Rendezvous AN EVENT BULLETIN OF ENTERPRISE CHANNELS MEA 11 OCTOBER, 2014 AT THE ADDRESS HOTEL
HIGHLIGHTS
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IN ASSOCIATION WITH
KAREN TURDIE OFFICIAL FROM BREAST CANCER ARABIA ADDRESSING GEC AWARDS AUDIENCE
ENG. MOHAMMED AL SHEHHI IT DIRECTOR – GENERAL CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY (GCAA)
“For me, it’s not about winning an award, its about a tremendous amount of encouragement I receive to keep getting better”.
Creating a Synergy of Sports and Technology
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ever underestimate the power of a conversation over coffee; be it great romances or strategically important political discussions ...coffee can bring out interesting outcomes? GEC was also one such topic that rose over the brewing coffee beans at the Accent Info Media office... the discussion started with multi-ethnicity in Dubai and ended.... well....it just doesn’t seem like ending anytime soon? It has begun and it is here to stay...the beautiful city of Dubai plays the gracious host to people from multiple ethnicities and cultures; business blooms every moment of the day in this land. Being a business hub of the region, it is the headquarters of several enterprises. All the enterprises are working day in day out to cater to the rising demands of the end users, chase rising profit graphs and make their marks; but in this race, something tends to take a back seat and that is the CONNECTion in the true sense of the word. This is where we thought an intervention is required urgently and the entire theme of GEC stemmed out of that.
DR.JASSIM HAJI DIRECTOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, GULF AIR - INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
“Gulf Air has been pioneer in implementing ‘Private Cloud Computing’ within the region and aviation industry. Part of its strategy and Cloud Computing was to develop products and services that benefit its customers, the environment and productivity.” GEC OPEN 2014 WINNERS Nearest The Pin Hole # 6: Adesh Subhash Gawde Nearest The Pin Hole # 17: Cedric Fevre Longest Drive Hole # 1: Sidney de Souza Longest drive Hole # 15: Darren King 3rd Place: Shiv Kumar (33 Points) CB 2nd Place: Graham McIntyre (34 Points) 1st Place: Alex Kuk (36 Points)
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RENDEZVOUS 2014 So many meetings, so many events, but how much do we really CONNECT to the people we meet? What’s the main reason behind this? Of course, there might be plenty of factors responsible but the major ones we figured out was – we mostly meet up for a fixed purpose or increase some figures on the balance sheets. So, we came up with the GEC Open Golf Tournament for the top level executives from IT and associated verticals; a day of undiluted fun, a day whose entire purpose is games, enjoyment and relaxed interactions. When we started, we honestly had no clear idea about the receipt of the industry to this initiative but as the days passed, the excitement started unfolding and then there just was no looking back. The air has been exciting since the registrations begun and there just seems to be no stop to it.
HOW FAR WE SUCCEEDED IN ACHIEVING WHAT WE SET TO
HOW FAR WE SUCCEEDED IN ACHIEVING WHAT WE SET TO Your happiness is decided by the goals you set for yourself and in our case we were smart enough ;)
GLOBAL PLAYERS FROM MORE THAN 15 COUNTRIES
Your happiness is decided by the goals you set for yourself and in our case we were smart enough ;)
TIME FOR THE INDUSTRY TO PAY BACK TO THE SOCIETY When we were planning a day of fun, we were concerned enough to see that the event doesn’t end up just as a blingy outing for our own good only. As an organization, we understand the importance of corporate social responsibility and taking that forward; we associated with Breast Cancer Arabia that is intimately associated with facilitating treatment for those breast cancer patients who can’t bear the expenses unfortunately.
ENTERPRISE PLAYERS FROM SEVERAL VERTICALS RANGING FROM IT TO FINANCE TO AVIATION, RETAIL, HEALTHCARE
CONNECT AN ENTIRE DAY OF FUN, GAMES AND NETWORKING
WHY CSR? Every individual, every company is concerned for their own good; and frankly, there’s nothing wrong in that. But then it is our responsibility to pay back suitable returns to the earth, to the society at large. Donations and active involvements from us can change so many lives. We think of the smile we may put on somebody’s face and that is inspiring enough for us to do something for them.
RAYN SMITH, GEC OPEN GOLF CO-ORDINATOR
Of late, several organizations have crafted CSR policies and have been actively involved in philanthropy and charity causes. But how many times have the enterprises come together as an industry in solidarity for a cause? With GEC Open, we have tried to take a small step in that direction; the path is long, but with participation from all of you, we know we can definitely create an impact.
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We have known people who have lost lives to breast cancer and we are really glad to be playing at a game dedicated to the cause.
I think the recipe of sports, networking and a noble cause clearly renders a distinctive air to the GEC Open and I am excited to be a part of it.
Apart from the fun the day undoubtedly promises, it’s a great platform for branding and networking and we are really looking forward to it.
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It’s great to be interacting with people from different verticals on a chilled out platform of golf.
It feels great to receive the first GEC award and we are happy to be associated with ECMEA.
One in eight women will develop breast cancer.
EVERY 13 MINUTES A WOMAN DIES FROM BREAST CANCER
95% SURVIVE WITH EARLY DETECTION
EARLY DETECTION SAVES LIVES CHECK OFTEN AND ENCOURAGE THOSE YOU LOVE TO DO THE SAME
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ORGANISER
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
HOSTED BY
SUPPORTING PARTNERS
15
COUNTRIES
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60 PLAYERS
INCLUDING CIOS, CTOS, VERTICAL HEADS,
TOP EXECUTIVES FROM IT, FINANCE, HEALTHCARE AVIATION, EDUCATION, ETC.
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We at HelpAG appreciate that the event supports the cause of breast cancer
It’s really a commendable event; Unify is really glad to be associated with it.
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It feels great to receive the first GEC award and we are happy to be associated with ECMEA
This being the first event of EC MEA; I think you guys pulled it off
The organization of the event is really great and we look forward to many more such events.
It doesn’t really feel that EC-MEA is just one year old; the event is commendable, the reception was great. It feels lovely to see a packed house.
