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DELL TECHNOLOGIES: MAKING AN IMPACT /38

PA G E S 5 2 VOLUME O6 | ISSUE 10 M AY 2 0 1 9

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EDITORIAL

‘Cloud’ing up the value chain

ANUSHREE DIXIT EDITOR A N U S H R E E @ G E C M E D I A G R O U P. C O M

No matter how much you deviate your subject matters and try talking about how emerging technologies are disrupting the business landscape, Cloud somehow manages to pull you back and shows us how much scope is left to one’s disposal to re-invent or re-think business models. The tech world had some big news up for grabs at the recently held Dell Technologies World 2019 Forum. Microsoft announced an expanded partnership with Dell Technologies to provide customers with a native, supported, and certified VMware experience on Microsoft Azure. On the other side, Epicor recently launched the Epicor MEA Cloud for the mid-market enterprises in a grand event that was hosted by Rheinbrucke Middle East. The event, managed by GEC Media Group, put up strong discussions on Leveraging Epicor MEA Cloud & SMART Solutions for the Mid-Market Enterprises across the GCC countries. Cloud first strategies are delivering results faster than ever and organizations are taking bold decisions to cloudify their entire operations. In this issue of Enterprise Channels, we have tried to put together some stories that re-inforce the critical role played by cloud in propelling the value chain— The AWS Summit, Index Infotech’s iNDEXPAY success story, digital-first and digital-only banking that finds its base in cloud as the core of its automation tools. Walking in sync with the Cloudification strategies, GEC Media Group’s yet another flagship event CIO 200 will be stepping into the second year with Cloud as its core. The event that is all set to tour fourteen countries in the 2019 edition will felicitate digital leaders who have some cutting-edge cloud projects to their merits. Saving the details for the upcoming edition. Till then, happy reading! ë

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M AY 2 0 1 9 | V O L U M E 0 6 | I S S U E 1 0

CONTENTS 22

INTERVIEW

IT’S SIMPLE SOPHIA ANTONY, SR. PRODUCT MANAGER - DELL EMC - ISG

INTERVIEW

WHY PROTENDERS IS PLATFORM OF CHOICE FOR CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES? ŁUKASZ MŁYNEK, CEO, RAILWAYMEN

INAUGURAL BTX SHOW RECOGNISES TRANSFORMATION CHAMPIONS AND ENABLERS

GUEST ARTICLE

THE ROLE OF DATA AND ANALYTICS IN DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION DEAN STOECKER, CEO, ALTERYX

GEC Media rolled out its inaugural BTX Show 2019 road show in Riyadh highlighting transformation use cases, solutions, and star players in Saudi Arabia.

04 EDITORIAL

INNOVATIONS

ARUBA 530 SERIES ACCESS POINTS

CHANNEL STREET

ADVERTISER INDEX:

TECHX 02, SECURITY SYMPOSIUM 03, SAGE 07, RITTAL 09, PAYTABS 11, RAMADAN KAREEM 13, MITSUMI 15, VALTO 17, EMERGENT TELECOMMUNICATIONS 19, GEC OPEN 21, APTEC 23, FINESSE 31, ABSIS 47, DELL EMC 51, CIO 200 52

44 38

MAKING AN IMPACT 05

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VERTICAL ANALYSIS RE-VISITING BFSI

FUTURE BLOCKCHAIN SUMMIT 2019

CHANNEL

STREET ENBD - first in the region to launch Chat Banking via WhatsApp

Emirates NBD customers can now chat bank via WhatsApp as the bank introduces customised services via the WhatsApp Business Solution, a first in the region. Enhancing the bank’s award-winning suite of digital capabilities, Emirates NBD Chat Banking

via WhatsApp, supported by Infobip, is an easyto-use secure channel that allows customers to seamlessly carry out daily banking functions on the go. These functions include checking account balances, the last five transactions of account or credit cards, last credit card mini statement,

temporarily blocking or unblocking cards, new cheque book requests, and foreign exchange rates. All messages on Emirates NBD’s verified WhatsApp Business account are encrypted, ensuring safety and security of customer information. Customers are encouraged to check for the green badge next to the Emirates NBD name in the chat window to ensure they only engage with the bank’s verified WhatsApp Business account. “We believe the new offering will complement our existing digital banking channels and offer security along with the simplicity and convenience of instant responses, 24/7 ” said Abdulla Qassem, Group Chief Operating Officer, Emirates NBD. “As Emirates NBD forges ahead with its digitisation agenda, we look forward to progressively expanding our range of WhatsApp based services to deliver a unified, digital experience for our customers.” Suvo Sarkar, Senior Executive Vice President, Head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management, Emirates NBD, said: “With customers increasingly turning to online and mobile banking services, Emirates NBDs’ Chat Banking via WhatsApp solution builds on our commitment to make banking easy and intuitive. WhatsApp is a simple, reliable and private way to talk to anyone in the world, which will lend further convenience to banking with Emirates NBD.”

ADSSSA SIGNS MOU WITH MICROSOFT The Abu Dhabi Smart Solutions and Services Authority (ADSSSA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Microsoft to establish a ‘Cloud centre of Excellence’ that will aim to build its capacity for the delivery of cloud services and platforms, as well as upskill the emirate’s public sector workforce. This partnership is aligned with ADSSSA’s strategy and ongoing commitment to drive Abu Dhabi’s digital transformation and adoption of emerging technolo-

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gies. The MoU strengthens the collaboration between ADSSSA and Microsoft, whose cloud infrastructure serves more than a billion customers globally and follows Microsoft’s recent announcement of choosing United Arab Emirates for their first Middle East cloud data centre. “This partnership represents a new step towards driving digital transformation in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, consolidating its global position in technology and developing innovative

solutions,” said H.E. Dr Rauda Saeed Al Saadi, Director General of the Smart Solutions & Services Authority. “In line with Abu Dhabi’s ‘Ghadan 21’ plan, the Emirate aims to provide government institutions with qualified human capital and the ability to deal with the best digital solutions and advanced technology to provide the best services. The Authority also seeks to strengthen its partnerships with leading companies in the field of modern technology to better integrate

government agencies and enable them to provide innovative services that contribute to the government’s progress.” Microsoft’s collaboration with ADSSSA will focus on the establishment of a Cloud Centre of Excellence. Under the agreement, Microsoft will provide instructor-led training for 240 government employees from various departments and agencies. The training will be distributed across 11 tracks, and will encompass all Microsoft skill levels, from 0 to 300.

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CHANNEL STREET

HUPAYX, a New Payment Player on the ‘Block’ Human Plus, South Korean startup specializing in crypto payment platform participated in the “Future Blockchain Summit 2019”, the World’s biggest Blockchain festival hosted by Smart Dubai held from April 2nd through 3rd. In this event, Human Plus proudly unveiled its human-centric payment solution with efficient cryptocurrency utilization ecosystem called “HUPAYX” that aims to transform traditional payment infrastructure with all-inone blockchain based cryptocurrency payment platform. As Dubai’s government aims to transform the city to the blockchain capital of the Middle East, HUPAYX aims to become its main cryptocurrency-based payment solution partner. Human Plus is already making waves in South Korea by forming strategic partnerships called “Alliance Group” and attracting top talent to enable nationwide adoption of cryptocurrencies

and government-based regional currencies that would serve as a means of payment at any store or business location. “Traditional payment infrastructure is not suitable to utilize cryptocurrencies in our everyday lives nor does it help us to eradicate existing cash ecosystem as a whole” – stated Aibek Amandanov, Head of Global Marketing Team at Human Plus. HUPAYX not only desires to solve this problem but also strives to create an infrastructure where everyone: national governments, solution providers, businesses, SMES and most importantly general public can benefit from spending their cryptos in their commercial activities. Company also stated that compared to Visa and Mastercard, two major card processing firms duopolizing the industry, HUPAYX is significantly cheaper with just 0.5% processing fee per transaction for merchants of any size.

CPT AWARDED TOP CHANNEL PERFORMER BY STARLINK Computer & Power Technology (CPT), a part of MIDIS Systems Integration Group has been awarded the Top Channel Performer for 2018 by StarLink. The award was presented for the focused efforts in building a cyber security practice within their Systems Integration offerings to enhance customers’ cyber security posture. It is also an acknowledgement of the joint effort in strengthening the partnerships’ market position and business growth. As one of the largest Systems Integrators in the UAE since 2015, CPT has continued its efforts in providing cyber security solutions for businesses to realize the full potential of advanced technologies. Speaking on the award presentation, Syed Quadri Channel Director META StarLink, said, “As a trusted VAD, we are determined to empower all our stakeholders through their journey towards digital transformation by continuous innovation and growth and are proud to recognise Computer & Power Technology as a strategic partner within our channel ecosystem. It is indeed an honour for us to present this prestigious award to them in appreciation of their vision, leadership and contribution within the cybersecurity domain.”

MINDWARE ACQUIRES ARROW ECS Following the approval of the governmental Authorities in the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”), Mindware FZ-LLC (“Mindware”), has added a new intelligent IT solution to its wide-ranging portfolio, by acquiring Arrow Electronics’ enterprise computing solutions business in the Middle East. Via this acquisition, Mindware will expand its Dell EMC territorial coverage and enhance its security portfolio with additional global vendors such as RSA, CheckPoint, Forcepoint, and TrendMicro. Arrow Electronics has recruited a large number of enterprise resellers, always operating as their trusted technology advisor and growth enabler. “This acquisition reinforces our strategy to support the digital transformation of the regional IT industry and the high demand for Storage, Cloud, and Security solutions,” said Philippe Jarre, CEO of Mindware. “Moreover, it significantly strengthens our position in this rapidly growing segment. We are delighted to welcome the Arrow team to Mindware,” added Jarre.

NETAPP ACCELERATES ACCESS TO CRITICAL BUSINESS DATA WITH ULTRAFAST PERFORMANCE NetApp launched its Memory Accelerated Data (MAX Data) 1.3 supporting the Intel® Optane™ DC persistent memory. The combination of MAX Data and Intel Optane DC persistent memory enables organizations to stay competitive by doing more with their data so

they can do more for their customers. Companies are challenged with using unprecedented volumes of data to achieve real business impact. Taking advantage of data is often easier said than done. New applications such as artificial intelligence, machine learning,

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deep learning, real-time analytics, and Internet of Things (IoT), all of which are memory hungry and fueled by massive datasets, compound this challenge. By using a promising new memory tier, NetApp helps customers put their data to work without having to rearchitect their critical

applications. MAX Data gives customers the tools to unlock the value of enormous datasets and extend a Data Fabric strategy all the way into their servers with applications and data that are critical to their business. “As the leading developer of digital humans technology and creative content,

we chose NetApp MAX Data to support our SUNFLOWER Framework© that enables acquisition of huge 3D and 4D data sets, for which intense development work is then fueled with more application workloads per server,” said Milan Kljajic, system engineer, 3Lateral.

