carbon footprint. To further advance its commitment to sustainable operations, Oracle recycled 99.9 percent of its retired hardware in FY’22.

China’s Tianjin Port and Huawei building digital twin of

driverless, zero-carbon port terminal

Tianjin Port Group and Huawei announced that the two companies will deepen cooperation to build a digital twin of the world’s first smart, driverless, zero-carbon port terminal, making it more automated and intelligent. Yang Jiemin, Vice President of Tianjin Port Group, explained that this plan consists of three parts: Construction of new automated terminals, upgrading traditional terminals, and comprehensive digital transformation.

The Section C Terminal in the Beijiang Port Area of the Port of Tianjin was the world’s first smart, driverless zero-carbon port terminal. It entered large-scale commercial operations in October 2021 and has been operating stably ever since. Using 5G and L4 autonomous driving technologies at the terminal makes operations safer and more efficient. At the terminal, remotely controlled quay cranes lift loaded containers from cargo ships and put them onto intelligent robots for horizontal transportation.

Supported by the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, these robots are guided to automatic locking, unlocking stations to load, unload containers and then to the container yard along optimal driving routes that are calculated in real-time. The entire process runs with clockwork precision.

Jiemin explained how the new solution, which combines 5G

and L4 autonomous driving technologies, has been put into large-scale commercial application in a partially public scenario at the Section C Terminal for the first time. This has provided a new model for upgrading and transforming traditional container terminals worldwide. “These innovations being used at the Port of Tianjin are having a huge impact on the port industry, creating new value for ports by improving operating environments, driving green and low-carbon development, and increasing operational efficiency. We believe that these practices will promote the intelligent development of the global port industry,” said Yang.

Shunli Wang, Vice President of Huawei Middle East and Central Asia, said, “Ports in the Middle East are set for revolutionary, smart, zero-carbon fully automated digitalised operations that leverage 5G, AI and cloud and other advanced digital capabilities. We are keen to utilise our expertise to enable ports in the region to be safer, more efficient, smart, green and more intelligent.”

Al-Futtaim Group to adopt RISE with SAP on Azure and implement SAP S4HANA, SuccessFactors

Al-Futtaim Group, has committed to a full digital transformation, powered by its long-term partner SAP, and supported by Microsoft Azure as intelligent cloud platform, to maintain its competitive edge and realise multiple benefits for its customers, partners and employees.

At a signing ceremony this month attended by the Vice Chairman and CEO of Al-Futtaim Group, Omar Al Futtaim, and SAP global CEO Christian Klein, Al-Futtaim Group officially adopted RISE with SAP, a customised solution to ensure a quick and seamless transition of mission-critical systems to the cloud. Once implemented, all of Al-Futtaim Group’s business systems will be fully integrated in the cloud, with upgrades enabling the company to leverage the benefits of new technologies and the efficiencies arising from automated and streamlined business processes.

Among the new SAP cloud solutions Al-Futtaim Group will implement is SAP S4HANA, an enterprise resource planning, ERP solution that enables automation of business processes, reduces total cost of ownership, provides 360-degree visibility over all operations, and is adaptable for multiple industry needs to ensure accurate reporting and compliance. Benefits include end-to-end, integrated finance capabilities, as well as enhanced procurement, supply chain and inventory management; seamless and personalised customer journeys; and self-service capabilities.

Other existing SAP solutions, such as SAP SuccessFactors for human resource management, are being upgraded in the cloud to be used across all areas of AlFuttaim Group’s business. In the case of SuccessFactors, this approach enables 360-degree views of Al-Futtaim Group’s extensive regional workforce, a more efficient compensation model, and the activation of gamification and well-being features to enhance employee engagement. The SAP and Microsoft Azure cloud infrastructure will also enable non-SAP solutions to be integrated within the SAP framework.

(Left to right) Himanshu Shrivastava, Chief Technology Officer at AlFuttaim Group, and Zakaria Haltout, Managing Director for SAP UAE, signing the partnership agreement in the presence of Omar Al Futtaim Vice Chairman and CEO of Al-Futtaim Group and Christian Klein, global CEO and Member of the Executive Board of SAP SE.

GEC MEDIA GROUP CONCLUDES

FUTURE IT SUMMIT

CONCLUDES 9TH EDITION OF SUMMIT 2023

GEC Media Group on Thursday concluded the 9th edition of Future IT Summit 2023 which was embellished by the attendance of over 200 IT decision-makers and some amazing panelists and keynote speakers.

The Future IT Summit is one of the most prestigious events in the technology industry, bringing together experts, thought leaders, and decision-makers from around the world to share their insights and experiences. This year’s edition was bigger and better than ever before, with a lineup of distinguished speakers, engaging panel discussions, and exciting networking opportunities. The Future IT Summit’s theme this year was Cloud and Automation Towards a Sustainable Business and Economy, and everyone gathered to discuss the latest trends, chal-

lenges, and opportunities in the field of cloud computing and automation.

In modern business, Cloud and Automation both digital and business stand as one of the strongest contenders in helping business to reach the ESG goals. As organizations adopt more and more of automation tools and cloudbased platforms, we are moving inches closer to further reducing the carbon footprint.

The 9th edition of the Future IT Summit was an eye-opener as to how the technology pioneers are realizing this vision and bringing on board some practical use cases to spearhead the charts and make further inroads for other solutions to fortify an organization’s infrastructure.

The award winners were felicitated with The Titans Badge of Honor, Catalyst Awards and TOP 10 Happy IT Companies to work for Awards. The badge of honor felicitates the

honorable CIOs who have made it to the Titans magazine in the year 2022-2023. The Badge of honor being presented to these CIOs is a recognition for their contributions to The Titans. The Catalyst Awards are presented to companies who have excelled in marketing. Industry’s most coveted title and favorite awards ceremony is all set to recognize and honor the trailblazers in the industry who have been uplifting the brand and reputation of their respective organizations in these difficult times with various cutting-edge initiatives, platforms and market-penetration and truly acting as ‘CATALYSTS’ in the ever-changing market landscape. Also, Top 10 IT Companies which are happy places to work in are awarded and appreciated for their culture and ethos. The Top Ten Best IT Companies to Work for in 2023” is a one of its kind recognition in the region for the IT Fraternity that would celebrate the ‘Exuberance’ of the people working in an organization. This special recognition felicitates and recognizes both fast-growing & established companies in UAE that offer tremendous career advancement opportunities together with leading-edge employee perks and benefits and most importantly valuable employee engagement.