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Celebrating
Anniversary
of Enterprise Channels MEA
KAREN TURDIE, OFFICIAL FROM BREAST CANCER ARABIA
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DELL GCAA
Listening to the Market
MARKETING DIRECTOR OF DELL MIDDLE EAST, BASIL AYASS RECEIVING THE AWARD OF TOP VENDOR FOR DATA CENTRE SOLUTION FROM DR. JASSIM HAJI, DIRECTOR, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, GULF AIR
Using Dell cloud solutions on demand provides the customers real-time access to infrastructure, productivity and business-process applications. Dell cloud-as-a-service solutions help organizations of all sizes deliver business results and rapid time-to-value. If you’re a new small business, this can mean setup in days as opposed to weeks or months. For midsized or enterprise organizations, cloud computing brings you closer to your colleagues, partners and customers, and simplifies delivery of everything from email to X-ray images. The Middle-East’s expectations of IT – today – find strong synergies with Dell’s mission and point of views. Dell delivers innovative end-to-end technology solutions that are easier to buy, use, and grow, and are ready for constant change. Today Dell has strongest-ever product and services portfolio and capabilities to address the full range of technology requirements – all to deliver comprehensive solutions with best value, ease of use, and flexibility. Many vendors talk about standards, openness, modularity, scalability, advanced platforms, and end-to-end solutions, but there are lot of things that happen — often behind the scenes — that make IT more complicated than it already is. Dell’s unique design philosophy truly sets them apart from all other technology providers today. ë
“As the technology industry witnesses tectonic shifts in trends, players, and the very way business is done today, Dell is singularly focused on its customers and channel partners. This is what has driven us for 30 years, and is still a key driver for our big strategic decisions – such as the pivotal decision to go private. This is also what drives our technology decisions and innovations, and we are committed to providing end-to-end IT solutions and innovations that serve our customers and solve real business problems. From the endpoint to the data-center to the cloud, customers value the certainty and predictability of working with Dell. Along with this strategy, and the Dell traditions of business and innovation, we have made significant investments in the past few years in the Middle-East. While we will continue to invest and surprise the market, these awards speak to the position and relationship we have with Customers in the Middle East today. Thank you!“
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SHAMS HASAN ENTERPRISE PRODUCT MANAGER, MIDDLE EAST
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DELL
Accelerating Service Delivery
ENG. MOHAMMED SAEED AL SHEHHI, IT DIRECTOR, GCAA GIVING THE AWARD OF TOP VENDOR STORAGE SOLUTIONS TO KAMLESH LAL, DISTRIBUTION MARKETING MANAGER, DELL, MIDDLE EAST
Increasing IT operational efficiency is critical for business success in the 21st century. Adopting virtualized and cloud-based computing models can help increase flexibility, improve agility, enhance efficiency, support a mobile workforce and reduce costs. These changes can deliver notable benefits to the business, but they can also add IT complexity and introduce risk. IT groups need ways to speed the deployment of cloud computing environments and simplify IT management for evolving data centres. Dell offers a broad portfolio of data centre solutions that can help you achieve your IT modernization objectives and meet business needs while simplifying IT management. Deliver robust services across any combination of cloud delivery models. Accelerate service delivery by supporting a full range of cloud platforms and automating key management tasks. And optimize IT by streamlining deployment, provisioning, scaling and on-going administration for your physical, virtual and cloud environments. ë
DELL
Engineering at its Best
SANJIB MOHAPATRA, PUBLISHER, ENTERPRISE CHANNELS MEA, GIVING AWAY THE AWARD OF TOP VENDOR CLOUD COMPUTING SOLUTION TO MARKETING DIRECTOR OF DELL MIDDLE EAST, BASIL AYASS
Dell delivers innovative end-to-end technology solutions that are easier to buy, use, and grow, and are ready for constant change. In today’s IT market vendors cannot manage by providing isolated technologies – storage or compute or networking.Customers seek vendors who can convince them that their business is in the right hands. A long term relationship of trust, expertise, and ROI is the need of the day. Dell believes powerful technology should be more accessible and affordable to more people. Dell Flash-Optimized Storage solutions enable IT administrators to target specific applications with optimized, high-performance, low-latency storage, resulting in more efficient VDI environments, OLTP, high-end structured databases (SAP, Oracle, SQL), and big data analytics. Combining the speed of flash SSDs with the capacity of HDDs has enabled faster access to hot data, while keeping cold data that is not critically needed on high-capacity HDDs. Dell PowerEdge VRTX has been making waves since its release; accolades have been many- InfoWorld “2014 Technology of the Year — Best Server”; InfoWorld.com Test Center “Editor’s Choice” award; PC Pro “Server of the Year” for 2013; CRN Server of the Year; “Best in Show” — Interop Japan. The PowerEdge VRTX integrates servers, storage, networking and management in a compact chassis with office-optimized dimensions, acoustics and security. Dell Fluid Cache solution for SAN is the perfect solution without compromising data. Dell Fluid Cache solutions enable data centre’s to easily and flexibly scale up cache to rapidly meet the changing demand of enterprise application I/O. ë
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Evolved as a Leader DELL SECURITY
SHAHNAWAZ SHEIKH, DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL DIRECTOR, D SOFTWARE, A LOCAL OFFICE PARTNER OF DELL SOFTWARE, RECEIVING THE AWARD OF TOP VENDOR ENTERPRISE SECURITY FROM PAUL DEVLIN, DIRECTOR OF INNOVATION & PLATFORMS (BIG DATA, HANA AND MOBILITY) FOR MENA AND FIRDAUS SHARIFF – VP OF MARKETING – MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
“It’s a great feeling to receive the award right from the first edition of GEC Awards covering Middle East region. I wish Accent Infomedia a great success in the years to come and wish them the very best towards their growth plans in the region.”
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Dell SonicWALL offers a comprehensive line up of industry-leading network security and data protection solutions, including firewall, secure remote access/ SSL VPN, anti-spam/email security, and continuous backup and recovery, plus centralized management and reporting, and 24x7 technical support. Dell SonicWALL provides intelligent network security and data protection solutions that enable customers and partners to dynamically secure, control, and scale their global networks. Using input from millions of shared touch points in the SonicWALL Global Response Intelligent Defense (GRID) Network, the SonicWALL Threat Center provides continuous communication, feedback, and analysis on the nature and changing behavior of threats. SonicWALL Research Labs continuously processes this information, proactively delivering countermeasures and dynamic updates that defeat the latest threats. Dell SonicWALL has over 5500 end user across GCC countries and on a quarterly basis, Dell SonicWALL trades with over 230 unique resellers. It covers all of the GCC with local presence in UAE, Saudi and Qatar. The company organises partner roadshow, sales training, technical training etc. for its partners. Dell SonicWALL has 25 -30 sales training sessions per year and 20-25 technical certification trainings sessions per year.There is a clear and establish multi-tiered partner programme (registered, preferred and premium). There is also the Dell Partner Advantage Programme. Dell SonicWALL is working on an average of 50 projects with resellers in addition to the hundreds of resellers managed on their own.Canadian University Dubai, Topaz, Jacky’s Electronics, First Group, Al Shaya, Saudi Airlines, Qatar Navigation, Baskin Robbins and Dubai Airport are some of the names that they are associated with. ë
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XEROX
Ahead of the Curve
ANDREW HORNE, GM, XEROX EMIRATES RECEIVING AWARD OF BEST OFFICE AUTOMATION SOLUTION FROM BASIL AYASS, MARKETING DIRECTOR, DELL MIDDLE EAST.