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CHANNEL STREET

Continental to Bring New Monitoring Tool to Middle East

SECONDS

PURE STORAGE TO ACQUIRE COMPUVERDE Pure Storage has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Compuverde, a leading developer of file software solutions for enterprises and cloud providers based in Sweden. Compuverde will expand Pure Storage’s file capabilities, enabling enterprises to take advantage of advanced file offerings. The additional functionality reinforces Pure’s strategy to empower customers to implement true hybrid architectures — whether they choose to leverage data on-prem, in the cloud, or increasingly a mix of both. STARLINK TEAMS UP WITH ORACLE UNIVERSITY StarLink has signed up with Oracle Univer-

Continental revealed that its newest technological innovation, ContiLogger, is set to arrive in the Middle East in the second half of this year. Targeting Off-The-Road tyre (OTR) customers, Continental’s new consultancy concept offers cost-effective analysis of cycle downtime, distance, speed, lateral forces, cornering and road grade, enabling optimised route management and perfectly coordinated tyre use. Making its world premiere at the construction machinery trade fair – BAUMA 2019 (8 – 14 April), ContiLogger combines tyres, hardware, software, data and manpower into an individual consulting service approach. Using a range of components including GPS, the new system captures data such as tyre pres-

sure, tyre temperature and vehicle and topographic data in real-life applications and transmits it to Continental experts for analysis. With the aid of the GPS-generated data, Continental field engineers will be able to identify whether a tyre is being overloaded or underused and thus extend tyre lifetime and adapt operational processes so that overall productivity is increased. “This is a holistic concept because it involves evaluating the application as a whole. We see this as extremely important in the OTR earthmoving business, where conditions are exceptionally harsh and the high cost of replacing tyres means that proper tyre servicing and consulting are essential,” says Enno Straten, Head of Continental Commercial Specialty Tyres (CST).

sity to deliver through its well-established training facilities, both Digital Learning as well as Instructor-Led courses for Oracle Database Security. These trainings will help address data privacy, protect against insider threats and enable regulatory compliance for both Oracle and non-Oracle databases. All trainings will be delivered by Oracle and StarLink expert trainers and will be made available in multiple learning formats for anytime, anywhere training. SAS PARTNERS WITH NVIDIA SAS is partnering with NVIDIA to help businesses bring artificial intelligence (AI) into their organizations. The companies are collaborating across machine learning, computer vision and natural language processing, with

ENOC ROLLS OUT A CASHLESS, CARDLESS PAYMENT PLATFORM ENOC Group has launched ‘ENOCPay’, a cashless, cardless payment platform for both fuel and non-fuel products at ENOC and EPPCO service stations. His Excellency Saif Humaid Al Falasi, Group Chief Executive Officer of ENOC, said: “As a wholly-owned government entity, we are working determinedly to support our leaders’ vision to be at the forefront of innovation and bring the latest technologies to our customers. Our aim is to support the government’s vision to provide seamless services to visitors and residents and we are proud to support this vision through our service station network.” ENOCPay enhances the customer experience by enabling them to pay with their mobile phones, without having to leave the comfort of their vehicle. It allows users to link their Vehicle Identification Pass (VIP) RFID account to enable top-up, pay for fuel as well pay in-store at ZOOM and Pronto. The app also allows for remote payments by entering the site and pump number details.

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NVIDIA GPUs and CUDA-X AI acceleration libraries, to support the core elements of SAS’ AI offerings – leading to faster, more accurate insights. VISA AND BRANCH COLLABORATE Visa and Branch have revealed a partnership that will see virtual Visa prepaid debit cards offered to over 2 million consumers in SubSaharan Africa. This partnership represents Visa’s broader strategy to collaborate with and invest in rapidly growing FinTech companies that are reaching consumers and merchants not previously addressed by traditional financial services.

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PayTabs.com

WORLDâ€™S SIMPLE & TRUSTED PAYMENTS

CHANNEL STREET

Epicor Unveils AI-Based Virtual Agent

Epicor Software Corporation released Epicor Virtual Agent (EVA), its new enterprise-wide digital agent designed to help users work smarter and accelerate pace of operations across the

business more easily. Developed to execute tasks and recommend, predict, and adjust actions within set parameters, EVA appears on-screen as a virtual assistant that users can access via text or voice. Along with cognitive skills such as text and voice, EVA transforms data into visual information creating an intuitive experience to complete actions on native devices. Powered by Natural Language Processing (NLP), users can access EVA from their mobile devices and the agent will deliver targeted information to help them make better, faster decisions. Beyond the request/response conversational experience, EVA also uses artificial intelligent (AI) capabilities to proactively deliver alerts and carry out targeted actions based on combinations of events, market statistics, and historical data. Designed to extend and support the workforce, EVA can contribute timely insights that improve accuracy, problem-spotting, and can even forecast and automatically adjust production or distribution levels in-line with customer demand. “New forms of interacting with business software solutions are a key to accelerating the pace of operations and improving the exchange of data and information,” said Scott Hays, senior vice president, product marketing at Epicor. “Having an intelligent agent at hand will help companies become more agile and responsive to unexpected events and rapidly changing customer demands.”

HPE AND NUTANIX SIGN GLOBAL AGREEMENT Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Nutanix (NTNX) signed a global partnership to deliver an integrated hybrid cloud as a Service (aaS) solution to the market. This offering will leverage Nutanix’s Enterprise Cloud OS software including its built-in, free AHV hypervisor, delivered through HPE GreenLake to provide customers with a fully HPE-managed hybrid cloud that dramatically lowers total cost of ownership and accelerates time to value. Additionally, as part of the agreement, Nutanix will enable its channel partners to directly sell HPE servers combined with Nutanix’s Enterprise Cloud OS software so that customers can purchase an integrated appliance. Businesses today are under constant pressure to innovate and accelerate digital transformation. However, current legacy approaches to hybrid IT present many challenges, including complex systems that require large IT operations staff, increasing software licensing and operating costs, and concerns over vendor lockin. As a result, businesses are losing flexibility in a world that demands choice and agility. The HPE-Nutanix partnership addresses these challenges by delivering an attractive alternative that reduces cost and complexity. The combined offering will provide fully managed hybrid cloud infrastructure delivered as a Service and deployed in customers’ data centers or co-location facility.

FIRST REGIONAL POLICY WORKSHOP ON ENABLING THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT The Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC), and the Internet Society held their first regional workshop on enabling the digital infrastructure in the Middle East region. The workshop was attended by delegates from KSA, Egypt, Bahrain, Oman and the Internet Society. The Arab governments have all either embraced or started

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implementing their digital transformation strategies. The Internet infrastructure has become the basic infrastructure for the entire digital transformation. Global research shows that the enabling factors are infrastructure, digital skills and entrepreneurship, and good governance. The workshop aimed to identify the specific challenges and opportunities of the region. Moreover, the workshop

also shed light on the efforts taken by Arab countries to develop and protect their critical information infrastructure, how they perceive cooperation among government organizations and among regulators, CERTS and law enforcement agencies. “Technology has changed the world’s concepts, redefined the foundations of progress, and created a new concept of interna-

tional competitiveness that is not dependent on natural resources, nor on wealth, but on the resources of minds and the ability to create and innovate. Through the Kingdom’s vision (2030), the Kingdom has opened the doors of the future to its citizens and prepared an environment for innovation and leadership,” said Eng. Majed AL Mazyed, deputy governor of CITC, KSA.

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CHANNEL STREET

HFW Deploys Digital Edge Strategy on Platform Equinix HFW has collaborated with Equinix to build out its digital edge in key markets including Dubai, London, Hong Kong, Melbourne and Paris. As a critical element of their digital transformation journey, HFW has distributed its IT to be closer to customers and employees, which has enabled the firm to increase the overall quality of experience (QoE) for these end users. Additionally, by leveraging Equinix for its data center needs, HFW has been able to free up valuable internal resources and redirect those resources to the development of value-added services on top of its platform which directly impact the customer experience and the firm’s bottom line. HFW is a 136-year-old law firm that is undergoing IT transformation to prepare for the next wave of growth. As one of the first U.K.based law firms to expand internationally, HFW now generates more than 60% of its revenue outside the U.K. and has seen its international revenue triple in the past seven years. As a result, the company needed a global interconnection platform like Platform Equinix® that

provides the scale and reach to keep up with the pace of change and get the firm digital ready. Chris White, CIO, HFW said: “Business architectures built on an interconnection platform gain the ability to integrate value chains, enable ecosystem collaboration and provide transparency—all of which we have found on Platform Equinix. Data captured and analyzed near business partners, consumers and service providers enables real-time insights that drive efficiency and reduce costs. As a result, HFW is truly a customer-centric, industry-leading digital legal services firm.” Legal services leaders are decoupling the practice of law from legal service delivery to meet customer demand and promote trust. A distributed platform allows them to tailor value chains to create innovative new services that are adaptable to local needs. By interconnecting cloud services, network service providers and technology partners on a global platform, these firms can replace traditional, fee-based business models with outcome-based services in a new and profitable era of digital legal services.

WEB CLIPS ADOBE PARTNERS WITH SERVICENOW Adobe and ServiceNow have partnered to empower brands with an industry-first solution for stitching together Adobe customer experience data and customer data, ultimately providing seamless digital workflows and personalized customer experiences across all touchpoints. EMERSON ACQUIRES KNET SOFTWARE Emerson has acquired KnowledgeNet(KNet) software from Tunisia-based Integration Objects. KNet’s unique analytics application software accelerates digital transformation initiatives for process and hybrid industries. KNet is used to extract, clean, transform and analyze operational and manufacturing data. Using libraries of advanced statistical and machine-learning algorithms, the software consumes large quantities of diverse information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) data into actionable knowledge that drives real-time decisions to improve process and asset performance. KFH CHOOSES IDEMIA’S TECHNOLOGY IDEMIA has partnered with Kuwait Finance House (KFH) to offer the first metal payment card in the country. This full-metal-card is the most premium product of the IDEMIA Smart Metalrange. Long considered a pioneer in

MOVEMENTS

NUMBER GAME

Wolters Kluwer appoints ALAA DARWISH as MEA Country Manager

foremost Islamic financial institutions in the world, KFH has set another record with the introduction of Kuwait’s first metalpayment

$3.79tn

card. Partnering with IDEMIA, KFH will offer its new metal cards as an upgrade to a select group of its premium customers. AVAYA PARTNERS WITH STANDARD CHARTERED

Serco Middle East has

Avaya is partnering with Standard Chartered

appointed

to deliver a multi-year client experience

PHIL MALEM as CEO

BT has appointed JORIS VAN OERS to lead a key industry vertical in its Global Services Division

Shar’iah compliant banking and one of the

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transformation project that will enable the Bank

Worldwide IT spending is projected to total $3.79 trillion in 2019: Gartner

to more fully align its services with clients’ fast-paced, digitally connected lives. The Avaya OneCloud Private solution enables organizations such as Standard Chartered to hit the ground running with unified communications and contact center solutions delivered on their own private cloud.

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CHANNEL STREET

Machine Learning Will Become Reality in The Near Futur In the UAE, 40 per cent of accountants currently see AI as all or mostly hype, while 55 per cent say that in three years’ time it will become a reality. The findings are published in a new report from ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) Machine learning: more science than fiction which highlights how new tech developments have a massive potential for the accountancy profession. The report focuses on machine learning, which is the ability of computers to ‘learn’ and make decisions or predictions based on analysis of large sets of data. Narayanan Vaidyanathan, the report’s author and head of business insights at ACCA says: ‘Machine learning is a critical area of develop-

ment for accountants. Looking ahead it will be crucial to understand its value and benefits, as well as the ethical challenges it presents. In all this, the starting point has to be a legitimate business need with a clear understanding of what it can bring to the organisation. ‘AI and machine learning can add value to the work accountants do – from generating valuable insights for business decision-making, to fraud detection, risk assessment, understanding complexities in taxation and also with more effective nonfinancial reporting. So the accountancy profession needs to understand how AI and machine learning works, especially given its role in influencing the trust we have in the decisions of these systems.’

