Reseller Middle East

PUBLICATIONLICENSED BY IMPZ

ISSUE 198 // june 2013 WWW.RESELLERME.COM

Channel Masters Leaders and luminaries of the regional IT channel

vendor focus

hot products

partner watch

Security vendor WatchGuard looks to expand its wings in the region

Nokia unveils Lumia 925

Maxtouch Computers showcases a new line of display products

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CONTENTS ISSUE 198 // june 2013

Highlights 6

cover feature

News We help you catch up on all the major news and announcements in the regional channel community.

ANALYSIS 18 Tucci’s promise

CEO Joe Tucci used EMC’s Global Partner Summit (GPS), which ran as part of EMC World 2013, to promise partners the company will ‘significantly expand’ the amount of business it does in the channel.

partner watch 22 Out on display

Year of change and transformation?

With its new display centre in Bur Dubai, MaxTouch Computers is hoping to convince partners that its new line of display solutions is worth investing in.

Feature 50 Big opportunities

Big Data is being touted as a big opportunity for the channel to make mega bucks. Should you jump onto the bandwagon now, or adopt a cautionary approach?

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Vendor focus 58 Here to stay

As a relatively new entrant in the Middle Eastern market, GFI Software could be forgiven for not knowing its audience.

But at its second Middle East Partner Conference, GFI and sole distributor Comguard showed that the vendor had made a happy home out of the region.

Following a tough 2012, these players have stood out as inspirations to the regional IT channel. We celebrate the leaders and luminaries.

Hot products HTC One

Nokia Lumia 925

62 Watch this space

WatchGuard’s sales VP and newly recruited regional manager explain that a lack of brand awareness has stunted growth, but being the ‘nice guys’ who are willing to tackle areas that the major players aren’t is sure to pay dividends.

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EDITORIAL Publisher Dominic De Sousa Group COO Nadeem Hood

Editorial Group Editor Jeevan Thankappan jeevan.thankappan@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 4409109

Whither are we bound?

Contributing Editors Ben Rossi Joe Lipscombe Online Editor Tom Paye

Advertising Commercial Director Rajashree R Kumar raj.ram@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9131 Key Account Manager Merle Carrasco merle.carrasco@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9134 Sales Manager Nasir Bazaz nasir.bazaz@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9144

Circulation Database and Circulation Manager Rajeesh M rajeesh.nair@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9147 Production and Design Production Manager James P Tharian james.tharian@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9146 Designer Analou Balbero analou.balbero@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9104 Digital www.resellerme.com DIGITAL SERVICES Digital Services Manager Tristan Troy P Maagma Web Developers Erik Briones Jefferson de Joya Photographer and Social Media Co-ordinator Jay Colina

Jeevan Thankappan Group Editor Talk to us: E-mail: jeevan.thankappan@ cpimediagroup.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/ ResellerME Twitter: @ResellerME

It’s no exaggeration to say credit is the life blood of channel business. Distributors provide credit to partners who don’t have the wherewithal to roll out IT projects, and many resellers choose their disties based on their ability to extend credit and financing.

The recent economic downturn has impacted both distributors and partners with IT budgets being slashed down and banks tightening purse strings. The dilemma facing distributors today is not whether to lend but who to grant credit to and for how long. In the wake of some runaways in the market, distributors have started scrutinising the reseller’s profitability, equity in business and how quickly they are able to pay back. Many of these distributors are now forced to engage the services of credit insurance firms to fine tune their credit policies, which is indeed a step in the right direction, though many resellers complain about the way they are treated by these firms.

Another burning issue in the channel is profitability. With competition getting very fierce and margins slimming down, there has been a realisation within the channel community that you no longer compete based on pricing alone and sacrifice net profitability at the altar of top-line growth. It’s often a tightrope walk given the fact there is a huge pressure on distributors from vendors to meet the numbers and margins are heading south. Striking the right balance between top-line revenue and bottom-line percentage is the key to survival and the onus is on vendors to do more to build a partner’s long-term profitability. Partners will have to restructure their business models in tune with the changing market trends and invest in systems to ensure efficiencies and better profitability.

We will nail down some of these vexing issues at our annual Partner Conference, held in conjunction with Awards on June 12. We have a line-up of top industry speakers and panel discussions to gauge the pulse of the regional channel and will take an in-depth look at the factors shaping the IT landscape. And in the evening of the same day, we will honour leaders from the whole channel eco-system, spread across 29 categories at a gala dinner ceremony being held in the Jumierah Emirates Towers Hotel in Dubai. Hope to see you there.

webmaster@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9100 Published by

Registered at IMPZ PO Box 13700 Dubai, UAE Tel: +971 4 440 9100 Fax: +971 4 447 2409 Printed by Printwell Printing Press © Copyright 2013 CPI All rights reserved While the publishers have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of all information in this magazine, they will not be held responsible for any errors therein.

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highlights News

Computerlinks becomes Trend Micro distributor

Lee Reynolds, Managing Director, Computerlinks, MEA Computerlinks has become a distributor for Trend Micro in the Middle East to address increasing customer demand for Internet content security and threat management.

The value-added distributor will provide an opportunity for local systems integrators to deliver security solutions from Trend Micro.

The security vendor’s offerings, which are powered by Trend Micro Smart Protection Network, a global threat-intelligence data-

mining framework, are designed to stop malicious programme threats when they emerge. Furthermore, its all-in-one hosted security services and software are built to help its customers secure their data in and out of the office.

“Increasingly, companies are looking to virtualisation and the cloud for greater flexibility and lower operational costs,” said Ihab Moawad, Vice President, Trend Micro MEA and Mediterranean. “Public or hybrid cloud enterprises require a robust security foundation to protect their entire journey to the cloud.

“We have entered into a strategic relationship with Computerlinks for their regional expertise in technology services. This agreement allows us to create customisable and scalable security solutions, which will help our customers take full advantage of the benefits of virtualisation and cloud computing, without compromising on security.”

Moawad also emphasised the “big business” the organisations expect to do “very soon” in Saudi Arabia. “We think Saudi is a goldmine for both of is,” he said.

With Computerlinks already a distributor for Trend Micro in 17 of its 20 global offices, it was a natural choice for the Middle East operations of both parties, said Lee Reynolds, Managing Director, Computerlinks.

“We’re a great partner of Trend so far, I think,” Reynolds explained. “We’ve always looked at building that relationship further in other areas in the region to bolster our global partner.

“A global partnership is very good, but, if you don’t have local presence and strength, there is no point. In this situation, we have both. It’s a great situation to be in. We spent the last three months really defining the strategy of what we need to do. We both have great aspirations for the region.”

Reynolds added that he was particularly impressed with the recent acquisitions Trend Micro has made, which he said he was “very interested” in developing.

He also revealed plans of bringing an authorised training centre to the UAE, and providing registered training programmes for customers and partners.

“That for us is a very important ecosystem, and we have a great machine to do that for Trend,” he said. “It’s being worked on as we speak, and I’m very happy to build on this with Trend. Together, we’re committed to building this and a great relationship.

“We need to build together a strong ecosystem of new customers and partners— that is exactly where this is coming from.”

Mitsumi named ICT disti of the year

Mitsumi Distribution was given the ICT Distribution Company of the Year Award at the fourth annual Beacon of ICT Awards in Lagos, Nigeria. According to a statement

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from Mitsumi, over 55,000 Nigerians voted for Mitsumi to win the award.

The annual awards ceremony celebrates the talents, contributions and commitments to the growth of the Nigerian ICT industry. The leading ICT players gathered at the Eko Hotel and Suite on April 20 to attend the awards.

“We are delighted that Nigerians have recognised us and we are proud to receive

this honour,” said Mitesh Shah, Managing Director, Mitsumi.

“Mitsumi has a long history in the African market and we always demonstrated our ability to diversify our business model and add value to partners.”

Mitsumi has had a first-mover advantage in Africa for an extended period of time, having set up in-country facilities ranging from warehouses, stocking points and support service centres since 1996.

The Beacon of ICT Awards has become one of Nigeria’s biggest red-carpet events, having hosted the likes of Ernest Ndukwe, widely regarded as the father of modern Nigerian telecoms, and Engineer Yomi Bolarinwa, the public servant who put ICT at the forefront of modern Nigeria.

Logicom gains Cisco distributor accreditation Logicom Dubai has been awarded Distributor Accreditation by Cisco EMEAR. The accreditation will help to drive revenue growth by moving award from the traditional volumeled business model to a solution-led business practice, Logicom said.

The distributor added that its resellers and customers would benefit from its core competency in this area, and gain access to Cisco solutions through a qualified distributor.

Demetris Demetriou, GM, Logicom To gain the accreditation, Logicom achieved a range of predetermined requirements, training and certifications, which were set by Cisco for more than 10 of Logicom’s sales and technical Cisco team members.

The distributor also said that all of its Cisco sales account managers have achieved CSE certifications, emphasising its appetite to be equipped with all the necessary tools to be able to provide the highest level of customer service to its partners.

Logicom said that its commitment to achieving all the distribution accreditations highlights the value that it brings to partners in the SMB and enterprise sectors, and to the market at large.

The distributor added that it intends to utilise the knowledge and expertise gained from Cisco EMEAR Distributor Accreditation, and will pass this on to its partners via a hands-on approach at its new facility in Jebel Ali, Dubai.

“The Distributor Accreditation recognises the investment and commitment we have made in training and educating our team, and the investment in technology demonstration capabilities,” said Demetris Demetriou, General Manager, Logicom Dubai.

“Further, it also acknowledges our core competencies and specialisation in the Distributor Accreditation technology area, assuring the resellers we work with that we are experts in our chosen area of Cisco solutions.”

Philip Wright, Senior Director, Cisco, said, “The Distribution Accreditation will drive a consistent standard of knowledge and expertise throughout Cisco’s channel to market. This ensures the end customer has access to our solutions through a qualified source. We are pleased that Logicom has achieved Distributor Accreditation and has shown long-term commitment to growing their business with Cisco.”

Logicom has invested in predominant growth areas for Cisco, and has focused its offerings on data centres, enterprise networks, security, collaboration and small businesses.

Comstor signs distribution agreement with Panduit

Renton D’Souza, Divisional Director at Comstor Comstor has signed a contract with Panduit for the distribution of a number of the vendor’s pre-built modular solutions. Panduit specialises in unified physical infrastructure-based solutions, which are optimised for the efficient, validated and risk-free deployment of data centres.

Comstor said that, like itself, Panduit maintains a strong affiliation with Cisco, meaning the new solutions will complement the distributor’s portfolio of Cisco network switches, routers and data centre products.

“A number of enterprises in the Middle East are building their data centres from the groud up,” said Renton D’Souza, Divisional Director, Comstor.

“Since they are not tasked with overhauling legacy systems, they can focus on deploying technologies that will help them see long-term rewards from their investments.”

D’Souza added that the new relationship with Panduit is focused on helping Comstor enhance the reliability and profitability for its channel partners and customers in the evolving data centre and cloud computing market.

Under the agreement, Comstor will offer Panduit’s Nexus, Cat6k and UCS pre-configured cabinet solutions, and switch and server cabinets for Cisco UCS deployment.

For physical connectivity within the data centre, Comstor will offer Panduit’s QSFP and SFP+ copper cables, small diameter patch cords and fibre-optic solutions.

Comstor also said that customers will be able to easily monitor energy consumption for both new and existing data centre deployments using Panduit’s rack energy monitoring solutions.

The distributor will also offer Panduit’s internal and external enclosures for Cisco Wireless Access Points, as well as the vendor’s software services solutions for data centre environments.

“Companies like Panduit are changing the face of the data centre—enabling users to better connect with, manage and automate the physical infrastructure,” said Russell Blackburn, European Data Centre Director, Comstor.

“As Comstor boasts the market’s most in-depth experience on Cisco data centre technology distribution, together we can help customers realise the power of dynamic cloud computing infrastructures.”

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SanDisk signs EMPA as distributor

Nicholas Argyrides, Managing Director, EMPA Middle East SanDisk recently signed a distribution agreement with EMPA Middle East, in an effort to increase flash memory growth in the region.

Sreedhar Sreekumar, Regional Sales Manager, SanDisk, said that the agreement would strengthen the vendor’s position in the UAE storage market.

“EMPA will primarily focus on the reseller channel in the UAE,” he said.

“Our relationship with EMPA reinforces our objective to expand our product visibility and is a significant development in the channel.”

The agreement comes at a time when demand for smartphones, tablets and ultra-thin notebooks is on the rise in the region, fuelling the growth for flash memory. SanDisk hopes to capitalise on this growth, and has made its full range of flash memory products available in the UAE through the agreement with EMPA. Nicholas Argyrides, Managing Director, EMPA Middle East, said that the collaboration was a step toward the distributor’s commitment to offering the best products and solutions to its channel partners.

“It also falls under our multi-lateral vision of excelling in mobility, security and storage, with SanDisk fully satisfying all three focus verticals,” he explained.

“We thank the SanDisk team for putting their trust in EMPA Middle East.”

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Cerebra inks distribution deal with Tandberg Data Tandberg Data has signed a distribution agreement with Cerebra Middle East, which will now supply the full range of Tandberg solutions to the Middle Eastern Market.

Tandberg’s range includes information storage and protection solutions such as tape automation and media, disk appliances and removable disks.

“We are pleased to partner with Cerebra, a market leader who understands the value of providing a diverse range of reliable data storage protection solutions and services to its customer base,” said Ashok Kumar, Sales Director, South Asia, Tandberg Data.

“The distribution agreement is a further demonstration of Tandberg Data’s continuing pledge to offer Middle East customers a broad array of data protection solutions to satisfy customer needs and increase market share.”

Cerebra Middle East supports more than 85 channel partners in the region with focused and effective data protection solutions, maintaining sales teams that support the corporate, government, SMB, education, consultant and system builder sectors, among others.

Asit Ahuja, CEO and Director, Cerebra Middle East, said that Tandberg’s technology

Asit Ahuja, CEO and Director, Cerebra Middle East would make for the “perfect fit” for these channel partners.

“The additional product portfolio further strengthens the efforts of our partners who address data protection, storage management, business continuity and disaster recovery requirements in the Middle East.

“We look forward to providing our channel customers with enablement seminars and other educational training on the Tandberg Data product collection in the coming months.”

StarLink to distribute Guidance Software StarLink has been signed as master distributor for Guidance Software in the Middle East. The vendor’s offerings are made up of digital forensics, cyber-security and e-discovery solutions.

Under the agreement, StarLink will sell, install and support Guidance Software products through its channel partners. The distributor said that it would be targeting enterprise, government, service provider and law enforcement customers.

“Today’s digital investigations landscape continues to evolve, requiring ever more visibility, capability and breadth,” said Sam Maccherola, Vice President of International Sales, Guidance Software.

“We are pleased to partner with StarLink to provide channel partners and customers in the region with complete digital investigation capabilities that can fully automate critical

response activities that mitigate the threat of today’s cyber-attacks.”

Avinash Advani, Director of Business Strategy, StarLink, said that the distributor chose to StarLink to enhance its portfolio of next-generation threat protection offerings.

This was due to there being “significantly more risk for our customers today,” he said.

“The integration between existing solutions in our portfolio and Guidance Software products will help customers rapidly detect and more comprehensively respond to cyber-attacks,” Advani added.

“Guidance Software, with an out-of-thebox integration with FireEye, which StarLink already distributes, now allows StarLink to provide solutions that both detect malware on the network and trigger an instant automated risk assessment of the end points and shut down any malware it finds.”

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highlights News

Ruckus certifies FOSS network specialists

Ruckus Wireless has officially certified four Fibre Optic Supplies and Services (FOSS) IT network specialists in the UAE as Ruckus Certified Network Administrators (RCNAs).

The certification means that these FOSS channel partners now have the necessary skills to deploy, administer and support wireless network deployments in the UAE and the rest of the Middle East, Ruckus said.

The certification followed three days of instructor-led exercises and exams, which were

held at FOSS’s Dubai Investment Park office.

“RCNA certification is intended for Ruckus partners and network administrators who manage ZoneDirector-controlled wireless networks,” said Nader Baghdadi, Middle East Regional Director, Ruckus.

“The RCNA certification bundles together a certification exam with the related handson, instructor-led training. Such achievement demonstrates the partners’ ability to complete complex tasks and provides the enduser with the required trust factor.”

Along with being able to deploy ZoneDirector controllers, the newly certified FOSS partners will also be able to deploy ZoneFlex access points.

FOSS has been a Ruckus partner in the UAE and Qatar since early 2012, and has completed a number of major Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi implementations at customer sites in the education and government sectors.

CNS receives ENOC accolade

Computer Network Systems (CNS) recently received the Strategic Suppliers Recognition Award 2012 from ENOC for its role in contributing to ENOC’s “Corporate and Shared Services” during 2012.

The award was presented to CNS by Saif Al Falasi, Executive Director, ENOC, and Abdulsalam Al Hammadi, Director of Procurement and Contracts, ENOC, during the Strategic Suppliers Recognition Awards ceremony held at the InterContinental Festival City, Dubai.

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The ceremony is part of ENOC’s “Strategic Relationship Management” programme, which was initiated by the department to nurture ENOC’s partnerships and strengthen the quality of services.

The award was received by John Wilson, Head of Services, CNS, and Mohammed Jamoos, Senior Account Manager, CNS. “We are proud to be recognised as ENOC’s strategic supplier for the corporate and shared services. This demonstrates our team’s dedication and efforts in providing the best services with the highest level of quality,” said Ihab Al Saheli, General Manager, CNS. “Being one of the 15 honoured selected companies, out of the 154 companies shortlisted from over 1,500 active suppliers for ENOC, is a great privilege for CNS. This reiterates our position as a leading regional systems integrator and managed services provider,” he added.