“I am happy to have received GEC Award from ECMEA, which shows the overall strength of XEROX in the office automation solution space.”
ARUBA NETWORKS
Xerox Emirate has MIF (machines in field) of over 12000, serving over 3500+ clients of which 185 are proactive Managed Print Services contracts. Xerox offers wide range of technology & solutions in the market. The product range consists of multi- function printers, production technology, softwares& solutions and Managed print services. In terms of growth in H1 2014 year over year, Xerox has seen a growth of 3% in the volume A3 segment of the laser market (both colour & mono). Xerox has also seen a growth of 42% in volume & 18% in value in the A3 colour MFP segment. The production colour market has seen a growth of 5% in units and 2% in revenue. The A4 colour market has seen a growth of 5% in units and 2% in revenue. The A4 colour MFP segment has seen massive growth volume increase by 46% growth & value increases by 243%. However, Xerox has seen a decline in the mono segment of the MFP and production market. Xerox also offers all necessary incentives such as rebates, channel training, bid support, global account penetration, marketing interlock funding, e-tools, sales incentives and saes operational excellence awareness. In addition, Xerox Emirates offers quarterly demand generation offer campaigns which consist of discounts on equipment, free copies or warranty and bundle offers to the end customer. Monthly & Quarterly training workshops are conducted on the ground across different market across the region. However, there are online trainings available on individual products/ solutions and a range of products and solutions. ë
Providing Secure Mobility
TEAM ARUBA NETWORKS RECEIVING THE AWARD OF TOP VENDOR MOBILITY SOLUTION FROM SANJIB MOHAPATRA, PUBLISHER, ENTERPRISE CHANNES MEA.
“It’s a great honour for Aruba to receive this award as it shows our commitment, dedication and hard work in developing mobility solutions in the region. ”
Aruba Networks brings international experience and a full suite of leading technology solutions to the Middle East region. It works with organisations across regional growth sectors including oil & gas, finance, hospitality and events, education and utilities to enable secure mobile device connectivity for employees and guest device management, as well as application performance and network reliability. In the 2014 Wired and Wireless LAN Magic Quadrant, Aruba has captured the #2 spot based on its ‘completeness of vision’ and ‘ability to execute’. Combined with the Gartner NAC Magic Quadrant, Aruba is now in select company … a vendor that enjoys “Leader” status in multiple Gartner MQs! Aruba’s FY14 third quarter was a real powerhouse from a revenue perspective with sales growing 28% year-over-year and almost every product category and geography surging. Aruba has been recently recognized by the third-party Dell’Oro Group, which quite expectedly confirmed that Aruba gained more than 2% market share in Q3 alone. In addition, nearly every analyst now acknowledges that our leadership in “11ac” and Mobile NAC is unrivalled and our go-to-market is being executed with a great degree of precision and success. ë
MANISH BHARDWAJ, MARKETING MANAGER, MIDDLE EAST & TURKEY, ARUBA NETWORKS
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SAGE
Growing Stature
REGGIE FERNANDES, REGIONAL DIRECTOR - MIDDLE EAST, SAGE RECEIVING THE AWARD OF TOP VENDOR FOR ENTERPRISE APPLICATION FROM MARKETING DIRECTOR OF DELL MIDDLE EAST, BASIL AYASS.
“We are extremely delighted to have won this award. Our modern and innovative enterprise solution Sage ERPX3 has created a strong and positive impact in this region. I would like to thank Enterprise Channel magazine for recognising our efforts.”
UNIFY
Brings Great Value TEAM UNIFY RECEIVING AWARD OF TOP VENDOR FOR UC FROM SANJIB MOHAPATRA, PUBLISHER, ENTERPRISE CHANNELS MEA.
“Winning the GEC Top Solutions Vendor award validates Unify’s strong commitment to a solutionsfocused product portfolio and channel program and reflects the equally strong customer traction and market growth realized by our partners in the region.” MARC AGHILI, SENIOR VP WORLDWIDE CHANNELS, UNIFY
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Sage is recognised as the most valuable supporter of small and medium sized companies by creating freedom for them to succeed. The company provides small and medium sized organisations with a range of easy-to-use business management software and services - from accounting and payroll, to enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management and payments. From the products’ perspective, Sage 50 is for small accounting software,for the mid-range market, the company has Sage 300 ERP and then Sage ERP X3 is for the bigger ones. The new Sage ERP X3 comes with the latest innovation conferring seven benefits namely usability, mobility, control, intelligence, responsiveness, profitability and expansion. So, as a result, organizations get more done and faster, go where business takes, control over business processes, get the insight when required; serve customers better, create cash flow and expand business. Dubai has always been a strong hold for Sage and significant revenue comes from the UAE sector. The change Sage sees this year is that KSA has also picked up for the company for the first time. With Sage ERP X3, Sage is placed quite strategically and gives tough fight to all its competitors. From the second half of this year, the company will make strong inroads with big road shows in Jordan and expect to close big deals therein. The company is also entering into strategic alliances in Saudi Arabia to drive our business in that region. ë
Unify, formerly Siemens Enterprise Communications, is a global communications software and services company. In the Middle East and Africa region, Unify has customers in a number of vertical markets including, but not limited to, local government, hospitality, finance and healthcare in excess of over 300 top customers across the region. Unify offers the market’s most comprehensive unified communications offering. This includes the broadest product portfolio, the most open architecture resulting in a broader, more unified solution. The companyhas been recognized by Gartner asMagic Quadrant Leader, Unified Communications 2013,“Excellent” in Critical Capabilities for Unified Communications and 2013 Magic Quadrant Leader, Corporate Telephony 2013, Unify has been recognized as a leader in the 2014 Forrester Wave: On-Premises Unified Communications and Collaboration Report, receiving the highest score. Unify offers several hundred training courses on our solutions, many of which are instructor-led and all are offered on-demand. In addition to Unify training courses, Unify Academy offers over 5,000 courses in topics ranging from technology and fundamentals, business learning and personal competencies. These courses are offered to the channel partners and our Unify channel employees. Unify is working on numerous major opportunities across the region with excess of approximately 60 million AED in Middle East and 80 million AED in Africa. ë
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SAP MENA
Leader of the Pack
PAUL DEVLIN, HEAD OF ANALYTICS, SAP MENA IS RECEIVING THE AWARD OF TOP VENDOR BIG DATA & ANALYTICS FROM ENG. MOHAMMED SAEED AL SHEHHI, IT DIRECTOR, GCAA
“SAP is honored to be the winning recipient of the GEC prestigious award. There is immense value that can be unleashed by connecting this information and we continue to see our customers lead with competitive advantage by the real time power of collective insight.”