HUCO WINS VMWARE’S EMEA 2018 REGIONAL PARTNER INNOVATION AWARD Huco has won the EMEA 2018 VMware Partner Innovation award for Services at the VMware Partner Leadership Summit 2019, held in Carlsbad, CA. Huco’s incredible winning streak continues after it was recognized as the services partner of the year 2018 METNA at VMworld conference last year. Huco is the only coveted VMware partner in Southern Europe and MENA while being among the first 6 exclusive partners globally to achieve all four of VMware’s Master Service Competencies for delivery excellence in Data Center Virtualization, Desktop & Mobility, Cloud Management & Automation and Network Virtualization. Huco is also in the process of achieving Master Service Competencies in VMware PKS and VMC on AWS. Being the only services winner from the region and the only UAE-based awardee at the VMware Partner Leadership Summit 2019, Huco becomes the exclusive GoTo partner for customer’s Transformation and Innovation journey. The company after enterprising years of combining certified skills with innovation has to its successful credit 80+ digital transformation projects and 50+ workspace transformation projects in the region.

CAREEM NOW EXPANDS ITS SERVICES INTO RIYADH Careem NOW has expanded its delivery services to Riyadh, with over 100 restaurants and outlets available at launch. Careem NOW, which is already operational in Jeddah, is Careem’s expansion into the food-delivery market as the company expands its platform beyond ride-hailing. The launch will initially cover the areas Ash Shuhada, Ghirnatah, Al Izdihar, Al Mughrizat, Al Falah, Al Hamra, Al Yarmuk, Al Taawun, Qurtubah and Al Wadi, but is expanding rapidly across the city to offer deliveries to all areas. Over 100 restaurants and outlets are available to order from in Riyadh, including Hamburgini, Maestro Pizza, Kudu, Applebees, Fuddruckers, Marble Slab, BaskinRobbins and Jan Burger. More outlets are being added every week, and to mark its launch Careem NOW is offering 50% off (up to 30 SAR) for new customers in Riyadh. Careem ride-hailing customers will be able to log into the Careem NOW app with their existing Careem credentials. If they have a credit card registered with Careem it will be automatically linked, as will any saved addresses from the Careem ride-hailing app. The Careem NOW app also has a smart reorder feature that enables users to repeat previous orders with one click and follow the arrival of their orders in real time on an interactive map.

COURSERA AND INSEAD LAUNCH BLOCKCHAIN SPECIALIZATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST Coursera are partnering with INSEAD, one of the world’s top business schools, to launch ‘Blockchain Revolution for the Enterprise,’ a new Specialization taught by Don Tapscott, adjunct professor at INSEAD and co-founder of the Blockchain Research Institute (BRI). With content derived from the BRI’s multi-million-dollar research program, the four-course Special-

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ization, available in the Middle East and around the globe, is designed to introduce business professionals to the world of blockchain, focusing on how to strategically leverage the technology to create scalable business opportunities. Tapscott is one of the world’s leading authorities on blockchain and the role technology plays in business and society. “Blockchain is reshaping the business world and creating new

opportunities across a variety of industries. It is helping revolutionize business processes, drive efficiencies, and even lower costs, so it’s critical that both technical developers and business professionals understand blockchain and its applications,” said Dil Sidhu, Chief Content Officer at Coursera. “We’re thrilled to collaborate with a top institution like INSEAD and leading blockchain authority Don

Tapscott to help professionals make informed, strategic decisions about how to use blockchain to transform their business.” “With blockchain spending in the Middle East and Africa poised to reach $307 million in 2021, acquiring blockchain skills will be key to helping the UAE emerge as a knowledge-powered economy,” said Leah Belsky, Vice President of Enterprise at Coursera.

should be a fundamental right for every organisation!

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CHANNEL STREET

88% of UAE Firms to Increase Cloud Spend in 2019

Over three quarters (88 percent) of UAE IT decision-makers will increase cloud spend in 2019, says a new YouGov survey that was launched with industry experts arguing that the UAE government is driving cloud adoption. According to the YouGov survey of 502 UAE-based IT decision-makers, 88 percent will increase cloud spend in 2019, and 59 percent

of all respondents will increase cloud spend by at least 30 percent. Overall, 83 percent of IT decision-makers said their organizations will run partially or fully on the cloud this year. As the UAE government advances UAE Vision 2021, Dubai Smart City and, and Abu Dhabi Vision 2030, government agencies need real-time operations to transform citizen services and experiences. By moving from the private cloud to the public cloud, the UAE government can offload IT infrastructure to technology vendors, optimize operations and costs, and scale up easily, argues global technology company SAP. “Cloud digital transformation is reaching its UAE tipping point, especially for the government and public sector, with more than fourth-fifths of UAE IT decision-makers both increasing cloud spend and running on the cloud in 2019,” said Gergi Abboud, Senior Vice President and General Manager, SAP Middle East South. About two-thirds (64 percent) of UAE IT decision-makers said they would be comfortable running their operations on public clouds. By offloading costs to the cloud, nearly 90 percent of UAE IT decision-makers project cloud cost savings, with 59 percent of all respondents expecting at least 30 percent cost savings. SAP is the first multi-national business applications company to go live and onboard customers with localized business solutions on a UAE public cloud data center, the centerpiece of its 5-year USD 200 million UAE investment plan.

BT STRENGTHENS RELATIONSHIP WITH NATO BT is expanding the range of services it provides to NATO to support the military alliance’s global operations. It follows the signing of a new, three-year agreement with NATO’s Communications and Information Agency (NCI) for support services valued at €5.9 million. Secure and reliable connectivity complemented by new support services lie at the heart of NATO’s digital transformation. BT connects more than 70 NATO locations internationally, including sites spread across the Alliance’s 29 member countries and beyond. Adding BT’s network support services to the agency enables NATO to roll out new solutions within the dynamic environment it operates in. Bas Burger, CEO of Global Services, BT, said: “Digital transformation is a strategic driver for multinational organisations. Like many of our global customers, NATO faces a dynamic operational landscape and looks to harness the latest digital tools and technologies to enhance its performance. With our global secure network and expertise as a trusted supplier to governments, international agencies and multinationals, BT is well placed to support NATO in an increasingly digital world.”

NEW PREDIX OFFERING FROM GE DIGITAL BRINGS MANUFACTURING DATA TO THE CLOUD GE Digital launched the Predix Manufacturing Data Cloud (MDC), the first of its kind cloud solution purpose-built to consolidate and transform manufacturing data across plants for enterprise cloud storage and analysis. Used in concert with a traditional Manufacturing Execution System (MES), Predix MDC gives manufacturers operational analysis in the cloud and greater flexibility of deployment, helping reduce the size of on-premises systems and make them run more efficiently. “Most companies are only just

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scratching the surface of realizing their data’s potential. In fact, today manufacturers are losing the value of 70 percent of collected manufacturing data,” said Matt Wells, Vice President of Product Management for GE Digital. “Predix MDC delivers the power of cloud computing to manufacturers, taking the burden of heavy compute loads out of the plant, enabling users to aggregate data from across the business and run analytics that can uncover new insights and unlock even greater efficiencies.”

Predix MDC provides next generation cloud functionality to GE Digital’s well-established manufacturing execution system offering, Plant Applications, used by organizations around the world to track and analyze production execution and workflow, as well as manage production data and quality control. Predix MDC provides manufacturers with a secure, reliable way to ingest and store data in the cloud, speeding process implementation by up to 50 percent and giving users rich views into information

captured at individual sites as well as the ability to run analytics and comparisons across various locations and data types, including manufacturing, enterprise and asset data. Additionally, MDC can significantly reduce on-premise storage and maintenance costs, freeing up computing systems to focus on core capabilities. Furthermore, moving and storing manufacturing data in the cloud provides an additional level of certainty around data retention regulation compliance and auditing purposes.

CHANNEL STREET

Gulf Insurance Group – Kuwait Selects Beyontec Suite

Beyontec has been selected by Gulf Insurance Group Kuwait (gig-Kuwait) to implement the Beyontec Suite, its core solution, across General, Group Life, Finance and ERP Modules. After a thorough due diligence across products and vendors, gig-Kuwait selected Beyontec as its technology partner to implement its core insurance platform – the Beyontec Suite. gig-Kuwait will implement Beyontec Suite, a workflow driven, highly configurable core solution designed to meet the end-to-end operations of its insurance business. Beyontec’s global insurance experience and proven delivery proposition will

help gig-Kuwait to improve the company’s operational efficiency, customer service satisfaction, and profitability. “Our vision is to be the most admired insurance company in Kuwait. We will accomplish this by investing in people, practices, process and technology, in ways that will add value to our clients,” quoted Mr. Tareq Al-Sahhaf, CEO at Gulf Insurance Group – Kuwait. “Implementing Beyontec Suite with its fully integrated modules across underwriting, claims, billing, re-insurance, accounting, and queries will enable gig-Kuwait to elevate its operations to become truly digital while enhancing overall customer experience.” he added. “Beyontec is delighted to have been chosen as gig-Kuwait‘s transformation partner, which is another great endorsement of our drive to help clients lay the foundations of a successful digital enterprise” said Mr. Vivek Sethia, Co-founder at Beyontec Solutions DMCC. “The transformation roadmap we will develop for gig-Kuwait will enable it to become a true digital enterprise, supported by best-in-class technology and customer services delivery.” he concluded.

ZOHO ONE LAUNCHED FOR STARTUPS IN KSA Zoho launched Zoho One for Startups program in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As part of this initiative, Zoho offered local startups complimentary access to Zoho One. The company also announced alliance with PayTabs, a Saudi-based company that will help businesses with payment processing. “MEA is the fastest growing region for us, and we are committed to investing in the region,” said Ali Shabdar, Business Development Director MEA, Zoho Corp. “The aim of Zoho One for Startups program is to help startups focus on building a profitable business from the ground up using industry standard and world-class tools while putting their hard-earned money into their products. The partnership with PayTabs, on the other hand, is a first-of-its-kind integration in the GCC region, where an accounting software and a payment gateway software have come together to streamline payment acceptance and accounting.” With Zoho One, a company has all the applications it needs to acquire and serve its customers (marketing, sales, and support apps); run its operations (finance, recruiting, and related HR apps); and provide all the tools for its employees to work collaboratively and get their work done (office suite, mail, personal productivity, and collaboration apps). They can even build custom apps for unique business needs and put them under the same umbrella—the single operating system for the entire business.

EMIRATES MOTOR COMPANY SIGNS WITH ERDUMAN AUTOMOTIVE

Emirates Motor Company Commercial Vehicles (EMC CV), the Authorized General Distributor of Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and a member of ALFAHIM Group, has entered into a new agreement with Erduman Automotive, a leading Turkish automotive bodywork company, for the manufacturing and conversion of people-mover vans and buses. The newly-formed partnership

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proves to be both timely and strategic as Erduman has now become widely renowned as one of the best automotive bodybuilders and Mercedes-Benz van retrofitters in Turkey. EMC-CV will now be able to offer its customers with bespoke solutions covering the conversion of people-mover vehicles. These special customizations can include provision of luxurious interiors, conversion of a regular unit to a catering vehicle or food truck, and

the like. In addition, bodywork services can also be applied to Mercedes-Benz buses used by travel and tour operators and transport companies. Adem Erduman, Chairman, Erduman Automotive, said, “We are pleased to tie-up with EMC CV and provide top quality retrofitting solutions to a thriving market like Abu Dhabi. Moreover, we will work in close cooperation with our new partners to ensure excellence in

every customer’s Mercedes-Benz vehicle customization requirements.” Bilal Al Ribi, General Manager of EMC CV, said, “We are looking forward to this newly formed alliance allowing us to help address the increasing demand from customers for tailored customizations of their vehicles. The move demonstrates our continuing commitment to provide world-class products and services to achieve the highest level of customer satisfaction.”