Vision Solutions signs Aptec as VAD

Vision Solutions has signed a partnership agreement that will see Aptec - an Ingram Micro Company distribute Double-Take to enterprises in vertical markets in the UAE, Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Having used Vision Solutions’ software successfully, the partnership provides the next logical step for Aptec to share the high-security solutions with its customers, Vision Solutions said.

Aptec will take on the full portfolio of products and services from Vision Solutions, building on relationships with existing partners as demand for recovery software and services grows. Vision Solutions said it appointed Aptec because of the distributor’s wide network of IT solutions and strong market knowledge.

“The appointment of Aptec magnifies Vision Solutions’ channel, scope and reach,” said Wouter Vancoppenolle, Director of Sales, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, the Middle East and Africa, Vision Solutions.

“We see it as complementing our current routes to enterprises while ensuring every option is available to our resellers and end-users. We are pleased to be working with Aptec as it offers strategic steps to expanding our channel programmes in the Middle East region.”

Kaushal Shah, Product Manager, Team Virtualisation, Aptec, said that the distributor was looking forward to working with Vision Solutions.

“Vision Solutions has gained global success in the software solutions market, and we believe that Vision Solutions’ focus on only delivering the best in terms of technology innovation is a perfect match for our own business ethos and existing offering of virtualised solutions,” he said.

highlights News

FVC launches telepresence centre in Nairobi Dubai-based distributor FVC has joined with its partner, Sight & Sound, and telco Orange to launch the Orange Telepresence Centre in Nairobi.

The commercial facility, which features a Polycom OTX 300 Immersive Telepresence Suite, will be hosted at the ESBC’s new Business Centre at the Landmark Plaza.

The centre will be used to demonstrate the value of video conferencing, and making communication more efficient, to local businesses, FVC said.

According to the Telepresence Revolution study, commissioned by the Carbon Disclosure Project (DCP) and released in 2010, “telepresence technology can help speed up decision making, improve human resource productivity as well as provide employees with a better worklife balance, as a result of reduced business travel.”

Ahmed Youssef, General Manager for East and West Africa, FVC, said the Polycom solution featured in at the new telepresence centre offered all of these benefits.

“Communication is an important tool in business and this video conferencing facility will allow dynamic enterprises in Kenya to communicate and collaborate with partners around the world, save on time, travel and resources,” he said.

Rajesh Lakhani, CEO, Sight & Sound, meanwhile, said that the service takes audio/video conferencing “to the next level”, by brining the fully immersive telepresence experience to customers.

“Our team of experts has been providing audio/video conferencing solutions to the customers in Kenya and this region for a long time,” he said. “Our solutions not only equip conference rooms with this technology but also empower the users by connecting from their smartphones and tablets.”

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SRS partners with Microsoft to sell refurbished hardware

Philip Hughes, Managing Director for the Middle East, SRS Sims Recycling Solutions (SRS) will soon be able to supply refurbished computers and servers pre-installed with genuine Microsoft software to businesses, consumers and non-profit organisations.

SRS said that this would be possible thanks to a new agreement that it had signed with Microsoft, announced in May. SRS offers asset management and end-of-life solutions for IT assets, including secure data destruction and full IT and electrical recycling services, from its base in Jebel Ali, Dubai.

“For our corporate clients, many of them seek solutions to enable their old assets to be re-used in a compliant and environmentally beneficial manner, or for use in their internal corporate social responsibility programmes,” said Philip Hughes, Managing Director for the Middle East, SRS. “Being able to refurbish their old systems and then for us to offer them for re-use or re-sale with fully licensed Microsoft software pre-loaded helps to improve the return that we can offer them.”

The agreement with Microsoft allows SRS to work with channel partners across the region to help them build their own value-added solutions in partnership with SRS. Hughes admitted that there was not yet a mass market for these services in the Gulf, but added that “there is demand from service centres for spare parts and systems to support their clients”.

What’s more, SRS said, further afield in the Middle East and North Africa, compliant and warrantied refurbished IT systems provide an established niche business opportunity to channel partners.

Emax given two Samsung awards

Neelesh Bhatnager, Founder and CEO, Emax Emax Electronics has been given achievement awards by Samsung Gulf in the audio/video and home appliances categories.

Emax was recognised for the highest sales growth for audio/video in 2012 across the GCC, and the fastest response to display home

appliances requirements across the GCC. The two awards were presented by Young Soo Kim, President of Samsung Gulf, at a ceremony held at the Grand Hyatt, Dubai.

Receiving the award, Neelesh Bhatnager, Founder and CEO, Emax, said, “Emax Electronics is constantly working towards delivering superior customer satisfaction, and we are most pleased to be rewarded by our valued partner, Samsung.

“Emax Electronics is investing time and money on training of best practices at the shop floor level, the results of which are clearly evident in our increasing sales.”

In 2012, Emax was named Retailer of the Year and Best Electronics and Entertainment Store by Mall of the Emirates. It was also named the Most Admired Retailer of the Year, in the consumer electronics category at the annual Images Retail Middle East Awards 2012.

highlights News

OKI Middle East takes distributors to Prague for annual disti conference

OKI Middle East, India and Africa recently held its annual distributor conference in Prague, Czech Republic.

The conference was attended by delegates from over 15 countries across the region, according to a statement from OKI. It was hosted by Dave Collinson, Lee Webster and Javier Lopez, from OKI Europe.

The idea was to develop relationships with partners, OKI said, adding that it was about raising awareness of business opportunities, and discussing the vendor’s product roadmap.

Distributors were advised on where each product could be placed in the market, as well as on corresponding verticals.

“We have ambitious growth plans for the coming years and wanted to ensure that our distributors were clear about OKI’s strategy and brand values,” said John Ross, General Manager, OKI Middle East, India and Africa.

“It was an ideal opportunity to consolidate our message and to show our commitment and support for the valuable work that they do.”

OKI said that it wants to empower its partners with the required tools, training and support to help them improve its reach across the region.

OKI’s 2013 distributor conference culminated with the annual awards ceremony.

Avnet pulls out of the Middle East and Africa Distributor Avnet Technology Solutions has pulled out of the Middle East and Africa (MEA) market.

The decision was made following review of Avnet’s business in the region, a statement from the distributor said. Avnet said it had determined that it was “unlikely to make the necessary returns needed to meet our strategic goals in the short- or mid-term” in the region, and was hence shutting down its technology solutions operations here.

Avnet stressed, however, that its computer components and integrated solutions business will continue to support its key partners in the region.

The distributor added that its exit would have no impact on the independently operating Avnet Electronics Marketing businesses in the region.

“This has been a difficult decision where we have been decisive in taking action to realign resources from underperforming businesses to areas that can deliver strong performance for Avnet, its suppliers and business partners,” the statement said.

“Our immediate priorities are to ensure that we provide the necessary support to our employees throughout this process and to

HP launches new partner programme for SMB storage portfolio HP has launched a new programme designed to help its channel partners address their small and medium-sized customers’ challenges and Walid Gomaa, Business Unit pursue new and Sales Manager, Storage revenue streams.

Division, HP Middle East Part of HP’s Just Right IT programme, the new HP Simply StoreIT programme focuses on storage, and will provide guides and reference architectures to help accelerate solution delivery to SMB customers, HP said.

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The announcement was made as part of a broader message on the vendor’s new storage solutions aimed at SMBs. HP also announced the MSA 2040 Storage System – which, HP said, simplifies management and improves performance – and an enhanced HP StoreEasy storage portfolio, which allows for the management of increasing volumes of data without having to skill up.

These solutions will be available through the new partner programme, HP said. The idea is to provide an easy way for HP partners to service their SMB customers.

“Virtualisation and other emerging workloads threaten to drown SMBs in a sea of complexities that hinder, rather than support, growth,” said Walid Gomaa, Business Unit

and Sales Manager, HP Storage Division, HP Middle East.

“Simply StoreIT allows our partners to serve their small and mid-sized customers who are stressed for time, budget and resources to support a growing business, with a stress-free storage solution.”

HP said that its Simply StoreIT programme will be launched in coordination with its distribution partners. The programme includes tools, resources and incentives to help channel partners accelerate time to revenue with HP storage solutions.

Tools include quote and configuration templates, co-branded lead-generation assets, training and materials designed to increase sales opportunities, HP said.

Touchmate launches smartphones

Logitech forays into mobility

according to Vasant Menghani, CEO and Founder, TouchMate.

The flagship model will be a six-inch smartphone, or “phablet”, which can be used either as a small tablet or smartphone, TouchMate said. The device is equipped with a five-megapixel camera, a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor with 1GB of RAM, and 8GB internal storage, which can be expanded to 32GB with an SD card.

Four other models will also be released, TouchMate said. These models include a four-inch, dual-core device, a five-inch quad core device with and HD IPS screen, as well as a 5.3-inch, dual-core device.

Each model will run on the latest version of the Android operating system, and offer dual-SIM support. Prices will range between Dh499 and Dh1,299, TouchMate said.

As part of the promotion of its new devices, TouchMate said that any smartphone buyer will get $200 free on holidays of two nights in 35 international destinations.

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TouchMate has launched a range of smartphones in the GCC to complement its range of tablets.

The new lines of smartphones will range in size from four inches to six inches,

In tune with the changing market trends, PC peripherals vendor Logitech is stepping up its focus on mobility products. At the recently held DISTREE Middle East, the vendor showcased its range of peripherals for tablets.

“Though mice, keyboards and speakers still account for a major chunk of our revenue, we have restructured our strategy to focus on mobility to cash in on the boom in this segment,” said Yousef Atwan, Regional Director for Middle East and Africa, Logitech.

The tablet accessories line-up includes a newly launched Logitech Keyboard Folio that connects to iPad through Bluetooth.

Meanwhile, the vendor has pulled the plug on certain categories, such as speaker docks and gaming peripherals.

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Value added distributor for award winning security and storage products in the Middle East.

1207 Indigo Icon, Cluster F3 JLT Dubai, UAE, P.O. Box 487840 Tel :- +971 4 4357209 Fax :- +971 4 4357216

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The mass adoption of smart wireless devices like tablets, smartphones and notebooks is driving the BYOD (bring your own device) explosion, putting ever increasing demands on wireless networks. This pressure, coupled with the “wild west” nature of WLAN, means it is now more important than ever to have control of your entire network – both wired and wireless – with best-in-class security, integrated security policies, and increased visibility.

Make no mistake about it – BYOD is here to stay.

Surveys state that 40 percent of devices used to access business applications are consumer-owned, up 30 percent from 2010 and that by 2014, 80 percent of professionals will use at least two personal devices to access corporate systems and data.

Although BYOD could also stand for “Bring Your Own Danger,” there are benefits to an organization and its employees in adopting BYOD as part of an IT strategy.

By comparison to traditional IT assets, consumer mobile computing devices are inexpensive. And, as more employees utilize personal devices, employers can scale down on provisioning and managing devices, which in turn lowers IT costs. Additional benefits of adopting BYOD in the workplace include companies reporting that employees are more satisfied with their work and are having better results with collaboration and working remotely. BYOD is the new workplace reality. In the end, there are multiple reasons – from cost reductions to increased employee efficiencies – that support corporate adoption. IT must, however, take into account the risks and challenges associated with BYOD. BYOD is a force that is here to stay, and by all expectations, is expected to grow in size and scope.

With it, come new sets of challenges and opportunities for businesses as well as their IT departments.

This means that a BYOD strategy is critical for success and data security. As part of a strong BYOD strategy, having well-designed policies and end user agreements in place will be key. WatchGuard provides the tools and solutions to make a BYOD environment a safe and productive ecosystem for today’s IT administrators.

Knowing that BYOD is here to stay, WatchGuard provides IT administrators with easy to use security services that businesses need in order to manage BYOD: Policy made easy: First of all, WatchGuard designs all of its NextGeneration Firewalls and UTMs (XTM products), Secure Email Gateways (XCS products) and SSL VPN products with powerful, yet easy-to-use policy tools. This way, administrators can enforce the policies that best meet their environment, whether it is a small retail shop or a multinational, distributed enterprise.

Network segmentation: WatchGuard solutions allow an administrator to easily and quickly set up various network segments. And, with WatchGuard’s virtual product lines (XTMv and XCSv), even virtual assets can be protected and segmented in order to maintain compliance and high security.

Application Control: With WatchGuard Application Control, administrators can monitor over 1,800 types of applications traversing their network.

Administrators can set a variety of policies in place, ranging from monitoring to complete application blocking. Even applications within web apps can be controlled.

Gateway antivirus: With WatchGuard, the perimeter of the network can also be the first line of defense against mobile malware. WatchGuard utilizes a “bestin-class” approach, which ensures that all connected devices on the network are shielded with an antivirus umbrella. Adding cloud-based Reputation Enabled Defense to this further provides advanced protection to all networked devices from both dangerous IP and URL destinations worldwide.

(ADVERTORIAL)

WebBlocker: In addition to Application Control, WatchGuard’s WebBlockerservice also makes it easy for IT to setup and administer policies around acceptable and unacceptable web surfing activities.

VPN functionality: With WatchGuard’s VPN capabilities, administrators can enforce acceptable use policies for mobile, remote and road warriors who need to access corporate data anytime, anywhere.

These controls even protect users in the most hostile environments, such as hotels and public Wi-Fi hotspots.

Logging and Reporting: This may be one of the most valuable resources that IT can leverage for their BYOD strategy. With WatchGuard, administrators gain deep insight into what is connected to their network, as well as the applications being used. This type of insight not only helps to protect resources, but also illuminates trouble spots and potential weaknesses, and helps to remediate areas of concern.

CREATING A SECURE ECOSYSTEM WITH WATCHGUARD TECHNOLOGIES Extend best-in-class UTM security to the WLAN Protecting against today’s sophisticated blended threats requires multiple security capabilities, and these threats don’t discriminate between a wired or wireless network path to their targets. WatchGuard’s AP100 and AP200 meet this challenge by extending best-in-class UTM security – including application control, intrusion prevention, URL and web content filtering, virus and spam blocking and more – from the XTM to the WLAN. With the AP100 and AP200, businesses can harness the power of mobile devices without putting network assets at risk.

Integrate wired and wireless security policies WatchGuard’s AP100 and AP200 allow users to easily apply security policies to wired and WLAN resources simultaneously, which is critical to enforcing security standards across the entire network infrastructure.

And updating integrated policies couldn’t be simpler – creating huge IT time-savings.

Unified device management Unified device management tools offer a “single pane of glass” view into network security activities and allow users to configure and manage their AP100/AP200 and XTM devices from one place – reducing both setup time and maintenance costs.

Secure your WLAN from today’s sophisticated, blended threats with WatchGuard’s new AP100 and AP200 wireless access points. By extending best-in-class UTM security – including application control, intrusion prevention, URL and web content filtering, virus and spam blocking and more – from any XTM appliance to the WLAN, business can harness the power of mobile devices without putting network assets at risk.

What’s more, security policies can be applied to wired and WLAN resources simultaneously, which is critical to enforcing security standards across an entire network.

And unified device management tools offer a “onestop” configuration and monitoring of AP100, AP200 and XTM devices – reducing setup time and maintenance costs.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Visit www.watchguard.com, contact a WatchGuard reseller, or email: mea@watchguard.com

ANALYSIS EMC World 2013

Tucci’s promise CEO Joe Tucci used EMC’s Global Partner Summit (GPS), which ran as part of EMC World 2013, to promise partners the company will ‘significantly expand’ the amount of business it does through the channel in the long term. Ben Rossi reports from Las Vegas.

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Currently, the channel accounts for just over half of EMC’s global business, and while Tucci didn’t comment on the exact amount he wanted that number to grow to, he did say the increase will take place over a five-year period.

In the EMEA region, the figure is much higher. With the amount of channel business in the region already at 74 percent, EMC said that number will increase to as much as 80 percent in the near future.

During his partner keynote, Tucci was keen to emphasise how critical the channel is to the success of EMC. “You are incredibly important; we need you,” he said. “We know we do things that aren’t perfect, but we want to be as close to perfect as we can. Let us know if we do things a little wrong and when we’re doing things right. We are as dedicated to your success as we are to our success.”

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ANALYSIS EMC World 2013

Tucci was also asked about how concerned he was with Oracle’s position in the market, but he was quick to assure that he isn’t losing any sleep at night.

He was just as fast in bashing Oracle, claiming its technology stack is nothing like the cloud, and that it gives partners less choice. He also said that, unlike some rivals, EMC does not try to force the channel to partner with all its divisions— Pivotal, VMware and RSA. “We are doing things very differently, and that will bring you a lot of opportunity,” he said. “You’re more than welcome—and

A suspicious claim?

However, the main news at EMC World 2013 was the unveiling of what the company called the “world’s first” software-defined storage platform, EMC ViPR. A claim, no doubt, that many would eagerly dispute.

Software-defined storage as a term in itself is not new in the industry, and neither are solutions that tout themselves as just that.

However, the basis for EMC’s claim stems from the definition of softwaredefined storage in itself, which is something

“We are doing things very differently, and that will bring you a lot of opportunity. You’re more than welcome—and encouraged to—partner with others and form your own ecosystem. This is very differentiating and is a very different message from that of our competitors.” encouraged to—partner with others and form your own ecosystem. That is very differentiating and is a very different message from that of our competitors.”

EMC also used the event to announce key milestones it has achieved with its global partner ecosystem.

The EMC Certified Solution programme recorded significant growth in 2012 with a 300-percent increase in net licence revenue year-over-year, and strong growth in 2013 with a 325-percent increase in revenue year-over-year in the first quarter.