In line with SAP’s “Run Simply” cloud strategy, SAP is encouraging adoption of SAP HANA, the cloud-based platform that integrates all SAP solutions into one real-time platform. SAP HANA analyzes data from multiple sources to ask and receive interactive real-time responses. Globally, SAP is the fastest growing company at scale in the cloud, gaining market share and expanding six times faster than its largest competitor. Worldwide, SAP has more than 3,600 SAP HANA customers and more than 1,200 customers for SAP Business Suite on SAP HANA. SAP has increasingly robust cloud credentials in the Middle East and North Africa region, with a 300 percent increase in MENA cloud deals from 2012 to 2013. Speaking to the strong demand in the MENA region, SAP has more than 45 customers for HANA in MENA, which represents 256 percent growth year-on-year -- and the company sees forward momentum. Leading regional customers include Spinneys Dubai, the leading UAEbased food retailer, which has combined SAP HANA with the leading visualization and analysis capabilities of SAP BusinessObjects to explore and analyse vast quantities of data from different sources more effectively, at record speeds. SAP HANA is also evolving into the leading technology platform with more than on 1,500 start-up companies building applications on SAP HANA and new strategic partnerships with HP and VMware. ë
Harnessing the Value of Information STORIT
SUREN VEDANTHAM MANAGING DIRECTOR, STORIT RECEIVING AWARD OF TOP VAD INFRASTRUCTURE FROM SANJAY MOHAPATRA, EDITOR, ECMEA.
“Extremely delighted to be chosen as the best VAD in the region! We thank the organizers for the recognition which is a testimony to the superlative commitment by team StorIT to constantly keep pushing the bar of competency in the enterprise technology space ”
Incorporated in Dubai in 2002, StorIT is a Specialist Value Distributor with an unmatched expertise in the areas of Data Storage, Data Protection, Data Management, High Performance Computing and Big Data Analytics solutions and services. With an inimitable model of Reseller Channel Development based on creative ideas and a constant desire to outwit itself, StorIT has been introducing ground breaking value services never before attempted in the Middle East and even beyond. StorIT has been the pioneer, 12 years ago, in introducing to the Reseller Channel a truly holistic value services model based on turnkey solutions right from Demand Generation, Needs Analysis, Consultancy, Solutions Design & Architecture, Proof of Concept, through Project Implementation & Technical Support, thus setting new standards in Distribution in the region. With a flair to constantly re-invent and re-invigorate, StorIT continues to be a trailblazer in the ‘VAD’ model of business.StorIT has a beautiful channel training initiative under ‘Taalim’. Taalim has been successful in organizing more than 48 training workshops covering more than 200 Reseller Partners through the year 2013. StorIT takes pride in its longstanding successful relationships with its Technology Partners who have been a part of its growth over years. ë
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SPECTRAMI
Taking a Different Approach ANAND CHOUDHA, MANAGING DIRECTOR AT SPECTRAMI RECEIVING THE AWARD OF SPECIALIST VAD OF THE YEAR FROM SHAHNAWAZ SHEIKH DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL DIRECTOR, D SOFTWARE, A LOCAL OFFICE PARTNER OF DELL SOFTWARE
“Winning ‘Specialist VAD of the Year’ is certainly special to us and we extremely happy to be recoginsed for adding true value to the business of value addition distribution.”
EMT
To be among top 5 payers
ASAL JAFARZADEH COO, EMT DISTRIBUTION RECEIVING THE AWARD OF EMERGING VAD OF THE YEAR 2014 FROM SHAHNAWAZ SHEIKH DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL DIRECTOR, D SOFTWARE, A LOCAL OFFICE PARTNER OF DELL SOFTWARE
“The ‘Emerging VAD of the Year’ award by ECMEA re-enforces our position as a leading force in value added distribution domain.” MOHAMMAD MOBASSERI CEO, EMT DISTRIBUTION
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Spectrami is formed with a vision of catering niche technologies to the current market and establish itself in forefront of such practice. The company deals in solutions ranging from Security, Infrastructure solutions to Datacenter and network practices. The company strives to give world class service to its partners and have one of the highest partner satisfaction index in the industry. It wants to be synonymous with bringing and servicing technologies which will make difference to customers in improving the way they do business. The key differentiation the company brings is a strong understanding of the market and industry and assembling a team of people able to deliver on partners business requirements. The company through industry recognized processes and best practices has created an agile ecosystem that will be rapidly able to deliver on partners and customers business requirement The company has a spacious office based out of Jumeirah Lake Towers in Dubai and has invested substantially in technology and state of art training center as enablers to deliver a compelling value to customers. The company identifies solutions and products relevant to the market which were hitherto having minimalistic or negligible visibility and be able to deliver on partner enablement for effective solution delivery. Engaging in marketing activities such as Roadshows, Tech cafes and Tech workshops using enablers like CRM for increasing brand awareness and market penetration. ë
emt Distribution is one of the emerging VADs in the region. The company owned by EMT Holding, a European holding company, is a channel company with over 15 years of experience in IT Product distribution and with offices in Adelaide, Hong Kong, Singapore, UAE, Austria, UK and the Philippines. EMT Distribution is well positioned to provide pre-and post-sales support with its team of experienced product specialists. We were focusing on few things last year, like Partner Program improvement, adding new products and increasing brand awareness, and after 1 year our internal evaluation and external review shows that we have 100% achieved our goals. This year, we intend to be among top 5 Security Value Added Distributor in the ME region. As the focus has been working with best of breed technologies and vendors, emt this year has successfully launched seven new brands in the region including AlienVault, Avira, WhatsUp Gold from IPSWITCH, GWAVA, GalaxKey, Bee-ware – DenyAll – ICS, etc. emt has a very good partner program, which the company regularly updates to make it more exiting for partners. The company will focus on emt Academy this year, which will be a great advantage for its partners to sell and support solutions but also for training and knowledge transfer. ë
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Plays with New Brands BULWARK
JOSE THOMAS, MANAGING DIRECTOR, BULWARK TECHNOLOGIES RECEIVING THE AWARD OF VISIONARY VAD 2014 FROM PAUL DEVLIN, DIRECTOR OF INNOVATION & PLATFORMS (BIG DATA, HANA AND MOBILITY) FOR MENA AND FIRDAUS SHARIFF – VP OF MARKETING – MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
“We are elated to receive this award. We want to thank the team at Enterprise Channels, our partners and customers for their support through the last 15 years. Our success depends on them.”