The ceremony was kickstarted with a welcome note by Ronak Samantaray, Co-Founder & CEO, GEC Media Group followed by an editor’s note by Sonal Chhibber, Editor-in-Chief, GEC Media Group.

Ronak Samantaray, Co-Founder & CEO, GEC Media Group.

Sonal Chhibber, Editor, GEC Media Group.

The speakers for the event were:

Commenting on the event, Ronak Samantaray, Co-Founder and CEO of GEC Media Group, said, “It was an absolutely overwhelming moment for us as we celebrated the 9th edition of the Future IT Summit in Dubai. We are thankful for the unwavering support extended by our CIO community and sponsor partners in helping and empowering the IT ecosystem to become stronger. With technology and services changing at warp speed, we are at an inflection point and the leading players in the industry are indeed putting their right foot forward.”

Charbel Zreiby, Director, Data Center Channel, Dell Technologies.

Farid Najjar, Area Distribution Lead – EEMI, NetApp.

Sriram Ganeshan, Associate Director, Solution Consulting, Kissflow.

Murthy Sadasivan, Solution Architect, Securenet FZC.

Ali El Kontar, CEO, Zero&One.

Manas Sarkar, Technical Director, Trend Micro.

The event included three power-packed panel discussions. The first panel discussion titled “CIO Power Panel: Who leads the enterprises’ ESG strategy and how can CIOs enable this?” was moderated by Sonal Chhibber, Editor, GEC Media Group. The panellists included: Mohammed Al NabtitiPMO & Governance Manager, Bee’ah; Dr. Aruna Rabel-Corporate Governance & Compliance; and Krishnan Anand- Director Head of IT, Emirates Investment Bank.

Vishal Anand-Senior Director Of Information Technology, Jumeirah Group / Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts; Abdulrahman Khaiwi-Head of Information Technology, Emirates National Schools; Ms. Linoy Kidd- GBM MENAT CIO, HSBC; and Pradeep Kedia, Vice President/Industry Leader, OPX Technology-MENA & APAC.

The second panel discussion titled, “CIO Power panel: Are vendor solutions mature enough for enterprises large scale automation rollout?” was moderated by Gigi Mathew Thomas-Group Head IT, Ittihad International Investment. The panellists included: Vishal Anand-Senior Director Of Information Technology, Jumeirah Group / Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts; Abdulrahman Khaiwi-Head of Information Technology, Emirates National Schools; Ms. Linoy Kidd- GBM MENAT CIO, HSBC; and Pradeep Kedia, Vice President/Industry Leader, OPX Technology-MENA & APAC.

The third panel discussion titled “Rapid Fire – Leadership in 2023” was moderated by Ajay RathiCTO, Druce International. The panellists included Alan Brouard-Head of Information Technology, Etihad Rail; Anindo Banerjee-CIO, Eltizam Asset Management Group; Peter Gesper-SVP of IT, noon; Tamal Chakravorty, Group Head of IT; Dr. Esam Alfalasi-Chief Contact Center Business Officer, Moro Hub; and Viven Bhowani-Transformational Leader, Experienced CIO and COO.

(Left to right) Sonal Chhibber, Editor, GEC Media Group; Mohammed Al Nabtiti-PMO & Governance Manager, Bee’ah; Dr. Aruna Rabel-Corporate Governance & Compliance and Krishnan AnandDirector Head of IT, Emirates Investment Bank.

(Left to right) Ajay Rathi-CTO, Druce International; Alan Brouard-Head of Information Technology, Etihad Rail; Anindo Banerjee-CIO, Eltizam Asset Management Group; Peter GesperSVP of IT, noon; Tamal Chakravorty, Group Head of IT; Dr. Esam AlfalasiChief Contact Center Business Officer, Moro Hub; and Viven Bhowani-Transformational Leader, Experienced CIO and COO.

(Left to right) Gigi Mathew Thomas-Group Head IT, Ittihad International Investment;

Catalyst Marketing Award

BADGE

Catalyst CIO Award

CIO AND DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION UNRAVELLED

IDC recently completed Directions, its regional briefing on information technology, nation macro-economics and IT spending, digital transformation, future role of CIO. Excerpts

In February, IDC successfully staged its regional industry briefing, Directions 2023, for top executives of the information technology industry in Dubai, UAE. Arun Shankar, previously Editor with Enterprise Channels MEA, engaged in a deep dive conversation with Jyoti Lalchandani, Group Vice President and Regional Managing Director META, IDC, to highlight the key takeaways and action plans for regional CIOs.

Centres of influence

[EC MEA] Digital transformation is driving innovation and creating additional centres of influence. How is this impacting the role of the CIO, technology investments and technology decision making?

[JYOTI] We think that the ecosystem of decision makers for IT investments was previously very concentrated. Now we are going to see that ecosystem expand. We are going to get different sets of stakeholders beyond just the IT organisation. It is going to be line of business, sales, marketing, customer experience, products. On one hand, you are going see expansion in the decision-making ecosystem beyond IT. Within IT, we are going to see other stakeholders of CXT, AI,

DevOps, and the infrastructure teams, application teams. All of them are going to become critical stakeholders for vendors and suppliers to engage with. It is going to become a lot more distributed in terms of stakeholders, and they are going be what I call key influencers in the technology lifecycle.

[EC] Will the overall budget and investment into information technology still be concentrated with the CIO and IT organisation?

[JYOTI] I see that changing. I think IT costs and delivery costs are going be embedded within business. We are going to see IT embedded within various business units within an organisation. The role of IT is going to be, how do I deliver end-to-end services regardless of the business unit.

Today the CIO is an important stakeholder, but you have digital transformation leaders, sustainability officers, senior compliance folks. Technology is so embedded across business units, across functions, that it is no longer an operational part of the business. It is now embedded across the enterprise.

Automation

[EC MEA] How is the nature of automation transforming in organisations today?

[JYOTI] Automation is playing the role of enabling the organisation to scale at a much faster pace. Since we have a skills challenge on one side, there is a lot of task-based automation that has been the norm for quite some time. We are going to see a shift from task-based automation to more end-to-end process automation.

With AI enabled and AI embedded within automation, that means machines are able to predict and even, in a ubiquitous manner, actually deliver the service, by predicting the service. We think automation is going to be a critical component in the longer term.

[EC MEA] When we talk about automation across the enterprise are we still referring predominantly to robotic process automation?

[JYOTI] We have moved beyond that. We are talking about AI enabled automation, which is end-to-end process automation. A lot of investments today are for specific task-based automation like account receivables, customer onboarding, KYC, and others. A BOT goes in and does a manual task removing all repetitive operations.