This strong performance has been supported by corresponding growth in EMC Certified Solutions, with EMC validating 80 partner-built applications, which has doubled since the same time last year.

The certification represents tested solutions that extend the functionality of products from the Information Intelligence Group (IIG) division of EMC.

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that is yet to be settled amongst the industry’s elite players, who are all trying to be seen as leading the new paradigm.

The term rose to prominence as an ingredient of what VMware called the software-defined data centre (SDDC) at its annual virtualisation conference, VMworld, last year. An SSDC is a data centre in which the entire infrastructure—networking, server, storage and security—is virtualised, automated and managed by software.

The storage element is significant because, with an inflection point in the industry appearing imminent, those vendors that get it right will be securing a sizeable chunk of the market.

According to the man behind ViPR, Amitabh Srivastava, President, Advanced Storage Division, EMC is able to make the “world’s first” claim because every attempt at defining it up to now—including EMC’s— has been wrong.

“Everyone is defining software-defined storage in their own way,” Srivastava said. “Because there is currently no fixed definition of it, a lot of them are taking an appliance that was built a few years ago and, just because it runs software and there are hardware intervals running on a virtualised system, they’re calling that software-defined storage.

“I don’t think so, because softwaredefined storage is all about building it for the cloud and the software-defined data centre. It’s not about a single array; it’s about an entire storage infrastructure which is highly scalable and available, because that’s the end goal.

“That is why ViPR is really designed with the goal of how I can take your storage infrastructure and arrays to this massive cloud infrastructure that can plug into this software-defined data centre.

None of these systems are even talking about any of the stuff we are talking about.”

In any device, the data path is where the data comes in and out of the array, and the control path is used to really manage the arrays.

According to Srivastava, all previous systems claiming to be software-defined have been built first of all as an appliance, and always in the data path.

ViPR manages both planes and decouples them from each other to allow them to be used together. Customers can also use only the control plane to manage the underlying intelligence of the storage arrays through policybased automation, which EMC called a “radical departure” from prior attempts to virtualise storage.

EMC is essentially trying to do for storage what VMware has already done for servers—abstracting, pooling and automating the infrastructure.

Whether EMC’s definition of softwaredefined storage is what the market wants will only be determined by the customer response, but Srivastava said he is confident he and his team have got it right this time. //

partner watch MaxTouch Computers

Out on display With its new display centre in Bur Dubai, MaxTouch Computers is hoping to convince partners that its new line of display products is worth investing in.

Deepak Belani, General Manager, MaxTouch Computers

Everyone knows that margins are wafer-thin in the low-end hardware market. When you talk laptops, TVs or PC monitors, some resellers and retailers are struggling with margins of Dh5 for each unit—the sales hardly seem worth bothering with in such times.

However, distributor MaxTouch Computers is looking at things a little differently. Yes, margins on low-end gear are wafer-thin, but with a little added value, the distributor thinks that it can claw back some extra cash for itself and its partners.

The distributor recently got into the display solutions game, going heavy on vendor ViewSonic’s products. All-in-one display tablets, 3D projectors and digital signage products are all part of MaxTouch’s repertoire now, and the distributor is keen to get the market excited about these technologies.

In order to do this, MaxTouch set up a display centre near its head office in Bur Dubai. The centre was designed to showcase its impressive array of new products to partners and customers, as well as offer an insight into how ViewSonic’s products can provide real value.

Deepak Belani, General Manager, MaxTouch Computers, believes that getting into new technologies quickly will provide the most value to partners. Standing right in the middle of the display centre is a ViewSonic solution that he believes is an example of such forward-thinking technology—the VSD220 Android all-in-one.

Essentially a 22-inch, touch-screen monitor, the VSD220 also comes preloaded with an Android operating system, meaning it can be used as a large tablet, too. It’s already garnered great reviews from the leading technology magazines, and Belani says that the time is ripe for the technology to pick up in the Middle East.

“This is one product which is going to be, I think, the future,” he says. “It will be replacing everyone’s desktop, it will replace devices as a point of sale, you can use it in the education sector, where it’s kept on every student’s desk, and you can use it as digital signage.”

In terms of the target markets, MaxTouch believes that the VSD220 will do particularly well in the education and retail segments, though there are plenty of others it could potentially target. So the distributor is looking for partners that it knows will sell these devices in their dozens, according to Belani.

“When you tie up with the value-added resellers, they have a link to the education sector, they have a link to hospitality, and they have a link to retail. So we do it through them,” he says.

MaxTouch has also taken on a number of ViewSonic’s other products, including an impressive 3D projector that will produce a stunning 85-inch screen. And the price point is considerably lower than anything you’ll find from the likes of Samsung or Sony.

But what is the value here? After all, these solutions are simply boxed products, meaning it’s unlikely they’ll fetch big margins. According to Ramesh Belani, Managing Director, MaxTouch Computers, it’s all about finding the right partners who have links to the right markets. He also believes that the display centre will work wonders in terms of proving the products.

But will the plan work? Ramesh seems positive: “We’ve never been in this game, but in the last three months since we started this game, we find that the signals are good.” //

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opinion Condo Protego

Andrew Calthrope, CEO, Condo Protego

Think Big Big Data has morphed from a silent, misunderstood elephant in the room into a huge opportunity for ambitious VARs, says Condo Protego CEO Andrew Calthorpe.

You can run but you can’t hide.

For a while, Big Data was the silent elephant in the room— foreboding in bulk, yet relatively docile and contained; a novel, if undefinable, presence we’d awkwardly acknowledge from time to time. That was then. Today, Big Data is very much on the move, loudly shedding its reticence and threatening to upend all manner of figurative valuables and best-laid plans.

But business leaders needn’t cower behind the sofa as tsunamis of data crash around them.

If anything, this is a time for action, a chance for unprecedented insight and a springboard to previously unthinkable levels of innovations.

A new gold rush has arrived, and those in the know are already working up a sweat in their quest for unstructured data paydirt.

It is certainly clear why big data is prompting both frenzied activity and overwhelmed inertia.

According to technology research and advisory community Wikibon, 2012 Big Data vendor revenue stood at a whopping $11.4 billion, up 58 percent on 2011. This year, the market is set to grow 61 percent to hit $18.2 billion. An overall compound annual growth rate of 31 percent is expected up until 2017.

Over at IDC, analysts predict that the digital universe will reach 40 zettabytes (ZB) by 2020, exceeding previous forecasts by 5 ZB in what would represent 50-fold growth from the beginning of 2010.

Worryingly, IDC also cautions that the amount of data that requires protection is growing faster than the digital universe itself.

Less than a third of the digital universe required data protection in 2010, but that proportion is expected to exceed 40 per cent by 2020. The issue is compounded by increasingly advanced cyber-threats, as well as a general security skills gap.

The burning questions for businesses now necessarily revolve around variations of ‘sink or swim?’ or ‘succumb or harness?’

Taking the big picture view, MENA’s VARs would do well to connect with their clients and start to answer some of these questions with a positive outlook.

Top priority is to instill the mindset that data should never be dismissed as a forbidding white noise, but rather treated as one of the most valuable assets in the game.

Driven by customer and market demands moving at breakneck speed, businesses need to engage with, capture, manage and transpose data into intelligent action to stay relevant.

Data unlocks routes to accelerated business processes, innovative business models and clarity of vision that enables smart planning ahead of the curve—irrespective of industry.

Gartner recently proclaimed that 2013 will be the year of larger-scale adoption of Big Data technologies, noting that 42 percent of surveyed IT leaders are either investing now or planning to do so within the coming year.

A meticulously planned, cutting-edge and scalable IT architecture that can collate and store enormous amounts of unstructured data is now a must. A whole lot of consultation and integration needs to take place across the region, and VARs need to be ready, willing and able to help make it happen. //

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Cover feature Leaders and luminaries

Channel Masters Not content with being put down by a tough year for the Middle Eastern channel, a number of players have taken the bull by the horns and come out fighting, bringing their businesses, and their partners, back into profit. Charting executives from the most impressive vendors, distributors and resellers, we celebrate the leaders and luminaries of the IT channel.

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Cover feature Leaders and luminaries

Abdullah Al-Swaha Director, Partner Organisation and Commercial, Cisco Middle East

According to Abdullah Al-Swaha, Director, Partner Organisation and Commerical, Cisco Middle East, Cisco understands that 2012 was a tough year for the regional channel. Perhaps, then, that’s why he’s keen to highlight some of the initiatives that the vendor has put in place to ensure a smoother 2013.

Al-Swaha says that Cisco invests over $1 billion globally every year to incentivise partners to invest in new technologies. He also says that Cisco has been providing collaborative professional services to its partners, and helping its partners work efficiently with its business consulting unit.

“While 2012 brought a wave of economic uncertainty and challenges for the IT channel in the Middle East, 2013 has seen a tide of optimism return to businesses and the economy in general,” he says. “The improving business sentiment and outlook bodes well for the channel as it is translating into increased IT spending among enterprises in the region, and we expect this trend to continue as we move further into 2013.”

That said, no-one can deny that partners

have had to adjust their businesses a little in order to stay afloat. But Al-Swaha says that all of the most successful channel players in the region have one thing in common.

“While it has been crucial for channel players to place a watchful eye on their operational and capital expenditures, the channel businesses that have truly made their mark are the ones that have focused on recruiting and investing in the best talent, as well as partnering with the right vendors.”

Of course, Al-Swaha would describe his own company as one of the “right” vendors.

He says that Cisco wants to ensure that all of its partners have the right skillset in order to do good business.

That said, Al-Swaha doesn’t wish for every Cisco partner to adopt a one-vendor approach. Indeed, he actively discourages such thinking. “The key to success is to adopt a consultancy-driven approach,” he explains.

And perhaps it’s this approach that will stand Cisco and its partners in good stead for the rest of the year.

After being acquired by the world’s largest technology distributor and renamed as Aptec – An Ingram Micro Company, the regional VAD expanded its capabilities in strategic markets and now covers more than 70 countries in the region.

“We have laid a strong foundation for future profitable growth and are well-poised to drive overall revenue growth. With the Brightpoint acquisition, we have been able to expand into geographies and play in the fast-growing mobility market,” says Ali Baghdadi, VP and CEO of the distributor.

Aptec has also extended distribution agreements with its vendor partners to cover territories in Africa and signed up new vendors such as Pivot3, Liquidware Labs and Vision Solutions to bolster its portfolio with virtualisation and security offerings.

Baghdadi believes 2013 will be the year of cloud services and is in the process of rolling out Ingram Micro Cloud Services in the region.

“We will see a huge uptake in cloud services this year, as more and more resellers are exploring opportunities in this arena to target

the SMB market. Our focus would be to offer services that are easy for resellers to manage, deploy and bill, and help them build recurring services business.”

Aptec, which is the sole distributor of cloud products from Microsoft and Symantec in the region, was also involved in the launch of VMware Vcloud Suite 5.1. “We have just relocated one of the cloud experts within Ingram Micro to the region to develop services that are suited to the needs of resellers and we will work very closely with them to identify and close opportunities,” says Baghdadi.

He adds that the growth of Aptec in the region will be driven primarily by education and training programmes for resellers. The value-added distributor has already established training centres in the UAE, Saudi and Oman and is in the process of rolling it out to other key locations as well.

“We are the authorised training partner for VMware and Cisco. We will integrate and unify our training centres with Ingram Micro training academies all over the world.”

Ali Baghdadi Ali Baghdadi, Vice President and CEO, Aptec - an Ingram Micro Company

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Arun Chawla CEO, Trigon

Trigon, one of the longest serving IT distributors in the region, works on a mix of value and volume and caters to four segments of the market – channel, retail, corporate and exports.

“This model of different business units is what has helped to grow the business despite turbulent market conditions. While channel and exports business slowed down, there has been an upturn in the retail and corporate sides of the business,” says Arun Chawla, CEO, Trigon.

Chawla, who doesn’t believe in channel stuffing, says the business model of Trigon is focused on having a healthy bottom line.

“We don’t ever chase top-line growth at the cost of net profits. Desperate sales will erode margins and adversely impact your partners’ confidence.”

With value addition becoming key to success across the channel, Trigon believes its value proposition is providing its reseller, retail and corporate partners with product updates, training and effective support services to create a strong bond of reliability and longterm relationships.

Trigon, which counts brands such as Samsung, LG, Xerox and Iomega on its roster, expanded its portfolio last year by striking distribution deals with prominent technology brands like Acer, 3M, Optoma and Netgear.

The distributor has also been able to grow its business and market share in the UAE, Bahrain and Saudi, especially in the retail sector, which now accounts for almost 40 percent of the overall revenue.

Chawla says the technologies to watch out for this year are large-format displays, Ultrabooks, tablets, smartphones, printers and scanners. His advice to the partners reeling under declining margins is to focus more on a mix of products rather than focusing only on volume products with thin margins: “A mixed model will help to balance out the profitability and ease the pricing pressure. Bottom-line basics should be the mantra to grow the business and it is better to focus on quality rather than quantity. Each one has to work out what is good for their business, keeping in mind long-term commitment.”

For Dubai-based retailer Jacky’s Electronics, 2012 was a year of organic growth. “We grew by 12 percent from our eight stores, which is good given the fact we didn’t open any new outlets last year. The margins were healthy as well,” says Ashish Panjabi, COO. He says the company has seen a surge in product categories such as smartphones, tablets, DSLRs and TVs. “Though notebooks did well last year, the volumes are down this year and the average selling prices have come down as well.”

Panjabi says that, with retail being the customer engagement point, it is where the brand image counts. “I think brands have taken retail more seriously and now they understand what’s involved in terms of expense structure and working margins. They are more receptive to us than they have been in the past.”

Jacky’s makes good use of social media platforms to develop an understanding of the consumer behavior: “It is a very valid indicator of what is happening. Earlier, we were making

assumptions and guesses about consumers.

Now, customers are actually telling us what they feel through these platforms. We also use other methods like engaging thirdparty mystery shopping agencies to give us constant feedback about our in-store experience,” says Panjabi.

He says the technologies to watch out for are smartphones and tablets. “In the tablet space, we have seen the volume increase and prices come down. We have seen a lot of OEM brands come up in this space. There is a lot of growth happening in the television space as well with people moving from entry level to large screen sizes. Very soon, we might see the emergence of wearable technologies as well.”

Panjabi adds the retail culture in the UAE is a very mature one. “The retail landscape keeps changing and you’ve got be where your customer is. Dubai is one of the benchmarks for the region. Vendors and distributors also have improved their logistics capabilities and work closely with retailers. We see lot of proactiveness within the channel.”

Ashish Panjabi COO, Jacky’s Electronics

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Cover feature Leaders and luminaries

Asim AlJammaz Vice President, AlJammaz Distribution

While most of the Middle East’s channel suffered a disastrous 2012, Saudi Arabia’s AlJammaz Distribution enjoyed a relatively good year, according to Assim Aljammaz, Vice President of the company.

“2012 was a good year for a lot of companies in Saudi. A lot have seen good growth year-on-year, and new players have taken good positions and market share. In Saudi Arabia, we did not see any impact of what is happening in other countries,” he says.

It’s little wonder, then, that AlJammaz is feeling bullish about 2013, too. However, he admits that distributors have had to change their outlooks a little, even in the apparently booming Saudi Arabian market. In particular, he believes that, for many distributors, the concept of value-addition has changed.

“Now, VADs get that they have to recruit, enable and ramp VARs – in partnership with vendors – to create a win-win-win. The bottom line is that, if a VAD can’t show a VAR how a particular vendor offering will help them grow their top line, the VAD value proposition falls apart.”

Clearly, AlJammaz Distribution has got the value-addition part of its business down to a tee – he offers plenty of advice to resellers struggling with declining margins, even though this might not be such a problem in Saudi Arabia.

“Resellers need to move out from commodity products and solutions, specialise in new, advanced technologies and focus on it,” he says. “Any commoditised product or solution will have a margin issue. Also the end user will be aware that they can source these products and solutions from different resellers, so they force the resellers to accept low prices.”

In terms of growth areas, then, AlJammaz says that corporates are looking to invest in data centres, cloud services, mobile applications, video conferencing and IP telephony. And these aren’t the only places where he sees opportunity.

“The tablet market will be a major move with the accessories and eco-system around it,” he says, adding that smaller retailers and resellers will find opportunities in the SMB market.

According to Ayman Dwidar, the regional channel as a whole can allow itself an air of cautious optimism.

“Egypt is marching towards stablisation.

It’s not yet stabilised, so the currency inflation affected us a lot even in the past nine months, but now it’s going more and more towards stability. In countries like Bahrain and the rest of the Gulf, it’s business as usual,” he says.

Having been hit hard by the ongoing decline in PC sales, HP has recently been hedging its bets on enterprise-class technologies. It’s also moving toward cloud computing and other emerging technologies in order to safeguard its business, and the tactic seems to be working. For HP’s partners, Dwidar says that this is all good news.

“Partners want to sustain the organisation, and they know that there is something very big coming. They don’t know what it is – but it’s to do with cloud computing and so on. They want to continue what they are doing, and also somehow leverage on the momentum that is coming on the horizon,” he says.

This is part of a larger trend to move away from selling boxed products. After all, as partners continue to struggle with everdeclining margins, they’re moving toward a services-based business approach, which is what they should be doing, Dwidar says.

“When you think about our partners, the majority of them are leaning towards product margin sales and services associated with the products. They need to diversify this and increase the services portion of their business, and also investigate the new trends,” he says.

What’s more, he advises taking on a more consultative approach when approaching customers: “You need to understand not only your customer’s pains and challenges, but also the opportunities that you can present to them,” he says.