COMGUARD
Home to more than twenty brands, Bulwark Technologies has established an excellent track record in delivering world-class products and excellent customer service. The wide product portfolio includes everything an enterprise requires to secure their data. Bulwark Technologies started operations in 1999 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates with the aim of bringing the best in technology to the Middle East. Working with resellers and system integrators, the value-added distributor delivers the right solutions to end customers. The solutions are focused on IT Security, Reporting, Communications, Helpdesk and Analytics. As a value added distributor representing technologically advanced principal companies, we work with channel partners and system integrators to deliver the right solution to the end customers in United Arab Emirates and other GCC countries. The main area of activity of Bulwark is products and solutions related to IT Security / Reporting / Unified Communication / Web Analytics. The products and solutions offered by the company are increasingly becoming key components in the major IT projects in this region through the System Integrators. Bulwark providea the products, technical expertise, services and act as a one point contact for the IT Security needs of our partners. Bulwark Technologies provides a comprehensive set of support options that will match your needs. ë
Understanding Security Better Than Others
DR. JASSIM HAJI, DIRECTOR, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, GULF AIR, GIVING THE AWARD OF SECURITY VAD OF THE YEAR TO COMGUARD FZ LLC AND IS RECEIVED BY AJAY SINGH CHAUHAN, CEO, SPECTRUM GROUP
“I would also like to take this opportunity to extend our gratitude to each one of you who have been significant to our growth as an organization.”
A Value Added Distributor is one that delivers typically high value technologies, investing time and resources on mastering products from a marketing and technical perspective, in offering services like lead generation, proactive sales, pre-sales and post-sales support / trainings, etc.; which in turn increase the worth of the products being distributed. Having invested extensively on highly skilled and technically qualified personnel, ComGuard easily fits into the bracket of being a value added distributor, by not just offering top-notch pick, pack and ship services but also wrapping it with training and support services that provide an added edge of value to our VARs.Backed by a strong vision and sustained growth, ComGuard’s distribution portfolio covers 14 countries across the Middle East and APAC with a roster of more than 1,000 partners. As a key Security VAD in the region, ComGuard represents a diverse range of world-class security vendors with solutions ranging from security software, enterprise (SIEM), enterprise and disk encryption, public key infrastructure solutions and security business intelligence. We have recently signed up with new security vendors including Kaspersky’s new Fraud Prevention Suite, Sophos, Niksun, Nexthink, Content Keeper and GhangourCloud, bridging technologies like web and content filtering, BYOD solutions, Cyber Security, Network Analytics and mDLP, amongst others. ë
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GBM
Going Great on Infrastructure HANI NOFAL DIRECTOR OF INTELLIGENT NETWORK SOLUTIONS, GBM RECEIVING THE AWARD OF TOP PARTNER FROM TUSHAR SAHOO, COO, ACCENT INFO MEDIA
“GBM are delighted to have received such a prestigious award. As the region’s number one provider of IT solutions we leverage industry-leading technologies and service capabilities to drive real business results for customers and we are pleased to have had that recognised by the GEC”
AL ROSTAMANI COMMUNICATIONS
A Trusted Partner
CYRIL MATHEW PHILIPS, DIVISIONAL MANAGER - ICT RECEIVING AWARD FROM THE CHANNEL MARKETING MANAGER, ELHAM ALIZADEH AND GENERAL MANAGER, PRADEESH NAIR, ESET
“We as Al Rostamani Communications are proud to receive the GEC Award 2014 as the Top Partner of the Year - Networking Solutions. We are in the IT & Telecom System Integration Business for the last 15 years, and awards like these reflect our commitment to our customers” 18
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GBM has a sophisticated set of capabilities that that spans across a wide bandwidth of offerings and a top-of the line services. GBM’s strength lies in three main pillars including People, Partners and Clients. GBM is a solution provider and therefore the company’s capabilities excel to meet the needs of the market in general and our clients in specific. On a high level, their Lines of Business include Business Solutions, Technology Services, Products (Hardware and Software), Technical Support Services, Intelligent Network Solutions, Learning Services and Security. GBM has multiple specializations that facilitate its strong position in the region. One of the most obvious is being the descendants of IBM as sole distributors of selected IBM offerings Another important distinction worth noting is that GBM is a Cisco Gold partner since 1999 and the only Cisco Master Specialized Partner in Security and Unified Collaboration across the Gulf. This is besides multiple other major specializations in the areas of cloud and virtualization, technical servicers, business continuity, software services and disaster recover among others. GBM provides multiple services and products under: IBM Software & Hardware, Networking Solutions, Business Continuity and Data Centres, Technical Support Services, Learning Services, Business Consulting, Outsourced & Managed services, NOC & SOC Services. GBM has recently focused to build and excel in its Cyber Security offerings and Disaster Recovery & Cloud Services. ë
A member of Al Rostamani Group, Al Rostamani Communications LLC (ARC) is a leading IT & Telecommunication solutions provider and systems integrator, offering innovative, integrated technology solutions and professional services to customers in UAE and other GCC countries. ARC represents world leaders in technology which includes, Schneider-Electric, Alcatel-Lucent, NEC, Cisco, HP, D-Link, Digi, Fujitsu, McAfee, Symantec, Sonicwall, Nagravision, Telcordia, Aztech, Sagemcom, Mediatrix, Samsung, Spirent. ARC’s loyal and trusted customers are in various segments which include, Telecom Service Providers, Government, Oil & Gas, Utilities, Financial Sector, Education, Hospitality, Health Care, Industries, Transportation, Retail, Trading, Real Estate & Construction. With a turnover of 30 million US dollars, provides end-to-end solutions for IT &telecommunication Communications products and solutions. The company is specialised in systems integration. With 200+ customers, the company is one of the trusted partners in this region. ë
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HELP AG
Niche Player
ALEXANDRA PISETSKAYA, MARKETING MANAGER OF HELP AG IS RECEIVING THE AWARD OF TOP PARTNER FOR SECURITY SOLUTION FROM TUSHAR SAHOO, COO, ACCENT INFO MEDIA
“Over the last year Help AG evolved and further enhanced its expertise. The award we have been presented by Enterprise Channels MEA is recognition of these achievements and we are very proud of it.”
