The Grid Issue 04

March 2015 | Issue 04

TheGrid

Innovate to transform Moving away from traditional to succeed in a new era of business.

www.mindware.ae

CONTENTS

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Published by

04

Mindware

06

PR & Events

07

Arcserve

11

Emerson

13

Intel

15

Intel Security

17

Microsoft

19

Nexans

20

Riverbed

21

Symantec

22

Products

March 2015 Issue 04 | TheGrid

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Management speak

Gear up for tomorrow

Mario Gay, General Manager, Mindware

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ere we are with the fourth edition of The Grid and at the end of the first quarter of another year. Our aim continues to be your go-to guide when it comes to business information and updates. In this issue, you will find interviews with our product managers and vendors to gain a better insight into what lies ahead for us.

The year has begun well with most of the growth coming from cloud, Big Data, IoT and mobility. You will notice that our vendors too are focusing largely on these trends.

Although there has been a flurry of activities around cloud and related services, we believe this part of business will further consolidate in the coming years. And more and more companies today, are seeing the immense opportunities Big Data analytics can bring into the market. It can go a long way in shaping the strategies of tomorrow and can also help in being closer to the final customers.

The region has seen a tremendous uptake of tablets in the last few months. However, how this space will map out is something we will have to wait and watch. With the market being extremely volatile, it is important for partners and vendors alike, to be in sync with the changing demands and expectations of the customers, in order to grow.

In fact, the need of the hour is to be a step ahead and anticipate the evolving demands.

Therefore, it is important to gear up as technology is becoming public knowledge by the day and more a part of the future than ever before.

We hope you enjoy reading this issue. Do write to us with your feedback and look forward to doing business with you in the coming months.

Capturing the growth

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Radwan Basheer, General Manager, Mindware, KSA

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TheGrid | Issue 04 March 2015

elcome to the fourth issue of Mindware’s booklet—The Grid. Through this initiative, we aim to keep you informed with the latest news and updates from our vendor-partners across different regions.

We have had an in-country presence in the Saudi Arabian markets for the last five years. And I’m happy to share that the business has been growing at 10 to 14 percent year on year.

Like most markets, the KSA region also has its own challenges. The coalition in the market makes business decisions unpredictable. Companies are not as professional as they should be, making it difficult to have realistic forecasts. But that being said, it has definitely gotten better over time and I see it maturing even faster within the next couple of years.

Taking this scenario into consideration, we plan to expand our portfolio and work even more closely with resellers and partners in the region. We want to create initiatives that will further enable our partner community. One of our objectives this year is to increase the number of partners. And we plan to do this through careful selection so that we continue to maintain the quality of standard of our partners. Our focus on partner training programmes helps to empower our partners further. We want our partners to think of us as strategic advisors when it comes to their business decision.

And our partner programme is well in place to offer various initiatives such as rebate, discount or marketing.

We are extremely optimistic about the outlook for this region. We extend our expertise to you in every regard. Committed mutual investment will help us capture the growth together.

www.mindware.ae

Awards

Juniper Networks names Mindware as ‘Best EMEA Distributor’

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indware, the leading distributor of quality IT products in the Middle East and North Africa, recently was awarded the Best EMEA Distributor of the Year for 2014 by Juniper Networks, the industry leader in network innovation.

Juniper’s recent Middle East & Africa regional partner summit in Dubai, UAE, recognized partners who have made the most notable contribution to their customers, partners and thereby grown their business value with Juniper throughout 2014. The award was received on 8th December, 2014, during Juniper’s regional partner summit, an annual event designed to bring together key distribution and reseller partners to review best practice and discuss Juniper’s strategic plans and objectives for the coming year. A number of partners attended this year’s event from Egypt, Jordan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Pakistan, Oman, South Africa, Qatar, UAE. All attending partners work with Juniper within the Juniper Partner Advantage program.

Mindware awarded as Best Distributor by Intel Security

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indware, the leading distributor of quality IT products in the Middle East and North Africa, recently was awarded the ‘Best Distributor of the Year for 2014’ by Intel Security, the world’s largest dedicated security technology company; delivering proactive and proven solutions and services that help secure systems and networks around the world. This award was honoured based on Mindware’s biggest market share for Intel Security and added value in the region across the ME with the development of the business in greenfield accounts and shared resources to support the channel partner to grow their revenue. Intel Security’s recent Channel Kick Off event held in Dubai, U.A.E. on 4th March at the Waldorf Astoria- The Palm, recognized channel partners such as Meeza Qatar for MSP Partner of the year, Paramount for Security Connected Partner of the year and SBS Qatar for NGFW

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Partner of the Year, along with distributors and individuals who have contributed prominent support to their business value with Intel Security throughout 2014. The annual event was designed to bring together key distribution and reseller partners to review best practice and discuss Intel Security strategic plans and

objectives for the coming year. A number of partners attended this year’s event from across the region. In addition to receiving the award for Best Distributor, Intel Security handed three awards to Mindware’s channel team for their individual contribution to the channel business during the year.

