Reseller Middle East

PUBLICATION LICENSED BY IMPZ

ISSUE 178 // OCTOBER 2011 // WWW.RESELLERME.COM

CONTENTS

ISSUE 178 // october 2011

IN FOCUS 24 CPI’s Cloud Congress: A look at the proceedings

CPI’s two day cloud event saw combination of end user and vendor presentations on the merits of progress into this new paradigm

SPEAK OUT

Top 10 Rankings Annual channel industry survey 2011

35

26 “Touch has become

ubiquitous in the way we all interact with digital content”

Somanna Palacanda, Director of Marketing for Surface, Microsoft

32 Store, protect and connect

Discussion with Prasad Ramachandran, Regional Manager for Middle East, East and West Africa, Imation

Somanna Palacanda

COVER FOCUS

Prasad Ramhandran

PROFILE 94 Claire Jones

36 Rankings

40 Analyses

43 Top 10 profiles

REGULARS 05 Editorial

59 Next 10 profiles

78 Following 10 profiles

REVIEW 84 ESET Smart

Security Ver 5.0

07 Tie-ups 13 Announcements 88 Product news 93 Movements

One of its latest features is its unique cloud-based early warning technology called Live Grid. We take a look at the main features of Version 5.0. october 2011

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EDITORIAL Publisher Dominic De Sousa COO Nadeem Hood Managing Director Richard Judd richard@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9126 Sales Director Rajashree R Kumar raj@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9131

The ranks, the survey

Editorial

It’s finally out!

Dave Reeder dave@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9106

Our version of what the industry looks like.

Senior Editor Arun Shankar arun@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9142

We believe it’s the first ever regional channel industry survey and an effort to publish relative player rankings and trends on a somewhat modest scale. There is no big bang in the sense that most of what is here has been known at sometime or the other. Some of the rankings have been published elsewhere, also at some time or the other.

Advertising Advertising Executive Merle Carrasco merle@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9134 Circulation Database and Circulation Manager Rajeesh M rajeesh@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9147 Production and Design Production Manager James P Tharian james@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9146 Art Director Kamil Roxas kamil@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 91112

Arun Shankar Senior Editor arun@cpidubai.com

Designer Analou Balbero analou@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9104

However what we would like to call our own is the fact that when you survey all the top players together and compile and analyse them collectively it is a bit more authoritative and a bit more cohesive. For example, everyone in the industry has their own thumb rule on the reexports of UAE. Presented in the pages ahead is an assessment of what the re-export market looks like from the point of view of the distributor’s formal channel of shipment. We capture the amount of re-exports at the point of arrival, reshipment and re-export.

Of the goods that do come into UAE again there is a re-export and walk out component from the trading point of view. But that is the matter for another survey and one modest survey cannot achieve the objectives of many. We are happy with the run-up as presented in the pages ahead and we hope you also find them equally educative and enlightening.

Considerable effort was made to get the channel industry players to participate. We sent the response forms individually and by name and by direct calling. While we received a high degree of interest and cooperation the level of disclosure also followed two extremes in the final amount of information made available to us. Either we received an overwhelming level of transparency and co-operation in the best way to present consolidated revenues or we received guarded and minimal disclosures.

On the latter set back we believe this is part of the learning for everyone.

Photographer Cris Mejorada cris@cpidubai.com +971 4 4409108 Digital www.rwme.net DIGITAL SERVICES Digital Services Manager Tristan Troy P Maagma

One of the key hitches was the inability of multinationals to reveal regional revenue information. In such cases we have accepted their response forms in the absence of such a figure and estimated their revenue based on industry averages around productivity and business model, with their consent. We believe at this stage participation is more important than hair splitting over decimals.

Web Developers Jerus King Bation Erik Briones Jefferson de Joya Louie Alma online@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9100

Moving on, Gitex is around the corner and once again it is time for the overload of vendor announcements, shelved the whole year, waiting for just this time to present to you. Take a look at our exclusive preview of Microsoft Surface in the pages ahead.

Published by

We wish there were more such surprises in store for everyone.

1013 Centre Road, New Castle County, Wilmington, Delaware, USA

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On that note, happy hunting!

ISSUE 176 // OCTOBER 2011 // WWW.RESELLERME.COM

Branch Office PO Box 13700 Dubai, UAE Tel: +971 4 440 9100 Fax: +971 4 447 2409 Printed by Printwell Printing Press LLC © Copyright 2011 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.

If you’d like to receive your own copy of RME every month, log on and request a subscription: www.resellerme.com

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IN THE BEGINNING Tie-ups

Aptec now authorised VMware training centre partner Aptec Holdings, has received the status of VATC – VMWare Authorised Training Centre - for the Middle East region. The first training centre will be opened by Aptec at its UAE regional head office in Dubai Internet City by end of October 2011 with Saudi Arabia and Egypt to follow soon.

Mario Veljovic, General Manager of Advanced Technology Services, a professional services subsidiary within the Aptec Group, said the company is delighted at this partnership with VMware and is looking forward to work with the vendor in providing virtualisation solutions training to channel partners in the region. Veljovic said the company will start offering classroom

and instructor led trainings to partners from November 2011.

“We already have a VMware certified instructor on board who will be conducting trainings for channel partners in the region.

The company has also secured additional office space within our current premises that will host the training centre,” said Veljovic.

Initially vSphere: Install, Configure and Manage course will be offered.