With impressive audited revenue of USD26.5 Million in 2013, Help AG is one of the niche players in the IT security domain. Help AG is focused solely on IT security and is capable of delivering solutions that address each and every aspect of this field of specialization. The company has an impressive partner portfolio which includes some of the industry’s largest security vendors. Our vendor partners are AccessData, AlgoSec, Blue Coat, Cyber-Ark, F5 Networks, Fire Eye, HP Enterprise Security, Infoblox, Juniper, Mi-Token, nCircle, Palo Alto Networks, Proof Point, Riverbed, RSA, SourceFire and Symantec. The solutions the company delivers include application hardening, content control and acceleration, data loss prevention, data security and encryption, endpoint antivirus and security, IP address management, mobile security, modern malware protection, network security, network access control, network behaviour control, next generation firewalls, remote access solutions, SCADA security, SIEM security and web application firewalls. Despite boasting a portfolio of world leaders, we do not let vendors dictate terms and always implement the products that best fit the needs of our customers. The company is capable of building upon and enhancing vendor solutions when they fail to meet customer requirements. All this is backed by their world class support services. Its support division, the Help AG Security Assistance Center, saw some remarkable growth in both manpower and skill sets in 2013. All members of the team, which grew in strength by
STEPHEN BERNER, MANAGING DIRECTOR, HELP AG
FINESSE
Master of Application Integration TEAM FINESSE RECEIVING AWARD OF TOP PARTNER FOR APPLICATION INTEGRATION, FROM GENERAL MANAGER, PRADEESH NAIR AND THE CHANNEL MARKETING MANAGER, ELHAM ALIZADEH, ESET
“We are very excited to have received the GEC Awards as the Application Integration Partner of the Year 2014. We consider this as an endorsement to our vision & strategy.”
Finesse, a ‘Red Herring Global Top 100 System Integration companyprovide Technology Solutions and services to Banking, Education, Energy, Healthcare, Hospitality and Retail segments. Finesse solution offerings are primarily focused on: Business Intelligence & Analytics Enterprise Content & Business Process Management Governance, Risk & Compliance areas Finesse believes in Unified communications and is determined to deliver business information and tangible value through: Cloud-Ready Solutions Mobile Devices Social Media Platforms Finesse brings together advanced technology, robust infrastructure, a large pool of talent and a proven global delivery model to provide a wide range of IT services to its clients cost-effectively and seamlessly. Finesse consultants possess excellent functional, operational, and technical knowledge in Banking, Education & Healthcare domain and the leading products / solutions currently used by global organizations. This experience has proven invaluable to Finesse clients as our teams identify and implements industry best practices and leverage on real life experience to implement solutions that are proven and best suited to our clients; Finesse system integration services include the supply, installation and integration of hardware, software, and onsite support services. to innovate by developing new products & services. Finesse operates globally through our offices spread across APAC, MENA & AMERICAS. ë
SUNIL PAUL, CO-FOUNDER & COO OF FINESSE. 19
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IBT
Young but Efficient
JAI MULANI, CEO, IBT REACEIVING AWARD OF MANAGED SERVICES PROVIDER FROM SANJAY MOHAPATRA, CHIEF EDITOR, ENTERPRISE CHANNES MEA
“I am happy to have received the award. I am really happy that ECMEA is growing and taking the market to a different level.”
ESET
Adapting to the Condition
PRADEESH NAIR, GENERAL MANAGER, MIDDLE EAST, ESET RECEIVING AWARD OF BEST SECURITY SOLUTION 2014
“To succeed in a region that is often cited to have a shortage of skills in the channel, building and maintaining an effective partner ecosystem is key. This award from ECMEA recognizes this commitment and we are very proud to receive it.” 20
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IBT is an end-to-end ICT solutions provider & well established Company based in Dubai, UAE, providing Consultancy and Total Turn-Key Solutions in the IT and Telecommunication Industry. IBT is one of the fast growing companies in UAE with over 120 qualified professionals. We strive to build long term relationships based on mutual trust resulting from meeting customer expectations. IBT designs, implements and supports the full lifecycle of services surrounding todays IT technology and provides ongoing co-managed solutions that allow large, mid-sized and smaller companies to maintain and safeguard their business-critical ICT operations. IBT has been providing Remote Managed Services and On Site Maintenance delivered through our NOC Center which is functioning 24x7x365. The monitoring and management of converged technologies today includes networks, systems and applications for both performance and security. These often include the monitoring of advanced technologies and applications such as IP Telephony, Video and Wireless which are being implemented by companies to support critical business functions. By providing the IBT resources in the form of engineering talent, reporting and customized escalation plans, world class toolsets, compliance and security expertise, IBT clients can leverage our services at a fraction of their cost. ë
ESET, the pioneer of proactive protection and the maker of the awardwinning ESET NOD32 technology, is a global provider of security solutions for businesses and consumers. For over 26 years, the Company continues to lead the industry in proactive threat detection. By obtaining the 80th VB100 award in June 2013, ESET NOD32 technology holds the record number of Virus Bulletin “VB100” Awards, and has never missed a single “In-the-Wild” worm or virus since the inception of testing in 1998. In addition, ESET NOD32 technology holds the longest consecutive string of the VB100 awards of any AV vendor. ESET has also received a number of accolades from AV-Comparatives, AV-TEST and other testing organizations and reviews. ESET NOD32 Antivirus, ESET Smart Security, ESET Cyber Security (solution for Mac), ESET Mobile Security and IT Security for Business are trusted by millions of global users and are among the most recommended security solutions in the world. ESET Middle East has its regional office in Dubai Internet City and manages an extensive partner network in 11 countries: United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Yemen, Lebanon, Jordan Egypt and Libya. The company has over 13,000 customers in the Middle East and does business over 10 million US dollars. ESET has been recognized as an industry leader on numerous occasion and our products have received awards from some of the most reputable independent agencies including Virus Bulletin, AV-Comparatives, etc. ë
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MINDWARE
Empowering Partners
MINDWARE HAS RECEIVED THE AWARD OF TOP VAD BUSINESS SOLUTIONS
“On behalf of Mindware we thank Enterprise MEA for the GEC award for VAD Business Solutions. We look forward to providing our partners more return to their business in the future.” MARIO GAY- GM, MINDWARE