March 2015 Issue 04 | TheGrid

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PR & Events

Sandvine inks distribution deal with Mindware

Nutanix partners with Mindware for ME distribution

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indware signs up distribution agreement with Sandvine, broadband networks provider is the sole distributor for Sandvine products in the region.

Broadband networks provider, Sandvine, signs Mindware as its sole distributor for its products in the region. The partnership agreement extends to Middle East, North Africa, Turkey, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, extendable to Common Wealth of Independent states (CIS) countries.

Eyad Al-Eriksousi, Business Unit Manager, Mindware, says, “All Telecom and Service Providers Operators have a huge opportunity in this area.

Sandvine is the leading provider of intelligent broadband network solutions for fixed and mobile operators in the world. Sandvine’s network policy control solutions add intelligence to fixed, mobile and converged communications service provider networks to enable services that can increase revenue and reduce network costs. Powered by Sandvine’s Policy Engine and SandScript policy language, the company’s networking equipment performs end-to-end policy control functions including traffic classification, and policy decision and enforcement across the data, control and business plans. Sandvine’s products provide actionable business insight, the ability to deploy new subscriber services and tools to optimize traffic while enhancing subscriber Internet quality of experience.”

Sandvine’s network policy control solutions are deployed in more than 250 networks in over 90 countries, serving hundreds of millions of data subscribers worldwide “Sandvine will complement Mindware Network and Security portfolio with specialized solutions for telecom operators and service providers,” AlEriksousi added.

“Sandvine is in a stage of moving to softwarebased products to approach enterprise customers, the strategy with Mindware is to utilize the distributor’s experience in the region to enhance the partner-base and to reach out to the enterprise market.”

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TheGrid | Issue 04 March 2015

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indware selects Nutanix Webscale Converged Infrastructure to complement existing technology suite and educate the market.

Nutanix has partnered with Mindware to engage and educate resellers to address fundamental data center issues such as poor scalability, lack of IT agility, network bottlenecks and unsustainable capital and operational costs.

Through its alliance with Nutanix, Mindware adds another leading technology supplier to its portfolio of IT infrastructure solutions. Training and support will be a vital component of the partnership, so that resellers are well-equipped to ensure their customers benefit from the technology and

meet their evolving infrastructure needs.

“At Mindware, we are committed to partnering with the world’s best-known brands to offer a one-stop-shop for worldclass innovation coupled with the essential value-added consultancy and support services.

Our collaboration with Nutanix is a strategic addition to our portfolio, taking our business into the field of hyper-converged infrastructure solutions and enabling us to offer exactly the right solutions for our customers,” says Mario Gay, General Manager - Mindware “Nutanix is thrilled to be partnering with Mindware as a value-added distributor across the Middle East,” said Ahmad Qadri, Sales Director Middle East at Nutanix. “In addition to its long-standing proven track record of delivering innovative solutions, Mindware provides extensive support to the data center solution providers in the region. The partnership is a perfect match at a time when the region experiences explosive demand for webscale converged infrastructure and we look forward to working with the team to further increase our leadership position in this space.”

Microsoft and Mindware honour Cloud Club partners

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s part of SMB Cloud Club programme, Microsoft and Mindware along with other distributors, honoured top performing Gulf partners with a trip to Thailand.

Mario Gay, GM, Mindware, said, “This has been a great initiative from Mindware and Microsoft teams to bring together the highest achieving cloud club partners across the region. The programme has been created to keep the momentum of the Cloud Club, increase breadth partners and at the same time maintain a loyalty with our transaction partners across the region.”

Fadi Farhat, Gulf Distribution Manager, Microsoft Gulf, added, “Microsoft Cloud Club promotion is primarily focused on cloud

product offerings such as Office 365 and Azure. It is a well thought out promotion created to entice all the stakeholders of the business, be it a partner distributor, partner reseller, partner resellers’ sales team. The idea was to encapsulate all the benefits such as incentives, rewards, trips, training, and migration services, all under one promotion.

This way the promotion offers benefits to all and can help in influencing the decisions.

“As a result of Q2 FY15 performance, Microsoft distributors have rewarded the top cloud partners for achieving the highest Office 365 and Azure growth in Gulf through this initiative,” added Farhat.

Having had a successful event, the vendor plans to take the next trip to South Africa, where Q3 FY15 Cloud Club partners will be recognised. www.mindware.ae

Arcserve

Unified front Rami Nasser, Regional Sales Director, EMEA Growth and Emerging Markets, Arcserve, elaborates how partners can leverage from its latest Unified Data protection solutions. reporting that lets them easily monitor customer implementations.

C

ould you elaborate on the features of Unified Data Protection?

Our new arcserve Unified Data Protection (UDP) really is featurerich solution. There are more than 30 new marquee features in the product designed to give customers a full spectrum of enterprise-strength data protection, yet delivered in a simple, user-friendly fashion.

On top of the new unified architecture, some new feature highlights include Workflow-based Protection Plans that let users easily dial up or down their protection schemes to match business needs, a new web-based user interface and management console, extended virtual machine protection with agentless protection for both VMware and now Microsoft Hyper-V environments, and continuous, full-system replication and high availability for near-instant recovery of an entire system.