“We also intend to add virtualisation and technology labs to the training as the company already runs these programmes through the Data Centre Partner Alliance Programme which was unveiled earlier this year,”- he said.

Mario Veljovic, General Manager of Advanced Technology Services Aptec offers the complete stack of Vmware offerings, right from traditional licensing, training, services and VSPP.

Aptec signs up as Office 365 partner appointed by Microsoft Aptec Holding, as cloud distributor announced it has in the region. This received Microsoft Cloud prestigious status has distributor status, the strengthened our vision first of its kind to be of providing the channel given to any Microsoft with the complete distributor in the Middle solutions on cloud. Aptec East. With this agreement has developed the right Aptec will be focusing on go-to market strategy distribution of the latest by offering the channel cloud technology product the right expectations from Microsoft - Office of recruit, enable, 365. The distribution engage and deploy on agreement currently cloud solutions. We will covers UAE, Qatar and collaborate the efforts Kuwait, to be followed by made on Microsoft VAD other GCC countries and Santhosh Kumar, Software Business Unit manager of Aptec Distribution and will replicate the Egypt in the near future. same success on the With its new cloud cloud offering,” added Kumar. distribution status Aptec is expected “We truly believe that cloud computing to concentrate on recruitment and as a concept will see increase of adoption enablement of channel resellers along with and acceptance by the Middle East during offering them complete services expertise. the next couple of years as the market Santhosh Kumar, Software Business Unit matures and more vendors and service manager of Aptec Distribution, commented: providers are coming up with more cloud “We at Aptec are very excited about being

products. Our role as a distributor here is to enable and educate the channel in order to be capable of providing right solutions to all end-user segments,” commented Bahaa Salah, Managing Director of Aptec Distribution.

Microsoft launched its first cloud product, in October 2010, having started testing it first in North America and European markets. Office 365 combines Microsoft Office Professional Plus — the familiar Microsoft Office desktop suite with cloud-based versions of nextgeneration Microsoft communications and collaborations services.

Currently in beta, Microsoft Office 365 is designed to meet the needs of organisations of all sizes. With plans for everyone from independent professionals and kiosk workers to small, midsize, and large businesses and from government agencies to educational institutions, Microsoft Office 365 can help save time and money, while freeing valued staff resources.

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IN THE BEGINNING Tie-ups

Octagon divests majority share to private equity consortium

Sukant Mishra, CEO, Octagon International Octagon International announced sale of majority share to a consortium of private equity investors in a multi-million dollar transaction. This deal represents one of the largest private equity investments in the UAE’s IT distribution industry over the past several years and signals a return of confidence to a sector battling to revert to

profitability following a period of sustained market turbulence.

Sukant Mishra, CEO of Octagon International, said: “This transaction has provided a great boost to Octagon International and demonstrates a solid endorsement of our business model, industry leadership and financial strength.

The injection of additional capital into the company will allow us to further expand during such challenging times for the IT industry. Looking forward, we are exploring possibilities of acquiring additional distribution rights as well as investing into service capabilities.”

Since 2008, the IT distribution sector has faced major challenges with most large players experiencing lower turnover and declining profitability due to considerably reduced demand for IT hardware. However, as corporate spending increases, the IT distribution market is expected to improve over the next few quarters.

Belkin ties up with Jumbo for distribution Belkin announced its partnership with the IT distribution division of consumer-electronics giant, Jumbo Electronics, as its distributor in the Middle East. Belkin products will be distributed through Jumbo in UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman. Belkin’s full range of products including networking, home entertainment solutions and accessories will be offered to Jumbo partner customers.

Commenting on the partnership, Youssef El-Arif, National Account Manager MEA, Belkin said , “With over 30 years of experience in this region, Jumbo Electronics will be able to utilise their expertise to distribute Belkin solutions to customers in this market.”

Belkin’s distribution partnership with Jumbo is part of an overall strategy to expand in the Middle East. Belkin plans further growth in 2011 by investing in marketing, channel

Youssef El-Arif, National Account Manager MEA, Belkin development and growing product offerings in a variety of markets. The new product lines that are expected to be launched during the second half of the year will be distributed by Jumbo’s IT Distribution arm.

ComGuard takes Kaspersky into India

Ajay Singh Chauhan, CEO, ComGuard ComGuard, Dubai based value added distributor for IT security products and solutions in the Middle East and North Africa region, has extended its distribution partnership with Kaspersky. Following the successful business relationship between ComGuard and Kaspersky in the Middle East region, the relationship has now been extended to India.

ComGuard as the nationwide enterprise distributor will distribute the entire range of Kaspersky business products in India.

“We are happy to expand our relations with Kaspersky beyond Middle East region,” said Ajay Singh Chauhan, CEO, ComGuard. “We are sure that we will be able to further consolidate our relations with Kaspersky and write a similar success story in India too.”

ComGuard has been authorised to distribute the entire range of business products excluding retail and consumer products from the product portfolio of Kaspersky.

Comguard was established in 2002 and is part of Spectrum Group, which is engaged in IT networking and security training and consultancy.

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Reseller Middle East

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IN THE BEGINNING Tie-ups

Polycom and Jive, take video to social media

Sudhakar Ramakrishna, EVP and General Manager, UC solutions, Polycom.

Polycom and Jive Software, a social business solution, announced a strategic relationship to integrate Polycom HD video into Jive’s social business platform. The new solution will transform how businesses engage and collaborate with customers, employees and partners. The solution will allow Jive customers to conduct live video chats, including group video calls, as well as record video meetings or messages for archiving, training, and ongoing collaboration.