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INTERVIEW

IT’S SIMPLE DATA IS AT THE HEART OF ALL BUSINESS TODAY. IN AN EXCLUSIVE CONVERSATION WITH SOPHIA ANTONY, SR. PRODUCT MANAGER – DELLEMC – ISG, INGRAM MICRO UAE & GULF, TELLS US HOW DELL EMC’S PORTFOLIO ARE CLOUD READY AND ONE-CLICK SOLUTION FOR THE MODERN ENETRPRISES AND HOW EASY IT IS FOR THE CUSTOMERS TO SIMPLIFY YOUR DATA LANDSCAPE WITH DELL EMC DATA PROTECTION SOLUTIONS.

How can customers simplify their DRAAS journey with Dell EMC protection solutions? Knowing that Data is growing at a great pace and customers are looking for a much simpler ways to manage the Data protection, all Dell EMC data protection solutions are cloud enabled and in a simple click of a button customers will get an option to make Cloud as DR ,Long Term Retention and backup to cloud. In the year 2017, Dell EMC launched the ISG and CSG Incumbency Program for its Commercial segment. How has it effectively covered Aptec’s length and breadth of the Dell EMC portfolio? Ingram Micro as Distributor does major chunk of business in Commercial Sector. The ISG and CSG Incumbency program gave us a boost to grow along with our partners and also helped us to minimize the conflicts between the direct team and our partners. Today Cloud is no more an option but a business enabler. How do Dell EMC data protection solutions live up to the regional customer’s cloud readiness appetite? As mentioned before in my previous statement, Dell EMC Data protection solutions are cloud ready and always comes with an option of Cloud as DR, Long term retention in Cloud, Backup to Cloud. Dell EMC is partnered with all major cloud providers to make this as simple as a single click.

SOPHIA ANTONY

SR. PRODUCT MANAGER – DELLEMC – ISG, INGRAM

With this portfolio how easily can customers protect, archive and recover mission-critical workloads without the hassle of multiple resources? Dell EMC Data protection solutions are designed in a way where customers can manage their backup, restore, reporting all from a single management platform. Also to mention Dell EMC has different solution / products in Data protection which can be used based on the customer application requirement.

MICRO UAE & GULF

In 2019, what are your plans as a product manager to further reinforce the positioning and reach of Dell EMC- ISG? One of the focus areas is to profile our partners as per the verticals and train and enable them to position Dell EMC products. We are also planning for Solution selling across regions and vertical based. Implementation and Deployment is also in our business strategy for the year. How frequently do you conduct product training/brush-up/ and workshops and how can customers and implementation partners benefit from it? We conduct one to one enablement sessions, webinars, hands on demo, training workshops in each Country for our partners every quarter on different Dell EMC product portfolios to make sure our partners are up to date with the technologies & products. ë

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COVER STORY

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COVER STORY

TOWARDS THE AMBITIOUS BLUEPRINT

Saudi Arabia’s ‘Vision 2030’ project has now entered its fourth year. Launched in April 2016, Vision 2030 is a huge economic reform which set the kingdom on a course of rapid transformation that aims to diversify the Arabian Gulf’s largest economy away from oil. n B Y: D I V S H A B H AT < D I V S H A @ G E C M E D I A G R O U P. C O M > n P H O T O : S H U T T E R S T O C K

ll success stories start with a vision and successful visions are based on strong pillars” – said Crown Prince and Chairman of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud. True to his words and with three key strong pillars in mind, the Crown Prince announced the kingdom’s Vision 2030 in 2016, a huge economic reform which set the kingdom on a course of rapid transformation that aims to diversify the Arabian Gulf ’s largest economy away from oil. At its core, the plan calls for increasing non-oil revenue more than threefold to 600 billion Saudi riyals by 2020 and fivefold, to 1 trillion riyals, by 2030. Other targets include the localisation of oil and gas sectors from 40 per cent in 2015 to 75 per cent by 2030.

THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation is reaching its “tipping point” in 2019, with two-thirds of Saudi Arabia’s IT decision-makers planning to accelerate their cloud-based digital transformation in 2019, according to a recent YouGov survey of 306 CIOs and IT decision-makers in the Kingdom. Among the survey respondents, 83 percent agree cloud is important for integrating emerging technologies such as AI and machine learning, blockchain, and the IoT. Combining all on one platform is vital for organizations, Smart Cities, and governments to drive the biggest benefit for transforming citizen and customer experiences. For example, an oil and gas firm could use blockchain to securely track each point an oil barrel, use AI and machine learning for planning

efficient routes, and the IoT for predictive maintenance on a rig. Banks can secure transactions via blockchain, retailers can personalize shopping experiences with AI and machine learning for analysing purchase history, and governments can enable smart traffic with the Internet of Things reducing traffic congestion. “Supporting the Kingdom’s digital transformation on the cloud, SAP is the first multi-national business applications company to go live on and onboard customers on to a cloud data center in the Kingdom, as part of its wider 4-year SAR 285 million Saudi Arabia investment plan,” commented Mohammad AlZaubi, Head of Global Channel and General Business – Middle East North, SAP. The aim of the kingdom is to transform its economy to being digitally enabled and thrive on international trade and tourism. Government and

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COVER STORY

“RIVERBED HAS BEEN WORKING WITH THE MAJOR SAUDI TELECOM OPERATORS TO OPTIMIZE AND SAFEGUARD THESE INVESTMENTS BY DELIVERING MONITORING OF PERFORMANCE AS WELL AS NETWORK CONFIGURATIONS,” MENA MIGALLY, REGIONAL DIRECTOR – TERRITORY AND TELCO FOR MIDDLE EAST, TURKEY AND NORTH AFRICA (METNA) AT RIVERBED.

“KSA CONTINUES TO BE A KEY MARKET FOR GROWTH IN THE INDUSTRY WITH TREMENDOUS OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE FOR UNLOCKING VALUE IN DATA FOR BUSINESSES AND GOVERNMENT,” WAEL MUSTAFA, AREA VICE PRESIDENT - MIDDLE EAST, COMMVAULT

“FVC’S CONTINUOUS EFFORT IS TO HELP LARGE AND SMALL ORGANIZATIONS TO MAKE SMART TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENTS TO BOOST THEIR BUSINESS PRODUCTIVITY AND OVERALL WORKPLACE EFFICIENCY,” KS PARAG, MANAGING DIRECTOR, FVC

NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT & LOGISTICS PROGRAM

“WE ARE ALSO SEEING STRONG INTEREST IN OUR RECENTLYLAUNCHED SAP C/4HANA AND QUALTRICS CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE SOLUTIONS,” MOHAMMAD ALZAUBI, HEAD OF GLOBAL CHANNEL AND GENERAL BUSINESS – MIDDLE EAST NORTH, SAP

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semi government, oil and gas, transportation and many other verticals are driving IT infrastructure growth in the company to support the vision. Sectors like retail, hospitality are driving IT investments for technologies such as security, networking which are crucial for digital transformation. K.S. Parag, Managing Director for FVC says – “FVC is playing the vital role of being an enabler for digital transformation, and through our robust partner network, we are providing these organizations with solutions to power their DX initiatives and stay true to Vision 2030.” In support of achieving the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030, Commvault hosted it first ever Connections Live event in Riyadh. The event included customers and partners highlighting some of the key trends in data protection and digital transformation impacting industries in Saudi Arabia and the wider region. Wael Mustafa, Area Vice President for the Middle East at Commvault commented that KSA continues to be a key market for growth in the industry with tremendous opportunities available for unlocking value in data for businesses and government.

The kingdom plans to spend 100bn riyals in 2019 and 2020 as part of NIDLP which targets 1.6 million new jobs and aims to attract as much as 1.6tn riyals in investment by 2030. The program focuses on four key sectors: Industry, Mining, Energy and Logistics, and many enablers including the development of Policies and Regulations, Financial Enablement, Infrastructure, Industrial Lands, Special Economic Zones, Research, Development and Innovation (RDI). Automation being one of the key factors is enabling business growth and efficiency of operations. By implementing fully integrated, effective, future-proof automation solutions and keeping their facilities up-to-date with modernization and digitalization, businesses can not only speed up their processes and satisfy changing customers’ needs but also stay profitable by adding greater productivity into their supply chain. The Saudi Arabian group Almarai is a great example of a business that identifies and evolves with industry trends. Almarai is one of the largest vertically integrated dairy companies in the world managing complex flows of goods on a daily basis. To serve the growing domestic and international markets, Almarai invested in

COVER STORY

EXPERT OPINION ABDULAZIZ ALORAIJ,

FOSS DIRECTOR, MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY - KSA

Currently, Saudi Arabia is moving in the right direction specially with the new leadership which concentrates on GDP and bringing alternatives of the oil economy to have more of technology-based economy. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia has long been dependent on oil for economic growth and social development, but the world economy is changing: a fourth industrial revolution is underway. it will fuel our growth and development into the future and empower the people of Saudi to seize the opportunities of the digital age. However, a digital country cannot be delivered by government alone. It has to be done through collaboration with the private sector, young and new entrepreneurs. It is always good to export than import. It was a dream to export technology 5 years ago but today we can see the results. Some software companies introduced cloud services that made it even easier to break the frontiers and work with the international audience. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia is moving steadily towards the adoption of technology. We recently announced that we will one of the first countries in the world to have 5G network. In the payment’s platform, we have 6 payment platforms like Metapay, SEC pay, etc which were launched in the last few months. With new products and services, I am sure we will have new announcements in the next 3 or 6 months. The MCIT will lay the foundation for digital transformation and create the conditions to make it possible.

automated picking, stacking and storing solutions from Swisslog and KUKA for their palletized fresh and refrigerated foods. Not only that, the company also invested in an Augmented Reality

Customer Service to ensure that the new logistics center runs smoothly and is ready for Industry 4.0 said Alain Kaddoum, General Manager, Swisslog Middle East.

INFRASTRUCTURAL CHANGES

“OPENING THE KSA FURTHER FOR BUSINESSES WILL BOOST PRODUCTIVITY, CREATE NEW OPPORTUNITIES AND HELP DEVELOP EVEN NICHE SECTORS,” ALAIN KADDOUM, GENERAL MANAGER, SWISSLOG MIDDLE EAST.

The kingdom will seek $425bn in infrastructure investment through the Vision 2030 program. The program seeks investment in energy, mining and industrial projects. Rail projects spanning thousands of kilometres, and extensive airport refurbishments, are also a part of the over-arching drive that comes as part of Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia’s economic diversification mandate. Around 70 contracts worth more than $53.6bn (SAR200bn) are expected to be signed. In line with this infrastructural development, Saudi Arabia is looking to develop on a technological front as well. The most rapid and significant changes are currently taking place in the networking domain says Mena Migally, Regional Director – Territory and Telco for Middle East, Turkey and North Africa (METNA) at Riverbed. “The Kingdom’s service providers have been revamping their network backbones and investing heavily in 5G technologies and in spreading fibre connectivity across the entire Kingdom. This represents a huge investment given the country’s size and topography. Riverbed

has been working with the major Saudi telecom operators to optimize and safeguard these investments by delivering monitoring of performance as well as network configurations. We set configuration baselines and track the parameters in real-time. This provides a single source of truth across even the most expansive networks, ensuring everything can be audited from both a security and performance perspective. “

BTX SHOW 2019 In line with the country’s vision, GEC Media Group hosted it first ever Business and Technology Transformation Road Show 2019 in Riyadh on 23rd April. The BTX Show 2019 road show recognised the new fundamentals that are driving business, recognised the role of the CEO in driving transformation, the role of teams in rolling out transformation, and the role of technology partners in enabling that transformation. Do turn to Page 32 for details on BTX Show Riyadh.