And for our MSPs and other service provider partners, we’ve now documented our APIs to ease integration with their platforms, added ‘JumpStart’ data seeding to accelerate protection at remote sites, and new MSP-friendly

www.mindware.ae

Rami Nasser, Regional Sales Director, EMEA Growth and Emerging Markets, Arcserve

What is the technology behind this solution? How does it enhance performance?

The foundation of arcserve UDP lies in the new unified architecture as well as the new Recovery Point Server, which combined drive a full range of highly efficient data protection capabilities for physical and virtual environments. The resource-saving Recovery Point Server is really the heart of the new solution, combining true global source-side de-duplication, integrated block-level replication, AES 256-bit level encryption, and cascading retention policies.

Because of the Recovery Point Server, customers can ease the strain on network bandwidth and storage resources.

How is it different from other data protection solutions?

The challenge is that mid-sized businesses are trying to keep up with rapid data growth while combining physical, virtual and cloud systems, but many of them are finding that specialized data protection ‘point’ solutions are too limited in scope for their environment, and that large-enterprise solutions are too costly and difficult to implement. With arcserve UDP, we’re bridging the gap – giving average mid-sized businesses a functionally-complete alternative to the cost and complexity of deploying multiple point solutions or the behemoth high-end solutions that were really designed for large enterprises.

How can CA’s partners bring more value to this solution?

We sell arcserve UDP entirely through

a two-tier distribution channel, and it includes a number of service provider and value-added reseller-friendly features, so we are very much focused on ways partners can add value.

Partners around the world are adding very profitably data protection service offerings to their portfolio based around the arcserve solution.

What are opportunities in this space for the partners?

Analysts have predicted that by 2016, onethird of organizations will have changed their backup product due to frustrations over cost and complexity. This is a tremendous opportunity for partners to look at the current solution portfolio and add a data protection offering if they don’t already have one. And if they do, but it involves multiple products or not tailored to a partner model, it’s a great time to consider arcserve.

What kind of challenges did you face in the market?

One of our challenges is market perception and the sheer number of competitors we face. The venerable arcserve brand has been around for more than 20 years, and we’ve earned numerous accolades over that timeframe – yet many people still don’t know protect not just physical but also virtual environments. But arcserve UDP is the biggest launch in arcserve history, and we’re supporting that with our biggest global marketing campaign in history to help re-educate and re-introduce the solution to the market.

How has the response been for this solution?

The beta customer validation response has been phenomenal. Customers and partners alike are telling us they really like the unification of all the functionality, the innovative ways we are not only protecting virtual environments but actually using virtualization as part of our protection scheme, and the way we’re actually enabling customers to test the reliability of their recovery processes.

March 2015 Issue 04 | TheGrid

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Emerson

Designed for success Emerson’s Innovation Partnership Program (IPP) delivers data centre infrastructure management technologies, which empowers partners to help customers, explains Mindware’s Unit Manager, Naveen Moorjani.

C

ould you briefly describe the main features of the Innovation Partnership Program?

The Emerson Network Power Innovation Partnership Program is the first program designed to bridge the gap between IT and facilities, which has prevented data center optimization. The program delivers data center infrastructure management technologies that empower partners to help their customers achieve higher levels of data center utilization, availability and efficiency.

The program features an optimized deal registration system and pricing structure to deliver the greatest rewards to partners driving solution value to data center, facilities, and IT executives. Additional benefits include wider product eligibility, more demand generation options, and a new online portal with a marketing support database. The Emerson Network Power partner portal provides partners with fast, anytime access to extensive program and training information Partners are also supported by a local network of data center specialists and get various levels of marketing support depending on the certification level.

How has this program evolved over the last year?

The program was launched in April 2012 and since then, the evolution of the program has included more training modules for key portfolio areas, richer content in the partner portal on key new product launches, the introduction of a desktop product selector to help partners best select the right product for the customers based on a range of criteria. Additionally the Innovation Partnership Program has a larger

www.mindware.ae

How has Mindware helped in rolling out this program in the region?

Mindware was and is an instrumental and progressive distribution partner working with Emerson Network and has helped in launching the Innovation Partnership Program in the territory.

They continue to grow the trading reseller base and communicate the program value.

In what ways can partners increase their margins with this program?

Generous double digit margins are available for most sales and this is further increased with deal registration.

The IPP program consolidates the full Emerson data center solution into one program, so that the partner can grow both margin and overall revenue by selling more products to their customers in a solution orientated manner. There are clear financial benefits to join the program.

Naveen Moorjani, Unit Manager, Infrastructure Unit, Mindware

geographic footprint in EMEA, in terms of countries it has been launched in.

What are the increased incentives for partners?

While the increased incentives for partners are many, the key benefits include a partner being able to protect projects with deal registration and get additional discounts. Also there is a ‘Trade-Up’ program for old technology. Based on the partner level, a partner helpdesk, priority sales engineering support and a preferred channel manager are available.

Furthermore, on a discretionary basis, there is market development funds available to help partners grow their Emerson business. Along with the massive resource of training, marketing communications tools and product configuration tools, the Innovation Partnership Program is constantly evolving to make doing business with Emerson profitable and simple for partners.