“Integrating social business with real-time video is the next logical step in significantly improving how enterprise users communicate, collaborate, and become more productive,” said Sudhakar Ramakrishna, Executive Vice President and General Manager of UC solutions and chief development officer, Polycom.

“Polycom and Jive will together deliver a real-time HD video solution powered by the Polycom RealPresence Platform for social business that is easy to use and fulfil the

growing demand for real-time workplace collaboration.”

“Jive is excited to partner with Polycom to bring the latest innovation in video communications to our customers,” said Chris Morace, Senior Vice President of Business Development, Jive. “This partnership is yet another step in our commitment to leverage the power of social to change the way business gets done in the enterprise.”

The HD video offerings will be based on open standards to ensure interoperability with other business and communications applications. The planned offerings will enable users to make point-to-point and multi-point group video calls in real-time, as well as record meetings or video messages and archive them in the context of their group for others to retrieve and view at any time.

Jive’s Social Business software combines the power of community software, collaboration software, social networking software and social media monitoring offerings into an integrated platform.

A10 Networks ties up with Scope ME A10 Networks has signed on Scope Middle East as specialty distributor. Scope will adopt a value-added approach to grow the regional market-share for A10 Networks AX Series Application Delivery Controllers.

The Application Delivery Controller market in the Middle East is valued at over $20 million annually. Through the new partnership with Scope, A10 Networks aims to achieve a market-share of 10% within the first year.

“The Middle East holds potential for our application networking products. Scope’s astute understanding of this market, technical capabilities and strong channel presence in the region will allow A10 to accelerate our business expansion,” said Mark Edge, Sales Director, EMEA, for A10 Networks. “We look forward to a successful partnership with Scope and market

Mark Edge, Sales Director, EMEA, A10 Networks

penetration through contract wins in the government, finance, manufacturing and other key sectors.”

The AX Series Application Delivery Controllers are new generation server load balancers, which help enterprises and Internet Service Providers to scale and maximise application availability.

Commenting on the partnership, Fadi AbuEkab, Chief Executive Officer of Scope said, “Scope is proud to be appointed as A10 Networks value-added distributor and we are excited to be offering the vendor’s cutting-edge technology to our channel partners and clients. This tie-up plays to our key strengths of providing application delivery, IPv6 migration and virtualisation solutions. We are confident that the products will have a good uptake by clients in the region.”

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IN THE BEGINNING Tie-ups

ISIT revamps storage at Panasonic ME ISIT Middle East, specialising in data storage and security solutions, announced it has consolidated the storage infrastructure across the entire network of Panasonic Marketing Middle East (PMM) UAE offices.

Located in the UAE within the Jebel Ali Free Zone, PMM is the regional headquarters of Panasonic Corporation in the Middle East and African countries.

Panasonic had earlier installed isolated storage islands dedicated to each application with independent servers. This resulted in the creation of numerous storage area networks that were based on FC and iSCSI. Different SANs were supporting varied applications such as File Servers, SAP and Microsoft Exchange. Under the partnership with Panasonic, ISIT revamped the entire infrastructure through the consolidation of disparate solutions of different SANs. Mahesh Vaidya, CEO at ISIT Middle East, said: “Today organisations cannot afford to have downtime or failure like in the past;

Mahesh Vaidya, CEO, ISIT Middle East therefore, it is imperative to invest in robust and sophisticated technology that can also be adapted to future needs. Unified storage enables easier planning for disasters while

offering agility and ability that is crucial to adding new services in the future.

“For Panasonic, it has always been essential to have high availability of applications and services for internal and external purposes to meet with the growing demands of their operations across the region.

The installation has additionally helped reduce overheads drastically.”

Sharjil Salem, Deputy General Manager - IT Department at Panasonic Marketing Middle East, said: “ISIT storage solution’s unique design enables bridging the gap between various vendors. Through this consolidation, the turnaround time for addressing department requests is significantly reduced.

With over 20 years of experience, ISIT’s range of storage, data management and information security solutions, are designed to align themselves with its customer’s business needs while taking out the complexity in system integration.

Majid Bin Mohammed centre to serve enterpreneur Under the direction of His Highness Sheikh Majid bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, the ‘Majid Bin Mohammed Innovation Centre in5’ has been launched. in5 is envisioned to promote entrepreneurship and technical innovation in the UAE. The centre will focus on the five key objectives of accelerating the development of new start-ups, fostering entrepreneurships, driving technology innovation, contributing to shaping an ICT ecosystem and, most importantly, promoting Dubai as an ideal location for tech start-ups.

A press conference was panelled by select in5 board members including Malek Al Malek, Managing Director, Dubai Internet City; Mohammad Gawdat, Managing Director-SEEMEA, Google; Charbel Fakhoury, Vice President-Sales, Marketing and Service-Middle East and

At the press conference announcing the launch of Majid Bin Mohammed Innovation Centre in5 (left to right): Mohamed Gawdat, Managing Director-SEEMEA, Google; Nassir Al Rafi, CEO, Emaar Malls Group; Malek Al Malek, Managing Director Dubai Internet City, Dubai Outsource Zone and Charbel Fakhoury, Vice President Sales, Marketing and Service, Middle East and Africa Region, Microsoft.

Africa Region, Microsoft Corporation; and Nassir Al Rafi, CEO, Emaar Malls Group.