End-to-end process automation with AI enabled backend means that the system is able to predict and proactively take action. So, it is not just predicting but taking autonomous action.

JYOTI LALCHANDANI, Group Vice President and Regional Managing Director META, IDC.

[EC MEA] As per IDC results, the top priority for the CIO remains, IT service management and not digital transformation. Is there a contradiction?

[JYOTI] What does IT service management mean? It means delivering IT as a service to the organisation. It means how do I provide end-to-end IT delivery services? So that continues to be the number one priority and also it gives you a sense of the shift where as a service is becoming one of the mantras for the IT organisation.

In addition to that, the other priorities for the IT department were of course skills, digital capabilities in emerging technology areas, and outcome-based pricing.

Digital sovereignty

[EC MEA] What is the modern-day concept of sovereignty considering the development of a multi-polar world with multiple global spheres of influence and control?

[JYOTI] Digital sovereignty is going to be a very important shift, in the way organisations approach technology and their investments. We

started to see some signs of digital sovereignty as soon as the European conflict broke out.

A lot of our initial focus on sovereignty was really data sovereignty, and then cloud, with questions like where is the data located and where is the datacentre located. And so on. And beyond that, there is supply chain sovereignty. The questions is about do we diversify our supply chain in order not be overly reliant on, one or two or three country partners.

This has led to assurance sovereignty. If you look at public services or banking services or retail services, it is access to critical infrastructure and critical services delivery. Countries are thinking about what does it mean in terms of, how do I get access to these critical services and so on.

We are now talking about end-to-end sovereignty. It is no longer just a data discussion, but a digital sovereignty discussion. The focus is shifting from geopolitics to geoeconomics in that sense.

[EC MEA] How will global geoeconomics impact technology decision making at the country and nation level?

[JYOTI] The fact remains there is going to be a lot of questions on the data side and on the supply chain side. How sovereign is the data? What is my level of influence on the data? How can I control the data? What access do I have on the data? These are going to become critically important.

If you think about digital infrastructure and if you think about underlying national level security infrastructures, they are all technology enabled. Technology is going to become one of those areas of focus for public sector and governments around the world.

We see globalisation reducing quite dramatically and there is a lot more nationalism, and there is a lot more protectionism. We can see that

countries are looking for how do I get more in-country value for something. Countries want to diversify supply chains, and not be overly reliant on few partners, these are going to be important areas.

Demand and supply imbalance

[EC MEA] Considering the recessionary pressures in the macro environment, how are CIOs going to balance their investments in legacy and digital IT environment?

[JYOTI] We think organisations are going to continue investing in digital because for some, it is a journey that began two years ago and organisations are already reaping the benefits of that.

Organisations have realised that over time we are going to see a shift between the revenues that they generate from traditional business models and new digital business models. They are optimising some of the costs in the traditional areas to reinvest in and repurpose those investments around digital initiatives and digital programmes.

Digital transformation is going to continue to lead the spending agenda of organisations. How they reprioritise the investments is going to be interesting because they are going to focus a lot more on efficiencies in the backend. Automation and AI enabled automation is going be critically important.

THE CIO ACTION PLAN

Centres of influence

l The ecosystem of decision makers for IT investments was previously concentrated. Now we are going to see that ecosystem expand.

l You are going see expansion in the decision-making ecosystem beyond IT.

l Within I T, we are going to see other stakeholders of CXT, AI, DevOps, infrastructure teams, application teams in decision making.

l We are going to see IT embedded within various business units within an organisation.

l The role of IT is going to be, how do I deliver end-to-end services regardless of the business unit.

l The CIO is an important stakeholder, but you have digital transformation leaders, sustainability officers, senior compliance officers.

l Technology is so embedded across business units, across functions, that it is no longer an operational part of the business.

Automation

l We are going to see a shift from task-based automation to end-to-end process automation.

l With AI enabled and AI embedded within automation, that means machines are able to predict and even deliver the service.

l We have moved beyond robotic process automation.

l End-to-end I T delivery services is the number one priority.

l As a service is becoming one of the mantras for the IT organisation.

Digital sovereignty

l We are talking about end-to-end sovereignty. It is no longer just a data discussion, but a digital sovereignty discussion.

l The focus is shifting from geopolitics to geoeconomics.

l Technology is going to become an area of focus for public sector and governments around the world.

l Globalisation is reducing quite dramatically and there is a lot more nationalism, and protectionism.

l Countries are looking for how do I get more in-country value for something.

l Countries want to diversify supply chains, and not be reliant on few partners.

Demand and supply imbalance

l Two-thirds of CIOs believe that cloud economics is a big concern for them.

l CIOs say they have spent 30% or more than what was previously budgeted on cloud.

l There are question marks about what is the cost of delivery from cloud.

l CIOs will loop in vendors and suppliers for longer-term contracts.

l CIOs will look at outcome-based pricing for certain types of activities, to tie in and build partnerships with suppliers.

l We are already seeing longer-term contracts in large scale transformation programmes being renegotiated.

l CIOs expect suppliers to become more efficient at the cost, at which they are delivering the service.

They are going to put more pricing pressures on cost of cloud services. Two-thirds of CIOs that we spoke to believe that cloud economics is a big concern for them. CIOs say they have spent at least 30% more than what was previously budgeted on cloud. This means there are question marks about what is the cost of delivery from cloud.

CIOs will loop in some of the vendors and suppliers for longerterm contracts. They will look at outcome-based pricing for certain types of activities, to tie in and build partnerships with suppliers.

There will be new sets of KPIs that they will use to measure in terms of service management with the supplier company. They are going to extend this to much longer outcome-based relationships with service level agreements.

We are already seeing longer-term contracts in large scale transformation programmes being revisited, being renegotiated with a view of the new reality that we are in. CIOs also expect suppliers to become more efficient at the cost, at which they are delivering the service to the customer.

[EC MEA] How are enterprises going to move from digital transformation projects towards becoming end to end digital businesses?

[JYOTI] When we talk about digital revenues, we mean revenues that an organisation generates from digital products, digitally enabled services, using digital channels or using digital platforms. And it is going to be a seamless end-to-end frictionless engagement. You are essentially getting your end-to-end service through a digital channel and the cost of delivery of the service is going to be a lower compared to the traditional model.

We think over the next few years, the share of revenues that organisations will derive from digital products and services and platforms will outstrip the growth compared to the traditional business models. Factors like recession, geopolitics, will move, accelerate, transition towards the digital type of business. It is similar to the pandemic. You need to look at becoming lean and efficient and this is the way forward. ë

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY DECISION MAKING AT THE TOP

[EC MEA] IDC has begun the its Worldwide CEO Survey. What is the reason for moving away from technology decision makers to executive decision makers?