How have regional partners responded to IPP? There was a very strong interest in the program when it was launched in Dubai. There were a high number of partners who both registered and attended the kick-off event in December 2013. Since then, approximately 100 partner regularly take part in incentive programs, avail of deal registration and utilize the benefits of the partner portal, such as the product selector for easy product configuration. The response has been overwhelmingly positive.

Anything else you like to highlight?

The Product selector, currently available in desktop format will be available in mobile and tablet format from March onwards.

New Thermal, Racks and Integrated Cabinets online training courses will be available from April.

A new automated email and web content syndication platform is being launched (in English) in April.

March 2015 Issue 04 | TheGrid

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TheGrid | Issue 04 March 2015

www.mindware.ae

Intel® Education Software For Windows*-based devices

Realize your commitment to unlock student potential

Intel® Education Software helps educators to engage students using 21st century technology tools to foster communication, collaboration, problem solving, critical thinking, and digital literacy. It also empowers educators to change the learning experience and efficiently manage their classroom. It supports IT in promoting safe and secure computing practices.

ENGAGE STUDENTS

EMPOWER EDUCATORS

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving • Explore interactive content

Classroom Integration • Facilitate collaboration

• Discover by observing and measuring

• Eliminate distractions

• Collect, visualize, and analyze data

• Send and receive homework

Communication and Collaboration • Assemble and organize information

• Administer assessments

• Communicate visually • Create multimedia

ENABLE IT Safety and Security for Students and Technology • Guard against malware • Protect students online with web filtering

Intel® Education Software Overview

Intel® Education Software suite for Windows-based devices includes the following applications: Software

Description

Kno™ app

An interactive PDF e-Reader designed for education. It can enhance the learning experience by helping students to increase engagement and improve study habits.

Lab Camera

A science exploration application with seven tools that help students carry out observations and measurements using the device’s built-in camera.

SPARKvue*

A data analysis application that uses internal and external device sensors.

It allows students to study science and math concepts by collecting, evaluating and analyzing data.

Media Camera

Gives students the ability to capture and edit pictures or video, and write text to create a multi-media report.

ArtRage*

A painting and drawing application that simulates real-world materials to let students to create sophisticated digital artwork.

Empower Educators

Classroom Management

Provides educators with tools to organize/send/receive lessons, administer assessments, and control student activity while eliminating distractions.

Available in teacher and student versions.

Enable IT

McAfee® AntiVirus Plus

Enforces safe and secure computing practices by proactively protecting student and educator devices from exposure to malware.

Engage Students

Intel® Education Software Suite Recommended System Requirements for Windows-based Products: • OS: Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 8.1 (32 bit/64 bit) • Intel® Processor: 1 GHz or faster • RAM: 1 GB RAM (32 bit) or 2 GB RAM (64 bit) • Hard Disk Space: 2 GB available hard disk space • Graphics Card: DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver • Camera: DirectShow compatible • Screen Resolution: 1024 x 600 (Windows 7), 1024 x 768 (Windows 8 and 8.1) or higher • Wired or wireless Internet connection

For more information on Intel® Education Software visit intel.com/education

Copyright© 2014 Intel Corporation. All rights reserved. Intel, the Intel logo, and Kno are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. *Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

1014/ML/HBD/PDF

331432-001US

Intel Security

Supporting partners Maya Kreidy, Regional Channel Manager, McAfee, Intel Security, elaborates on the Intel Security Technical forum that took place recently.

How many partners participated in this forum?

We had 14 engineers from 14 different Middle Eastern partners. Partners who participated in this training were: Paramount Qatar, Bahwan IT Oman, ABS Oman, FDS UAE, i4 Solutions, ICC Lebanon, Polaris Lebanon, BMB Lebanon, EEMC Kuwait, KCCG Kuwait, Paramount UAE, Paramount Bahrain, Rostamani UAE and certainly Mindware engineers who were attending the session on one day and assisting in delivering the training on the other days.

Maya Kreidy, Regional Channel Manager, McAfee, Intel Security

www.mindware.ae

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hat was the objective of Intel Security Technical forum? Where did it take place?

Within our top partners, we have the engineers who are heavily engaged with Intel Security team and McAfee solutions and some others who were shared with other solutions and were not fully trained on McAfee. The purpose of the trip was to bring them closer to McAfee and the team while also creating a bond.

We had to fit the two days of ACE training that we usually do into one day to cover as much as possible in 3 days.

The training happened in the amazing Istanbul city from February 16 to February 19.

Mindware played a major role in making this event happen and Mindware SEs, Vivek Patil and Farhan Ansari, had the chance to demonstrate their skills and expertise to other SEs and prove they can assist in any POC or deal the partner is working on.

What were the session topics discussed at the event?

The first day’s focus was on Next generation Firewall (NGFW), which was delivered by our senior SE, Zain Banuri. During the second day, we covered the Next Gen SIEM features that were presented by Vivek and our CTEE, Mehdi Benali. The last day covered the integration and features of TIE, ATD and Next Gen Endpoint that was presented

by Farhan and Mehdi. The engineers were fully engaged in the training and shared their experiences. They also had access to the lab as we had hands-on training as a part of the schedule.