PROLOGIX
As the leading distributor of quality IT products to the Middle East and North Africa, Mindware’s extensive portfolio includes leading global brands reaching out to over 2,500 resellers throughout the MENA region. Mindware’s commitment to customers is unrivalled. Mindware’s culture has grown out of the understanding that customers are their primary concern. Through strategic partnerships, Mindware is able to concentrate on bringing effective solutions to the market. Mindware’s focus on personal service, competitive pricing and fast delivery is paramount. With a logistics center within the Jebel Ali Free Zone, they offer value added distribution to all the channels they serve. Headquartered in Dubai Internet City, Mindware has developed sales on reach and distribution networks across the region to serve their customers face to face. Their coverage spans across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Cyprus and North Africa. Mindware’s office opening in Lebanon in 2000 was the beginning of the company’s expansion plans, which continued with the opening of Mindware’s Saudi Arabia office in 2003 and Mindware Egypt office in 2004. Mindware is the first IT distributor in the Middle East to have been awarded the prestigious ISO 9001:2000 certification for their focus on excellence and maintaining an audited quality system. This month the company has changed its logo to demonstrate its positive growth. ë
Plays to the Market Needs TEAM PROLOGIX RECEIVING THE AWARD OF BEST VAD TELECOM SOLUTIONS 2014 FROM DR. JASSIM HAJI, DIRECTOR, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, GULF AIR
“It has been another successful year for Prologix as we have grown our business by leaps and bounds together with our partners. We enjoy the reputation of being a premium VAD in the region and cherish this recognition. Our aim is to continue bettering our services and products portfolio to comprehensively cater to the needs of our customers.” ADITYA SAHAYA-DIRECTOR, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Prologix LLC is a trusted ISO 9001:2008 Certified IT System Integrator in the Middle East & Africa. Founded in 1998 by a team of keen individuals with an extraordinarily flawless vision of the future, Prologix is a master provider of a wide range of IT Business Solutions, Management Solutions and Managed Services to cater to the ever-changing IT and business needs of region. With the most complete portfolio in the industry, under a single hallmark, Prologix offers Data storage management, Infrastructure, Security, Storage, Test and Measurement, Telecom, Wireless, Software and Web Solutions among others. Prologix maintains strong emphasis on technologies and solutions which are tailored to key verticals like finance & banking, government, oil & gas, healthcare, hospitality, education, aviation and others. The company regularly identifies and introduces to the market technology solutions which help meet the specific IT needs of the region. Headquartered in Dubai along with a state of the art retail showroom and the warehouse facilities, and offices all over the UAE, Prologix is a veteran in the region in IT System Integration business. The key missions of the company are fast and efficient service delivery and high customer satisfaction. For more information on how your business can be redefined. With a revenue of 100 million US dollars, the company provides a lot of services including VAD/Pre-sales/Post-sales/Labs/Splicing machines/Infrastructure and Warehouse. The company identifies the technology gaps, pre-sales and post sales support, etc. With 200+ products and more than 40 partners, the company has presence in more than 26 countries. ë
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CANON
Giving Back to Society
SHADI G. BAKHOUR, GENERAL MANAGER CANON EMIRATES LLC. RECEIVING THE AWARD OF BEST CSR COMPANY 2014 FROM AJAY SINGH CHAUHAN, CEO, SPECTRUM GROUP
ANURAG AGRAWAL MANAGING DIRECTOR, CANON MIDDLE EAST,
“We are honored to receive the GEC 2014 Award for the Top CSR Initiative of the Year. This award is a testament to our efforts and we will continue to align ourselves with CSR campaigns that resonate with Canon’s values and leadership.” Canon is involved in several CSR initiatives in the region aimed at fostering community and humanitarian partnerships. Canon’s CSR activities fall under three categories: Business, environment and society. As part of its Kyosei mission, the company strives to reduce CO2 emissions throughout the Canon Group at all stages of production lifecycle, from materials procurement to disposal and recycling. Canon was the first company to acquire certification under Japan’s Carbon Footprint Program for multifunction office systems. Also, they were recertified to ISO 14001 Environmental Management Standard, underpinned by Canon’s clear targets set to manage the environmental impact of its products and operations across the region. Canon continues to invest heavily in sustainable best practices. In addition to being awarded the Dubai Chamber CSR Label in 2012 and 2013, the company was recognized for the ‘Best Environmental Practices in the Arab World’ award by the Arab Organization
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for Social Responsibility. Other initiatives include Canon’s participation in the Dubai Marathon where 65 employees showed their community spirit and love for sports by running alongside the world’s elite athletes. More recently, the company trained young Emiratis on photography equipment to showcase their abilities during the Have-a-Go competition of the 2014 Emirates Skills exhibition. Similarly, Canon Middle East is commitment to supporting local communities across the region, employees of the global leader in imaging solutions raised funds for the ‘Adopt a School’ initiative by Dubai Cares, a philanthropic organisation working to provide children with access to quality primary education in developing countries Also the company has renewed Gold membership with Emirates Wildlife Society in association with WWF (EWS-WWF), in line with its continued efforts be a socially responsible and environmentally con-
scious company through supporting leading NGOs. In 2013, the Government of Fujairah appointed EWS-WWF to spearhead the development of WadiWurayah National Park. This is an area of outstanding natural beauty in Fujairah’s Hajar Mountain range that requires conserving as one of the UAE’s most valuable natural environments. Finally, Canon Middle East serves as an active partner in the communities it operates in, by working with governments, scientific, academic, humanitarian, and arts and culture organisations, to integrate corporate social responsibility across all elements of the business. ë
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GCAA
Man with vision
MR. MOHAMMAD SAEED AL SHEHHI OF UAE GENERAL CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY RECEIVING AWARD OF BEST CIO 2014 FROM SANJAY MOHAPATRA, EDITOR, ECMEA
ENG. MOHAMMED AL SHEHHI IT DIRECTOR – GENERAL CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY (GCAA)
“For me, it’s not about winning an award, its about a tremendous amount of encouragement I receive to keep getting better”.