Ahmad Julfar, Group CEO, Etisalat, will

head the in5 board as Chairman. Providing guidance, industry insights and setting up long-term Contination on Page 17

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IN THE BEGINNING Announcements

Canon demonstrates products in Kuwait

Hendrik Verbrugghe Marketing Director, Canon Middle East Canon Middle East, vendor of imaging products, has strengthened its line up of Office Personal Products and Office Imaging Products to meet increased demand in Kuwait. A series of product demonstration

seminars aimed at retailers and distributors in Kuwait was conducted recently, as part of initiatives to further strengthen its presence in the country’s robust IT market.

The Kuwait OPP seminar was organised

by Naser Mohamed Al-Sayer Communications Co, Canon Middle East’s authorised distributor in the country. The highlight among the product demonstrations for its OPP and OIP range of products included the PIXMA inkjet and iSENSYS laser printers, as well as the P-150 personal scanner.

“Canon Middle East is committed to providing the highest standards of support in the industry, with a customer focused approach to both sales and service. The Kuwait tier two seminar provided the right platform for resellers to understand our range of products and how these can help drive their respective businesses,” said Hendrik Verbrugghe Marketing Director, Canon Middle East.

Among the product features that

received an enthusiastic response from the attendees include PIXMA’s full HD movie print software and intelligent touch functionality, which is a unique feature of the brand. The P-150 personal scanners were appreciated for their compact design, featuring the world’s first plug & scan technology, automatic document feeder and unbeatable scan speeds.

Our resellers were impressed with the three year warranty, which gives them and end-users greater confidence in the quality and reliability, in addition to the outstanding features of the product,” said Nabil Iskandarani, General Manager, Naser Al-Sayer.

The OPP seminar in Kuwait is the latest in a series of Channel events organised by Canon Middle East and provides Tier Two partners with insight into the new Canon line up and forthcoming strategies relating to the new products, development of Channels and marketing initiatives.

Mentored learning from New Horizons New Horizons Computer Learning Centre Dubai, a IT training centre in the region and part of the global IT training company, Human Soft Learning, announced the launch of mentored learning – an easy and effective way to maintain productivity while increasing capabilities of trainees.

The mentored learning programme provides solutions to students wanting to upgrade their skills in a more relevant, flexible and cost-effective way. This training module provides an easy option to students who cannot attend the regular schedule of the traditional instructor-led training programme.

Mentored learning facilitates focused learning, with a one-on-one mentoring experience for students coupled with flexible scheduling of the curriculum – one of the major drawbacks in the traditional training process.

The flexible course schedules allow students to acquire valued new skills around their daily schedule, learning what they need to learn without wasting time with what they may

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already know and increasing their capabilities.

“With the mentored learning method, we provide a paradigm shift in the learning process. It provides students with simultaneous access to information delivered via audio and video, a simulated production environment, an in-person certified instructor to provide oneon-one coaching and mentoring. Courseware is accessed by students at a workstation with two monitors. The tutorial is viewed on one while simultaneously practicing on the other.

The flexible mentored learning classroom hours offer students a comprehensive learning experience to effectively maximise their potential,” said Mohammed Aslam, CEO Human Soft Learning.

A Microsoft Gold Certified partner, New Horizons Computer Learning Centre Dubai and across the world are authorised training providers for many industry-recognised software and certification organisations including , Solaris, Cisco, HP Software, Citrix, Fujitsu, Sun and others.

“We partner with these companies and organisations in order to provide businesses and individuals with the most effective learning experience available in the industry.

These partnerships enable us to offer authorised curriculum, which guarantees vendor-approved content and delivery methods – a time tested, successful model that is being introduced for the first time in the Middle East,” added Aslam.

Some of the courses offered as part of the mentored learning at New Horizons include the Microsoft Certification Courses Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Exchange Server 2007 and 2010, SharePoint Server 2007, Hyper-V, MCSE and MCITP; Cisco Certification Trainings - ICND1, ICND2, CCNA Security, CCNA Voice, SWITCH, ROUTE, TSHOOT; CompTIA Certification Trainings A+ Certification, Network and Certification, Security and Certification, Linux; Security Trainings -- EC-Council Security5, Security Awareness Program and others.

IN THE BEGINNING Announcements

Xerox Golf Challenge tees off The 14th Annual Xerox Corporate Golf Challenge was officially launched with the events’ sponsors at Xerox Emirates offices at the International Media Production Zone. The 2011-2012 golf challenge consists of ten qualifying rounds in six countries around the GCC, followed by the Grand Finale that will be held in Dubai at Jumeirah Golf Estates on 26 April 2012.

The first qualifying round will be held at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club and will host 50 teams and 100 players. The top eight teams of each qualifying round will move onto the Grand Final and have the chance to win a trip to the British Open Championship 2012.

“The Xerox Corporate Golf Challenge is a highly anticipated event in our calendar and has been named Best Corporate Golf Event in the Middle East twice. Golfers in the region are increasing in both numbers and talent and this is clearly evident from the increase in interest received by golfers this year. Together with the sponsors of the challenge, we aim to raise the bar for Golf in the Middle East and we are confident this year’s challenge will be on par with previous

tournaments and are looking forward to an exciting golf season.” said Andrew Hurt, General Manager, Xerox Emirates Xerox, a vendor for business process and document management, expects a bigger pool of golfers to participate in the 14th edition than any other year. Each tournament includes teams from every industry and level, with player’s participating from media, education and business sectors alike. Throughout the years the tournament has grown significantly bigger in scope and coverage. The tournament now includes more qualifying rounds than previous years in addition to branching out within the region, in places such as Oman and Saudi Aramco.