What kind of response and feedback did you receive for this event?

We got an excellent feedback from the attendees and the management on the training as it was a perfect mix of learning and fun. The engineers had to attend a full 9am to 5pm training every day and had the opportunity to enjoy the charming city at night. To our luck, it was snowing on all the 3 days and

for some of our attendees, it was the first time they had seen snow.

Post the event, I have 3 engineers already engaged into POCs and coordinating with Mindware and Intel security team to get demo units and shadowing to drive a customer POC.

How regularly is such an event conducted for partners?

Last year McAfee conducted an EMEA technical forum in Spain. Few people attended from my region as it was difficult to get visa and long flying hours to Malaga. By then, I got the idea to work with Mindware and plan a similar one for the partners in the region, in a city located near-by. We chose Istanbul for the easy visa process, short flying hours and affordable cost of hotel and flights. Everyone was fully focused and dedicated to the sessions.

We will certainly have more team building activities and entertainment events this year, which will get our partners closer to Intel Security sales and presales team.

From Intel Security’s point of view, what is the importance of having such kind of events for partners?

I think such events and trainings targeting the people on the ground who make things happen are the most important ones and have the highest ROI to Intel security. In the security area, the presales do most of the work when it comes to positioning solutions and discuss the value proposition to the client. They play an important role in showing the strength of Intel security and security connected against our competitors in the market.

Any other highlight you like to mention?

I would like to thank Mindware team, who helped a lot and played a major role to make this training happen.

Mindware is our top value-added distributor in the region with excellent team on the ground.

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The future of technology is more secure than ever.

Intel® Security combines the expertise of McAfee® with the performance and trust of Intel to deliver secure computing to consumers and businesses worldwide. We believe that as technology becomes more deeply integrated into life, security must be more deeply integrated into technology. Because when everyone has the confidence to use technology to its full potential they can achieve their full potential. Visit intelsecurity.com.

McAfee is now part of Intel Security.

2014 © McAfee Inc. McAfee and the M-shield are trademarks or registered trademarks of McAfee, Inc. The Intel logo is the trademark of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Microsoft

Setting the pace Fadi Farhat, Gulf Distribution Manager, Microsoft Gulf, explains how businesses can prepare for the end of Microsoft support for Windows Server 2003.

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hen does Microsoft support for Windows Server 2003 end and what does this mean for businesses?

It ends on 14th July 2015. Microsoft will cease to provide hot fixes, product updates, and security patches for Windows Server 2003, therefore we recommend that your business updates its Windows Server platform well ahead of July 2015.

How can they prepare for it?

Microsoft has created ‘The Migration Planning Assistant’ tool to assist customers through the first and foremost step in this roadmap.

The Migration Planning Assistant will guide your organization through an easy and simple 4-step approach allowing your organization to: 1. Discover the workloads on WS2003 providing various tools and offers from Microsoft as well as our most valued partners 2. Assess the workloads that require migration through our World Wide compatibility matrix 3. Target the correct migration path and determine the most suitable upgrade, be it on premise or through our strong cloud offerings 4. Migrate by revising the report generated through the Microsoft Migration Portal and connect with Microsoft Services or any preferred partner to help set up a plan to get your organization to a supported position This free tool can be accessed through this URL: http://migrationplanningassistant. azurewebsites.net

www.mindware.ae

What are the disadvantages if organizations do not move from Window Server 2003?

Users of Windows Server 2003 will not receive any updates or patches to combat security issues. There will be discontinued support on applications and programs, and phone support will also come to an end.

The risks associated with not migrating your servers and applications could be huge – and not to mention a headache - when it comes to a gap in security and compliance and an increase in costs.

• Reduced Security: No security patches will be available from Microsoft, exposing your datacenter to vulnerabilities • Compliance Risks: Many policies, including Payment Card Industry (PCI) policies will not be met with an operating system that has reached EOS • No Updates: Hotfixes and bug fixes will no longer be provided • No Support: Complimentary support - phone and online - included with the licenses will no longer be provided. Paid support (e.g. from Microsoft Premier Support) will no longer cover the Windows Server 2003 family of products What are some of the benefits, which Windows Server 2012 R2, Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Office 365 offer to businesses?

Impact to your organization: Upgrading your server operating system presents many opportunities to realize value and avoid the challenges associated with delay.

Benefit from a modern Server

Fadi Farhat, Gulf Distribution Manager, Microsoft Gulf

platform with Windows Server 2012: Microsoft delivers a server platform founded on our experience of building and operating many of the world’s largest cloud-based services and data centers. Windows Server 2012 will help optimize your IT so you can fully meet your organization’s unique needs.

Consolidate your infrastructure with amazing advances in virtualization, scalability and performance as well as features to support new and emerging workloads, modem server software represents a huge opportunity to reduce your hardware footprint while increasing the computing power available to your business.

Independent vendors are focused on developing solutions for and supporting the best hardware and software. The bulk of software and hardware being brought to market today won’t support Windows Server 2003, leading to headaches and unexpected costs for your business.