A NEW KINGDOM OF PRINCE SAUD Innovation and use of smart technologies are what will drive the kingdom to the next level and help them achieve continual growth in the future. How the new kingdom of Prince Saud will look like is worth the wait to watch. ë

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AWS SUMMIT

AWS SUMMIT INSIGHTS A mazon Web Services (AWS) Summit in Dubai was held on April 17th, bringing technologists in the Middle East together to connect, collaborate, and learn more about the AWS Cloud and the way organizations in the Middle East are leveraging the cloud to innovate and grow. AWS had previously announced that it will launch the first Amazon Web Services (AWS) infrastructure Region in the Middle East (data centers) in 2019, located in Bahrain. This will bring flexible, affordable, reliable, and secure cloud computing technologies close to end users across the Middle East and will help organizations speed up their digital transformation initiatives and more rapidly innovate for the citizens of the region. The AWS Summit in Dubai kicked-off in the morning with a Women in Tech panel titled Scaling Purpose-Driven Businesses. The panel was organized by Womena® and AWS featuring leading female entrepreneurs in the Middle East from Ureed, Little Thinking Minds, The Tempest, Now Money and Nabta Health,

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who discussed their journeys in creating successful purposedriven businesses and how they are preparing for their next phase of growth. The summit keynote featured Dr. WernerVogels, CTO Amazon.com, who is responsible for driving the company’s customer-centric technology vision. As one of the forces behind Amazon’s approach to cloud computing, he is passionate about helping young businesses reach global scale, and transforming enterprises into fast-moving digital organizations. The keynote also featured AWS regional customers Anghami, Careem, Sarwa, and StarzPlay, who shared their experiences using the AWS Cloud to innovate and grow. During the keynote, it was announced that Arabic language support was added to Amazon Polly. The service now turns Arabic text into lifelike speech using a female voice named Zeina. Amazon Polly is a cloud service that uses advanced deep learning technologies to offer a range of 59 voices in 29 languages to convert written content into human-like speech. The service sup-

AWS SUMMIT

ports companies in developing digital products that use speech synthesis for a variety of use cases, including publishing and telephony, automated contact centers, language learning platforms, translation apps, and reading of articles. “We are making major investments in the MENA region. We are building offices and teams around the region and these teams are not just sales or account management - we are putting

heavy emphasis on technical support,” said Dr. Werner Vogels, CTO Amazon.com. “We are investing heavily in cloud skills here, because we are convinced that given all of the digital transformation that MENA companies are going through, cloud skills ill be top of the list for every possible entity. We are investing here with AWS Educate, with universities and also bringing cloud skills to entrepreneurs here. We

have also been investing significantly in the regional infrastructure. We recently launched two Edge locations here and the ability to have Direct Connect is directly here in the region to ensure that we have very fast connections throughout the region to the cloud. Of course, in the coming months we will launch the Middle East - Bahrain infrastructure Region,” added Dr. Vogels. The full day summit continued with various deep-dive breakout sessions with AWS customers covering topics around digital transformation, security, and how to build and innovate on the cloud. The day also included the AWS DeepRacer League, the world’s first global autonomous racing league, which gave developers that chance to train, and tune reinforcement learning (RL) models in the online simulator, deploy their models onto AWS DeepRacer for a chance to compete to with the AWS DeepRacer Championship Cup. AWS Summits take place in major cities around the world to help participants develop the skills to design, deploy, and operate cloud infrastructure and applications. ë

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INTERVIEW

WHY PROTENDERS IS PLATFORM OF CHOICE FOR CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES? ŁUKASZ MŁYNEK, CEO OF RAILWAYMEN TALKS ABOUT ONE OF THEIR WINNING PRODUCTS— PROTENDERS, WHICH IS AN ALL-IN-ONE CONSTRUCTION PLATFORM FOR STREAMLINING END-TO-END BIDDING PROCESS.

roTenders is the platform of choice for Construction Companies to build their online reputation, find the right partners for each job, get new leads and streamline all their Tendering activities.We built the team around ProTender’s needs, with about 10 people: CTO, Project Manager, several frontend and backend developers. ProTenders help companies from hundreds of countries connect, get more opportunities, find people to work with, and then streamline the whole bidding process.

DATA PRESENTATION To provide clear and fast data presentation we integrated tools like AgGrid, which allow us to create editable and structured data trees and customizable data aggregations. To increase speed we use Aloglia search engine with features like facets and search, providing user easy access to all needed data.

DOCUMENT VIEWER Custom built solution to browse PDF documentation. Except of basic functionalities like rotations or text searching, we created annotations system and compare mode. Comparing feature gives us the possibility to browse multiple version of documents side by side or draw two versions on one canvas with colored differences. management system comes with built-in chat, to allow users to communicate internally or between companies involved in the project.

ŁUKASZ MŁYNEK,

ISSUE MANAGEMENT

issue reporting system, which allows us to simplify collecting documentation. Combined with annotations system in document browser, we can pin-point issue on buildings blueprint or correct specific point on the estimate. Our issue management system comes with built-in chat, to allow users to communicate internally or between companies involved in the project.

COLLECTING CONSTRUCTION DATA Our challenge was to design an extremely useful mobile app, when it comes to working remotely at the construction site. It allows the user to find and collect data about buildings and their status in the very convenient way. The user can add the data and photos of specific building step by step in the clear and easy way. We also created markers which show the user helpful and valuable information about the particular building. We also provided support in terms of marketing and sales, designing graphics for both the internet and printing We have prepared a graphic design Case Study for the most important and largest companies cooperating with ProTenders, including: DAMAC, DUCON, Interlight, ADCE. We also created graphics promoting the campaign, which aimed to broaden knowledge about the benefits of the ProTenders platform. The campaign included various sectors: hotels, hospitals, and health care. ë

In additions to document review flow, we created

CEO, RAILWAYMEN

WERONIKA, PROJECT MANAGER

“WE ARE PART OF THE PROTENDERS TEAM WHICH IS SPREAD IN VARIOUS PLACES AROUND THE WORLD. MOST OF THE MEMBERS ARE WORKING REMOTELY FROM DIFFERENT LOCATIONS SUCH AS CANADA, THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES IN THE MIDDLE EAST, AND VIETNAM. THE WHOLE TECHNICAL TEAM PROVIDED BY RAILWAYMEN IS WORKING FROM KRAKOW, POLAND. OUR TEAM CONSISTS OF ALMOST 10 DEDICATED TECH SPECIALISTS - STARTING WITH CTO, TEAM LEADER, BOTH FRONTEND AND BACKEND DEVELOPERS, QA AND ENDING WITH A PROJECT MANAGER. WE COMMUNICATE DAILY WITH OUR CLIENT THANKS TO DIFFERENT CHANNELS, SUCH AS HIPCHAT AND JIRA TO HELP US MANAGE THE WHOLE PROJECT. 30

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BTX SHOW

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BTX SHOW

INAUGURAL BTX SHOW RECOGNISES TRANSFORMATION CHAMPIONS AND ENABLERS GEC Media rolled out its inaugural BTX Show 2019 road show in Riyadh highlighting transformation use cases, solutions, and star players in Saudi Arabia.

he inaugural BTX Show 2019, brought to you by Dell Technologies, was held on 23 April at the Al Faisaliah Hotel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. GEC Media Group, publishers of Business Transformation, Enterprise Channels MEA, The Titans, Cyber Sentinels, has chosen to launch its inaugural BTX Show 2019 in Riyadh, which is a testament and recognition of the exemplary lead being taken by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in transforming its economy, its citizen services, and encouraging all other enterprises to follow in similar footsteps. The sponsors of BTX Show 2019 include Dell Technologies as Title Sponsor; Sage and Al Jammaz Distribution as Platinum Sponsors; RSA and Arrow as Gold Partners; Aruba Networks

HPE and Global Technologies as Silver Partners; Toshiba as Supporting Partner; Appian as Intelligent Automation Partner; and PayTabs as Online Payment Solutions Partner; as well as Nutanix. GEC Media Groupâ€™s, Business and Technology Transformation Road Show 2019, is an exercise to bring forward the winning duo combination of CIOs and their CEOs and to bring them into the limelight. This is an event that top business and technology heads and their top management heads cannot afford to miss. For the first time in the region the role of the CEO as an enabler of transformation will be brought into the limelight. Business transformation around digital technologies can no longer be left to the heads of technology. Every business decision maker also needs to work

closely towards aligning their processes with what technology can now offer. Job roles need to be redefined to take advantage of what digital can offer. Team workers need to be redeployed where the best digital value can be generated. Business heads need to look and relook and continue to relook at what digital experiences their existing and new customers are going through. It is for this reason that GEC Media Group created BTX Show 2019 road show, to recognise these new fundamentals that are driving business. BTX Show 2019 brings to this forum three very exciting first-time awards, that recognise the role of the CEO in driving transformation, the role of teams in rolling out transformation, and the role of technology partners in enabling that transformation. ĂŤ

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BTX SHOW

This award recognises breakthrough

This award recognises the various multi-

CEOs who are preparing their organisa-

department executives involved in a

tion for next generation business models

digital or business transformation exercise.

and digital technologies. They must have

Typically, this covers executives in sales,

a passion for building a healthy employee

marketing, human resources, front office,

and work culture and must be champions

operations, administration, manufacturing,

of adopting technologies and best prac-

logistics, supply chain, information technol-

tices to enable their business. They are a

ogy, information security, amongst others.

select breed indeed and are able to work

These executives are recognised for their

effectively in generating opportunities from

ability to work across the organisation,

business transformation and can tackle the

across departments, with a forward-looking

challenges of transformation.

agile outlook.

WINNERS OF BTX CEO AWARDS

WINNERS OF BTX TEAM EXCELLENCE AWARDS #1 Al Faisaliah Hotel

#1 Loai Mousa, CEO Saudi Governance

#2 Saudi Ceramics

Center.

#3 Abana Enterprises

#2 Ahmed el Banna, CEO Saudi German Hospitals Group. #3 Paul Melotto, CEO AlRaedah Finance.

#4 AlKhorayef Group #5 Obeikan Investment Group #6 Saudi Electricity

#4 Fadi Kreiker, CEO Prime Lands Invest-

#7 Tatweer Buildings Company

ment Group.

#8 Movenpick

#5 Fahad Hassan Algahmdi, CEO Power

#9 National Factory for Can Ends

Network Company.

#10 King Fahd Military Medical Complex

#6 Abdulaziz Al Jouf, CEO PayTabs.

#11 King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for

This award recognises efforts by in-country channel partners, specialist integrators, consultants and vendors to act as enablers and trusted advisors for digital and business transformation projects in their respective countries. Specialist partners and vendors located in-country are best suited to deliver such solutions. Such solutions can be straight from the vendor box, others may be custom built and value added by specialised partners.

WINNERS OF BTX SOLUTION PROVIDER AWARDS #1 Al Jammaz Distribution #2 Dell Technologies #3 Aruba HPE #4 R&M #5 RSA #6 Sage

Health Sciences

#7 HE Fahad Hussain Al Sudairi, CEO

#12 Elite Hospital

Saudi Electricity Company.