Furthermore, Xerox is engaging in new initiatives, expanding into social media forums such as Facebook and LinkedIn; by launching an online competition allowing fans of the Xerox Corporate Golf Challenge Facebook page, to win prizes by answering simple questions.

“The tournament has grown significantly bigger in scope and coverage, making it an

Dan Smith, Head of Integrated Marketing, Middle East and Africa, Xerox even bigger regional sporting event. We are delighted to welcome golfing enthusiasts from Lebanon and Oman as well as old and new participants from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, and the UAE,” added Dan Smith, Head of Integrated Marketing for the Middle East and Africa region of Xerox’s Developing Markets Operations.

Continuation from Page 13

Majid Bin Mohammed centre to serve as Entrepreneurs strategies for the innovation centre, the board also includes Daniel A Rivetti, Associate Professor of Finance at the University of San Diego, as a member.

The in5’s ultimate objective is to support young entrepreneurs and technology innovators, in addition to driving the growth of the IT SME sector in the UAE and the region. It will also allow young innovators and talents to gain access to technology companies and draw value from their expertise and knowledge.

Speaking at the press conference, Malek Al Malek said: “in5 will facilitate emerging start-ups to work within an entrepreneurial environment and alongside other visionaries. With high quality and industry-specific infrastructure, mentoring and access to industry experts, we hope that this platform will allow emerging innovators to bring their ideas to fruition and deliver viable solutions to the marketplace. DIC has always been actively engaged with entrepreneurs and the founding of in5

will further complement our efforts in this direction.”

The in5 centre is poised to drive the SME sector, which leads economic growth and job creation in the UAE. In addition, the sector accounts for over 90 per cent of the private enterprises in Dubai. It is, therefore, a top priority that the SME landscape is provided with access to latest knowledge, technology, funding and markets, according to the SME development agency of the Department of Economic Development in Dubai.

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IN THE BEGINNING Announcements

New breed of social media malware Security researchers are now saying the rollout of new social media sites and features is leading to a fresh crop of online scams and threats.

Online security company PC Tools has predicted three top threats that consumers should be on the lookout while joining, logging in or engaging on social networks.

• Fake invites to join new or exclusive social groups, events or offers • Email alerts for tagged or facialrecognised photos directing to malicious sites • Online robots bots on social networking sites evolve into sophisticated and lifelike “If you’re looking to join the hottest new social network, be careful where you click—your personal life may be at risk,” said Mike Chen, Product Marketing Manager at PC Tools. “Cybercriminals are taking advantage of the buzz surrounding these new social networks and features by tricking unsuspecting users to divulge personal information or download malware.”

Chen added the malware looks legitimate, but what may seem like a harmless email or link can actually result

in a person’s stolen identity or credit card data theft. And according to Pew Research, 46% of internet users agree that “most people can be trusted”—a prime reason why cybercriminals are so successful at duping consumers.

PC Tools’ technology detects and blocks

“If you’re looking to join the hottest new social network, be careful where you click—your personal life may be at risk. Cybercriminals are taking advantage of the buzz surrounding these new social networks and features by tricking unsuspecting users to divulge personal information or download malware.”

Richard Clooke, Worldwide Review Program and Public Relations Manager at PC Tools. malware and alerts users to websites that might host web threats. PC Tools Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus 2011 defends a computer with multiple layers of protection to stop threats. And Internet Security 2011 blocks new threats while Browser Defender protects against web-based attacks like phishing attempts and malicious downloads.

Trend Micro announces mobile security solution for Android Trend Micro, a global cloud security vendor, announced the latest addition to Trend Micro’s Mobile arsenal, Trend Micro Mobile Security – Personal Edition. The solution is designed to protect both smartphones and tablets that use the Google Android operating system, and includes a free app scanner, lost device protection and enhanced security to block threats while surfing the web, calling or texting.

As Android devices gain in popularity, so does the intent of cybercriminals.

Trend Micro’s threat researchers have tracked an 800% increase in new threats targeting Android devices since February

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2011. Trend Micro Mobile Security – Personal Edition also includes Trend Micro Mobile Security 7, which means that consumer’s mobile devices are better protected based on the new data that has been discovered over the last six months.

Key features include: • Anti-malware scanner app • Lost device protection • Surf, call and text security “With the sheer amount of personal information now being stored and sent via personal mobile

devices, it’s imperative that everyone protects themselves against malicious applications, protecting personal and financial information. For many, their Android device is an extension of their computer so when these devices are lost or misplaced, it’s more important that they can be recovered, or at least ensure that the sensitive data is deleted. The software is available from retail stores and the Android Market, where we are offering the anti-malware scanner app for free – encouraging as many people as possible to protect their digital lives.” said Karen Hicks Consumer Product Marketing Manager, EMEA

IN THE BEGINNING Announcements

Golden Systems expands its loyalty programme

Chantelle Tavid, Regional Director, AVARDZ. Looking at the success of its AVARDZ loyalty programme in the GCC region, Golden Systems Middle East has decided to extend this popular programme to partners in other Middle East countries as well. The AVARDZ programme, which was launched in 2010, is Golden Systems’ flexible online loyalty programme created for qualified individuals from the IT retail industry who support, promote and distribute the company’s selected portfolio of products directly to end-users in the market. AVARDZ rewards its members by offering them a

variety of exclusive benefits and privileges.