With HP, Dwidar explains, this is going to be possible. The vendor might have had a rough year in terms of PC sales, but HP is now involved in so many various segments that, according to Dwidar, its partners will always be able to find new avenues to explore.

Ayman Dwidar Indirect Sales Manager, HP Middle East

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Faisal Jamal Managing Director, Despec

Despec, which caters to both resellers and retailers, represents some of the leading brands in hardware and supplies in addition to accessories. “We are a specialised distributor focused on aftermarket products with in-country operations in most of the major markets in the Middle East and Africa.

Recently, we have shifted our focus to East and Central African markets,” says Faisal Jamal, Managing Director of the company.

Despec has distribution deals with almost all major printing vendors for their supplies and these include HP, Lexmark, Canon, and Printronix. For storage and accessories, it has vendor partners such as Symantec, Imation, Verbatim and Sony, to name a few.

“What is really unique about us is the way we support our channel partners with sales and after-sales support. We are probably the only distributor with a dedicated supply chain department, which manages all the back-office sales operations for resellers, who don’t have to invest in these resources,” says Jamal.

Despec has invested heavily in training and skilling up its people to better support its channel. “We work very closely with our partners, and empower them to realise the opportunities around the brands we bring to the market,” says Jamal.

Despec is currently exploring the opportunities to set up local presences in Iraq and Qatar this year, while it continues to expand its African operations to include Ethiopia and Mozambique.

Despec has also expanded its portfolio by signing up brands such as Targus and Trust for accessories, and bagged the master distribution rights for Pantum printers for the Middle East and African region.

To fine tune its logistics operations, Despec has recently outsourced the function to 3PLs. Also, the company is in the process of rolling out SAP to transform its back office and inventory management. This will include a redesigned website, which will offer a fully functional e-commerce portal that will allow partners to enjoy the experience of online ordering.

These are good times to be in the security market, and that is reflected in the growth of specialised distributor Secureway, which represents brands such as F5 Networks, Fortinet, HID Global and Sourcefire.

“Secureway has been around since 2005, with an unwavering focus on end-to-end solutions.

We have evolved beyond commoditised products such as UTMs and firewalls and offer advanced security technologies related to log management, data loss prevention and identity and access management,” says Fari Boustantchi, CEO of Secureway.

Secureway firmly believes in channel empowerment, and provides free accreditation workshops to its partners. “We are the authorised training centre for most of our vendors and recently we have tied up with Mile2, which provides vendor-neutral professional certification for cyber security,” says Boustantchi.

Secureway’s value-added distribution model extends beyond just pre-and postsales support. “We go and do joint sales with our resellers, help them with PoCs and

configurations. We have more than 400 resellers across the region, who benefit from the level of service, support and logistics capabilities we bring to the table.”

Secureway’s product portfolio comprises around 12 to 13 brands. “We could have easily have 40 brands and it was a conscious decision because we want to stay focused. We will not have more than 13 or 14 brands and if we want to add a new brand we will exit an exit one. The moment you go for 40 you cease to be a VAD,” says Boustantchi.

He adds that all of the brands in Secureway’s portfolio have been brought to the Middle East first by the distributor.

Boustantchi also says that Secureway doesn’t offer consulting unless a partner needs it: “That’s something we will not do because we don’t want to compete with our partners.

In the Middle East, we address even the telecom market through partners because we are committed to growth their business and profitability. We also work very closely with them in the areas of finance and credit management.”

Fari Boustantchi CEO, Secureway

june 2013

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Cover feature Leaders and luminaries

Firas Alfanney Regional Sales Director, Middle East and North Africa, Intel

For a company like Intel, the plummeting PC market could cause serious concern, and no doubt its partners have seen some worries over the last year. However, Firas Alfanney, the vendor’s regional sales director, believes that things are looking good for 2013.

“Things have improved a lot. We think that 2013 sees a bright future for Intel and for our resellers. I think 2012 was a year for everybody to think, ‘Okay, we cannot do the same old, traditional business,’” he says.

Alfanney admits that partners still trying pursue their traditional business models are going to feel the pinch. However, he says that many partners have identified new markets to penetrate, and moved into them to capitalise on opportunities.

“They’re going into new markets, and distributors are going the same way – they’re expanding to markets like Iraq. Iraq is huge.

They’re also are expanding into Libya, which shows the same growth, and North Africa – especially Algeria,” he says. “The main driver for this growth is the way that resellers are thinking of not doing the same traditional business.”

In countries such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia, where purchasing power is very strong, partners are feeling the strain, Alfanney says. But in these emerging markets, there are strong signs of growth. It may be risky entering a previously untapped market, but Alfanney reckons that the potential gains are worth taking the plunge.

But partners can still succeed by staying closer to home, Alfanny emphasies – it’s simply a matter of differentiation. “A big part of the differentiation is targeting new segments. The SMB segment is huge in the Middle East, and it’s growing,” he says.

Alfanney also advises Intel’s partners to skill up and invest in their employees: “Technology is changing, and employees cannot be with the same level of knowledge – they need to be trained, skilled and certified to cope with the new technologies,” he says.

Will this help a channel that’s still trying to find its feet following a terrible 2012? Alfanney is optimistic: “For the first few months, it’s been great, and it’s going to be much better for the rest of the year.”

Sitting down for a chat with Havier Haddad about the state of the Middle Eastern IT channel, your first step is to instinctively ask about the disaster that was 2012, and how things have since improved.

“2012 was widely considered to be one of the toughest years in recent memory,” you begin.

“Not for us,” Hadded quickly interrupts with a smile. “EMC is growing in general, and the Middle East territory showed the highest growth. This territory was the fastest-growing territory in the world.

“For me, we differentiate the partner business into two. One is what we call the incremental, which is the partner-led. And this is growing fast – faster than the business.”

Haddad says that its continued success in the region is down to a number of things – the demand for storage, for example, is going nowhere but up. However, he credits EMC with leading a lot of the success, too. He says that a sizeable portion of EMC’s success is down to channel enablement.

“To reduce the conflicts and increase the coverage, we’re pushing our partners to be more

and more specialised – to differentiate themselves,” he says. While some vendors might try to sign on as many partners as possible, Haddad explains, EMC takes a more considered approach.

“Hiring all of the partners in the world is one way to have market coverage, but it’s not good because you will lost partner interest. Yes, we want to increase coverage by sometimes adding new partners, but we push our partners to be specialised,” he says.

This, Haddad insists, is part of the value proposition that EMC wants to bring to its partners.

However, when he talks about value, he says that what’s more important is ensuring that EMC’s partners work in exactly the same way that it does.

“If I want to make it simple, and I want to define a footprint for a real value-add, partner or distributor, it’s about getting an extended force for EMC,” he says. “The way we are structured, we think about building pre-sales, the consulting part, the sales, the delivery part, and then the break and fix. If we reach to build a value-added distributor in the same way – which we are doing, by the way – then we are doing a good job.”

Havier Haddad Channel and Alliances Director, Middle East, Eastern Europe, Turkey and NorthWest Africa, EMC

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Cover feature Leaders and luminaries

Hesham Tantawi Vice President, Asbis Middle East

With operations in 55 counties and 33 offices across EMEA, Asia and South America, the scale and reach of Asbis is probably unmatched in the broadline distribution landscape. Though the distributor did see a dip in its components business due to the slump in PC market, it has been able to cash in on the booming mobility market in the region.

“We have seen a huge upswing in the business of in-house brands such as Prestigio and Canyon. In fact, Prestigio is now the third largest selling brand in the UAE,” says Hesham Tantawi, Vice President, Asbis Middle East.

Asbis, which is the only distributor for both Intel and AMD in the region, has seen a robust growth in all its products lines including security, storage, and networking. Tantawi says the company has achieved a double digit growth in the last year, and grew its business across the GCC region.

“We were able to grow the business even in Egypt and other North African markets despite the challenging conditions. We have started rolling out a channel development

initiative akin to the one in the UAE to the partners in Egypt, focused on the local IT market,” he adds.

Channel development and enablement is a key mandate for Asbis, which supports its partners with training, marketing and other incentive programmes.

“Our focus is to develop the local markets in each of the countries we operate and foster a healthy channel eco-system,” he says.

Asbis says one of its remarkable initiative last year was the roll out of its Fusion Club, a long-term loyalty programme for AMD customers in more than 13 countries. The aim of the club is to unite partners who provide AMD technologies into one team and help them sell AMD CPUs and Graphics.

Tantawi, who takes pride in the fact that not even a single partner of Asbis has been affected by the downturn in the market, has a word of advice: “It’s time for partners to move out of the box-shifting mindset, focus more on adding value and look at opportunities around services.”

Anyone could be forgiven for having a gloomy outlook on Dell. For the quarter ended May 3, the vendor reported a 79-percent decline in profit on a year earlier. Meanwhile, attempts by CEO Michael Dell to take the company private have caused no end of turmoil.

However there is a silver lining to all of this – Dell’s share of worldwide server revenue reached 18.5 percent in the first quarter, up from 15.5 percent a year ago, according to IDC. John Coulston, Director, Global Commerical Channel, Emerging Markets, Dell, says that this is cause for cautious optimism.

“When you look to where we are at the moment over the last couple of quarters, we’ve just seen some good results come from IDC or Gartner from a server perspective,” he says. “Globally, I think Dell is the only vendor, at least in the top five or six, that took share from an IDC point of view for x86 servers.”

Regionally, Coulston says that there’s a lot of demand for Dell’s x86 servers, both from partners and their customers. Considering this is the kind of high-tech segment that Dell is

beginning to move toward – as opposed to the PC market – things could be looking up.

That said, Coulston admits that 2012 was an extremely tough year, though he says that it allowed the regional channel to re-evaluate its position.

“I think it actually led, in the channel, to people looking internally and maybe looking at how they formalise some of their processes and procedures, and asking themselves what customers need, and really thinking about how they differentiate themselves in terms of solving a customer problem rather than trying to sell a technology or a solution,” he says.

But should partners be worried about doing business with Dell as it faces a crisis of leadership? Coulston says that there isn’t too much to be concerned about.

“We’re focused in the Middle East on working very closely with our partners on the opportunities they’ve got today and helping them to generate demand,” he emphasises.

“And that’s going to be our focus, no matter what happens.”

John Coulston Director, Global Commercial Channel, Emerging Markets, Dell

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MES Technologies - Bur Dubai, U.A.E. Atrium Center, Office 305 Tel: + 971 43889777 Fax: +971 4 3889708 info@mes.ae www.mes.ae

Cover feature Leaders and luminaries

K. S. Parag Managing Director, FVC

Last year, FVC restructured its business model and exited the cloud services business.

“We realised cloud services require a direct engagement model and doesn’t support a two-tier distribution model. Now, we are focusing our business around unified communications, application delivery and information security,” says K. S. Parag.

As part of its strategy to help partners identify vertical-specific opportunities, the VAD continued to add more pre-sales engineers and expanded executive briefing centres in Saudi Arabia and the UAE to provide training for its partners and customers.

“In 2012, we opened an office in Kenya that offers sales and pre-sales support to our existing partners across East Africa. We believe in being close to our partners’ markets in order to understand their needs and to add value,” says Parag.

FVC has also expanded its product portfolio by signing up Sangoma that offers Microsoft Lync solutions and Revolabs for video conferencing related solutions.

“Now, we are looking to add more vendors, especially around GRC and BYOD security,” says Parag.

Being one of the few distributors with its own dedicated partner programme, FVC believes in providing technology know-how and support to enable and empower its channel. It provides a range of marketing collateral and access to online sales tools in addition to giving partners the opportunity to offer a ‘try and buy’ option for select technology to their customers.

FVC has recently expanded its Dubai Executive Briefing centre, used for Tech Cafes and training and certification courses, to include at least three more demo rooms especially for unified communications.

Another major milestone for the company was the launch of SILEX (Smart Interactive Live Experience) for an enhanced learning experience. The solution, developed by FVC’s team in Lebanon, provides a packaged solution for the education sector leveraging mobile technology.

The channel is changing. At least, that’s how Lee Reynolds, Managing Director, Computerlinks, sees things.

“I think the channel now, in comparison to a decade or even five years ago, is a completely different animal,” he says. “There is much more market intelligence available and being used by our partners, and we’re happy to see this evolution, as it matched our own belief that the Middle East is fast-moving from emerging to mature market status.”

That said, Reynolds admits that the last year or so has been tough on the region’s IT channel.

However, while most say that it was tough for partners to keep their businesses going, Reynolds says that 2012 was difficult in other ways.

“It was a pretty tough year, however I think the difficulties were not in areas such as project approval or infrastructure deployment and/or upgrades,” he says. “The real challenge for most was the complex task of maximising budget efficiency whilst maintaining healthy cash flow – this applied all the way down to the end user level.”

However, while many channel players struggled, Reynolds says that Computerlinks managed to do quite well out of 2012.

“Well, we’ve certainly managed growth in a difficult time,” he says. “We’ve increased our local team to more than 70 people now and, if you look at the likes of McAfee with 10 people, or EMC with more than 20, you can see that we’re not afraid to put resources into a product, especially where we see such opportunity for growth.”

So how did the likes of Computerlinks and its partners manage to weather the economic storm of 2012, which brought with it a credit crunch, ever-declining margins and IT department cutbacks?

“Project consultancy, professional services, project management, 24/7 support contracts – these are all areas where we’ve seen our channel develop their businesses not only to make healthier profits but maybe more importantly to position themselves as the number-one choice in the customer’s eyes,” Reynolds says.

Lee Reynolds Managing Director, Computerlinks

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Cover feature Leaders and luminaries

Mario Gay General Manager, Mindware

“Last year was the best year in 21 years of our history, both in terms of sales growth and market share in key strategic markets,” says Mario Gay, General Manager of Mindware, while many other distributors have struggled to weather the storm.

“We have seen growth across software and hardware, and acquired many new partners. We have around 2,500 active partners across the region and we are committed to adding value to the channel,” says Gay. Mindware has recently introduced a channel loyalty programme to enhance value to its current incentive programme and to reward partners for their sales efforts.

And last year, Mindware added Emerson Networks, Motorola Solutions and Lenovo to its growing portfolio.

Though value-addition means different things to different people, Gay defines it as having an end-to-end approach.

“It is about pre-sales engineers, account management, channel managers, and

providing partners with demo gear and technical training,” he says.

Mindware aligns itself with the vendor partners’ strategies and has increased the number of pre-sales consultants who work with partners to meet their customers’ requirements.

Gay says the training and certification of partners is another key focus area for the company. “Along with vendors, we conduct both sales and technical sales trainings and it’s our responsibility to make sure that competencies are passed on to the channel.

We conduct regular training camps along with vendors such as Citrix, Symantec and Juniper across the most active markets including UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi.”

Plans for 2013? “We have to maintain the growth momentum and explore opportunities in greenfield markets like Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s no longer a market that is growing by itself; you have to go out there and look around for opportunities for growth,” sums up Gay.

Perhaps one of the main reasons why Optimus Technology & Telecommunications has managed to weather the economic storm so well is that its top brass have always maintained an air of caution about them.

Meera Kaul, Managing Director at the distributor, illustrates this perfectly when speaking about the tough 2012 that the regional channel faced.

“Though the business environment was predicted to have improved from last year, the spend is still sluggish. Most lucrative projects are delayed or pushed to the later half of the year,” she says. “ However, the good part is that the channel is building a funnel of customer spend and, if this spend happens in time, the rest of the year can be a phenomenal one.”

Kaul is pragmatic in her approach to doing business. While many distributors highlight emerging technologies such as cloud and mobility as possible growth areas, the Optimus MD says that it’s better to begin with solid foundations before becoming involved in hyped-up new trends.

“Despite the hype created by publications and events around the newer business models, the majority of our end customers are still in the infancy of planning their technology readiness infrastructures,” she says. “The focus that the channel should have is to grow and evolve this infrastructure and build innovations that work regionally for our end customers, rather than follow the global maturity curve to no consequence.”

Kaul highlights the launch of Optimus Ventures – which aims to fund, grow and position more innovation into the regional channel – as a major success for Optimus over the past year.

In terms of Optimus’ other successes, Kaul adds that the distributor has on-boarded a number of new vendors in 2013 and adopted an aggressive go-to-market strategy for them.

It’s all about value with these new vendors, though the definition of value isn’t so clear-cut: “Value is a moving goal post. I don’t think the definition of value has remained the same since even six months back,” Kaul says.

Meera Kaul Managing Director, Optimus Technology & Telecommunications

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Cover feature Leaders and luminaries

Mohammad Mobasseri Senior Vice President, Comguard

Security might be seen as a pretty safe market at the moment, but before the hype hit last year, security-focused distributors like Comguard were feeling the pinch of the recession.

That said, according to Mohammad Mobasseri, Senior Vice President, Comguard, things have picked up since last year.

“This year, I think, has shown some great signals from the beginning. We had a great project, which was pending from 2012, and our channel partners in different countries have also closed big projects, and have actually grown their businesses perfectly,” he says.

To keep up the momentum, Mobasseri says that Comguard has gone heavy on events during 2013. From low-key technical training seminars to full-on Middle East partner conferences organised in conjunction with vendors, these events have lifted Comguard’s standing among both its vendors and its partners.

“We started with a great action plan, which we actually planned in December 2012. I spoke with all my team members, and said that we have to have a great plan for 2013,” Mobasseri

says. “We started with a lot of training – technical and sales and so on.”

It isn’t just the events that have helped Comguard lift itself out of the 2012 slump, however – Mobasseri says that the next generation of security technology has also played a part in the channel’s success.