We do have a CEO survey. The reason why we refer to the CEO survey is because technology is becoming such an important enabler of the business and we are seeing it intertwined. The technology strategy, the business strategy is becoming intertwined.

The share of revenues of a company today, on the digital products and services is increasing much faster than the traditional sustainability. This is bringing technology into the discussion.

How can we become more carbon neutral? How can we reduce the footprint and so on? How can we deliver products and services at low prices, and make technology more efficient in the discussion?

Technology today has grabbed the attention of CEO suite. It is very important for us as to understand what is the C-suite and what does the CEO believe. How are they leveraging technology to become efficient in all of those things.

It gives us a sense of what are the strategic priorities of the business. And we want to see if there is a proper alignment between the business priorities and IT priorities. The CEO pulse gives us that direction, to be able to lean on.

[EC MEA] Do IT vendors and solution partners need to begin selling to CEOs as well. Have we reached that stage?

It depends on the industry and it depends on the size. CEOs are important stakeholders in the discussion. I think it is very critical for vendors to have visibility of what the CEO’s agenda is.

Often times their exposure is limited to the IT organisation, which is a very one-dimensional view, of what the organisation wants to achieve, and what are the outcomes.

It is the business agenda, which really provides the right perspective to technology suppliers. That gives them a sense of what business outcomes the organisation wants to achieve.

Riverbed announces updates to Alluvio IQ for SaaS-delivered observability services

Riverbed, announced new updates to Alluvio IQ, its cloud-native, SaaS-delivered Unified Observability service that empowers IT with actionable insights to remediate problems faster and improve the digital experience. The latest capabilities expand Alluvio IQ’s reach of machine learning and automated investigations to include end user experience telemetry from Alluvio Aternity Digital Experience Management to solve issues in remote and SASE environments as well as integrate with thirdparty tools.

Alluvio IQ enables IT organisations to shift left, enabling all staff to do the job of more experienced IT experts, freeing-up senior IT staff to focus on strategic business initiatives.

Organisations need to surface connectivity or transport issues that are affecting user experience, no matter where the user is located or which type of application they are using, data-

Richard Tworek, Chief Technology Officer, Alluvio, Riverbed.

centre, mobile, cloud, or SaaS. With the Alluvio Aternity integration, Alluvio IQ provides network teams with the observability to surface impactful incidents in these environments and pinpoint where the problem is happening.

Alluvio IQ now includes data from thirdparty tools in its automated investigations. Enterprises typically have multiple monitoring tools from different providers and manually

Cyferd announced the launch of Cyferd Neural Genesis, an AI software

Cyferd, a technology company, announced the launch of its innovative Artificial Intelligence software; Neural Genesis. By inputting just a few words, CyferdNG can generate applications

in seconds creating a cutting-edge platform that can be used enterprise-wide in minutes, slashing the cost of implementation substantially. Recent AI advancements are great at academic

combine data from these different tools when troubleshooting. Alluvio IQ can now integrate with non-Riverbed tools using a flexible approach, including pulling data from other monitoring tools or pushing contextual events to ITSM solutions within the automated Runbooks.

Organisations leveraging Alluvio IQ can now have one place to go to see impactful events, which includes the context IT teams need to solve problems quickly, and that context can come from both Riverbed and nonRiverbed sources.

The new release provides SOC2 Type II, ISO 27001 security certifications that are requirements for purchasing a SaaS solution for many organisations and government agencies. These certifications ensure organisations Alluvio IQ contains the policies, procedures, and technology to keep their data secure and private.

examples and creating funny jokes, while NG builds integrated data lenses.

The unveiling of Neural Genesis will impact all sectors ranging from education, health to media and can instantly improve efficiency and productivity by generating sector-specific operational platforms instantly. This is set to transform not only the tech industry but all industries, leveraging cutting-edge algorithms and machine-learning techniques to deliver a platform of advanced business tools that can help firms improve their operations and stay ahead of the competition.

Cyferd is a UK-born company, that has expanded exponentially into the US, the UAE, Canada, and Spain, and has continued to push technological boundaries while doing so. The entry into key markets has brought to life the vision of AI development and enabled the release of Neural Genesis with such force.

Cyferd is a next-generational tech company helping businesses build cloud-based, no-code applications for the entire enterprise. One platform allows fast innovation with a common, no-code development experience using one central data layer for all enterprise solutions. They specialise in innovation and customer satisfaction through the development of AI solutions and are committed to delivering the tools and technology businesses need to succeed.

Redington Gulf launches Microsoft Surface Studio 2+, Surface Laptop 5, Surface Pro 9

Redington Gulf, sole distributor of Microsoft Surface, introduced the newest line of Surface products during an event held exclusively for channel partners of Microsoft Surface. The launch gave the attendees an immersive experience of the brand-new products and how these could be the ‘go-to’ devices for today’s executives. Channel partners in attendance travelled from different countries in the region including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar including UAE. The latest line-up of Microsoft Surface includes Microsoft Surface Studio 2+, Microsoft Surface Laptop 5, and Microsoft Surface Pro 9.

Meta Business Messaging now integrated with Freshworks’ CX and CRM products

Freshworks announced that companies around the world have increased customer retention by using Freshworks’ conversational AI bots to automate communication with buyers through WhatsApp, Instagram Messaging, and Facebook Messenger. International companies like MTN Cameroon in Africa, Body and Fit in Europe and The Giving Movement in Dubai have elevated their customer support efficiency on Meta’s messaging platforms using Freshworks’ Freshchat, Freshdesk and Freshsales products.

With over two billion daily active WhatsApp users, nearly two billion daily active Facebook users, and more than two billion monthly active

Instagram users, Meta provides the world’s most popular messaging platforms. The Meta Business Messaging integrations with Freshworks’ CX and CRM products make customer and prospect engagement easy for support, sales, and marketing teams. With Freshworks AI-powered bots, businesses can tailor and automate messaging journeys for each channel, configure workflows across multiple channels or languages, and efficiently train bots with NLP learning capabilities.

The Freshworks Neo platform and its native integrations with popular communication channels allow businesses to configure these channels and more as they expand and grow

Logitech announces Brio 300 series, plug-and-play webcams with Full-HD 1080p resolution

Logitech unveiled its Brio 300 series, a line of compact, plug-and-play webcams with FullHD 1080p resolution, auto light correction and a noise-reducing mic, for more natural and productive video call experiences at an attractive price.