When optimize your IT for the cloud with Windows Server 2012, you take advantage of the skills and investment you’ve already made in building a familiar and consistent platform.

Cost savings and increased efficiency: Windows Server 2012 delivers new levels of cost savings and efficiencies though performance and reliability.

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Windows Server 2003 support will end in:

JULY 14, 2015

Nexans

Stacked solutions Tarek Helmy, Regional Director Gulf and Middle East, South & East Africa, Nexans Cabling Solutions, discusses fibre solutions for data centres in depth.

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ould you give us an overview of your solutions for data centres?

Data centre managers face common challenges - to keep information flowing reliably, to plan future migration, manage energy consumption, and reduce running costs. Nexans provides the right products for dependable data centre infrastructures that meet key operational, economic, energy saving and future growth requirements.

Some of the data centre solutions that Nexans offers are: • LANmark copper and fibre cabling providing a migration path to 10/40/100Gigabit/s transmission speeds.

• LANsense Automated Infrastructure Management (AIM) solutions to maximise efficiency to reduce total cost of ownership.

• Power Cables including fire-resistant cables which continue to deliver vital energy.

Nexans offers complete solutions to facilitate optical fibre connections in data centres. Our fibre solutions help customers save time and money, ensure maximum uptime and reliability through quality products and shorten lead times and facilitate installation.

What are the business advantages of fibre solutions for data centres?

Data centres today need higher speeds, driven by trends such as virtualization, big data, mobile applications, new ways of working, service and network convergence and streaming. They also require greater design flexibility and a cost-effective migration path.

www.mindware.ae

connectors is done cost-effectively rack-to-rack: LC connections are conveniently replaced using MPO adaptors on the front of patch panels.

Nexans LANmark OF MPO is a fibre optic infrastructure offering migration path to 40G/100G, compact construction for best space utilisation in cabinet and cable pathways, low loss variant for segmented architecture or extended reach, and very easy and rapid installation.

What are its unique features that are specially designed for data centres?

Nexans’ fibre solutions for data centres are: • Pre-terminated fibre-optic cables supporting different connector types • Factory-tested solutions for both cables and accessories • Backward compatibility and easy upgrades to 40G and 100G

Tarek Helmy, Regional Director Gulf and Middle East, South & East Africa, Nexans Cabling Solutions,

Benefits of fibre are its ability to bridge greater distances. Furthermore, the ‘footprint’ of fibre cables is lower, meaning they require less space – which is always limited in DCs - and can be easier to manage and manipulate.

Traditionally, fibre is used for switchto-switch connections, whereas copper is more widely used for server-toswitch connections. However with arrival of Top of Rack lay-outs, the use of copper cabling in the DC has been markedly reduced.

A fibre technology leader for more than 30 years, Nexans has the experience to take businesses into the future with cables, accessories, and sophisticated network management systems that are ready today for tomorrow’s innovations.

Nexans LANmark-OF solutions are well suited for Data Centres. They are quickly deployed using plug-andplay MPO connectors to minimise intricate and expensive fibre splicing.

Converting traditional LC to MPO

Nexans LANmark optical fibre (OF) solutions have high fibre count, modularity, long distance reach to support all Data Centre operations.

Nexans LANmark cabling minimise Data Centre disruptions, reduce recurring costs and ensure greater continuity for better business vitality.

How is Nexans enabling partners to make the most in this segment?

The role of the channel is very important especially for companies like Nexans that has invested heavily in establishing a very strong partner network of Value-Added Distributors and Systems Integrators across the Middle East region. Each of our partners is a market leader in networking within their local market.

The market leadership of Nexans’ partners includes expert staffing fully certified by us, support level, end-toend solution offering, and last but not least their financial strength. Such strong partners’ network has enabled Nexans to secure deals with global key account customers.

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Riverbed

Growth avenues Elie Dib, Managing Director, Middle East and North, West and Central Africa, Riverbed Technology, details how partners can profit from the hybrid enterprise environment.

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an you give an overview of hybrid enterprise?

All large organizations, whether they know it or not, are already gearing up to become Hybrid Enterprises. Enterprise data centres today live with one foot on-premises and one in the cloud.

Networks are going hybrid too, with private multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) links for mission-critical apps and the public Internet for non-critical traffic. Two years ago, 30 percent of companies were using an Internet connection in place of a traditional WAN link in at least one location. The number rose to 50 percent in 2013, and was expected to reach 55 percent in 2014. It is this combination of private and public assets delivering essential business services that defines the hybrid enterprise.

The hybrid approach brings significant benefits to organizations in the way of agility, time to market, cost savings, and flexibility. However, it also brings with it challenges which call for visibility, control, and optimization to be delivered across hybrid clouds and networks to ensure that all on-premises, cloud, and SaaS applications perform to the SLAs determined by the business.

What are the critical factors organizations should consider, when moving into a hybrid enterprise environment?

For an organization, there are three phases in the journey to becoming a high-performance hybrid enterprise.

At each, important questions must be raised which are highlighted below: Strategic Planning: What are the different hybrid models available?