As the IT Director of the General Civil Aviation Authority, Mohammed Saeed Al Shehhi has proven to be a transformational leader committed to adding results-oriented value to the organization. His vision of standardizing, modernizing and mobilizing services within the authority has led to unprecedented success in the field of Information Technology. He is a certified Lead Assessor of EFQM quality framework and has lead assessment for various institutions for ShaikhKhalifa Excellence Program. Through the development of a sound business strategy with measureable KPIs, he has been able to contribute to the profitability of the organization which has enabled the authority to maintain a sustainable advantage in the aviation industry. With more than 18 years of experience, hehas built a reputation for leading the way in building a wellplanned strategy and to support his initiatives he has designed an advanced IT infrastructure, Enterprise Business Management System (i.e. Leadership
MANTRA OF HIS SUCCESS
Dashboards, Knowledge Management, etc.), Cloud solutions, Mobile applications and establishing an environmentally friendly “Green IT” department etc. Mohammad has led the IT department to be the first to reach Federal government targets and to become IMS certified comprising Information Security, Service Management and Business Continuity standards in the industry. Under Mohammad’s leadership, the General Civil Aviation Information Technology (IT) department was recognized by the Sheikh Khalifa Government Excellence Program as the best Federal Department and best e-Service implementation awards. Mohammad received the SKGEP award from Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Under Mohammed Al Shehhi’s leadership, the IT department has grown from a two member team to a well-structured IT enterprise. His recent achievement was the official launch of SAMAE mobile application, which is the first of its
kind in the aviation sector. SAMAE enables stakeholders & customers to access all GCAA portfolio services from any smart device (Andriod/IPhone/ Blackberry/Apple) at their convenience anytime/ anywhere. Mohammad’s technical expertise in the area of technology infrastructure implementation and management led to the modernization of GCAA IT infrastructure. When he joined GCAA, the IT department had a very basic infrastructure which was not adequate to support GCAA business operations. Mohammad took the initiative to rebuild the entire IT Infrastructure in terms of security, advancement, reliability and scalability. This ensured the efficiency in GCAA operations and improved customer satisfaction. Mohammad established a state of the art DR Site with RTO & RPO less than 4hrs, for business critical operations where live data replication ensures availability of data in the event of unforeseen events. ë
“Under the leadership of Mohammed Al Shehhi IT Director – General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) GCAA IT transformed more than 220 internal and external services into e-services thus making GCAA 100% paperless. 23
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GULF AIR
Adopting eFlight Bags
DR. JASSIM HAJI, DIRECTOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, GULF AIR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY RECEIVING AWARD FOR GREEN TECHNOLOGY 2014 FROM REGGIE FERNANDES, REGIONAL DIRECTOR - SAGE MIDDLE EAST
DR.JASSIM HAJI DIRECTOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, GULF AIR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
“Gulf Air has been pioneer in implementing ‘Private Cloud Computing’ within the region and aviation industry. Part of its strategy and Cloud Computing was to develop products and services that benefit its customers, the environment and productivity.” Gulf Air has significantly reduced the use of hardware materials such as cables, wires, printers, desktops, servers that consume power, paper and time, adopted virtualisation, wireless networking, e-ticketing, Voice-Over-Internet-Telephony (VOIP) instead of wired telephones, and promoted recyclability and/or biodegradability of defunct products and waste. Forthcoming green measures include e-form automation, Sky Meals application to reduce meal wastage through improved analysis and planning, introduction of wireless communications on the aircraft for “black box” recorders and replacing magnetic tapes with electronic recordings, online interface for information exchanges and reporting and, Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) that removes the need for paper based flight plans and manuals, to name a few. Electronic Flight Bags offer advanced information management and deliver more accurate performance
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calculations, creating significant time and cost savings while increasing safety and streamlining the management of flight information. Gulf Air will move from a paper-based flight manual to an electronic process with Electronic Flight Bags rolled out across the airline’s fleet by early August 2014. The company also has opened a state-of-the-art, energy efficient Data Centre at the airline’s headquarters. Gulf Air, as a corporate entity has been actively pursuing a ‘green policy’ in its business functions. The fully revamped Data Centre has been redesigned with energy-efficient blade technology and virtualisation that cuts the power requirement by 50% and uses 30% less airflow, making it one of the most environment-friendly IT centres in the country. The award goes to Gulf Air looking at the risk involved in the operation and challenge to change the infrastructure. ë
Under the leadership of Dr.Jassim Haji, Gulf Air, as a corporate entity has been actively pursuing a ‘green policy’ in its business functions. The fully revamped Data Centre has been redesigned with energy-efficient blade technology and virtualisation.”
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Need to go beyond the business
S A N J AY M O H A PAT R A S A N J AY @ A C C E N T I N F O M E D I A . C O M
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This is a momentous occasion for the entire IT industry of the Middle East and Africa region that Accent Info Media, the publisher of Enterprise Channels MEA has brought out its first event - GEC Events. GEC Events has two parts. One known as GEC Open is dedicated to sports (Golf) –cum-CSR initiative. And the other one is for awards, which is known as GEC Awards. Part of the GEC Open, there was a Golf tournament, where sixty players played the game with professional integrity forgetting their friendly relationships. Similarly, GEC Awards gave away twenty six awards to different companies in different categories. More than anything else the entire GEC events supported Breast Cancer Arabia. The purpose of the event was not to organize these events for the sake of creating splash in the market and earn some marketing footage but to address different issues experienced by the entire IT ecosystem on every day basis. The people in this trade are somehow or other knowing or unknowingly getting very workaholic. Their interaction stars from morning six o’ cock and continues till nine o’clock in the evening and they tend to forget about the values of sports owing to their pursuit of achieving the professional goas. So our attempt to organize the Golf tournament is in the direction of bringing back the habit of sports to the life of the executives who are living in denial that they do not need sports. Similarly, our focus is to give back to the society in some form as we are taking so much. This time we have got associated with Breast Cancer Arabia and promoted it in all the possible forums. The objective is that beyond the business there are so many things to do, which the IT industry forgets. Unlike other industries, IT industry is considered to be very serious and intense one but there are many industries which are much more serious in nature. But they still find time for society and for themselves. Finally, we wanted to judge the industry from their capability perspective and accepted nominations and awarded them. But the true intention was not to judge them for giving them certifications rather we wanted them to get along with each other in an informal and neutral environment. People came together and spent the evening with each other forgetting their business rivalry. Given the fact that it was the first year, we did it fairy successfully. Therefore I would like to thank all the partners and participants of the event for making it really successful and happening day for us. ë
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