The Brio 300 series, Brio 300 and Brio 305 are Full-HD 1080p webcams with high dynamic contrast, auto light correction, and a single digital microphone with noise reduction, so users are seen and heard clearly despite poor lighting and background noise. With a reliable meeting experience every time, users can join video calls feeling confident and engaged.

The webcams connect to computers through a USB-C port, making it simple to join video meetings. Afterward, a quick spin of the builtin privacy shutter gives users assurance the camera lens is blocked and no longer showing their workspace.

The unconventional cone shape design adds personality to every workspace. Available in offwhite, graphite and rose colours, the webcams pair harmoniously with Logitech mice and keyboards for a stylish and coordinated setup.

Brio 300 series is the latest offering in Logitech’s portfolio of webcam products to support the New Logic of Work, where personal work-

without needing expensive custom development, complex deployments, or IT support. This helps reduce the friction of scaling communication across messaging apps and can make it easier to adapt to evolving customer needs.

spaces are individualised, easy to set up and use, and consciously designed for a positive future.

Prakash Ramamurthy, Chief Product Officer at Freshworks.

SAP is boosting RISE using Red Hat Enterprise Linux as preferred operating system

Gunnar Hellekson, Vice President and general manager, Red Hat Enterprise Linux Business Unit, Red Hat.

part of its internal IT landscape and the SAP Enterprise Cloud Services portfolio onto the standard foundation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, a shift intended to better meet SAP’s evolving business and IT needs. As part of its migration road map, SAP is boosting support for the RISE with SAP solution using Red Hat Enterprise Linux as the preferred operating system for net new business for RISE with SAP solution deployments.

SAP and Red Hat, Inc., the world’s leading provider of open-source solutions, announced an expanded partnership to significantly increase SAP’s use of and support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux. This collaboration aims to enhance

intelligent business operations, support cloud transformation across industries and drive holistic IT innovation.

Building on the two companies’ long-standing collaboration, SAP is steadily migrating

A hardened, production-ready Linux operating system for hybrid cloud innovation, Red Hat Enterprise Linux is trusted by global enterprises across industries worldwide. The platform builds on this trust by offering a consistent, reliable foundation for SAP software deployments, providing a standard Linux backbone to support SAP customers across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

age the 6 GHz Wi-Fi band and deliver superior wireless connectivity to their residents.

RUCKUS Networks is also adding support for the WPA3 security framework to RUCKUS Dynamic PSKTM, DPSK technology, combining ease of deployment with advanced user security and control.

CommScope announced the availability of two new Wi-Fi 6E products, the RUCKUS R760 and the RUCKUS R560. These products allow

Multi-Dwelling-Units including residential apartments, student housing, assisted living, and other high-density living spaces to lever-

RUCKUS Wi-Fi 6E solutions enable organisations to take advantage of the dramatic capacity increase, performance improvement and reduced interference of the 6 GHz spectrum. With up to 8.35 Gbps aggregated max throughput, Wi-Fi 6E supports next generation applications such as augmented reality and virtual reality, AR, VR, 8K ultra-high-definition video, and gaming.

Confluent announces new Confluent Cloud to build secure shared platform for data streaming

Confluent, the data streaming pioneer, announced new Confluent Cloud capabilities that help organisations easily build a secure shared services platform for data streaming. The shared services architectural model allows for efficient, cost-effective use of cloud infrastructure resources, which is especially important as businesses’ budgets tighten and new competitors constantly emerge.

With Confluent’s newly added OAuth support, Cloud Client Quotas, and expanded RoleBased Access Controls, RBAC, businesses can unlock more real-time innovation and widespread access to data streaming without worrying about degrading application performance, increasing costs, or introducing new operational burdens.

CommScope releases Wi-Fi 6E products, RUCKUS R760 and RUCKUS R560

Shaun Clowes, Chief Product Officer, Confluent.

High-speed cable assemblies can support higher-bandwidth in datacentre says Siemon report

Siemon published a new product and application guide that provides datacentre designers and operators with valuable insight into the benefits that high-speed cable assemblies can deliver in support of higher-bandwidth, low-latency applications in the datacentre.

Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, edge computing and other emerging technologies are widely adopted in enterprise businesses today. This drives the need for datacentre server and storage systems to deliver speeds well beyond 10 Gbps in support of these applications. Siemon’s new guide details how Direct Attached Cables, DACs and Active Optical Cables, AOCs can deliver performance, reliability, scalability and power

efficiencies to cost-effectively adopt these emerging technologies.

A key focus in the guide is datacentre topology and how fixed lengths DACs and AOCs can support shorter in cabinet connections or connect servers across multiple racks in End of Row or Middle of Row configurations.

In addition to providing a detailed overview of the cable options available to scale and support transmission speeds all the way to 400 Gbps, the guide also addresses the rising challenge of latency. With latency impacting real-time technologies such as virtual reality, high frequency trading and blockchain, direct attach copper high-speed cable assemblies deliver distinct benefits over and above structured cabling for increased network performance.

Dell Technologies announces Concept Luna sustainable PC that reduces waste and emissions

Dell Technologies has introduced Concept Luna, a sustainable PC design which illustrates the company’s vision of how to reduce waste and emissions, reuse materials and achieve next-level innovation. Dell’s Experience Innovation Group engineers have worked over the last year to further refine the modular design of Concept Luna, eliminating the need for adhesives and cables, and minimising the use of screws. These refinements make it easier to repair and dismantle a system. Concept Luna could dramatically simplify and accelerate repair and disassembly processes, making components more accessible and expanding opportunities for reuse.

Once the device itself is truly at the end of life, it’s refurbished and recycled to incorporate the same materials into next-generation laptops, monitors or phones. It’s a future where nothing goes to waste and the mountain of electronics discarded every year, more than 57 million tons, globally, to be exact is dramatically reduced. Not only is technology dematerialised, but the materials used fuel a robust circular economy. Thereby, reducing the need for new, raw materials.

Key concept highlights include:

l New automation capabilities

l Disassembly robotic micro-factories that reduce hours-long processes to minutes or even seconds, for optimised component harvesting, reuse and refurbishment

l Dell’s Experience Innovation Group engineers have refined the modular design of Concept Luna to eliminate the need for adhesives and cables and minimise the use of screws, making it easier to repair and dismantle systems. The result is a device that can be disassembled in mere minutes, as opposed to the current technology that takes recycling partners over an hour to disassemble.

l New design features improve performance and reliability, while also making the overall concept easier to disassemble for quicker repair, refurbishment, and recycling at scale

l Advanced intelligent telemetry to accurately diagnose component health, informing proactive repairs and maximising the longevity of component reuse

Mozn releases AI-enabled anti-fraud product at LEAP, part of anti-money laundering platform

Mozn, a market leader in enterprise artificial-intelligence technologies, announced an advanced AI-powered Anti-Fraud product capable of proactively identifying suspicious patterns and preventing criminals from targeting organisations and their

clients to profit from financial crime.