“We believe that our partners should be recognised and appreciated based on their level of support and loyalty and for that reason we created AVARDZ last year.

Our mission was to continually evolve and incorporate additional value-added benefits and features to the AVARDZ programme to ensure the highest level of member satisfaction. Our partners benefited hugely from this programme, which led to more business for our company. Going by its success in the GCC region, we felt we should extend this programme to our channel network in other countries as well,” said Chantelle Tavid, Regional Director, AVARDZ. Golden Systems developed and implemented AVARDZ as an online customer loyalty portal to reward the channel for its loyalty. Since the software infrastructure was in-house, it was able to create a scalable system with multiple languages to support the needs of its ethnically diverse channel.

The AVARDZ flexible online programme enables members to view their transactions and statements, register products, earn and redeem points, participate in promotions and

competitions, gain product knowledge and receive the latest technology information. The programme features an easy-to-use online interface and a comprehensive rewards programme with a wide range of easily achievable rewards.

To participate in the AVARDZ programme, an individual has to be a sales person employed by an IT store or a shop owner that sells AVARDZ eligible products directly to end users. Members may redeem their points online once they have accumulated sufficient AVARDZ points for their desired reward available in AVARDZ. Some of the rewards include overseas trips, dinners, weekend getaways, gifts or vendor products ranging from motherboards to peripherals.

“AVARDZ is continuously evolving according to member performance and demands. There is no enrollment fee and the programme is free of charge for eligible participants. Through the AVARDZ programme, we will be holding regular product promotions and competitions and will offer members additional rewards and points.

We are confident this programme will be well received across the region,” adds Tavid.

InfoFort gets ISO 9001:2008 certification for record management services InfoFort, an Aramex company and a records and information management solutions provider in the Middle East and Africa, announced it has received ISO 9001:2008 certification from the British Standards Institution. This international mark of recognition, covers the company’s entire operations, highlights InfoFort’s commitment to quality standards and its continuous improvement efforts.

Operating in the region as information management service provider, InfoFort moved to implement ISO 9001 standards to further ensure an effective quality

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management system, based on international best practices. At a time when InfoFort is increasingly growing both the scale and scope of its operations, this global benchmarking will serve to assure clients and partners of the company’s focus on operational excellence.

“Today’s announcement underscores our long-term commitment to quality, which we have sought to demonstrate for the past 15 years to every client, in every market we serve,” said Abed Shaheen, Managing Director of InfoFort.

“At InfoFort, we work every day to fulfil

our promise to help preserve knowledge and intellectual capital, protect data and enable progress for individuals, businesses and economies,” he said. “We will continue to focus on meeting the InfoFort promise by providing innovative, secure and environmentally sound solutions that meet the rapidly evolving information management requirements of our local, regional and international clients.”

Operating across 11 countries in the Middle East and Africa, InfoFort is expanding its full information life-cycle management offering to new markets.

IN FOCUS Seminar

Cloud Computing CPI’s two day cloud event saw combination of end user and vendor presentations on the merits of progress into this new paradigm

Tibor Loncsar, director of strategy and operations for IT at DWTC

Ali Radhi, head of IT at MBC Group

Cloud computing in the region still immature, and there are several challenges that exist in the region. Nevertheless, there is constant innovation and improvement that is taking place, and we are likely to see dramatic improvements in the near future. This was the conclusion of the speakers of Cloud Congress 2011.

At the opening keynote, Tibor Loncsar, director of strategy and operations for IT at DWTC explained the hybrid model used by his organisation and how they have profited from it. “DWTC uses a hybrid cloud for its corporate email and we have been pleasantly surprised by the results. The primary concern was the inter operability and the ability to

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Dr Hazem Turki El-Khatib, IT director at the Department of Finance in Abu Dhabi

have it function with internal infrastructure.

With everything in place now the hybrid cloud provides continuity, quick recovery, security filtering and archiving,” said Loncsar.

Ali Radhi, head of IT at MBC Group started the tracks with his session on cloud optimisation focusing on interoperability and standardisation.

He drew from his own experiences at MBC to illustrate the points he made during his presentation. “MBC has been deploying cloud solutions for the last three years. We have moved from private to hybrid to private over the years, and interoperability has been a major issue,” said Radhi.

Mohamed Roushdy, CIO of Siraj Finance discussed the various ROI models that could be used to evaluate cloud providers and solutions, and expanded on the methods in which endusers could profit from their cloud investments in the shortest possible time.

“Bringing about a cultural change within the organisation is the most difficult element in any cloud computing project. Convincing the CEO, CFO and other business heads that this could potentially help the business, and some of the issues can be handled for the betterment of the company is a huge change management project. Half the success of any cloud computing project simply depends on getting

this sign-off from the higher management,” he stressed during his session.

Organisations should not be deterred by challenges. They should understand business needs and invest in a model that suits you, he added.

Mike Tsalidis, server and tools business group lead for Microsoft MEA discussed cloud for the greater good, and improving productivity with cloud investments during his session. While detailing the main differences between private and public clouds, Tsalidis also gave shape to the company’s cloud strategy and solutions.