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What challenges must be overcome to adopt the various models? What must we do to prepare to adopt the hybrid model?

Flawless Execution: What are the challenges of migrating and deploying applications and data in the hybrid enterprise? How can administrators overcome distance challenges and application-specific challenges? How can organizations take full advantage of scalability in hybrid environments?

Seamless Delivery: What are the challenges to delivering and managing applications and services?

What systems facilitate meeting SLAs? How can organizations accommodate change in their cloud/ on-premise deployments? How can the organization adapt its data protection and business continuity strategies for this new model?

What are the cost-savings for a business?

IT procurement has driven overcapacity buying for three primary reasons: to support a distributed, underutilized infrastructure that meets performance requirements; to support peak demand for resources, and; and to adequately protect systems with many layers of redundancy. The hybrid enterprise model supports consolidation of resources, driving out underutilization inefficiencies of a distributed environment. It allows for efficient, on-demand provisioning of resources, reducing the need for redundant, pre-provisioned capacity; and may allow for inter-cloud brokering models to further reduce per unit costs in the future. In the region, Riverbed has played a pivotal

Elie Dib, Managing Director, Middle East and North, West and Central Africa, Riverbed Technology

role in helping enterprises realise their ambitions of having ‘zero IT’ branches. Our Riverbed SteelFusion solution converges branch servers and storage into a single appliance while centralizing data. This means reduced CapEx for delivering IT to branches and also lowered OpEx due to simplified management and administration of the converged infrastructure.

Can you elaborate on the training given to partners in this regard?

We regularly conduct a face-to-face trainings as well as monthly Webex training programs. These include sales as well as technical trainings to ensure our partners are fully capable of supporting their customers and helping them lay out the roadmap to the hybrid enterprise. One program in particular which sets Riverbed apart is our technical symposium, ‘RivETS’, which will run once a year.

For this, we invite the technical staff of our partners to a 3-day technical event alongside the Riverbed Sales Engineering team. The event includes a comprehensive training program over three days, with the option of achieving on-site certifications.

www.mindware.ae

Symantec

Managing assets Symantec’s eDiscovery tool can enable organizations to address the data management challenges and enhance operations, says Distribution Manager, Mansoor Ibrahim.

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hat are some of the biggest challenges an organization faces when it comes to managing data?

Information Growth is not a new problem and customers are probably tired of hearing it, but in reality the problem is only getting worse. One of the biggest challenge an organization faces is the inconsistent approach and manner in which the data is entered and maintained. This can lead to data errors in business systems resulting in disrupted business processes. Another challenge organizations face is the quality and duplicate or redundant data residing in multiple storage boxes. They lack end to end visibility standpoint of any change done on the data. A simple data assessment could potentially save organizations millions in multiple ways.

What kind of risks can organization face with unmanaged data?

It’s estimated that unstructured data is now approximately 80 percent of the data being managed, often with infrastructures that were originally designed for corporate transactional data. To make the situation worse, up to 70 percent of that data is duplicate and hasn’t been accessed in more than 90 days.

There are many schools of thought about how long to keep information.

Some are ultra conservative and don’t want to keep anything. These are the minority. The majority ends up keeping everything forever. This is driven primarily by the fear of deletion or ‘what if I need this in the future?’

Organizations without a formal retention and deletion policy tend to over retain information well past its

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Mansoor Ibrahim, Distribution Manager, Symantec Corporation

usable life. Over retention is the primary driver for the first point we made about Information Growth and Waste.

However, the hidden problems to over retention lay in the backup system.

Search is always a fire drill. When was the last time you looked on your calendar and saw an appointment from the legal team that you will need to search your entire infrastructure for an email from 18 months ago? Rarely if ever, that’s because searches and e-discovery are typically fire drills. Drop what you’re doing, find something and they needed it yesterday. Although the cost of storage is cheap and companies can store a lot of information and barely impact the budget it begins to add up and what was once an asset quickly becomes a liability.

How can Symantec Data Archiving help organizations? What are the various components within it?

Organizations require archiving for a number of different reasons. Here are the most common reasons we hear from our customers: Control data growth and cost (keep only the recent and frequently accessed data on your front-line systems, and

move older infrequently accessed data to cheaper storage. Front-line systems perform better, easier to DR, etc) Prepare for eDiscovery (Using Discovery Accelerator or Symantec eDiscovery Platform the information can be searched and the review set greatly reduced resulting in a reduced eDiscovery cost and effort) Ensure supervisory compliance (Enterprise Vault can scan and sample email as it’s sent and received by users, and based on certain rules or content of an email it can bring those items to a supervisory reviewer’s attention.

Enterprise Vault provides supervisory review capabilities to cater for Dodd Frank requirements) Audit and security (Enterprise Vault can store archived data on tamper proof storage, and any access or searches of the archive can be audited) Impose retention control (keep only the information you need, discard lunch menus, Google alerts etc) Provide easy access to information (Enterprise Vault archives can be accessed from any IMAP compatible device, and information can be cached offline using Vault Cache – not possible with Exchange archives) How can partners leverage these solutions from Symantec?