FOCAL Anti-Fraud can confirm the identity of payees automatically by checking data input against the destination account’s records. The product combats fraud by combining a wealth of datapoints to score

Fraud risk and then compare the derived score against custom risk appetite thresholds. The innovative new product automatically selects the best next action based on their assessed legitimacy, thereby minimising impact for the customers of financial institutions.

To date, FOCAL has been able to successfully complete more than 1 billion security and identity checks for its clients, detect hundreds of millions in Saudi Riyals worth of fraud and money laundering crimes in Saudi Arabia, in the past few months only. FOCAL has also been able to monitor more than 3 Million customers and SAR 8 Billion worth of transactions – providing financial institutions the ease of mind needed to grow and innovate and secure digital finance for humanity.

FOCAL Anti-Fraud’s sophisticated design means it can expose fraudulent activity through the application of deep AI network analysis to identify devices, Geo, IP addresses, and other attributes commonly used in the detection of criminal activity. The platform’s reporting system instantly flags suspicious activity and integrates it into the Fraud Score to strengthen ongoing protections.

Oracle to support Red Hat Enterprise Linux on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure

Red Hat, provider of open source solutions, and Oracle announced a multi-stage alliance to offer customers a greater choice of operating systems to run on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. The strategic collaboration starts with Red Hat Enterprise Linux running on OCI as a supported operating system, improving the experience for organisations that rely on both OCI and Red Hat Enterprise Linux to fuel digital transformation and migration of missioncritical applications to the cloud.

Ninety percent of the Fortune 500 currently rely on Red Hat and Oracle solutions. For many of these companies, Red Hat Enterprise Linux serves as their operating system foundation and OCI offers them high-performing, mission-critical cloud services, to power digital-forward operations. Now these organisations are able to standardise their cloud operations with Red Hat Enterprise Linux running on OCI, which enables customers to gain a common platform that stretches from their datacentre to the OCI distributed cloud.

With this strategic collaboration, certified configurations of OCI flexible virtual machines can now run Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and customers can also migrate existing workloads already running on Red Hat Enterprise Linux to Red Hat Enterprise Linux on OCI with greater confidence. OCI flexible virtual machines can scale in increments as small as a single CPU to optimise priceperformance and minimise wasted resources. Customers can also contact both Red Hat and Oracle support to help resolve potential issues, with an expanded transparent, joint support agreement.

AS PEOPLE MOVE, NETWORKS MUST FOLLOW

Job satisfaction may improve if organisations support an optimal hybrid experience that sees the office as a mobile evolving space and the network as a key enabler.

As has already been widely reported, the pandemic caused a great shift in our working patterns and in the workplace – prompting organisations to reconsider the office space and the enterprise network in order to support employees’ evolving expectations and needs. And over two years later, that shift shows no signs of slowing.

In fact, as we look to 2023, redesigning the workplace and the network that supports it has become pivotal for organisations that want to achieve better business operations and results, as well as improve employee satisfaction.

Yet, how exactly have employee expectations and needs changed?

And what should CIOs consider when creating the best hybrid workspace and experience for the future?

Leesman, a global provider of original research on workplace quality and employee satisfaction, created a report that utilises their insights and large survey database of over 70,000 worker respondents and 125 corporate real estate respondents to answer these questions. With 93% of corporate real estate leaders surveyed indicating that their organisations plan to adopt hybrid work as standard practice going forward and 94% revealing that they plan to make further physical changes in the workplace to support organisational and, or employees’ needs, the results offer compelling information for CIOs as they map out their goals for next year.

Hub of connection

Despite many workplace specialists’ beliefs that the main purpose of the future office is to be a hub of collaboration, Leeman’s findings indicate that the office is becoming more important as a hub of connection, with connection-based activities showing the highest increase in importance over any other work activity.

The office has become a centralised area to connect with colleagues and co-workers, not necessarily on specific tasks or problems in pre-arranged, and large group formal meetings, but to engage in informal social interaction and informal, unplanned meetings. The office is a space where employees increasingly want to go to develop relationships and get a deeper sense of community, and more informal spaces to socialise would better support that.

It’s important to note that workers are satisfied with the effectiveness of home-based collaboration and are more satisfied with hybrid-based collaboration than office only. This may be due to the effectiveness of technologies such as online meetings and messaging for collaboration.

Desk-based work

Both prior to and during the COVID disruption, individual focused, desk-based work remained the most important working activity according to Leesman’s survey results, regardless of respondent role, age, and gender, with an 80-90% importance rating.

So, for CIOs who want employees to spend more time working in the office, one of the most fundamental requirements is to support individually focused desk-based work – both in the office and wherever hybrid work gets done.

There is also a difference in attitude between office workers and hybrid workers on fixed computing equipment, with more office workers than hybrid workers selecting this IT feature as important, 37%. As for mobile computing, more hybrid workers than office workers find this IT feature important, 70%.

Workplace mobility

Mobility has also become one of the most desired factors for employees in today’s work environment – and many organisations are already looking to change the physical layouts, forms, and size of their offices to reflect this, as well as to foster open communication and a collaborative culture.

Judging by Leesman’s results, offices are likely to become smaller in the future. Therefore, organisations must improve workspace

organisation and flexibility with flex-desking, assigned days, and tighter tools for room booking, supported by an increasing number of IoT devices and measurement systems.

At the same time, more organisations are investing in quieter and smaller rooms for working alone or in pairs, increased Wi-Fi network connectivity for the office, and mobile computing equipment.

Fixed versus mobile CIOs must also understand which aspects of technology have grown or decreased in importance. According to Leesman’s data, employees are dissatisfied with fixed computing equipment in the office, considering it to be slow and out of date, and IT infrastructure also seems insufficient compared to home working settings.

In light of this, CIOs should consider whether fixed IT features are necessary for their business and whether they should be replaced with mobile equipment. This may also bring with it a need to review network speed and quality.

Leesman’s findings make it clear that the redesigned office of the future will benefit from a far more advanced wireless infrastructure to support the full range of devices, users, and platforms and to enable work-from-anywhere mobility. Rethinking IT infrastructure is key to achieving better business outcomes, from increasing employee productivity and engagement, to reducing capital and real estate operating costs, and more.