Mohamed Roushdy, CIO of Siraj Finance

Talking about linking cloud strategy to IT strategy, Javed Abbasi, director of IT and operations at Gisba Group from Saudi Arabia said, “Aligning IT strategy to business is very different from integrating IT strategies with business. Without strategy, IT is untamed.” He added, “With relation to the cloud people often forget that the service depends on a physical data centre. Organisations must understand and verity the infrastructure operations and management processes that the provider has in place.”

“There is a lot of difference between a local cloud partners and a strategic cloud partner.

The maturity of enterprises and partners are not mature enough to move there yet. But

enterprises should try to move there, because they are then likely to see more benefits from the partnership,” said Ed Capaldi, divisional director of IT at Al Nisr Publishing.

Strategic partners will work in co-ordination with the IT and the business departments of the organisation for the long-term benefit of the firm. Capaldi outlined ten considerations for enterprises when choosing a strategic cloud partner including openness, outlining KPIs, partner’s understanding of the organisation’s cloud strategy, financial stability and scale of the

that a truly flexible cloud requires team effort.

Nick Black, technical manager for the Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa at Trend Micro spoke at length about virtualisation and cloud computing, and the role of security within these implementations.

“Deep Security protects virtual machines and ensures that the host defends itself against the changing threat landscape. This is the ideal situation. It can even be used to defend public clouds – even those with multi-tenancy,” said Black.

Ramesh Krishna Bhandari, business development specialist – business solutions, central marketing at Etisalat

Mike Tsalidis, server and tools business group lead for Microsoft MEA

partner and SLAs (service level agreements).

“Good strategy is the result of correct decisions, and half the time it is simply knowing what not to do. Currently though cloud computing remains unstable and therefore a highly risky proposition for companies,” said Capaldi. He also bemoaned the lack of skilled personnel for IT jobs, calling most of the people who are entering the region as new recruits as “idiots right out of college.”

Ramesh Krishna Bhandari, business development specialist – business solutions, central marketing at Etisalat said, “Cloud spending in 2010 was $37.8 billion and is expected to grow 26% and hit $121bn by 2015.

More than 80% of this is expected to be SaaScentric cloud spending.”

“Data is growing at 6 trillion bytes per second. Considering all this, and the multiple benefits that come with the cloud, over 70% of businesses in the Middle East are either using or will be using cloud in the next 6-12 months.”

He was speaking on the subject of growing with the cloud at the Congress. He added that while the cloud gives exponential opportunities for any business to grow, there is no one size fits all with these services and solutions, and

Javed Abbasi, director of IT and operations at Gisba Group from Saudi Arabia

Ed Capaldi, divisional director of IT at Al Nisr Publishing

“Nevertheless, regardless of the security solutions used by a service provider in the public cloud, the end-user should encrypt his data when transferring and storing it with the service provider. The decryption key should remain with the end-user and this is the only way to ensure that critical organisational information remains protected even when they move from one service provider to another,” said Black.

He also stated that an organisation can use Trend Micro’s management console to keep an idea on security on the public cloud where its information is stored. He also touched briefly upon the controversial subject of who owned the data and who would take responsibility for it when security failed.

“Even well established public cloud service providers have clauses in their agreements whereby they move responsibility for security and data loss over to the person who buys the service. Keeping this in mind, it is always best for the end-user to take a more direct interest in the security of their information when handing it to a service provider.”

The panel at the end of the day that brought together all the speakers of the day discussed the multiple challenges that faced the cloud, and identified areas of growth in specific industries for it as well. An involved debate on SLAs and service providers also ensued between the panellists, with some stating that the dominant service provider should take steps to provide end-to-end SLA provisions that come with penalties attached to them.

The two day event was organised by Computer News Middle East and sponsored by Etisalat and Riverbed.

Nick Black, technical manager for the Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa at Trend Micro

october 2011

Reseller Middle East

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Speak out Somanna Palacanda

“Touch has become ubiquitous in the way we all interact with digital content” Four years into the making and Microsoft’s Surface is beginning to look like the board room device of tomorrow. With the second version of the developer tool kit available since July of this year, partners are beginning to understand how to exploit the power of the multiuser, hands-on, 360 degree immersive and interactive user experience. Microsoft’s Somanna Palacanda, Director of Marketing for Surface, takes us through the current dynamics of the platform. He has been responsible for driving the Samsung SUR40 device to support Surface as well as the PixelSense sensory technology embedded within Surface.

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How did Surface first originate in Microsoft’s product portfolio?

Palacanda: From our perspective it was a product that came from innovation. It started at Microsoft’s research and development organisation. The initial idea was to find new ways in which people can start interacting with a computer. Are there more natural ways in which people can start interacting with a computer and digital content? How do people actually interact with computers, can we change the interaction paradigm?

They presented the idea of Surface to Bill Gates. He said it is a pretty natural way that people interact with computers, using hands, gestures and everyday objects and bridge them with digital content. Surface was supported by Bill.

We see videos and pictures of Surface being used in multiple consumer and applied situations. When Surface as a product was first developed was it intended to be used in the consumer or corporate and enterprise space?

Palacanda: At the time of development and

The additional work a partner will need to do is really understand the new interaction paradigm when you are taking an application written for a single instance of usage to multiple instances of usage on the same screen

innovation, they had not actually decided whether it was to be focussed in a consumer or in a commercial environment. Once we decided to actually go and pursue this research and development initiative into a product group, we had to decide whether to go into the consumer space or corporate or commercial segment. For version one, when we finally decided to productise this innovation, we

Surface highlights • Slim device: The new hardware is 4 inches thin.