“For example, a vendor like Kaspersky has added a lot of features to its anti-virus product and called it endpoint security. They added encryption, they added data leakage prevention, and so on. So our resellers now have more room to go and talk to customers and offer them endpoint protection rather than just anti-virus,” he explains.

And to ensure that its partners are properly trained on next-gen technologies, Comguard has been working hard to reward those who want to skill up through a rewards programme.

“If they do more sales training, technical training, POCs, seminars and all of these things, they gain more, let’s say, points or miles,” Mobasseri says. “This not only increases the level of trust in our partners, but it also reduces the number of support cases.”

Part of a large business group with diverse interests, Emax Electronics is fast emerging as one of the largest retail chains in the region.

Emax, which created a record of sorts by opening four outlets within a month, now has 43 stores across the region.

“Since opening our first retail store in 2006, we have grown our presence across the GCC and our plan is to have 50 stores by the end of this year,” says Neelesh Bhatnagar, CEO, Emax Electronics.

Emax currently represents more than 800 brands spanning 20-plus categories, and has seen a huge jump in the sales of smartphones, DSLR cameras and TVs. “We have already seen a 40-percent spike in sales, mainly from mobility products and exceeded our targets by 25 percent during Gitex Shopper 2013,” says Bhatnagar.

The retailer also went on a marketing blitzkrieg during this year’s Dubai Shopping Festival, spending Dh8 million on advertising and promotional activity.

Bhatnagar says enhancing customer

experience at its stores is the main goal for Emax: “We want our stores to become learning hubs, not just trading outlets, so that customers can experience the product before buying it.”

To achieve this, Emax has developed special zones around product categories in its stores and invests heavily in training its staff.

“We get our staff trained because we want to adopt more of a consultative selling approach,” says Bhatnagar.

Along with opening new stores in all the major malls, Emax has also revamped its existing stores to improve the look and feel, and to offer more choice to consumers.

Emax has received a number of industry recognitions over the years for its contribution of the organised retail sector, including the Super Retailer of the Year accolade from Reseller Middle East last year. “Going forward, we are also looking the opportunities in e-tailing space to have a multi-channel trading strategy, which will complement our brick-andmortar stores,” says Bhatnagar.

Neelesh Bhatnagar CEO, Emax Electronics

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Cover feature Leaders and luminaries

Raj Shankar Managing Director, Redington Gulf

With operations in over 15 countries spanning the Middle East and Africa and solutions from 30-plus vendors in the portfolio, Redington Gulf is the largest distribution house in the region.

Having worked its way to the top with an aggressive expansion strategy and unmatched supply chain efficiencies, this distribution powerhouse straddles both value and volume aspects of the business with ease.

For Raj Shankar, Managing Director of Redington Gulf, the secret behind the company’s success is focus on profitable growth. “We strongly pursue sustainable growth and ensure our business is profitable.

We have seen growth in all the product lines we have in the portfolio and were able to strike the right balance between top-line and bottom line growth.”

While competition and poor profitability remain the biggest challenges for distributors in the region, Redington Gulf has streamlined its operation efficiencies and gauged the dynamics in the regional market to drive growth, riding on a range of products.

While a weakened and uncertain economy has forced many distributors in the region to rethink the way they offer and extend credit and financing to partners, Shankar says Redington has been insulated from risks.

“Credit is still an issue in the channel but we have put no restriction on it. In fact, I am proud of the fact that Redington has zero bad debts because we are prudent and have very well-defined credit management policies in place,” he says.

Redington is also one of the first broadline distributors in the region to branch out into value business by setting up a dedicated value-added distribution arm: “These are completely different entities with their own management structure, go-to-market strategies thought they share common back-end infrastructure such as finance and logistics.”

Though cloud’s impact on technology distribution is a hot topic, Shankar says these are still early days. “We are still in the process of formulating our cloud strategy. And I don’t think cloud is going to make distribution redundant.”

Everyone knows that hardware resellers are struggling with declining margins, but things haven’t been so tough in the software sphere – just ask Ramzi Itani, Regional Channel Director for the Middle East and Africa, Symantec.

“I wouldn’t say 2012 was very tough.

We have seen a shift from the customers’ projects towards looking at the market trends that are coming. And we’ve seen much more complexity on our partners’ projects.”

However, Itani doesn’t think that his partners have weathered the economic storm simply because they’re selling software instead of hardware: “We anticipated this by working very closely with our partners and with the analysts.

And we prepared our partners by working very jointly with them,” he says.

Part of this preparation over the past couple of years included a drive by Symantec to encourage its partners to become more specialised.

“Specialisation, for us, has been a key factor for the success of our partners. If we compare specialist partners and non-specialist partners, we have seen massive growth in

terms of their business, profitability, value, what they’re offering, and trust with the customer,” he says.

Itani adds that specialisation has allowed partners to position themselves as consultants, which has in turn earned customer trust. Ramzi insists that, for Symantec, helping partners achieve this is what makes the security vendor so well trusted.

“We focus on developing our partners,” he says. “And we’ve focused as well on working very jointly on a single message, a single story, going to the customer and addressing their needs, and playing a key advisory role to the customers.”

And what of declining margins? Well, Itani says that Symantec places a huge importance on developing its partners’ profits.

“We’re a software company, and we work to always make our programme a very flexible programme to our partners. Our major priority is the profitability of our partners. We want to help our partners grow their profit, rather than grow their business only – it has to be both,” he says.

Ramzi Itanti Regional Channel Director for the Middle East and Africa, Symantec

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Advertorial

A service-centric design for datacentre infrastructure

Ahmed Youssef, Business Development Manager: Network Infrastructure, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise MEA

F

or as long as data networks have been supporting organisations, IT has been driving the decision-making in the business. But over the past few years, there’s been a fundamental shift, with the demands of users and consumers fuelling a change from an infrastructure-centric to a service-centric model. This is due to the rise of mobility and the increasing adoption of bring your own device (BYOD) policies.

According to Ahmed Youssef, Business Development manager for Network Infrastructure, ME and Africa at Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, this has significantly changed the approach to network development. He says this new paradigm where the users effectively call the shots means mere power and speed are no longer enough.

“Throwing additional bandwidth at the problem will not make it go away. What is now required is intelligence in the network. Today, networks need to be designed in a way that makes them capable of effectively handling mobility. People want freedom of movement and of the device, but this creates security headaches for IT. So your datacentre needs to be context-aware – it must be able to answer the ‘who, what, why, where and when’ conundrum,” he says.

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“Because there are multiple factors to take into account, including device, point of access, what applications are running, etc., the network today needs to be intelligent. Alcatel-Lucent focusses on crafting the appropriate design to enable this. We create context awareness via what we refer to as the application-fluent network, which takes into account factors such as the user, the device and the application, thereby providing a more appropriate user experience.”

Streamlined and self-healing Youssef says Alcatel-Lucent has developed a network that is more streamlined and is selfhealing. This means it’s far less susceptible to failure and its reliability means administrators need not be as hands-on as they have to be with older technologies.

“Our goal is to be able to handle the convergence of connecting everything via one network, which is why our networks are streamlined and efficient. For example, instead of utilising multiple layers of physical switches, we’re collapsing this down to single layer. This reduces complexity and capital expenditure.

“Furthermore, Alcatel-Lucent has always had a reputation for being green, so our switches are extremely energy-efficient. And since a single layer of switches requires far less rack space, we’re also playing our part in reducing the energy consumption and the heating and cooling costs of the datacentre.”

automated, self-healing network that reduces the need for management and administration. This, in turn, means that manpower traditionally used for this can be redeployed within the business, improving its efficiency.

Asked about the future of the datacentre, Youssef says that for the foreseeable future, the foundation of a successful operation will be built on switch performance, design of the network and its intelligence.

“The other crucial factor is to ensure the design is based on open standards; going the proprietary route will likely lead to vendor lock-in. I believe this revolution in datacentre design is all about supporting new demands and tackling new challenges. To do so effectively, the customer must be flexible enough to change with market demands.

“By ensuring your platform is interoperable, you’re able to shift as the market shifts, without having to rip and replace your entire infrastructure. The key to staying ahead of the pack is to be able to adapt and change swiftly as new technologies or ideas come along.

To successfully pull this off, you need an infrastructure that’s intelligent, self-healing and flexible,” he concludes.

However, the biggest value proposition the company’s next generation networks offer, he believes, is in the total cost of ownership. This is achieved by reducing both capex – through the reduction in the number of switch layers – and opex. This is done not only by reducing the costs of heating and cooling, but also by having a fully

www.fvc.com

Cover feature Leaders and luminaries

S.M. Hussaini General Manager, Almoayyed Computers

It’s easy to forget that some countries in the Middle East are having a much tougher time than others. And according to S.M. Hussaini, General Manager, Almoayyed Computers, Bahrain’s market was hit hard last year.

“You can’t really compare Bahrain with the rest of the Middle East, because of all the upheaval that has gone on here over the past couple of years,” he says.

Because of the political issues, many of Bahrain’s players were forced to dig in and weather a hurricane of economic woes.

But Hussaini says that the market is beginning to pick up again. Political troubles have largely subsided, and businesses are feeling more confident, meaning they’re more willing to invest in large-scale IT projects that require expert advice and guidance. Indeed, Almoayyed’s biggest customer seems to be the Bahraini government.

“We’ve had quite a few big projects coming in from some of the ministries,” Hussaini says.

“There’s definitely confidence back in the market, and the government is beginning to

implement some large-scale IT projects. It’s very encouraging.”

That said, larger enterprises are also taking an interest in Almoayyed’s services once again.

As stability returns to the country, more and more businesses are beginning to dig in for the long haul, meaning they need to rethink their enterprise architectures.

Hussaini hasn’t counted all his chickens yet, though – the eggs are still yet to hatch.

Though he is optimistic on growth for 2013, he believes that Bahrain’s channel still needs to think more carefully about their value propositions before it can really start getting down to business.

“Value-addition is becoming about the service that you get when you buy the products,” he says. “Customers want more support in their implementations, and they want to deal with professionals.”

Having survived a tumultuous time in Bahrain, Almoayyed seems well placed to deliver on these aims. The future’s looking bright for this systems integrator.

Dubai Computer Group (DCG) was formed in 2007 to create a common platform for vendors, distributors and resellers to address the challenges that partners face on a daily basis. Since its inception, DCG has around 150 members, who come together to discuss issues that plague the market.

“There are more than 2,000 traders registered with the Dubai Chamber of Commerce. What we do is provide them with a platform to unite and discuss the business issues affecting them in the market. We have monthly meetings to discuss the issues and challenges resellers face,” says Shailendra Ruggwani, President of DCG. Rugwani says DCG is striving to keep the market clean and transparent, and project IT dealers in the Dubai channel in the right light: “We still have issues related to credit and unrealistic inventory levels in the channel, which resulted in a spate of runaways in the past. Now, we have created awareness among our members about these issue.”

Perhaps the most important accomplishment of DCG is the customs duty exemption it obtained from Dubai Customs on IT and consumer electronics products last year. “After prolonged negotiations, we managed to get customer duty exemption on a wide arrange of products including computers, components, printers and peripherals, which gave a much-needed shot in the arm for resellers in Dubai,” says Rughwani.

DCG also recently tied up with Emirates Intellectual Property Association (EIPA) to curb the menace of software piracy.

Though customs duty exemptions in other markets in GCC have impacted Dubai’s stature as a re-exports hub, Rugwani says there are new markets opening up in Africa, offering a wealth of opportunities to the traders in Dubai’s highstreet.

“There is a healthy demand for PCs and related peripherals in African markets, though it might be down in Gulf countries due to the huge surge in popularity of tablets reflecting the global trend,” he says.

Shailendra Rughwani President, Dubai Computer Group

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Cover feature Leaders and luminaries

Steve Lockie Managing Director, Westcon Group

Steve Lockie, Managing Director of Westcon Group, believes the divisional approach focused on security, convergence, infrastructure and mobility has helped his company survive the market upheaval and sustain the growth momentum. The VAD offers best-in-class technologies to its partners and has sharpened up its focus on areas such as data centre, collaboration and physical security.

“BYOD coupled with video collaboration is driving the market growth now, and our aim to have specific offerings around they key opportunities to our partners. We are also seeing a greater maturity and specialisation in the channel to address the needs of regional enterprises,” says Lockie.

Given the fact that some of these technologies are complex and new to the market, a key focus area for Westcon is channel development and preparing the partners to cash in on these opportunities.

“We encourage our partners to specialise in particular technologies so that they can deploy and support these complex

solutions. We organise focused training programmes and events to enhance the core competencies of our partners so that they can develop the market for these new opportunities,” says Lockie.

As part of its value-added services, Westcon supports its partners through the sales cycle and a case in point is its ServiceVantage offering. It is designed to help onboard partners and guide them during the initial phases of installation on new technologies provided by the Group.

In addition, the VAD has made available an e-business tool to enable partners to check stock availability and prices of products online.

Westcon’s efforts towards developing a healthy channel eco-systems have been recognised by its vendor partners as it bagged many awards from the likes of Avaya, Juniper Networks, Motorola Solutions and APC. “The key to profit and growth this year for us is the focus on the commercial sector, especially SMBs and ensuring partners are fully equipped to capture this growth,” says Lockie.

Riverbed has grown out of its WAN optimisation roots to evolve as a performance platform company with the acquisition of companies such as Zeus and Aptimise.

“Now, our central message is around an IT performance platform that will optimise infrastructure to drive application performance and delivery in a secure manner. Though WAN optimisation is still our flagship product, we also play in application firewalls, webcontent optimisation, and application-aware network performance management,” says the company’s newly appointed GM for the region, Taj El-Khayat.

Perhaps, the most important buy for Riverbed was that of Zeus, which allowed the company to foray into the fast growing virtual ADC (application delivery controllers) market.

The portfolio was further enhanced by Aptimise, which is a web-content optimisation company and Opnet that enabled Riverbed to expand its network performance management business.

El-Khayat says this shift in strategic

direction has an impact on the company’s go-to-market strategy and partners. “This represents a new way in addressing the market and we will drive our partner’s skill sets around the value proposition we are bringing to the table,” he says.

As part of this plan, Riverbed has recently made changes to its partner programme by introducing technology authorisation path (TAP), which allows partners to leverage their strengths and access training in that area.

El-Khayat says Riverbed remains committed to its partners and is giving the channel additional opportunities to make better margins.

“Be it a traditional VAR, service provider or systems integrator, the opportunities are equal to design and sell solutions and services centred around our enhanced portfolio. We work with managed services providers to cater to the customers who are interested in an Opex model and channel partners to address customers who are still interested in Capex,” El-Khayat says.

Taj El-khayat General Manager, Riverbed

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Cover feature Leaders and luminaries

Tamer Ismail Executive President, BDL Group

While many distributors in the Middle East have had to consolidate in recent years, Saudi Arabia’s BDL Group has gone from strength to strength. The distributor has reported a 15-percent year-on-year growth rate over the last three years, and it claims to now serve over 2,700 resellers.

What’s more, the distributor jumped with serious determination into the smartphone and tablet market in 2012, hoping to accommodate the mobility trend that is sweeping the regional IT market. Indeed, it’s becoming something of a focus for the BDL Group now.

But given the low margins usually associated with these products, isn’t this something of a risky move? Tamer Ismail, Executive President, BDL Group, doesn’t think so.

“In Saudi Arabia, we’re seeing healthy growth for these products,” he says. “We’re not placing everything on them, but it’s good to have them in our portfolio, and our partners are gaining a lot of value from having the choice.”

BDL believes it has the perfect selection of products for the Saudi market. And it sees

a growing demand for these vendors in the Kingdom.

Of course, BDL is still involved in the hightech arena, too, and Ismail believes this his company is delivering more value when it comes to this segment. The distributor offers its partners pre-sales support, solution sizing, proof of concepts and training in order to help them grow.

“When you talk about value, you have to think about more than just selling the box – you need to offer both your partners and your vendors something more. This is how we do business, and it’s how we’ve managed to see such good growth over the past year,” Ismail says.

BDL isn’t limited to Saudi Arabia, either, having opened warehouses in the UAE, Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain and Qatar.

So how does Ismail see the remainder of the year panning out?

“I’m very optimistic about achieving good growth again,” he says. “We have been showing good growth for the last few years, and I see no reason to doubt that we won’t grow more during 2013.”

Is there an opportunity in crisis? Definitely in the case of Avaya. “We have been having conversations with the market around BYOD, video, data centres, virtualisation and social media for the last two years, and all of it became ripe in 2012. Enterprises in the region started to look how they could harness these technologies to optimise their IT infrastructure, which was perfect for us,” says Tanya Lobo.

She says IT decision markets started looking at vendors and channels for flexible engagement models, and this paved the way for Avaya’s growth in the region.

Lobo adds Avaya treats it channel as an asset and depends on it to grow its business in the region.

“A lot of vendors would go out there, hire resellers and let them compete among themselves. We believe in a value-added distribution model where the channel is truly empowered. We let them compete on skills, value they bring to the table, end-user relationships, and we think an overexposed channel is not a good idea,” she says.

Last year, Avaya introduced its mid-market solutions. “Unlike others, we don’t strip down enterprise class products and push it down to the mid-market. We are offering SMEs the same features and functionalities that large enterprises would get so that they can compete better. The market response has been phenomenal, and we also made video mobile and within the reach of smaller companies,” says Lobo.

She says Avaya has been rewarded for its partner loyalty: “Even during tough times, we didn’t panic and run away from troubled markets such as Egypt and Libya. Now, that has really paid off because it’s amazing how channel partners and customers respond to loyalty.”