As people move, networks must follow. Job satisfaction and performances may improve if organisations better support an optimal hybrid experience that sees the office as a mobile and evolving working space and the network as a key enabler to be an employee satisfaction and performance multiplier. ë

ALAN NI Senior Director Edge Marketing, Aruba.

Redesigning the workplace and the network that supports it has become pivotal for organisations

The office has become a centralised area to connect with colleagues and co-workers

ROLE OF PARTNERS IN SECURITY SOLUTIONS

No single company has expertise to address challenges independently, which is why collaboration has become crucial for driving value in security.

The current security landscape is in a constant state of flux, with new threats emerging regularly, requiring organisations to adapt their strategies in real time. No single company has the expertise or resources to address these challenges independently, which is why collaboration has become crucial for driving value in the security sector.

With the combined strengths of different partners, organisations can take advantage of each other’s expertise and participate in a security ecosystem that is far greater than the sum of its parts. By pooling their resources, skills, and knowledge, and sharing the latest concepts and ideas, organisations can accelerate product and service innovation, simplify the integration process, and deliver more comprehensive solutions that meet unique customer needs.

Now more than ever, companies must adopt a cooperative innovation model to succeed in this rapidly changing environment. But how exactly are partner networks and integrated solutions transforming the security sector globally and in the region.

Integrated approach

Following the trend set by the IoT industry, the security

sector has evolved into a flourishing ecosystem where various products and solutions can be integrated with ease. The ability to integrate effortlessly with other technologies and create tailored solutions benefits vendors and enhances the customer experience as the added value is reflected in the final offering.

The ecosystem approach encourages collaboration and the sharing of knowledge, leading to the development of more innovative products and services. But the integration of technology is essential for this ecosystem to truly succeed. The growing use of open standards allows different industry segments to work together seamlessly, breaking down traditional silos and creating a more integrated approach to problem solving.

This, in turn, leads to the development of solutions that can be applied across different sectors, increasing the efficiency of operations, and providing a more comprehensive approach to security.

The adoption of technology based on open standards is a critical component of any successful security ecosystem. When guided by open standards, products and solutions are more interoperable, scalable, and sustainable. This may include well-documented APIs, consistent firmware, software development, and cybersecurity measures across different products.

The standardisation of solutions helps organisations reduce their dependence on proprietary systems, ensuring that they have access to a wide range of solutions that meet their specific needs, now and in the future.

Know your customers

Collaboration can help businesses gain valuable insights into their market and develop a better understanding of customers’ needs. For example, a technology vendor could work with a channel partner who specialises in a particular industry vertical. The channel partner could bring in their deep understanding of customer requirements and provide valuable insights into the challenges they face.

This information can then be used to inform product design and development, ensuring that offerings are relevant and effective. This way, the vendor uses a partner’s knowledge to develop innovative solutions that meet specific customer needs and address their pain points in that vertical.

Power of partnership

The UAE has long been a hub of technological innovation and a leader in the implementation

of smart city technologies. Recently, the integration of deep-learning analytics and camera technology has opened new doors for the UAE’s smart city industry – but this could not have been done without collaboration.

Axis, which is supported by a network of over 90,000 partners across the globe, recently teamed up with companies specialising in traffic monitoring in the UAE. This collaborative

project has certainly demonstrated the realworld advantages of collaboration. The integration of deep-learning analytics and camera technologies has enabled cities in the UAE to make data-driven decisions and respond quickly to changing conditions using real-time information.

With a more efficient traffic management system and reduced congestion on roads, this collaborative project has brought real-world benefits to the country and its citizens.

Market opportunities

Ultimately, the open exchange of information enables partners to develop more integrated products and services, stay ahead of their competitors, and maximise the opportunities available in today’s highly competitive market. Those that do not use the opportunity to create strategic partnerships, on the other hand, will find themselves at a significant disadvantage.

Without collaboration with technology and channel partners, a business may not have access to the latest technologies or expertise that would enable it to address the constantly evolving threat landscape. This company’s offerings may therefore be limited and less effective at meeting the needs of its customers, eroding customer confidence, and potentially damaging the reputation of the company.

A model of cooperative innovation within a partner ecosystem, and the development of integrated solutions based on open standards, are key components for driving the security sector forward. Organisations that work together well are more likely to share in their successes – and those who have not found the right partners should do so if they do not wish to be left behind. ë

ANDREA SORRI Segment Development Manager, Smart Cities EMEA, Axis Communications.

This collaborative project has certainly demonstrated the real-world advantages of collaboration

Integration of deep-learning analytics and camera technologies has enabled cities in UAE to make data-driven decisions

What’s trending

Abdullah Bahanshal moves from Honeywell to Lenovo as Country Manager for Saudi Arabia

Lenovo announced appointment of Abdullah Bahanshal as the new Country Manager for Saudi Arabia within Lenovo Infrastructure Solutions Group. In his new leadership role, Abdullah will be responsible for managing and growing country revenue within the Saudi Arabia. He will also support customers with insights backed by his years of experience in IT and Digital Transformation.

Abdullah brings with him over 20 years of experience in the ICT industry especially around leadership, strategic sales and development. He comes to Lenovo ISG from Honeywell, where he was the Country Sales Leader for the Productivity Solutions and Services sales team. He also focused on end user relationship through channel parties across the Saudi Arabia, while also developing country growth strategic plans.

Prior to that, he worked with global ICT brands like Huawei, Cisco Systems and Cerner. During his tenure at previous ICT firms, he won awards for performance, sales and strategy, while also being one of the first Saudi nationals to be certified as an ICF coach.

US Department of Defence veteran Kurt Gaudette joins Dragos as VP Global Threat Intelligence

Dragos, the global leader in cybersecurity for industrial controls systems and operational technology environments, announced it has appointed Kurt Gaudette as Vice President of Global Threat Intelligence. Gaudette brings more than 30 years of operational and technical intelligence experience to Dragos and will lead the company’s world-class team of adversary hunters, threat analysts, research engineers and analytic developers to discover, track, and disrupt threats to industrial control systems across the globe.

After transitioning from the military, Gaudette served as part of the US Department of Defence’s Senior Executive Service, leading large enterprise-level organisations focused on the collection and analysis of foreign intelligence ranging from space and weapons, to industrial control systems and emerging disruptive technologies. He has led globally distributed teams and organisations of up to 4,000 personnel, and executed budgets over $1B.

Sophos to global security services company, Infopercept as CMO

Infopercept Consulting, a global cybersecurity solutions and services company, announced the appointment of Jitendra Bulani as Chief Marketing Officer. Bulani brings 15 years of global marketing experience at cybersecurity companies. He will be responsible for driving awareness and demand for Infopercept’s offensive security, defensive security and security compliance solutions as well as services globally.