Partners are essential to our business and at the heart of Symantec’s core values. We recognize and reward our partners based on the value they provide. Symantec’s new partner program. The program is designed to link partner’s unique business models and capabilities to the market opportunity with Symantec solutions. Objective is to help partner be competitive and relevant in the market place. With the current and future market potential, partners can have the opportunity to achieve Competency in Symantec eDiscovery competency. There is a structured process, tools and training schedule in place to help partners achieve the relevant accreditation.

March 2015 Issue 04 | TheGrid

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Products

Avocent ACS 6000 Advanced Console Server A Next-Generation Console Management Solution

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he Avocent ACS 6000 advanced console server series integrates cutting edge technologies, adaptive services and secure enterprise communications in order to offer IT professionals and network operations center (NOC) personnel the ability to perform secure, remote data center management and outof-band management of IT assets

InstaRack LAN Ready-to-assemble Network Cabinet

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TheGrid | Issue 04 March 2015

from anywhere in the world. Using a hardened Linux operating system, the Avocent ACS 6000 advanced console server provides optimal performance, security and reliability. Using Avocent DSView 4 management software and integrated power, the Avocent ACS 6000 server provides a complete out-of-band management solution.

The Avocent ACS 6000 advanced console server series offers upgraded and advanced features that deliver scalable and high performance solutions for IT administrators. The console server features a high-speed processor platform with dual gigabit-Ethernet ports for redundancy and optional built-in modem. In addition, they feature an internal temperature sensor for device-level monitoring and configurable pin-outs for serial ports.

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merson Network Power’s new InstaRack LAN is designed to meet your local area networking (LAN) rack enclosure needs, offering all of the advantages of an easy to install and cost-effective modular solution. The ready-to-assemble rack enclosure offers stability and strength. It has a 550 kg load carrying capacity.

InstaRack LAN comes complete with a comprehensive range of easyfit accessories including Ventilation units, Rack PDUs, Cable guide components, Stationary plinth. It is available in 4 standard size options in order to accommodate all your rack-mount equipment and adapt to various layout requirements.

The 800 mm wide universal top cover features cable entry points at the front, rear and sides for flexible and simplified cable management. Additional side

The Avocent ACS 6000 advanced console server also offers robust software features to meet the requirements of the most demanding data center management applications. Features include automated discovery tools to ease identification of servers, routers, switches or PBX connected to any serial port, saving time at initial configuration and installation.

To comply with existing data center network access policy, the Avocent ACS 6000 advanced console server provides customizable, multiple access levels for secure management.

The console servers provide a complete solution for secure, remote control with advanced console server features such as enhanced security, data logging and event monitoring. In addition, the Avocent ACS 6000 advanced console server supports next-generation network standards such as Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).

Available in 4-, 8-, 16-, 32- and 48-port models that fit in 1U of rack space with single and dual, AC and DC power options.

With or without modem, the ACS 6000 console server helps maximize IT asset productivity while providing scalability and reducing operational costs.

openings allow cables to be easily routed between the 19� level and side panel. Brush strips for sealing the cable entry points are available as accessories.

A fan top cover with large break-out openings in the middle is also available for Coolblast rack ventilation unit.

InstaRack LAN comprises only a small number of parts and identical screw connections, allowing fast and easy assembly, providing a high degree of stability at the same time. All rack PDUs and MPH2 in particular, can be easily and securely integrated with InstaRack LAN, ensuring space savings for rackmounted equipment. InstaRack LAN features an open base, guaranteeing maximum cooling air flow and easy cable management. Grounding is available as an accessory and can be ordered if required. The grounding is installed safely in compliance with the applicable standard. www.mindware.ae

Scale smarter.

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New PowerEdge servers can be configured up to %99 faster and boost IOPS by up to 10x .

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Whether your business relies on data to predict the future, improve outcomes or engage more customers, the next generation of PowerEdge servers with Intel Xeon processors will help boost application and workload performance — so you can scale smarter, manage easier, innovate faster. ®

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Learn more about our award-winning server and revolutionary in-server flash designs.

Visit Dell.com/accelerate Intel, the Intel logo, Xeon, and Xeon Inside are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.

1 Based on Principled Technologies report ‘Simplifying systems management with Dell OpenManage on 13G Dell PowerEdge servers’, September 2014, commissioned by Dell, testing Dell’s 13th generation R730 with Enterprise-level Dell systems management. As compared to manual configuration.

2 Based on product specifications for Intel S3700 SATA SSD and Express Flash results from the Storage Networking Industry Association.

3 Based on Dell internal analysis August 2014 comparing SATA SSDs to Express Flash - PCIe-Gen3 x4 testing random reads. ©2014 Dell, Inc. Dell is a registered trademark of Dell, Inc. Pudae ratet faces rerrori beaquide ped etusae. Um lant, test fugiaes dit rem qui aribusd aepuditatur aut apit lam sandebisque ea volupienis ent, odipiendaeIhicatem rem eatur adiasim porero berum sim rem dolora es ad quam, to debitis est dolorest, omnihit la santusam re, corrovid ut aditias eseque ad

Contact your nearest office for further details: mssales@mindware.ae | UAE: +9714 4500600