As part of its channel enablement initiatives, Avaya has established a training centre in Dubai Silicon Oasis. “We don’t just teach them the solution but how to sell it, and these pitches are being led by our country leaders. We are sharing the market with our channel and empower them to drive the business for us. We believe in teaching them how to fish, rather than giving them fish.”

Tanya Lobo Channel and Distribution Director, Avaya

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MultiPad • MultiPhone • MultiReader • RoadRunner DVR

www.prestigio.com

feature Big Data

Big opportunities  Big Data is being touted as a big opportunity for the channel to make mega bucks. Should you jump onto the bandwagon now or adopt a cautionary approach?

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Recently, Gartner declared 2013 as the year of Big Data after a global survey. The hype around Big Data is slowly giving way to real-world implementations, and industry experts expect this trend to accelerate further in the coming years. In this context, it is important for the channel to get a grip on what it really means and how channel players can seize the opportunities in this space.

Big Data is still in the early adoption stage, and some select verticals in the Middle East, such as airlines, are already

in the process of running PoCs. It may not be an immediate business opportunity for resellers but it is imperative for them to understand the Big Data phenomenon and also invest in the right technologies to cash in on this trend.

“Big Data is currently one of the key IT discussion points among Middle East businesses, and being able to manage and extract value from Big Data is certainly becoming an increasingly important objective for them,” says Abdullah AlSwaha, Director, Partner Organisation and Commercial, Cisco.

Fadi Yousef, Managing Director, Axeldata Systems, agrees that the Big Data market in the region is in the early stages of development. “Organisations are starting to realise that there is tremendous benefit that can be obtained from collecting and analysing unstructured data. Furthermore, combining unstructured data with structured data is opening doors for better insight that can have immediate effect on company profitability and longterm competitiveness. Moreover, after many years of growth, organisations in the Middle East are starting to struggle with the volumes of data they have to deal with, and they are starting to question whether traditional approaches are enough to help them solve the new challenges of volume, velocity and variety of data,” he says.

He expects the uptake to accelerate as companies start to understand how new

“We see many opportunities for Big Data here, especially in industries such as telcos, oil& gas, banks, utilities and logistics. Companies that do not have various technology platforms and solutions will benefit more from an unified architecture before embarking on Big Data implementation.”

Eric Joulie, Vice President, Western Europe, Teradata

technologies can help them. “There are already customers here that are either in advanced stages of Big Data technology adoption or undergoing proof of concepts for particular use cases.”

This has attracted the attention of many Big Data vendors and a case in point is Teradata. “We see many opportunities for Big Data here, especially in industries such as telcos, oil and gas, banks, utilities and logistics. Companies that do not have various technology platforms and solutions will benefit more from an unified architecture before embarking on Big Data implementation. The Middle East has this advantage because the companies here don’t have much legacy, so can move faster towards Big Data,” says Eric Joulie, Vice President, Western Europe, Teradata.

“Organisations are starting to realise that there is tremendous benefit that can be obtained from collecting and analysing unstructured data. It can have immediate effect on company profitability and long-term competitiveness.”

Meera Kaul, Managing Director, Optimus Technology and Telecommunications

Should you bite?

Like their enterprise customers, the channel recognises the potential of Big Data.

However, says Al-Swaha, the main barrier to selling Big Data solutions is that the channel is still learning and trying to grasp the opportunities and the tools available.

“Traditionally, it has taken longer for resellers and their customers to understand the cost and efficiency benefits from pioneering technology solutions. This was certainly the case when cloud computing entered the market and Big Data is no different. The channel needs to work more closely with the right technology vendors to be educated about the vast benefits for their customers in adopting Big Data solutions— such as improving performance and market execution; creating customer centric organizations; mitigating risk—and how to effectively sell these solutions,” he adds.

Yousuf, from Axeldata, believes the main challenge associated with Big Data solutions is the lack of skill sets in the region. “At the end of the day, Big Data technologies work, but what is more important is what useful insight can be obtained through the use of those technologies, and this aspect is more relevant to customers. For this reason, we at Axeldata Systems have been very careful to fill this gap with the right skill sets that can speed up the adoption of Big Data solutions and can address customers’ main business issues.”

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feature Big Data

The opportunities around Big Data for resellers are many and it is very important for partners to figure out which aspect of Big Data they want to play in. Al-Swaha says that the Big Data explosion has given rise to business intelligence data mining, as well as analytics spanning market research, behavioral modeling and inference-based decision-making.

“Resellers have an opportunity to help enterprises address the Big Data challenge with a new set of software and solutions.

The greatest opportunity for the channel lies in providing consultancy to enterprises on how to address business problems by tapping into the potential of Big Data. The channel could elevate itself to becoming true partners of enterprises,” he adds.

It’s also a good idea for partners to keep an eye on the most talked-about Big Data solutions coming out of the oven this year. “Some of the hottest topics right now are in-memory analytics and SQL-on-Hadoop. In-memory solutions enable real-time data exploration on large volumes of data, and SQL-on-Hadoop is a response to customer feedback that will ease the adoption of Hadoop within traditional enterprise environments,” says Yousuf.

Joulie from Teradata says the vendor recently unveiled its in-memory technology, dubbed Teradata Intelligent Memory, which manages the data in this new space by predictively placing the most frequently used data into memory, and then automatically updating and synchronising it.

Should the channel act on Big Data now, or else wait for the market to mature a little? “With information growth exceeding Moore’s Law, the average enterprise will need to manage 50 times more information by the year 2020. With this in mind, Big Data offers the channel a new and lucrative market potential. The channel has an opportunity to identify organisations that are early technology adopters and to help these organisations to unlock the potential of Big Data, even in the smallest way possible, to make savings and deliver operational and competitive advantage,” sums up Al-Swaha. //

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Channelling Big Data Zaeem Ahmed, Channel Manager, TechAccess offers his thoughts on how companies can tool up for and leverage Big Data, as well as the challenges the region faces in doing so.

There is a growing need for organisations to perform greater and faster data analytics on their data sets. But this can’t be achieved without rethinking current network architectures of data warehouses to ensure information is accessible and scalable for meeting future challenges.

Many companies are now rethinking traditional approaches for performing analytics. Instead of downloading data to local desktops or servers, they are running complex analytics in the database management system itself.

The in-database analytics minimises or eliminates data movement, improves query performance, and optimises model accuracy by enabling analytics to run against all data at a detailed level, instead of against samples or summaries.

Tooling up It is imperative to understand what is the type and nature of business, who is looking at Big Data and what is the current data warehouse architecture to address these challenges.

Networks play an integral part in setting up the foundation, be it the traditional data centre approach with multi-vendor hardware and software environments, or an infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and

cloud-based approach. It enables you to fire terabytes of data around quickly at a very low cost, while considering the network implications from a tool-up perspective.

Organisations can avoid expense by using a monolithic architecture, where they may have large numbers of servers and shared storage and so on. But it’s all a single architecture model that allows you to optimise subsections of infrastructure easily.

It turns out that the exact same form of optimisation works exceptionally well for Big Data. Also, considering Big Data appliances to be toppled at your existing network architectures is the best approach to put in use of traditional network.

Skills shortage The concept of Big Data is well perceived by businesses. TechAccess channel partners are aggressively positioning the Big Data value for their customers by radicalising its imminent impact and benefits for them.

Awareness and actionable initiatives to adapt Big Data are much more effective if we compare it with cloud. We can see a big spend by Fiscal Year 2014 within the Middle East in data warehouses upgrading their network and infrastructure to deploy, manage and adapt Big Data and its analytical bits.

However, while technology and data volumes are expanding at a substantial rate, research has highlighted there is a shortage of workers with the deep analytical skills to handle data.

Finding the right people for the job and cost of upgrades at the commercial context of an organisation, especially at the right price, could prove the biggest barrier to organisations benefiting from Big Data.

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Opinion IBM

How to make real-world use of Big Data What is so new about Big Data, the tech buzzword that is attracting so much attention these days? Ahmed Auda, Business Unit Executive, IBM Middle East Software Group, pares the fat for partners.

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After all, plenty of organisations, from global telecommunications companies to stock exchanges, have been handling and sifting though massive amounts of data for years.

But in fact, three important trends are converging to usher in a new era of Big Data, one that will fundamentally transform how businesses operate and how they engage with customers, suppliers, partners, and employees.

The first seismic change is in the area of mass digitisation. Today, through the use of instrumentation, such as RFID technology, companies and individuals can monitor, in real time, everything from the status of a bullet train racing across the countryside to hourly energy usage in their homes and even individual appliances.

The second trend is social media. People around the world are communicating and interacting via social networks in ways that were unimaginable only a few years ago.

And the final trend is the advancement that we have seen in the area of technology that enables organisations to store, access, and analyse these huge new streams of data.

The convergence of these three trends is enabling organisations to efficiently leverage massive amounts of new kinds of data to make more informed decisions and deliver tremendous value throughout the enterprise.

Leading organisations who are taking advantage of Big Data are deriving real results, according to the Big Data @ Work study, conducted by the IBM Institute of Business Value and the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford. The study findings show that 63 percent of those surveyed report that the use of information and analytics, including Big Data, is creating a competitive advantage for their organisations, up from 37 percent just two years ago—a 70 percent increase.

For instance, McLeod Russel India Limited completely eliminated systems downtime in the tea trade through more accurate tracking of the harvest, production, and marketing of more than 100 million kilos of tea annually.

Meanwhile, South Africa’s largest short-term insurance provider, Santam, used advanced analytics to collect data about incoming claims, automatically assessing each one against different factors to help identify patterns of fraud in order to save millions in fraudulent insurance payments, while at the same time drastically reducing the processing time for legitimate claims.

The survey highlighted consistent approaches that successful companies are taking as they progress their Big Data initiatives: Focus initially on customers: For many organisations, the greatest value associated with Big Data is in the area of customer analytics. By using Big Data to truly understand customer preferences and anticipate future behavior, companies can significantly improve customer service and loyalty. In the era of the digitally empowered consumer, this is crucial.

Customer information and analytics can

analytical models and methods, this data is delivering valuable new insights into customers, suppliers, marketing campaigns, pricing programmes and employee leadership potential, among other things.

Develop analytics skills based on business priorities: As reflected in the study, one of the major inhibitors of Big Data success is the lack of requisite analytical and technical Big Data skills. The success of Big Data projects will hinge on closing this gap. Organisations have to invest in not only the tools, but also the combination of business, technical and analytical skills required to deliver on the promise of Big Data.

Craft business case with clear goals: Another challenge highlighted in the study is the need for organisations to develop a quantifiable business case necessary to advance their Big Data initiatives. To this end, successful organisations are deriving significant economic benefits in areas

“For many organisations, the greatest value associated with Big Data is in the area of customer analytics.

By using Big Data to truly understand customer preferences and anticipate future behaviour, companies can significantly improve customer service.” help companies connect with customers in new, more effective and relevant ways that enhance and personalise customer interactions and satisfaction.

Start with existing data: To achieve results, while building momentum for longer-term projects, companies are taking a pragmatic approach by taking advantage of existing information and technology. These organisations are gaining new insights from existing internal data, and then extending into new sources of data over time. In many organisations, the size and scope of this internal data, such as detailed point-of-sale transactions for retailers or call records for a telecom, is extremely large and clearly represents Big Data. By applying advanced

such as customer retention, marketing effectiveness, supply chain optimisation, real-time pricing, employee productivity, while at the same time reducing the costs associated with maintaining existing information management environments.

Another key lesson learned from leading organisations is that, to achieve success with Big Data, it is imperative that business and IT collaborate and work closely together. The fact is that Big Data means nothing as a technological advancement if it does not help organisations derive true business value by becoming smarter, more efficient, more responsive to customers, suppliers and employees and ultimately more profitable. //

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Partner connect

Connecting on storage At the latest Reseller Middle East Partner Connect event, channel players from across the region gathered to learn a little more about the storage landscape.

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There’s no denying that the storage market is on the up.

While some partners struggle in other areas of IT, those involved in storage are seeing an ever-increasing demand among customers. Put simply, businesses want to hold onto their overflowing libraries of data, and so they’re happy to invest in the storage to accommodate it.

It’s with this in mind that Reseller Middle East organised the latest event in its Partner Connect series. More informal than IT seminars usually are, the Partner Connect series of events aims to encourage networking and conversations among partners, so that they can all work out ways to tackle a particular issue.

On May 15, then, the order of the day was how to navigate the storage landscape.

After all, customers aren’t just looking to buy more storage—they’re also looking to reduce the complexities involved with storage, or

else find out how they can keep their storage running for a couple more years. Channel players are seeing this every day, and it’s up to them to advise their customers as best they can on how to move forward.

The evening began with a little networking in the H Hotel Dubai’s Empire Room. Weary partners, having just braved Sheikh Zayed Road’s intolerable rush-hour traffic, made their way in, hoping that the event was going to be provide something worth the effort. And they weren’t disappointed.

The event’s first speaker was Mohamed Aboualam, Business Development Manager, Storage Division, HP Middle East. He was there to inform partners on HP’s storage strategy, and previewed a number of the vendor’s newest storage solutions, on top of providing insight on how to position the products.

“First of all, customers want to generate value out of existing value, and they want to protect their businesses,” he said. “If we talk about trends, cloud is virtualisation in effect,

“For many organisations, the greatest value associated with Big Data is in the area of customer analytics.

By using Big Data to truly understand customer preferences and anticipate future behaviour, companies can significantly improve customer service.”

and 80 percent of all applications will be virtualised by 2015.”

Following Aboualam’s presentation, Sudheer Chathayil Subramanian, Storage and IT Solutions Specialist, Huawei Enterprise Business, Middle East, took the floor. His aim was to explain to the audience how to build the right-sized, flexible storage.

“What does the customer think about capacity?” he asked. “Does the data have to be block-level or file-level, or structured or unstructured? And what about performance?

Is it high-latency or low-latency? And after two years, if you want to expand, how scalable is it? Is it smooth to that?”

While the presentation proved a little technical for some members of the audience, it certainly raised some interesting questions.

And yet more interest was garnered from the next two presentations. Following Subramanian, Mahesh Vaidya, CEO, ISIT, provided an energetic talk on the future of storage. Where was storage going in the short-term, and where would be five years from now? His presentation attempted to answer these questions.

The last speaker of the evening was Andrew Calthorpre, CEO, Condo Protego, who provided perhaps the most illuminating talk of the event. He focused on what Condo Protego calls a reference architecture – getting the customer to decide on what their ideal set-up would be, and then implementing it piece by piece.

“How many customers go out and buy something for everything all at once?”

Calthorpe asked. “Hardly anybody. But everybody wants to get there eventually – that’s the thing. Building a reference architecture is the starting point. Where does the customer want to be if you had unlimited budget or time? Than work backwards.”

Calthorpe stressed the importance of taking a consultative approach to solution selling, getting customers to look at the big picture. And his words garnered approving nods from the rest of the room. And that was the evening finished. From then on, partners hung around the intimate meeting space discussing what they’d just heard. At least they were all a little wiser on the region’s storage landscape. //

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vendor focus GFI Software

Here to stay As a relatively new entrant in the Middle Eastern market, GFI Software could be forgiven for not knowing its audience. But at its second Middle East Partner Conference, GFI and sole distributor Comguard showed that the vendor had made a happy home out of the region.

David Ball, Director of Marketing, IT Operations, GFI

When Comguard became the Middle East’s sole distributor for GFI Software in 2011, by its own admission, it had a tough time convincing some partners that GFI was a vendor worth taking notice of.

The problem was that GFI positions its solutions towards the SMB market. And, at the time at least, many partners weren’t interested in taking on products that wouldn’t result in large, enterprise-class sales.

“The moment anyone mentioned SMBs, even a small company would step back. They’d

say, ‘I don’t want the solution, and it’s not going to be right for me,’” said Nandini Sapru, Channel Sales Manager, Comguard, at the conference, held at the Hilton Resort and Spa, in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE. Both GFI and Comguard must have felt pretty vindicated, then, when Sapru began reeling out GFI sales numbers. In 2012, the distributor saw a 21-percent increase in sales of GFI products in the Middle East.

This included a 19-percent increase in new business sales, making it the software vendor’s best year in the Middle East so far.

Sapru then broke down the Middle Eastern sales figures for 2012 into countryspecific numbers. She said that the UAE saw a 104-percent increase in GFI sales, while Saudi Arabia’s sales increased by 56 percent.

Meanwhile, Bahrain posted a 43-percent increase in sales.

Considering the growth of the SMB market in recent years, it’s little wonder why a vendor specifically targeting it is seeing good sales. Estimates say that there are around 10 million SMBs in the Middle East, and their total IT spend is around $192.9 billion. Gartner expects that number to reach $223 billion by 2016.

“We work in the zero-to-1,000 space, and we see that growing,” said Simon Azzopardi, Vice President, DACH and Emerging Markets, GFI. “The companies are regenerating, and the Middle East is home to many of them.”

However, having seen the growth numbers, some partners were anxious to find out if they can actually position GFI’s products towards larger customers.

Comguard and GFI responded in the affirmative; large customers such as Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Zayed University, National Bank of Bahrain, Abu Dhabi

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vendor focus GFI Software

Municipality and du have all implemented GFI solutions over the past year.

Sapru said that, though 95 percent of GFI’s customers worldwide are part of the SMB market, the distributor was beginning to target larger enterprises with GFI products.

“The average selling price (ASP) per order is increasing,” she said. “If you’re seeing a growth of ASP, it generally means you’re moving out of the SMB space. And the percentage increase for ASP is something we want to maintain.”

Which products would be best for this?

Well, GFI ran through the solutions that it felt were performing best in the region.