#13 JGPC GIC

#8 Wail Bamhair, CEO Taqnia Energy. #9 Ahmad AR BinDawood, CEO Danube and BinDawood.

THERE WERE VARIOUS END USERS AND VENDOR KEY NOTES PRESENTED. THESE INCLUDED: # Breakout session: Digital transformation

Mahnashi, ICT Adviser, Ministry of Foreign

# Digital and business transformation

Affairs.

journey of Gulf Stevedoring, by Hossam El Masry, Head of Information Technology,

# The digital transformation roadmap by

Gulf Stevedoring.

Fuad Mehdawi from Dell Technologies. # Smart applications and edge of network-

in business management applications by Mansoor Sarwar, Director Technical

# Security and networking transformation

ing, by Makki Al-Kurdi, Networking Account

Services and Pre-sales, SAGE.

by Abdullah ALSaadoun Regional Man-

Manager, Aruba HPE.

ager, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, RSA. The inaugural BTX Show 2019 came to

# Breakout session: Intelligent Automation by Mohammad Abusinnah, Account

# Business applications and the new

an end with Ronak Samantaray, CEO

Executive Middle East, Appian.

digital user experience by Mansoor Sarwar,

GEC Media Group, expressing his vote of

Director Technical Services and Pre-sales,

thanks to all the government dignitaries,

SAGE.

top executives, participants and sponsors

# Transformation landscape of Saudi Arabia and Vision 2030, by Mohamed

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for helping to make the event a success.

BTX SHOW

GALLERY OF BTX SHOW 2019 SESSIONS AND AWARDS BREAKOUT SESSION

Digital transformation in business management applications by Mansoor Sarwar, Director Technical Services and Pre-sales, SAGE.

Intelligent Automation by Mohammad Abusinnah, Account Executive Middle East, Appian.

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BTX SHOW

END USER KEYNOTE

Transformation landscape of Saudi Arabia and

Digital and business transformation journey of

Vision 2030, by Mohamed Mahnashi, ICT Adviser,

Gulf Stevedoring, by Hossam El Masry, Head of

Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Information Technology, Gulf Stevedoring.

VENDOR SOLUTIONS

The digital transformation roadmap by Fuad Mehdawi

Security and networking transformation by Abdullah ALSaadoun

from Dell Technologies.

Regional Manager, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, RSA.

Smart applications and edge of networking, by Makki Al-Kurdi,

Business applications and the new digital user experience by

Networking Account Manager, Aruba HPE.

Mansoor Sarwar, Director Technical Services and Pre-sales, SAGE.

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BTX SHOW

BTX SHOW 2019

Close to 200, government dignitaries, top executives, industry professionals, end users, attended the inaugural BTX Show 2019 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

WINNERS

Winnners of the BTX Show 2019 CEO Awards, Team Excellence Awards, Solution Provider Awards.

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MY OPINION

BEN MCDONALD, PARTNER MARKETING MANAGER, DELL TECHNOLOGIES META

MAKING AN IMPACT

Having more than 25 years of experience, Ben McDonald is currently the Partner Marketing Manager for Dell Technologies META. With different forms of careers and responsibilities in the company, his vision of becoming the best partner marketing team is just growing stronger day by day.

n W O R D S : D I V S H A B H AT < D I V S H A @ G E C M E D I A G R O U P. C O M >

ooking for growth opportunities in one’s career span is a regular practice but being with the company throughout its journey is significantly inspiring. Ben McDonald joined Dell Technologies in 1992 as an intern in the UK when he was just 16 years old.

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More than two decades later, he is now the Partner Marketing Manager for the META region. “I have been a part of the Dell Technologies for a long time in different forms of career and at present my responsibilities are a little broader than what it used to be before,” said Ben.

MY OPINION

MY TOP PRIORITIES To be the best partner marketing team

Talking about the company’s evolvement, he says – “Since the inception of Dell Technologies until today, there has been a tremendous change. For a company which was well known for PCs, desktops, laptops, we are proud of our heritage. We have developed the company over the last few years, specially after the coming together of Dell and EMC. And today we are a family of 7 companies underneath the Dell Technologies umbrella. We have transformed ourselves to central infrastructure company and we proudly say that we create technology that drives human progress. Though Ben has been a part of Dell Technologies for more than two decades, he has relocated to Dubai for the first time to look into the META region. Ben sees UAE at the forefront of everything from embracing things like e-government, technology and benefits of technology. He says that the best of this country is that there is an app for everything. “This region is taking the lead and is at the forefront of pushing and promoting technology and also transforming. Technology allows us to work more efficiently, allow us to look more professional in our business and it really allows us to attract customers,” he said.

PLAYING A VITAL ROLE Being the partner marketing manager, Ben works with his partner marketing team across the region who in turn work with their key distributors and

To deliver a high impactful marketing campaign with our reseller community

resellers. “We have a team of partner marketing managers in different countries and the major responsibility is to work with our distributors and resellers in building marketing plans. We push out the key messages from Dell Technologies to create high impactful marketing campaign. We are always ready to drive demand for our technologies whether through distributors or resellers to distributors or from a reseller to an end user. Our demand is ready to create a pull and a push for our products and technologies.”

THE IMPACT OF ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN VS EXPO 2020 Though globally we have witnessed an economic slowdown which has affected each country differently, Ben believes that in this particular region they are forecasting a healthy growth in their industry. “From a Dell company point of view, we are growing well. I firmly believe that the META region will see a higher growth next year but we might still face some challenges in terms of economies,” said Ben. “Digital Transformation is the talk of the town. Organizations have to transform their business so they are not left behind. Airlines, high street stores are disappearing into the history books because they haven’t transformed their businesses. If companies don’t transform, they are sure to wither off,” he added.

Making sure that resellers are aligned with our vision as we are pushing our new Dell Technologies brand

With Expo 2020 coming next year, Dell Technologies is at the forefront of driving the digital transformation. “We are making sure that we have the right conversations with the right customers and help them to look much ahead than the day to day operations . We are enabling them to transform and ensuring that they are more effecient and in a better position to serve their customers today and in the future. We are also working very closely with our resellers and see them much more than just a partner for our products and technologies. We want them to grow with us. They are an extended family of Dell Technologies.”

THE ‘FOUR TRANSFORMATIONS’ STRATEGY For the last few years, Dell Technologies has been reinforcing their 4 pillars of transformation – Digital Transformation, IT Transformation, Workforce Transformation and Security Transformation. “We believe that these are the four areas customers need to focus on when they are transforming their businesses. And if our customers focus on them, they are going to solidify their future businesses as well.” One of the key transformations the company is focusing on is security. With many examples of security breaches, organizations are concerned about their data. Dell Technologies is pushing this message strongly. “You need to secure your data wherever it is. The four transformation pillars are important and security will always stay a step ahead,” concludes Ben. ë

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VERTICAL ANALYSIS

DIGITAL FIRST, DIGITAL ONLY BANKING AND FINANCE’S NEW PARADIGM

Regional banking and financial institutions are putting high emphasis on embracing digital and cultural transformation. Starting with document digitization and all the way to chatbots, the regional BFSI sector is all set to tackle the predominant challenges in digital wealth management. n B Y: A N U S H R E E D I X I T < A N U S H R E E @ G E C M E D I A G R O U P. C O M > n P H O T O : S H U T T E R S T O C K

s the GCC walks firm on the road towards going paperless, the regional banking and financial institutions are walking firm on going fully digital, eliminating the long ordeals of queueing up for services. 2018 saw numerous strides on the innovative front of automating customer services whilst enabling digitalfirst and digital-only banking platforms. Cutting down on branches and increasing the digital offerings has been one of the top priorities of the banks in the MENA region in 2018. While the banks are coming up with various new solutions to automate and digitize the existing offerings, some new solution providers are coming to the mainstream who are providing a parallel experience to traditional banking services. One of the prime examples that we can site here would be a new player on the block – Xpence, who are positioning themselves as an alternative banking solution for entrepreneurs

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and the region’s digital only business. The providers are offering a one-stop-shop solution for business owners with smart tools and comprehensive dashboards for accounts, reports etc.

PERSONALIZED, PRIORITIZED e-initiatives that have been replacing commodity banking with personalized banking has been the soul of digitization. Banks and its services are not the same for everyone. The level of personalization and priority vary generation to generation. Hence arises the needs for tailoring the solutions as per the generation and expectation of the customer. According to an Epsilon study, only 94% of banking firms are unable to deliver on personalization promise. The study also found that 80% of consumers are more likely to do business with a company that offers personalized experiences. According to Savio Tovar Dias, Senior Direc-

tor – Sales Engineering, Avaya International, the need for personalization is driving the evolution of banking- after all, the sector serves a wide generational spectrum and not every millennial, Gen Xer or Baby Boomer bank the same. “The innovations that BSFI organizations introduce must therefore focus on delivering a truly hyper-personal experience and there are several technology tenants that such a vision can be built upon that include, biometrics, analytics, omni channel, artificial intelligence, blockchain, automation etc.” According to banking experts, personalization would be one of the key differentiator that would determine the competitiveness of banks in the future.

WORRY LESS, IT’S CASHLESS According to a global study, by 2019, global mobile payment revenue is expected to surpass

VERTICAL ANALYSIS

“AS CONSUMERS’ PAYMENT PREFERENCES EVOLVE, WE ARE DELIGHTED TO SUPPORT OUR NETWORK OF MERCHANT PARTNERS TO KEEP PACE WITH NEW TECHNOLOGIES, OFFERING THEM A COMPETITIVE EDGE.” SAMER SOLIMAN, MANAGING DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST AT NETWORK INTERNATIONAL

“ESTABLISHED BANKS WILL IMPROVE AUTOMATION IN THEIR CORE INFRASTRUCTURES WHILST INVENTING NEW CUSTOMER JOURNEYS DIRECTLY IN THE CLOUD WITH A TWO-SPEED INNOVATION APPROACH”

“CONDO PROTEGO IS WORKING CLOSELY ON THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF 9 OUT OF THE UAE’S 10 LARGEST BANKS.” SAVITHA BHASKAR, COO, CONDO PROTEGO

WISSAM KHOURY, MANAGING DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA, FINASTRA

$1tr. The growing customer demand for seamless payment and going cashless are further propelling banks and financial institutions to eradicate traditional cards and payment method. It is also very interesting to see how the legacy card merchants are also finding a way out to retain their market positioning by innovating payment services. “As the UAE’s largest merchant acquirer, we are delighted to enable JCB Contactless acceptance and offer JCB cardholders from across the world a seamless and convenient payment method,” said Samer Soliman, Managing Director, Middle East at Network International. “As consumers’ payment preferences evolve, we are delighted to support our network of merchant partners to keep pace with new technologies, offering them a competitive edge.” Following the partnership, JCB Contactless will be enabled across Network International’s extensive network of physical and online UAE-based merchants including Abu Dhabi and Dubai Duty Free shops, Dubai taxis and metro stations.