Prior to joining Infopercept, Bulani was at Sophos for more than 14 years where he was responsible for public relations and communications in India and SAARC, Middle East and Africa. Bulani was also one of the pioneering members of the global marketing team at Cyberoam, which was later acquired by Sophos.

The appointment comes three months after the company announced its CERT-In empanelment and association with National Centre of Excellence for SCADA, OT security acceleration programme.

Jitendra Bulani moves from

Cenomi, Saudi Arabia’s largest vertically integrated retail and lifestyle ecosystem, has appointed three new Chief Technology and Information Officers dedicated to the implementation of world-class digital technology infrastructure. The appointment of three new CTIOs at Cenomi Group, Cenomi Centres and Cenomi Retail, further emphasizes the company’s commitment to adopting best-in-class technology to deliver next generation omnichannel retail and lifestyle experiences.

Binoo Joseph joins as CTIO of Cenomi Group, Lijo Kankapadan as CTIO, Cenomi Centres, with Sunil Nair taking on the role of CTIO for Cenomi Retail. The appointments further bolster the company’s continued drive to enable a new era of retail, shopping and entertainment for the Saudi Arabia of Saudi Arabia, supported by strong, innovative digital and technology infrastructure.

Binoo joins Cenomi Group with more than 20 years of multi-national experience as an exceptional technology, product and engineering leader. He has led teams and projects across India, the UK, the US, Europe, China, Singapore and the Middle East. Working with some of the world’s largest and most prominent retail, hospitality and technology companies, including Tesco, Wipro and Damac Properties, and most recently as CTIO of Emaar Group.

Mathias Bachsleitner appointed Infinigate’s EVP of Global Partnerships and Alliances

Infinigate, the value-add distributor of cybersecurity, secure networks and secure cloud solutions, is appointing Mathias Bachsleitner as EVP of Global Partnerships and Alliances. Mathias brings over fifteen years’ experience in international, strategic alliance management – including recent appointments at Orange Cyberdefense, SecureLink Group, NTT Security and Integralis.

In his role, Mathias will foster organic growth for Infinigate across EMEA by reinforcing strategic vendor partnerships, ramping and scaling rising vendors and forming new alliances. His mission is to complement and complete Infinigate’s cybersecurity portfolio, incorporating a wide range of leadingedge solutions for both the SME and enterprise segment.

Centrical, a leader in SaaS frontline employee performance eXperience management, has brought on recognised sales leader, Jayme Smithers as their new Chief Revenue Officer. As the Chief Revenue Officer at Centrical, Jayme, alongside the executive team will provide focus and strategy on go to market execution, scaling customer growth, and continuing to develop on the winning culture of Centrical’s revenue organisation.

A competitive, data driven, customer first CRO with over 25 years of experience, Jayme most recently helped to significantly scale ThoughtExchange’s growth and led them into new markets, brought in key investments, and helped them become the leader in community engagement across the Education sector. Previously, at NetSuite, Jayme helped innovate, grow, and scale key verticals as NetSuite became the standard Enterprise Resource Planning thanks to the introduction of new channels and a value-centric approach to the sales process.

Mathias will lead a central team, closely aligned to the existing regional teams and dedicated to delivering the best possible service to vendor partners, ensuring consistency of methodology and propagation of best practices across EMEA.

Binoo Joseph, Lijo Kankapadan, Sunil Nair join Cenomi as Chief Technology Information Officers

Jayme Smithers moves from NetSuite to Centrical as Chief Revenue Officer

Ben Ezra moves from SafeBreach to Dig as Chief Product Officer to provide data security for cloud

Dig, the cloud data security leader, announced appointment of Yotam Ben Ezra as Chief Product Officer. Ben Ezra’s appointment comes amid Dig’s continued growth and expansion. As CPO, Ben Ezra will lead the development and direction of Dig’s products, helping Dig further its mission to provide data security at the speed of cloud. Dig helps organisations discover, classify, protect, and govern their cloud data without giving up cloud agility and speed.

Ben Ezra is a cybersecurity industry veteran with more than fifteen years of experience in product leadership roles. Prior to joining Dig, Ben Ezra served as the Chief Product Officer at SafeBreach, the pioneer in breach and attack simulation. He has held multiple leadership roles in research and product sectors at leading organisations including Radware and Check Point Software Technologies. Ben Ezra has a proven track record of leading teams through each step of a product’s development, research and development, product design and product marketing, to help organisations meet and exceed their business goals.

Delinea, a provider of Privileged Access Management solutions for seamless security, announced that David Castignola has joined the company as Chief Revenue Officer, leading the global sales organisation.

Castignola brings more than 25 years of leadership experience in cybersecurity, including 20 years at RSA culminating as the leader of the global sales team. While at RSA, he notably created and led the customer response program during the RSA SecurID breach. Following his time at RSA, he was the first CRO at Optiv and guided the acquisition of Cylance, then becoming Chief Operating Officer at BlackberryCylance. Most recently he doubled revenues over the past two years at crowd-sourced security provider Bugcrowd.

Ciena elevates David Rothenstein to Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer

Ciena, a networking systems, services and software company, announced appointment of David M Rothenstein as Senior Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer and Corporate Secretary. Rothenstein has served as Ciena’s senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary since November 2008, and as acting chief strategy officer since March 2022. He will continue to report to President and CEO Gary Smith.

In his new role, Rothenstein will lead Ciena’s strategic planning and implementation processes, and guide differentiated growth through corporate development activities, including mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances and partnerships, and venture capital investments.

Prior to joining Ciena in 2001, Rothenstein practiced corporate, employment and technology law as well as business litigation at the law firm of Paley Rothman. He earned his Juris Doctor degree with honours from The George Washington University Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from Tufts University.

As part of the company’s leadership succession plan, Ciena concurrently promoted Sheela Kosaraju to senior vice president, general counsel and assistant secretary. Kosaraju joined Ciena in 2010 and has served as vice president, deputy general counsel and head of international legal since August 2020, and previously as vice president and associate general counsel.

counsel

Prior to joining Ciena, Kosaraju was general

for two early-stage companies, HomeCom Communications and Closedloop Solutions.

David Castignola moves from RSA to Delinea as Chief Revenue Officer leading global sales

(Left to right) David Rothenstein, Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, Ciena ; Joe Cumello, Senior Vice President, Global Marketing & Communications Ciena ; Sheela Kosaraju, Senior Vice President and General Counsel Ciena and Smith Rebecca.