WebMonitor and MailArchiver had really done well over the past 12 months in the Middle East, though it wanted to push other products, too.

GFI put particular emphasis on the fact that a number of its products will soon be available as-a-service through cloud, giving it an edge over its competitors.

“GFI hasn’t stopped investing in our onpremise portfolio to do cloud, but we’ve taken the on-premise portfolio, adopted it for cloud and then we’ve carried on investing in the on-premise products,” said Azzopardi. “By the end of the year, we want to have eight or nine functionalities inserted into this portfolio.”

According to David Ball, Director of Marketing, IT Operations, GFI, this is hugely important because it gives the customer a choice—it allows partners to cater to those looking for cloud options, as well as those wanting on-premise solutions.

“Some people don’t want to put their software on a server in-house anymore.

They want to buy their software like they buy electricity—they want to rent it,” Ball told Reseller Middle East on the final day of the partner conference.

“Cloud, to different people, means different things. It can mean platform-as-aservice, infrastructure-as-a-service, softwareas-a-service—all the combined really is cloud.

And what we’re doing is we’re offering our functionality as-a-service. It’s entirely great for the customer, because they can now choose.”

Of course, Ball admitted that, with the on-premise software, you get more features, simply because the customer can play with it after deploying. When deploying a service designed for the masses, you’re only going to get the bare essentials—but then again, sometimes that’s all the customer wants.

But were the partners convinced?

Certainly, they were encouraged by talks from GFI’s technical representatives—GFI

“We have a very motivated and supportive team here at Comguard. I keep seeing you contact my team, which is great—keep them busy and keep asking them questions.”

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said that it was there to help, whether that be through answering customer queries or else providing full-on certification courses. Likewise, Comguard said that it was committed to helping its partners sell GFI products.

“We’re here to support you—not fight or compete with you,” Sapru told the delegates. “We address your customers, but that’s entirely for lead generation purposes. Very often—many of our partners would have noticed this—the customers will tell you that they heard from us, but it’s just to support you.

“We have a very motivated and supportive team here at Comguard. I keep seeing you contact my team, which is great—keep them busy and keep asking them questions. Keep asking for discounts—when you ask for discounts, we know the lead is alive and well.”

By the end of the event, following a glitzy prize-giving ceremony celebrating GFI’s most successful partners, everyone was convinced by Comguard’s pledges to keep GFI going strong over the next year. Certainly, the event was enough to convince GFI that it needn’t look around for any more regional distributors.

“You heard some growth numbers— long may they continue. And if it isn’t broke, don’t mend it,” said Ball. “It’s a business world we’re in, so never say never, but I don’t see any reason to change things. Since we’ve been sole distributor with Comguard, the work that they put in is there for everyone to see.

Why mess with that?” //

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vendor focus WatchGuard

Watch this space Seattle-based security vendor WatchGuard is keen on expanding its brand in the Middle East. Talking to Joe Lipscombe, its sales VP and newly recruited regional manager explain that a lack of brand awareness has stunted growth, but being the ‘nice guys’ who are willing to tackle areas that the major players aren’t is sure to take them to new heights.

It’s hard to put your finger on it.

WatchGuard has been in the Middle East for around seven years but still claims to have some major branding issues. However, the Americans clearly understand regional expertise and have recently employed the services of John Spoor, who has been in the area for the past six years, to elevate the company to a new level in the Middle East.

But how does a company that cannot possibly challenge the likes of Cisco, sizewise, go about this? WatchGuard claims that being a smaller, more dedicated, less arrogant organisation is the key.

“Larger companies who’ve been successful for 10 years or so become arrogant—in 10 years, we will become arrogant, but at least that gives us 10 years with our resellers,” jokes Ortodoro.

“We’re over 100 percent channel, I say.

We’re 100 percent channel, 100 percent of the time. We don’t deal with services, and we don’t sell directly. It’s all about our partners here.”

Ortodoro claims that WatchGuard’s key differentiators appear in a few stand-out ways. Firstly, he claims that many larger companies aren’t willing to approach resellers in areas that may be seen as “the middle of nowhere”, and secondly, that they pour

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extra money into renewal, as opposed to just focusing on new partners.

“Every region has its own middle of nowhere. Big companies don’t want to go there—we do because, in these areas, you’ll find one or two lonely resellers who are looking for your help, and there we are. If I do a seminar in Paris or London, I’ll attract maybe 10 or 12 people, because I’m not Steve Ballmer or Bill Gates, I’m just Philippe, and nobody cares. But if I go to Swindon, or Ipswich, a place I know well in the UK, which is a nightmare to get to, then I’ll attract around 70 people, because they really appreciate the effort.”

The next step Ortodoro says that the next step in the plan is to execute the marketing strategy on a regional scale, in order to cash in on the investment made here in the Middle East.

WatchGuard has a team made up of five people on the ground in the UAE—two distributors and three WatchGuard experts—and this team is responsible for driving the marketing of the brand and attracting new partners. But WatchGuard won’t take any old reseller on.

“The company needs to be a fit—it’s needs to be of the calibre we’re looking for. Usually, we will enter into talks with a customer, explain the product, discuss the needs, and then, when we’ve determined that they’re the right customer for us and our product is something they can benefit from, instead of doing the direct business, we introduce them to our reseller,” he explains.

“Every region has its own middle of nowhere. Big companies don’t want to go there—we do because, in these areas, you’ll find one or two lonely resellers who are looking for your help, and there we are.”

Philippe Ortodoro, VP EMEA Sales, WatchGuard

“The reseller can then choose to work with either of our two distributors, Logicom or Comguard, and then they move forward from there. We don’t ever trample on the reseller or integrator, no matter how big the customer.

For example, we have Etisalat—that’s a major customer here—and some big companies would see this and say that they work through the channel 100 percent of the time but not this time, and take over. We don’t—we have absolute faith in our partners.”

On top of this commitment, Ortodoro stresses that WatchGuard is also well aware of the importance of margin.

“Margin is good with our products, and that’s the most important thing for our partners.”

However, Ortodoro claims that in fact it’s the services which give the most rewarding margins, saying that the product to services margin ratio is one to three.

“It’s a high work rate that we have in place, but the benefits are high, too,” he says.

“The real challenge, and mission, is to make sure that we get a return on every marketing dollar that we spend. We spend wisely and choose our partners in an educated manner.”

John Spoor, Regional Manager, MEA, WatchGuard

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The goal Ortodoro believes that WatchGuard’s underlying passion and dedication to its partner programme can help it achieve its goal of winning more partners here. He claims that WatchGuard wishes to spend money with small integrators which are passionate, interesting and enthusiastic.

“It’s all about them—I’ve said it one million times before. If they don’t grow, we don’t grow.

If we want to grow 25 percent, we work 25 percent harder—it’s as simple as that.”

The new guy in town And to demonstrate that its commitment to the region is to be taken seriously, John Spoor was drafted in no more than a month ago to take the helm of the WatchGuard Middle East ship. Outlining his initial deliverables, he says that WatchGuard is facing an opportunity of real growth in the region, and even claims that it’s hoping to extend its ground force into Saudi Arabia.

“My first challenge is trying to convince Philippe to expand our marketing budget,” he laughs.

“But the real challenge, and mission, is to make sure that we get a return on every marketing dollar that we spend. We spend wisely and choose our partners in an educated manner, building them up to an educated level.

This is very important to us, and so to push that, and press on our marketing to increase our brand awareness, is certainly top priority— I’m confident that revenue will follow.” //

Analysis DISTREE Middle East

Ninth time’s a charm Having been held at a new venue in Abu Dhabi, the ninth DISTREE Middle East was arguably the most successful edition of the event yet. Tom Paye reports.

There’s no doubt at all that the last DISTREE event was a successful one. Delegates at the ninth annual DISTREE Middle East, held for the first time in Abu Dhabi in May, participated in 2,000-plus prescheduled one-on-one meetings, according to a post-event report.

Indeed, as a reporter hoping to catch a few off-the-cuff interviews in the Fairmont Bab Al Bahr Hotel’s exhibition hall, it was clear that the 600-plus visitors’ schedules were entirely full. Many stands were even left empty—on the first day, at least—as representatives from vendors frantically rushed from retailer to retailer for their next one-to-one meetings.

And when I did find distributors and vendors to speak to, they could only give me a moment of their time, before—politely, it must be said—asking me to excuse them for their next meetings. The guys from Creative, Trust, Linksys, Sony—pretty much everyone—were all happy to talk to me,

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Analysis DISTREE Middle East

it seemed, but could it be later over an evening coffee?

To be fair to the exhibitors, the agenda was always going to be hectic one, even without the pre-scheduled meetings. The conference programme included a keynote speech from GfK, vendor presentations, expert-led workshops, panel discussions and an interactive Strategy Forum that allowed senior vendor, distributor and retailer execs to exchange views on market issues and discuss development objectives.

Sessions from Accelerate International, Context, Kiki-Lab (Ebeltoft Group), Navo, Retrak, Strategy & Teams, and VIA were also part of the conference. There was also the ’60 Seconds to Convince’ prize-giving ceremony, as well as the final gala dinner on the last night.

But, as I said, most of the delegates had their time taken up by one-on-one meetings, as is the DISTREE way. The idea is to provide a way for vendors to speak to distributors and retailers. Meetings are pre-registered, and are done one-on-one, so each party can get a proper idea about what it would be like doing business together.

More than 65 brands participated in the event, according to the post-event report.

These consisted of everything from A-brand vendors to new regional players such as CAT Phones, which sees the Middle East as a strong growth market for its tough new Android device, the B15. I managed to keep a CAT Phones representative tied down for five minutes, to get some answers about how the brand wants to position itself.

“With the construction going on out here, it’s a really large market for us,” said Liam Marriott, Marketing Coordinator, Bullit Mobile, which is based in the UK and is representing CAT’s new devices at DISTREE Middle East.

“The other thing we have is the brand—it’s well-known out here. We want to make sure we do each market correctly, and the Middle East is one of CAT’s most prominent markets.”

Distributors such as Pro Tech, meanwhile, showed off stunning next-gen products from the United States, hoping to

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ME Retail Academy (MERA) During the gala dinner, delegates used a live electronic voting system to select winners across a number of vendor, retailer and distributor categories.

Volume distributor of the year: Redington Specialist distributor of the year: Redington Lifestyle PC vendor of the year: Dell, Samsung Tablet vendor of the year: Asus Smartphone and tablet accessories vendor of the year: Promate PC accessories vendor of the year: Logitech Imaging vendor of the year: Canon Storage vendor of the year: WD Printing vendor of the year: HP Smartphone vendor of the year: Samsung TV vendor of the year: Samsung Games vendor of the year: Sony Networking vendor of the year: Linksys Software vendor of the year: Kaspersky Audio vendor of the year: Bose Outstanding vendor performance of the year: Dell New vendor of the year: Huawei

Vendor/distributor executive of the year: Ayman Al-Ajouz, Seagate Retail executive of the year: Rahul Anand, Carrefour UAE retailer of the year: Carrefour Saudi Arabia retailer of the year: Jarir Bahrain retailer of the year: Lulu Kuwait retailer of the year: Alghanim (X-cite) Oman retailer of the year: Lulu Qatar retailer of the year: Carrefour, Lulu Egypt retailer of the year: Carrefour, CompuMe Jordan retailer of the year: Carrefour Lebanon retailer of the year: Khoury Home Outstanding retailer performance: Emax Retailer growth and development of the year: Emax E-tailer of the year: Souq.com In-store experience of the year: CompuMe Marketing initiative of the year: Alghanim (X-cite)

60 Seconds to Convince

This was a platform for dozens of brands to showcase their latest products to the region’s biggest retail buyers.

Best product design: CAT Phones – CAT B15 Best product innovation: Asus – PadFone Infinity Best overall presentation: CAT Phones – CAT B15

capitalise on gaps in the market. The Pro Tech stand garnered plenty of attention thanks to a 3D printer the distributor was showing off on behalf of one of its partners.

You can read my thoughts on the 3D printer in my column on the last page.

But how did the event go from a retailer’s perspective? Well, Srinath Nagajaran, Business Head of Mobility, ME Tablet from HCL, said that 2013 was the second time his firm had visited DISTREE Middle East.

“It has lived up to its promise,” he said.

“It is a great platform for us to engage with the key retailers across the region.”

Clearly other firms have taken note of how well DISTREE events are run—at the end of May, Infopro Digital announced that it was set to acquire DISTREE Events, and integrate the organiser into its retail division.

“The acquisition of DISTREE Events widens our international presence and allows us to create new shows with the founders of DISTREE Events,” said Christophe Czajka, President, Infopro Digital. //

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Interview Cisco

Den Sullivan, Head of Architectures for Emerging Markets, Cisco

Access to all Following the Dubai leg of Cisco’s Unified Access Roadshow, Den Sullivan, Head of Architectures for Emerging Markets, Cisco, talks about Unified Access’s role in the Middle East, software-defined networking and trash talking with Microsoft.

What’s the idea behind the Unified Access Roadshow?

We basically launched on January 30 in London, and what we’re doing is making the markets that I look after aware. We’re actually a little bit at the tail end of it in terms of getting the message out across the base. We did announce it at Cisco Connect here, at the Atlantis. We had the Catalyst 3850 box on the main stage, so it’s really an extension from that. We have about 30 customers that we have deep relationships with, we have partners and we also bring a lot of expertise here.

We see Unified Access as a significant shift in the market. No other network vendor is achieving this today, and as one of our executives in San Jose described it, it’s the biggest shift in networking in the last 10 years.

Are you looking to target more customers or partners with this event?

This one is actually a little bit of both. We’ve got customers here and also partners. We

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Interview Cisco

have a lot of value relationships. Cisco has been present here in the UAE for a long time, and if we target the customers, the partners ask to come. Let’s be honest, our customers are the partners’ customers, so the partners want to come and be with us, too. We don’t discriminate.

This may be a big networking shift, but many customers already have a network infrastructure that they’re happy with. How are you getting across that they should switch to Unified Access?

It really depends on what industry you’re in, and largely that industry drives the way that your network is engineered. Take into account what your customers are demanding.

What are your employees demanding?

Obviously I’m going to talk about bring-yourown-device. But around that you’ve got all these people leaving universities, who have gone on to do a second degree, and they’ve worked in a very different way than you and I did at university. And they want to work their way. Do you want to enable more of that?

And by enabling more of that, do you need more wireless access?

The factoid right now is that 70 percent of the devices that are shipped nowadays don’t have an Ethernet port. So wireless is the new network from a mobility perspective.

But then in terms of the massively highbandwidth applications, the need for wired networking will still be there. And let’s be honest, the core of your backbone is also wired networking. What we’re offering is choice by blending that together.

How are you doing that?

What I describe it as is the power of one. Today, many companies have three networks—wired, wireless and remote access. Now we’re converging those into a single network. So then you’re reducing total cost of ownership and human error—there are lots of benfits to it.

What kind of interest are you seeing in the new Unified Access products?

It’s huge because it’s basically what customers

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have been asking for for a long time. We’ve worked on it for over 300 man-years, we’ve got 100 new patents in this box, and that is creating a huge demand for the actual box and the whole concept of unified networking.

Is there a lot more training to take on with the new Unified Access products?

Well, IP is IP. What we’ve done is we’ve taken the best of both. We’ve taken what you loved about Cisco in wireless, what you loved about Cisco in wired and put them in a single box.

one view. But I think you need to really understand what SDN is, how it’s going to play, and why are we doing it? Some people say, “Well, we’ve done it with servers, so why not virtualise the network?” I have my own thoughts on all of that.

A couple of months ago, on the eve of Microsoft’s first Lync conference, Cisco trashed Microsoft’s collaboration platform as incomplete compared to Cisco’s Unified Communications offerings. What makes

“Cisco has been present here in the UAE for a long time, and if we target customers, the partners ask to come. Let’s be honest, our customers are the partners’ customers.”

Some vendors are working really hard to improve the graphical user interfaces of their enterprise software. Do you see Cisco working to include an easy-to-use interface with its products?

I’m not sure that it’s an area that you rapidly adapt from a graphical user interface perspective. Clearly, we’ve made inroads in that area, but it’s not a thing where anybody can pick it up and suddenly start doing it. There are fundamental concepts of networking that you have to understand.

Once you understand them, I think the graphical user interface, and how you get there, is like the mosquito on the elephant’s backside, really—it doesn’t matter. If you understand all the concepts of turning on IP, quality of service and IP addressing schemers, I think that’s ultimately the least of your worries. That sort of area is more with our Unified Communications rather than our Unified Access networking.

What’s your take on software-defined networking (SDN)?

There’s a lot of sentiment around SDN. People say that SDN is going to bring networking to the masses, and it’ll be

Cisco’s solutions so much better?

[Laughs] I’m probably going to have to be a bit careful with my positioning here! But from a Lync perspective, we take an architectural approach. So I would position it in a different way than you would expect. Everybody’s taught, in IT, about the seven-layer network.

The benefit of the seven-layer network is you understood at layer-3 what happened at layer-2, the interface to layer-3—your layer— and then you understood what you needed to do to layer-4. When you only have someone who only understands one particular layer, and doesn’t understand the layer before, how optimal can they be? If you understand the layers before you, you can take advantage of what that layer’s going to offer you.

What’s the general plan for the Middle East for the next year or so? Is it just about getting the Unified Access message out there for Cisco?

I certainly think that, if you do something, it takes a while for it to rattle through the market. We are clearly going to continue with our messaging, which is across the company.

I can’t talk about any numbers, but that will all be released in time. //

Hot products Smartphones

HTC One vs. Nokia Lumia 920 Joe Lipscombe and Tom Paye go head-to-head with two of the hottest smartphones on the market.