ANALYTICS AND AUTOMATION Banks in the Middle East are modernizing their technology infrastructure by using data analytics

as the backbone. Real time data analytics is helping banks to revisit the customer experience and better understand their needs. The amount of data generated each second will grow 700% by 2020, according to GDC prognosis. The analytics help the bank understand the various aspects of the customer behavior and purchasing patterns or understand if the customer’s salary is growing steadily and if the spending remains adequate. This acts as one of the major touchstones for risk assessment, loan screening, mortgage evaluation and cross-selling of multiple financial products like insurance. According to Avaya, the goal is for BFSIs to inherently understand each customer. This is a challenge considering the countless factors that influence preferences and behaviors. Analytics is vital for intuitively understanding these nuances as they inevitably change to deliver deeper levels of personalization. “The data we’re now able to pull out of the contact center can be used to improve the customer journey, bringing new features and offers to the customers who’ll be most receptive to them,” says Savio. According to Wissam Khoury, Managing Director, Middle East and Africa, Finastra,“Established players, as well as new challengers, will accelerate cloud adoption, which

provides impressive benefits of cost, scale and speed. Established banks will improve automation in their core infrastructures whilst inventing new customer journeys directly in the cloud with a two-speed innovation approach. New digital challenger banks, meanwhile, can become operational within months, capturing market share quickly – all enabled through cloud.”

ASK THE EXPERTS While the banks and finance institutes are stepping up the game with increased digitization and automation, the BFSI institutions are also making sure that they are not lagging behind in keeping the users up to date. The Emirates Institute for Banking and Financial Studies (EIBFS), a regional leader in banking and finance education and training, has launched a state-of-the-art online research portal that will enable region’s bankers, finance professionals as well as students, faculty and researchers to access the latest industry and economic reports and whitepapers, scholarly articles and surveys and support them in their training and education via the web. The EIBFS 2019 Annual Training Plan involves the launch of four mobile learning apps, one of which will be EIBFS Research. This app, containing all features

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VERTICAL ANALYSIS

“PROVIDERS MUST EFFORTLESSLY INTEGRATE AN ENTIRE NEW SET OF DIGITAL CHANNELS WITH TRIEDAND-TESTED ONES TO CREATE A POWERFUL OMNICHANNEL CAPABILITY THAT GATHERS, COLLECTS AND PROVIDES DATA WHERE AND WHEN THAT DATA IS NEEDED.” SAVIO TOVAR DIAS, SENIOR DIRECTOR – SALES ENGINEERING, AVAYA INTERNATIONAL

“A GREAT DEAL OF EMPHASIS IS BEING PLACED ON TREASURY MANAGEMENT, BLOCKCHAIN AND BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE. ENTERPRISES NEED TO REASSESS THE ORGANIZATION PROCESSES AND STRUCTURE TO ENSURE THAT THEY ARE LEADING.” SUNIL PAUL, CO-FOUNDER AND COO OF FINESSE

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of the research portal, will be available on the App Store and in the Android App Bundle on Google Play, catering to smartphone-savvy learners and supporting a seamless, scalable and interactive learning process. The first-of-its-kind in the Middle East to have the unique feature of ‘Ask an Expert’ as part of the portal and app offering, this innovative research platform will allow thousands of industry professionals across the region and beyond to clarify their query or doubt. Queries can be on any area of banking: from risk and compliance and banking technology and law to banking strategy, finance, accounting and control and products and operations management.

LET’S CHAT Artificial Intelligence is being used by several banks to leverage the customer experience. The launch of chatbots solution is further improving the communication between the bank and the customer, but sans the customer representative. AI based recommendations and advice are further helping customers go for the right suite of solutions. The cloud-based system of chatbots are also helping eradicating the need for expensive storage. Emirates NBD customers can now chat bank via WhatsApp as the bank introduces

customised services via the WhatsApp Business Solution, a first in the region. “With digital assistants and chatbots helping automate frontend banking processes banks are gaining insight into customer behavior. Decisions will be driven by smart AI in the bank, front to back, across all channels. Those banks that drive intelligent insights will dominate as the race to customercentricity continues. Expect to see more chatbots, recommendation engines and predictive services and, with Open Banking, even more such services being supplied by non-traditional firms,” says Wissam. Sunil Paul, Co-founder and COO of Finesse says that AI-based chatbots entering the banking scene and Blockchain are ensuring a secure transaction management. “BSFI is opting for digital enhancements at every level. Another innovation impacting the BFSI are secure application programming interfaces (APIs). With this, consumers tend to have more security and control over their interactions with the service providers.” BFSI now has many facets to reach customers and provide services through modern day solutions. Technology has led to BFSI enterprises the leverage tomorrow’s technology and opt for mobility, Blockchain, and much more. ë

GUEST ARTICLE

THE ROLE OF DATA AND ANALYTICS IN DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

It’s no secret that data and analytics for key competencies for every organization’s digital transformation efforts. Data science has become one of the rapidly progressing fields, thanks to the crucial role it plays in understanding big data.

Although data has become a real game-changer, harnessing it is not always straightforward and many global corporations are struggling to leverage their data assets. With data forming the bedrock upon which Dubai’s Smart City initiatives are built, these strategies generate an overabundance of data and even more questions, requiring more analytics than we can possibly imagine. They also require continuous analytic breakthroughs in order to achieve a true digital transformation. This pressure to exploit data in new ways and the increased emphasis on digital transformation is also causing a tremendous amount of strain on organizations analytics teams. Although many are investing heavily in data technologies to transform their organizations, quick access to information and insights can be impossible and many are still failing at putting this data in the hands of business people. A key tactic for improving data access and providing insights involves bringing the two elements of data and data science together. But for many organizations unifying theses in order to drive digital transformation continues to be a challenge. Every vertical and department has a need for ingesting disparate content and performing complex analytic processes against it to drive value from the massive accumulation of “dark data” stored by organizations. With 48 percent of the total data stored by organizations in the UAE, classed as “dark data” by the 2018 UAE Databerg Report, unlocking the value of such data through data analytics could be key to guiding leaders make more informed decisions regarding their

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digital innovation offering. One of the principal ways in which organizations can unify data and data science is by changing the status quo and developing an analytics culture across the business. Analytic teams serve as the backbone to digital transformations, but more often than not, we find that analytic teams are starting from an insufficient position, attempting to innovate with legacy holdovers of analytics processes, technology and team alignments. Holding on to these relics are the biggest barriers to analytic alignment and innovation. Leaders focused on digital transformation should focus on both cultural and technology strategies that help to create an analytics competency that fuels digital innovation. This is no small task. With data skills in short supply and demand for data-related roles set to continue to rise within the next four to five years, this is either exciting or intimidating depending on what side of the analytic effectiveness spectrum you’re sitting when it comes to digital transformation. Linking up data insight to people with vital business knowledge is paramount to organizations wanting to make the most of data analytics. Not only will it enable the organization to understand data analytics at every level, it will also create an army of “citizen data scientists”. Uniting departments that otherwise would have been siloed, while generating more insightful and valuable analyses. Empowering these burgeoning citizen data scientists is a unique opportunity for organizations to compete in today’s digital economy. These individuals are eager to learn and develop new skills to improve their personal

n D E A N S T O E C K E R , C E O , A LT E R Y X

development and contribute to the business, but they can only be harnessed with the right enablement, support and self-service tools. What’s more, according to a survey conducted by Forbes Insights, in collaboration with EY, organizations which have an analytics strategy which is central to their overall business strategy are approximately five times more likely to achieve revenue growth and operating margin greater than 15%, as compared to organizations lacking an analytics vision. With the hyper-focus on digital transformation, it’s important to keep in perspective. It isn’t always about new things, it’s about new value. Harnessing the networking effect of data, people and technologies paves the way to creating a sustainable cycle of analytic innovation that drives digital transformation. ë

FUTURE BLOCKCHAIN SUMMIT

FUTURE BLOCKCHAIN SUMMIT 2019

ubai’s Future Blockchain Summit, hosted by the Smart Dubai Office in partnership with the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), opened it doors to the public on April 2nd 2019, launching the second annual edition of the region’s most influential event dedicated to the growing online ledger. The focus of the Summit was on real-world implementation – delivered through high end content tracks dedicated to sectors identified as ripe for disruption by blockchain. Sectors include – real-estate, retail, healthcare, transport and supply chain, government, education, tourism, energy, creative economies, finance and marketing.

THE LAUNCH OF SECOND ANNUAL EDITION H.E. Dr. Aisha Bint Butti Bin Bishr, Director General of Smart Dubai, launched the Summit by praising the city’s continued commitment to new technologies, before revealing plans for the 2019 launch of new guidelines in relation to blockchain advancement. Her Excellency said: “Dubai has always been a

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trendsetter when it comes to embracing advanced technologies – and blockchain is no exception. “Empowered and inspired by the forwardthinking vision of our leaders, Smart Dubai has been progressing with the implementation of the ambitious Dubai Blockchain Strategy, launched by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council in 2016. “Today, we are currently implementing several city-wide government and private sector blockchain use-cases, and later this year will be launching the official policies for blockchain development and implementation in Dubai.” Keynote-led discussions across Future Blockchain Summit’s Prism Stage on day one also comprised speakers from international entities and industry-leading companies including the US Department of State, the United Nations, the Dutch Government, du, Coca Cola and SAP. Phil Chen is consumer technology firm HTC’s Decentralised Chief Officer, and spoke about blockchain being “bigger than the smartphone”. He said: “The internet today is very centralised – it keeps track of everyone, with more predictive

power and surveillance capabilities than ever before rested in the hands of handful of companies. What we need today is a ‘decentralised web’ and that is possible through blockchain, which allows people to own their digital identities. In today’s digital-age, anybody can have access to your email and use it to transfer, for instance, money. In order for such things to not happen, you will need to own your own digital identities.”

INNOVATE, INNOVATE, INNOVATE Nations must not allow regulation to stifle innovation if they want to drive the adoption and advancement of blockchain. That was the view of a keynote power-panel of leading international experts in the opening seminar on Day Two of the 2019 Future Blockchain Summit, held at Dubai World Trade Centre. The fascinating discussion “Hardtalk on blockchain policy” gathered Emma McClarkin of the European Parliament; serial entrepreneur and Senior Technology Advisor to the Maltese Government, Dr Abdalla Kablan; Nicholas Giurietto, CEO and MD at the Australian Digital Commerce Association; Chris Kiew-Smith, the Abu Dhabi Global Market’s

FUTURE BLOCKCHAIN SUMMIT

Head of Fintech Strategy; and Jihad Tayara, VP of ICT Business Development at telecommunications giant du. Sharing their combined international and governmental expertise, the five-some dissected the topic of blockchain regulation and legislation, probing current examples from around the world and examining how and where similar regulatory proposals should be implemented. While they agreed that regulation has to be considered, the panel were resolute in affirming that any such legislature must not come at the expense of pushing the technology forward. McClarkin said: “We can’t keep up as policy-makers with the pace of the revolution happening with technology. If you over regulate too soon, then there’s no flexibility left for these new innovations to come. However, we have to be mindful in monitoring where it’s going so we can understand where it can find a solution that can help us – but we must choose the right moment to do that. “We don’t want to restrict blockchain at this stage because the potential is huge. We are only a few years into this digital revolution and as policy-makers we need to be educated and monitoring it, but allowing for that innovation.” Abdalla echoed that view, saying: “Innovation is the most important thing. Blockchain is disrupting and redefining a lot of the concepts that we are used to, from value to the concept of identities. We need to allow this innovative process to grow and prosper, but at the same time be responsible, and make sure that any potential misuse of this technology will definitely be impeded or stopped.” Tayara was part of the team behind du’s City of the Future, an incredible gamified blockchain experience launched at Future Blockchain Summit on Tuesday, and the first of its kind anywhere in the world. He concluded the panel, saying: “Innovate, innovate, innovate – don’t wait for a framework, keep pushing the boundaries and don’t be afraid of failing. That’s the direction we’re going and we can’t slow down.” ë

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GUEST ARTICLE

LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE

Can present and past experiences provide a window into the future? It is an open debate on the individual front but not so much for businesses as predictive analytics holds the alluring promise of visibility and predictability into what will happen in the future.