ROUND 1: Camera HTC One The fact that the HTC’s camera is ‘only’ a 4-megapixel unit needs to be put into context.

Yes, this may seem like a small sensor, but it’s actually an UltraPixel unit, which accommodates much larger pixels to allow in more light and therefore more data. Not only does this save on physical space, but it also allows for a much quicker sensor.

You get a decent number of settings to play, including ISO levels, exposure, contrast and sharpness. There’s also an HDR mode that improves your pictures dramatically. The autofocus is top-notch, sometimes providing a blurred background like you’d see with a proper DLSR. You also get some decent effect options to play with after you’ve shot your photos. In terms of quality, though, while the shots are great under well-lit conditions, they can appear grainy after dark.

Nokia Lumia 920 A first, that Nokia can boast, for the Lumia, is a stabilised lens on the camera. The lens floats within the camera, allowing the user to be as shaky as Elvis during a jail house rock, while still producing clear photos. Moreover, the 8MP camera has a host of downloadable lenses to go with it, for free. The Smart Shoot lens allows users to take multi pictures of a group and then individually select the best face for each person from any of the photos and blend them into one picture. This can cause some oddlooking necks, but it shouldn’t be a problem if the group is fairly placid. This is the best camera Nokia has produced and certainly a key selling point for this device. It easily competes with that of the Apple and Samsung models in the higher market group.

Round 1 goes to: Nokia Lumia 920 ROUND 2: The OS HTC One HTC has always differentiated itself from

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In the red corner Vital Statistics: Camera: 8MP Carl Zeiss optics Processor: Dual-core, 1.5 GHz Krait Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon Operating system: Windows Phone 8 Dimensions: 130.3 x 70.8 x 10.7 millimetres Weight: 185 grams Battery: Non-removable Li-Ion 2,000 mAh Price: Dh2,299

the rest of the Android pack with its Sense platform, which sits on top of Android and adds a couple of extra features. The most notable new feature on the One comes with BlinkFeed, a news centre that feeds from all of your social networks and RSS feeds in order to display stories on the home screen.

It’s an interesting way to keep track of everything, but if you add too many feeds, you end up with a discombobulated mess

of stories that’s impossible to keep up with.

What’s more, if BlinkFeed isn’t how you’d like to consume your social or news media, you’re stuck with it as one of your home screens.

Apart from that, Sense stays on top of its game as an altogether more pleasant version of the stock Android OS. The camera app is a little fiddly thanks to small buttons, but on the whole, the One provides a fantastic user experience.

ROUND 3: Desirability HTC One The One’s desirability has spread like wildfire across the region. Someone from Jacky’s Electronics recently told us that the retailer couldn’t keep enough handsets in stock.

To be honest, we’re not surprised—with its sleek, aluminium design, stellar performance and beautiful OS, the One is one of the most desirable smartphones out there.

In the blue corner Vital statistics: Camera: 4MP Ultrapixel Processor: Quad-core, 1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 Operating system: Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean with HTC Sense Dimensions: 137.4 x 68.2 x 9.3 millimetres Weight: 143 grams Battery: Non-removable Li-Po 2,300 mAh Price: Dh2,699

Nokia Lumia 920 When we first picked up the Lumia 920, we were rather giddy. The reason for this is the fact that it was bright yellow. Sure, we weren’t going to rush to the store and buy something yellow, but because this wasn’t a dull black, white or grey, we were interested. Apart from the looks, this is a nice little alternative to anyone bored of the traditional AndroidiOS arguments, and because of the apps ecosystem, it’s way out ahead of the new BlackBerry as a consumer device. Nokia’s recent sales figures confirm that customers are taking a lot of notice.

Round 3 goes to: Tie FINAL ROUND: The verdict

Nokia Lumia 920 The Lumia is of course the birth child of the partnership between Nokia and Microsoft, and so the OS is Windows 8.

Though enterprise hasn’t taken to this as well as hoped, the best of us know that this was designed with touch devices in mind. Windows 8’s tile-style lay-out is very responsive, very smart, very intuitive and fairly

nice to look at, too. On top of that, you’ve got the Windows app store, which, we think, pushes this phone as a consumer device above the new BlackBerry models.

One key issue we have come across with this model, however, is that the social apps are a little bit tricky to navigate. Posting tweets or uploading photos to Facebook is fairly laborious, we found.

Round 2 goes to: HTC One

HTC One Apart from not being able to get rid of BlinkFeed, this is a seriously well-sorted phone. The camera works brilliantly, it’s sleek, it’s desirable and it’s hugely fast. Forget the Samsung Galaxy S4—this is the Android phone of the moment. RATING—9/10 Nokia Lumia 920 The Lumia 920 is a great device. It’s rocksolid, attractive, has plenty of good apps, and a toy box full of built-in features. It’s one of those devices which can be instantly likeable from the pick-up. But the social apps aren’t brilliantly polished. RATING—8.5/10

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Hot products New launches

Nokia unveils Lumia 925

Nokia has released a new interpretation of its flagship Lumia 920 in the form of the Lumia 925, a thinner, light device that features a metal case and the latest PureView camera.

Indeed, aside from the sleeker looks, Nokia went big on the 925’s imaging capabilitites.

Nokia claimed the new PureView camera features the “most advanced” lens technology, and next-generation imaging software. With

this, Nokia promised sharper pictures and video, and best-in-class low-light images.

Another new camera-related feature is the new Nokia Smart Camera mode, which Nokia said would come as an update to all of its Lumia Windows Phone 8 devices. The feature allows users to capture 10 images at once, and then edit them to create the best shot.

The 925 announcement also included a statement about Hipstamatic’s new app, Oggl, which will now be available on Nokia Lumia smartphones. The app is aimed at photography enthusiasts. Of course, all the usual smartphone refinements of being able to post photos on social networks are also included.

The 925 is certainly something of a showcase in terms of its design, which deviates greatly from the solid-plastic look and feel of the last batch of Lumias. Instead of being available in bright yellow or red, the 925 offers a more subtle design—the polycarbonate back only comes in white, grey or black.

Huawei releases Ascend smartphones Huawei has unveiled its latest series of Ascend smartphones across the Middle East. The much anticipated Ascend P2—said to be the world’s fastest 4G LTE smartphone—and the Ascend Mate—smartphone with a 6.1” screen—were originally previewed at this year’s Mobile World Congress and Consumer Electronics Show.

The Ascend P2 features a 1.5 GHz quad-core processor and compatible with LTE Category 4, providing an ultrafast web experience with download speeds of up to 150 Mbps. Running on the Android 4.1 operating system and with Huawei’s own Emotion 1.5 user interface (UI), the smartphone is powered by an impressive 2,420 mAh battery and is capable of downloading HD movies in minutes while loading online videos, web pages, songs or e-Books in just seconds.

The Ascend Mate boasts a screen-to-

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body ratio of 73 percent—the highest in the industry—which maximises viewing pleasure for emails, documents, videos and games.

The 6.1-inch high definition LCD screen has a resolution of 1280 x 720 for unsurpassed clarity and color accuracy, with the ‘Magic Touch’ feature providing enhanced screen responsiveness. Offering a supercharged entertainment, communication and creative experience, the Ascend Mate is still slim and stylish, designed to fit comfortably in a single hand at just 9.9mm thin at its narrowest part.

Tandberg Data debuts NAS appliances Tandberg Data’s BizNAS family of selfprotecting network-attached-storage (NAS) appliances has been designed and manufactured by Tandberg Data specifically for demanding business environments.

BizNAS appliances provide fast and easy deployment of up to 16TB of resilient storage for file sharing among Windows, Mac and Linux systems, plus simultaneous iSCSI block storage for server virtualization.

Featuring a high-performance Intel dual-core architecture, the BizNAS accommodates up to four disk drives and will be available in desktop and 1U rackmount configurations.

The BizNAS delivers absolute simplicity and intuitive ease-of-use without compromising performance or capability.

Integrated data protection tools safeguard precious digital assets from anywhere on the network. Offline and offsite disaster protection can be seamlessly integrated using an optional RDX QuikStor—the world’s de facto standard for rugged removable disk storage. The BizNAS will even protect its own operating system and configuration settings for complete bare metal restore capability.

The BizNAS also gives IT managers the power to centralise, monitor and protect multiple accounts of Dropbox, the cloudbased storage service with over 100 million users worldwide. Used as an additional Dropbox synchronisation point, the BizNAS automatically copies all versions of Dropbox data to any disk accessible to the BizNAS or to removable RDX cartridges for a convenient and secure offline, archiving and disaster recovery solution. Additionally, the BizNAS keeps IT managers informed and in-control with real-time logging and alerts of Dropbox events.

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© 2013 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Hot products New launches

Dell Sonicwall rolls out NSA series next-gen firewalls

Dell has announced the new SonicWALL Network Security Appliance (NSA) Series Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFW), that

enable mid-sized organisations, branch offices, school campuses and government agencies to have multi-layered protection

from sophisticated attacks and control over applications while also assuring optimal network performance and total of cost of ownership. The new Dell SonicWALL NSA Series renders competitors’ traditional firewalls obsolete and provides a host of enhancements typically reserved for large enterprises and 10 GbE connectivity to this industry segment for the first time.

The NSA Series utilises a scalable multicore hardware architecture and patented single-pass low latency Reassembly-Free Deep Packet Inspection (RFDPI) engine. Ranging from 6 to 24 cores, these NGFWs pack enough security processing power to inspect all network traffic—regardless of port or protocol to detect and block threats before they enter the network without introducing bottlenecks.

Unlike competitive firewalls requiring two box solutions, Dell’s RFDPI engine combines the power of an integrated firewall and intrusion prevention system (IPS). Advanced features such as 10GbE SFP+ interfaces, full stateful high availability failover, and high performance SSL decryption provide medium-sized organisations with functionality usually reserved for enterprise grade network security appliances.

HP unveils Designjet ePrinters HP has introduced two web-connected printers that transform the large-format-printing process with a new ergonomic design delivering an improved user experience for architecture, engineering, construction and design professionals.

The new HP Designjet T920 and T1500 ePrinter series help busy workgroups complete work efficiently by printing correctly from the start with true print previews and meet deadlines with fast, high-quality prints. Additionally, these devices help users on-the -go access, view and print projects from the cloud so they can collaborate easily with remote teams.

The 36-inch devices were designed based on extensive engagement with users early in the development process. Users proposed designs that addressed the pain points they suffer before,

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during and after the printing process. From this input, HP identified an output tray and true frontroll media loading as key areas for enhancement.

The integrated output stacking tray on the devices changes the way users collect and organize large-format output. The integrated output stacking tray is built-in on top of the device and delivers flat, collated prints. This new output system improves productivity by reducing time spent searching through and organising

printouts, and it eliminates the need for users to bend down to collect prints.

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Hot products New launches

R&M unveils data centre cabling system

Swiss cabling specialist R&M has unveiled the modular HD MPO Systems, its next-generation fibre optic system for data centres. The decisive factor for modern data centers is that the upgrade to 10 Gigabit Ethernet networks and subsequent migration to 40/100 Gigabit Ethernet must be handled as seamlessly as possible and at a manageable cost. With the new system, R&M has calculated that the installation effort and expense per port will be reduced by 66 percent compared to previous systems.

The core product is the HD MPO Module, a tray for coupling multi-fiber connections.

The system facilitates the setup of highdensity cabling systems for top-performance

data networks with parallel-optical connection technology. Consequently, data centres can introduce 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) or even 40 and 100 GbE as a bandwidth to connect the fastest servers and switches to each other. The components, particularly the HD MPO Module, are installed using rapid assembly techniques. No tools are required to insert them into the subracks.

With MPO Modules, as many as 96 fibres can be connected in a single height unit in a 19-inch rack and as many as 288 fibres in three height units. In addition, R&M carries adapter plates that serve as compact patch panels to accommodate as many as 1152 fibre connections in one 19-inch height unit.

In extreme cases, the new solution from R&M needs up to 96 percent less space than conventional cabling systems. That means data centres can make more intensive use of their valuable operating space.

Sandisk Extreme II SSD nanometre (nm) manufacturing process technology and rely on SanDisk’s intelligent flash memory architecture. This combination enables SanDisk to create SSDs that are exceptionally responsive, reliable and energy-efficient.

The blazing fast SanDisk Extreme II SSD significantly improves data-transfer, application launching, and boot-up and shut-down times for notebook computers and desktops. Leveraging SanDisk’s advanced 19nm flash memory and proprietary high-performance tiered system SanDisk has further expanded its trusted and broad architecture (which includes the company’s solid state drive (SSD) portfolio with the addition of exclusive nCache acceleration technology), three new models—the high-performance SanDisk the SanDisk Extreme II SSD brings a fast and enjoyable user experience to data-intensive Extreme II SSD for technology enthusiasts and gamers, as well as two new OEM SSDs designed to multimedia applications, such as digital music and photography experiences. For gamers, the enable cutting-edge notebooks and tablets.

SanDisk Extreme II SSD enables quick game All of the new SSDs introduced by SanDisk loading and enhances gameplay. are built with the company’s advanced 19

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New Linksys smart Wi-Fi routers Linksys announced the availability of the latest additions to its Smart Wi-Fi portfolio with the Linksys Smart Wi-Fi Router AC1200, Linksys Smart Wi-Fi Router AC1600 and Linksys Smart Wi-Fi Router AC1750. The new Smart Wi-Fi routers can be installed from virtually any device through browser based set-up and with Linksys SimpleTap, consumers can easily connect new devices to the home network through innovative ways, such as scanning a QR code or NFC tag. All new models feature industry-standard beamforming technology that significantly helps improve router speed, overall performance and wireless range in the home.

With routers becoming the hub of the home, the new Smart Wi-Fi Routers deliver incredibly fast Wi-Fi speeds with exceptional in-house Wi-Fi coverage and a host of innovative tools for home network monitoring and control.

These new routers also are compatible with Linksys Smart Wi-Fi mobile apps, which make it simple to access and control your home network on the go.

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PARTNER EXCELLENCE CONFERENCE & AWARDS 2013

12th June 2013

Godolphin Ballroom, Jumeirah Emirates Towers Join the premier partner gathering in the Middle East as they discuss the latest trends that are together changing the IT landscape at Reseller Middle East’s Partner Excellence Conference 2013.

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Reseller Middle East’s online editor offers his thoughts on the Middle Eastern technology channel.

Channel surfing

Channel surfing

Reseller Middle East

The third dimension Seeing as I’m a gadget fan, you can imagine that I was like a kid in a toy shop at the recent DISTREE Middle East show. The consumer electronics retail event always provides a good insight into what new electronic goodies are set to hit the shops soon, and 2013’s edition didn’t disappoint.

Among all the speaker systems, wireless headsets and third-party PlayStation controllers, though, one thing in particular caught my eye. It was a 3D printer from Cubify, and it was being shown off by distributor Pro Technology.

We’ve all read about how 3D printing is set to change the manufacturing scene, but the technology has so far been too expensive or complex to make any real impact. Yes, there are nutters in the United States making 3D-printed guns, but for the most part, the manufacturing industry hasn’t really felt the effects of the technology, particularly in the Middle East.

Cubify hopes to change that with its two consumer-centric 3D printers, the Cube and the CubeX. Essentially, they’re plugand-play devices—anyone could hook the printer up to a computer and then print out a 3D file. What’s more, they’re way cheaper than you’d expect—the Cube is priced at around $1,300, and the CubeX will go for around $3,000 when it hits the region in the next couple of months.

Pro Technology is hoping to gain a foothold in the market early on with this technology, according to Ribi Kenneth, Manager, Retail Distribution Division, Pro Technology, who explained a little bit about the Cube to me.

june 2013

Tom Paye, Online Editor, CPI Technology

“There are a lot of hobbyists who buy this.

But we’re also tying up with retailers, so that customers can go into stores give their names, and have their names printed into an iPhone case—it’s like a service,” he said.

To be honest, that plan is little gimmicky, and it’s certainly not a massive revenue-driver.

However, Kenneth told me that he’s anticipating all kinds of use-cases for the more powerful CubeX (the Cube is much too slow to be used in any professional capacity). He wants to target dental practices so that they can print out their own dentures, or else university science labs that want to print out bone models.

Previously, 3D printers capable of these functions went for tens of thousands of dollars. But the technology is evolving quickly, and it’ll soon be available for much less than you might think.

But why am I banging on about 3D printing?

Well, in my opinion, this technology opens up what could potentially be a massive revenue stream for the channel. Customers in pretty much every vertical could find 3D printing useful.

Are you doing the systems integration for an architecture firm? Chuck in a 3D printer. Are you selling a university a new virtual desktop solution?

Chuck in 10 3D printers. If the price is right, and the functionality is there, I’m sure they’ll bite.

Pro Technology is right to get into this technology early, but we needn’t stop at the consumer-focused 3D printers. As the tech becomes cheaper, a host of mid- to high-end 3D printers will suddenly become accessible for enterprises (small, medium and large). And the first one in on that action is going to make a lot of money indeed.

It’s not how much storage you have. It’s how much you can do with it.

With HP Converged Storage, you can respond to any demand, reclaim resources, and speed application deployment.

Virtualization, cloud, and exponential data growth are driving unpredictable capacity and workload demands. Don’t let legacy storage hold back your new application initiatives.

HP Converged Storage is designed for the next era of IT.

The power of HP Converged Infrastructure is here.

Find out how to prepare your data center to meet future storage demands by reading the Forrester and HP Converged Storage white papers at hp.com/go/storage/converged_storage

© Copyright 2012 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.