If we consider the exponential growth in devices connected to the Internet of Things (IoT), with estimates ranging from 20 million by 2020, according to Gartner and 25 million by 2025, according to GSMA Intelligence, predicting the future could only get better. In fact, greater availability of data, storage and computing power has helped bring predictive analytics into the mainstream from its high-perch a decade or so ago. Machine learning, data mining, artificial intelligence and predictive modelling constitute the core elements of predictive analytics solutions. An example of predictive analytics at work in our daily lives is perhaps weather forecasting, where current and past data are used to predict the weather for the days ahead. But for businesses, its advantage lies in identifying trends, understanding customers, improving business performance and driving strategic decision making. It wouldnâ€™t be incorrect to state that predictive analytics could be used to produce deeper insights to drive specific business outcomes. Predictive analytics is being employed across varied industry verticals, businesses and functions. In manufacturing, for example, firms are using predictive analytics to achieve better inventory control by track stock levels using IoT and automating the replenishment process. In fact, in asset-heavy industries like oil and gas or power generation, the power of predictive analytics is being harnessed to service components and equipment based on their actual performance instead of time-based schedule. In healthcare, there are opportunities to use predictive analytics to improve patient care to better hospital management. The telecom industry was one of the first verticals to use predictive analytics for applications ranging from predicting consumer churn to managing network assets. In the insurance industry, predictive analytics is being used not only to control risks in underwriting but also detect insurance fraud claims.

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n S U N I L PA U L , C O - F O U N D E R & C O O , F I N E S S E

To get started on predictive analytics, the fundamental requirement is data availability. In fact, the maxim is more data you have, the better. And more accurate the data, more accurate are the predictive models and their predictions. This data can be from both sources that are internal and external to the company. There is also the question of whether to hire data scientists to build predictive models in-house or use external providers, which is a decision best left to the companyâ€™s leadership. However, do remember that it is easy to

become enamoured with predictive analytics, so much so that making predictions purely for the sake of predicting the future could become a habit with zero benefits. As predictive analytics solutions get more and more accurate, and competitors scramble to get on board, the challenge would be to act on those predictions, and act quickly enough. Remember, predicting the future is useful only when that data and information can be transferred into action before your competitors beat you to it. ĂŤ

INTERVIEW

SEAMLESS PAYROLL MANAGEMENT INDEX INFOTECH IS ALL SET TO IMPLEMENT iNDEXPAY (PAYROLL MANAGEMENT SOLUTION) FOR AMSTEEL, A SAUDI ARABIAN COMPANY PROVIDING PORTS, LOGISTICS AND TRANSPORTATION SERVICES.

specialists in our consulting team, such as charted accountants, bankers, engineers, and HR Professionals. These experts understand contemporary guidelines and business processes and use that skillset and knowledge to help outline the business transformation strategy for our customers.

NAVEED NAIK,

CONSULTANT BUSINESS PROCESS

MURTAZA EZZI, CEO, INDEX INFOTECH

CONTROL & IMPROVEMENT,AMSTEEL

NAVEED NAIK, CONSULTANT – BUSINESS PROCESS CONTROL & IMPROVEMENT, AT AMSTEEL

Enterprise Channels MEA interacts with Murtaza Ezzi, CEO of Index InfoTech. Index InfoTech is a leading digital transformation consultancy company. Epicor, UiPath, SAI Global, Farvision, Newgen, Zebra Technologies etc are some of the key partner that the company works with. (Excerpts) Tell us about Index InfoTech in brief Index InfoTech is a leading business transformation consulting company. We serve SME and enterprise clients, driving their digital transformation strategy by encompassing business process re-engineering, digital design and architecture, deployment and maintenance of business critical solutions and services. We frequently add experienced Industry

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“WE WERE EVALUATING FLEXIBLE A PAYROLL MANAGEMENT SOLUTION COMPATIBLE WITH EPICOR ERP. IT WAS IMPORTANT TO HAVE A SOLUTION THAT FUNCTIONS WELL WITH OUR CURRENT ERP SYSTEM AND WILL GROW WITH THE BUSINESS. WE WERE WORKING WITH INDEX INFOTECH ON EPICOR ERP ENHANCEMENT AND DURING ONE OF OUR VISIT’S TO INDEX INFOTECH’S OFFICE WE SAW THE DEMONSTRATION OF INDEXPAY. WE WERE QUITE IMPRESSED WITH THE FUNCTIONALITY AND EASE OF USE FEATURES. THE SOLUTION WAS THE RIGHT FIT FOR AMSTEEL AS IT IS DEVELOPED ON EPICOR ERP PLATFORM AND DESIGNED FOR MIDDLE EAST MARKET AND HAS ALL THE LOCAL LABOR REQUIREMENTS”.

What all offerings does your solution portfolio entail? Our solutions offerings are focused on Enterprise Resource Planning, Human Capital Management, Enterprise Content Management, Integrated Risk Management, Manufacturing Execution System and BI & Analytics Solutions. Our consulting team possess excellent functional, operational, and technical knowledge of the Manufacturing, Distribution, Oil & Gas, Healthcare, Real Estate, Construction, Contracting, BFSI and Retail & Public domains and the leading products / solutions currently used by global organizations. Our consultancy implementation methodology emphasizes that our customers do not just select a system for today or tomorrow, rather, they select a partner to enable them to manage their business operations and systems for many years to come. We ensure that our customers’ operations are streamlined, and ROI is realized. You recently signed up AMSteel in Saudi Arabia. Tell us more about the win. AMSteel one of the fastest growing company in Saudi Arabia providing Port, Transportation, Warehousing & Distribution Services. AMSteel is our first marque customer in Saudi Arabia, we are really excited about this project. iNDEXPAY is developed specifically for Epicor ERP customers in Middle East that need detailed and complex functionalities. It’s an agile, cost-effective solution with capabilities to run the payroll function. Seamless integration with the ﬁnance module ensures that payroll module incorporates all payroll postings to the general ledger, without manual intervention. We look forward to support AMSteel and be a trusted business transformation partner. ë

INNOVATIONS

KEY CAPABILITIES n Deliver an automated, secure and scalable platform n Offers customers more control to manage their server infrastructure and to mitigate threats n OpenManage FlexSelect Manage and FlexSelect Secure provides improved flexibility n New enhancements to the Redfishcompliant Dell EMC RESTful API for control of even more server operations n New augmented reality on OpenManage Mobile offers customers a graphical representation of exactly where incidents occur within their environment n Can discover, monitor, configure and update supported Intel Optane DC persistent memory and Intel Optane DC SSDs with OpenManage agent-free n Enhanced Security n A single Dell EMC PowerEdge R940 server with 2nd Generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors can host 69,500 simultaneous users

DELL EMC POWEREDGE SERVERS Dell EMC made several advancements to Dell EMC PowerEdge servers, offering improved management, security, performance and scalability for customersâ€™ everyday and most demanding workloads. These advancements to PowerEdge servers and OpenManage systems management further enable a secure, scalable compute platform as the ideal foundation for cloud, analytics and software-defined data center initiatives.

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ARUBA 530 SERIES ACCESS POINTS The Aruba 530 Series with 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6), combined with Aruba intelligent software features are designed to deliver high performance connectivity in extreme density deployments of mobile and IoT devices. The 530 Series is designed to simultaneously serve multiple clients and types of traffic, boosting overall network performance by up to 4X versus 802.11ac APs. In addition to 802.11ax benefits, the 530 Series also provide Aruba differentiated capabilities that include AI-powered RF optimization, always-on connectivity and WPA3 certified security. Additionally, Green AP mode for 802.11ax APs also leverages AI/ML capabilities for energy savings of up to 70%.

KEY CAPABILITIES n AI-powered features for wireless RF and client connectivity optimization n Eliminates the need for IoT gateways and the resulting complicated network management requirements n Support of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5 and Zigbee protocols n Wi-Fi 6 offers improved battery life for battery powered IoT devices. n The protocol allows IoT devices to remain inactive until data needs to be transmitted. As a result, battery powered IoT devices realize a significant power savings, reducing the maintenance windows for IT staff. The efficiency improve-

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ments in Wi-Fi 6 amount to a faster performing and more efficient infrastructure as well as an enhanced experience for all the clients on the network. n Ideal for high density environments such as higher education, retail branches, hotels and digital workplaces

INNOVATIONS

Alaris E1000 Series Scanners Alaris E1000 Series Scanners are the latest addition to the IN2 Ecosystem, a powerful combination of best-in-class document scanners, imaging software and services ideal for small office/home office environments, reception areas and workgroups, packing all the intelligence of a larger device into a streamlined, desktop scanner. The compact, quiet scanners deliver the Right Fit with seamless integration into customer environments; the Right Experience by streamlining and optimising workflows, enabling one-touch scanning directly into business applications; and the Right Results through superior image quality, paper handling and information accuracy. KEY CAPABILITIES n Ability to power up and start scanning in less than ten seconds and fast throughput n E1025 and E1035 models scan at speeds up to 25 pages per minute (ppm)/50 images per minute (ipm) and up to 35ppm/70ipm, respectively n Easy to set up, enabling users to scan right out of the box n Are backed by a three-year warranty; can also benefit from expert repair and maintenance services n Built-in Perfect Page technology n Also supports barcode reading in the box, providing accurate read results every time n Feature an 80-sheet automatic document feeder (ADF n The Integrated Passport Accessory and Integrated Legal Flatbed Accessory offer users more flexibility to scan a variety of document types. n With the Passport Accessory, a passport scan can be completed in less than two seconds. n Using the Legal Flatbed Accessory, customers can scan up to legal size exception documents n Comes bundled with Alaris Smart Touch Software n One-touch simplicity; accelerates document retrieval and improves productivity and collaboration n Smart Touch functionality eliminates complicated multi-step scanning processes

Slimflex Cat 6A Copper As new trends such as 5G and edge computing put more strain on data centres, the race for efficiency, reliability and scalability continues. To help data centres effectively address their physical layer-related challenges, Nexans launched new cutting-edge solutions that include LANsense AIM software for network monitoring, LANmark ENSPACE high-density fibre solution and Slimflex Cat. 6A high-density copper solution. LANsense monitors, manages and optimises network capacity remotely and more efficiently. Data Centre managers can trace circuits end-to-end, flag disconnects, find available rack space and make sure redundant and load balancing circuits are connected. In a modern data centre there is limited space for passive cabling. LANmark ENSPACE solution increases the number of connections in 1U by 50%. ENSPACE panels come with three individual sliding trays per ‘U’ allowing 144 LC connections in 1U and up to 576 connections in a 4U. KEY CAPABILITIES n Slimflex Category 6A solution saves up to 50% space in data centre installations n Consists of a 48-port panel, Slimflex cords and Cat 6A connectors n Once installed the result is a neat and cleaned up high density installation n Titanex power cable is highly robust but flexible enough to cope with the restrictions of a data centre. n It withstands high operating temperatures up to 90°C n Has excellent mechanical resistance to impacts. n TITANEX is easy to work with, even in large cross sections. n Titanex cable can comprise up to 36 cores, with 1 to 630 mm² cross section

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PRESENTS

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C-LEVEL EXECS

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200

WORLD FINALISTS