• Rich visual experience: Rich colour saturation with a full high definition immersive display. It draws people in.

• Touch and visual experience: With PixelSense, Surface sees and responds to touch and real world objects.

• Touch-enabled end to end: You do not

decided to go into the commercial space.

Again when Surface was launched what was the thinking in terms of the adoption path, how was it meant to reach the end customer?

Palacanda: In 2007 when we launched Surface, it was a pretty expensive value proposition. But the key thing we decided from a partner, developer and channel perspective, was we wanted to change the paradigm of the way people interacted with digital content or even a computer. When you look at the first version of Surface, it was a horizontal multi-user experience, which could recognise objects from a 360 degree user interface.

It changed the way partners and developers needed to start thinking about

need a keyboard and mouse for setup and configuration.

• Customisation options: A configuration utility allows you to change background images, configure applications, modify settings without getting into code.

• Remote administration: Windows PowerShell scripts allow Surface to be deployed in an enterprise setting.

developing applications towards a horizontal form factor. Traditionally they were thinking of building things for a vertical space, this was a different interaction paradigm.

Our goal with version one was to make sure we got a robust eco system of partners that could actually develop touch applications, which exploited multiple people interacting with it and the whole aspect of natural user interface while moving away from mouse and keyboard.

How does Surface fit in with the dynamics of devices today?

Palacanda: Over the last two or three years we have noticed a lot of things happening around touch including the iPhone, iPad and tablets.

october 2011

Reseller Middle East

27

Speak out Somanna Palacanda

Touch has become ubiquitous in the way we all interact with digital content. Since Touch is ubiquitous, customers are now asking for touch solutions. There is actually a need for partners to start providing solutions that exploit the whole element of touch.

From a partner perspective, over the last three to four years, we have actually had a good robust ecosystem, which has started exploiting natural user interface and touch. All our partners are thinking about developing applications that exploit the concept of touch, Surface naturally lends itself to doing that.

There was also the push from the customer stand point where they were actually asking our partner ecosystem for more interactive touch experiences.

We notice that Samsung has produced the Surface device. What is the long term relationship between Microsoft and Samsung

Reseller Middle East

All our partners are thinking about developing applications that exploit the concept of touch, Surface naturally lends itself to doing that. together. We went and partnered exclusively with Samsung because we wanted a partner that would be able to work with us very closely, right from the development and design of the product to actually taking the product to the market. Samsung is going to be the exclusive

provider of this technology. The benefit from the partner perspective is now they can actually get the device from Samsung and provide an end to end solution to the customer.

The difference between version one and two is previously the partner had to build the solution for the customer and the customer had to directly buy the hardware from Microsoft.

Now the partner can provide an end to end solution for the customer. We have developed a robust software developer kit and are distributing it on MSDN. All a partner needs to do is leverage the familiar tools and technology that Microsoft has. The core infrastructure of the product and the tool kits are the same.

They are Dot Net 4.0, Visual Studio 4.0, XNA 4.0 and WPF 4.0. The device is built on Windows 7.0.

What is the role of the Surface device?

Where is the seat of intelligence between an

Microsoft Surface global developer partners Web Site Primary Verticals www.after-mouse.com Retail, Hospitality, Healthcare www.akt-infosys.de Telco, Financial Services www.signio.dk/ydelser/ms-surface.aspx Retail, Hospitality www.blackmarble.com Retail, Education www.surface.ettsolutions.com Hospitality, Retail, Public Sector www.headcandy.eu Retail, Hospitality, Financial Services www.identitymine.com Retail, Hospitality www.infostrat.com Public Sector, Education www.infusion.com Retail, Hospitality,Financial Services www.inhance.com Healthcare, Defense www.interknowlogy.com Life Sciences, Healthcare, Professional Services www.intuilab.com Retail, Entertainment www.nsquaredsolutions.com Education, Hospitality www.touchingthesurface.com.au Retail,Government, Financial Services www.onwijs.com Education, Government www.razorfish.com Retail, Hospitality, Telco www.sevensteps.com Hospitality, Government, Retail www.stimulant.io Retail, Education, Hospitality www.touchtech.se Hospitality, Retail www.t-systems-mms.com/surface Hospitality, Retail www.uid.com Retail, Finance, Healthcare www.vectorform.com Automotive, Healthcare, Entertainment www.xface.co.uk Education, Retail

Partner Name After-mouse.com AKT AM Production Black Marble ETT Headcandy IdentityMine Information Strategies Infusion Inhance Digital Interknowlogy Intuilab nSquared Object Consulting Onwijs Razorfish Sevensteps Stimulant Touchtech T-Systems MultiMedia UID Vectorform XFace

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as far as Surface is concerned?

Palacanda: One of the cornerstones in moving to the next version of Surface was we wanted to have hardware and software working well

october 2011

Speak out Somanna Palacanda

enterprise application and the display?

Palacanda: At the end of the day this is a computer, you should think about it as a PC. All we are providing is a layer which enables people to connect to their ERP applications in a very seamless way. The only additional effort a partner would need to do is provide a surface like experience so that they can interact with an ERP application. One of the things you can do is we have certain controls and API that we have exposed on the SDK, you are able to actually take that and connect it with an ERP application without much effort.

Can we think of Surface as a high end laptop with a much larger display area?

Palacanda: I would not call it equivalent to a high end laptop. The way I like to think of Surface is as an interactive display that connects seamlessly to a back end ERP solution or any infrastructure that a customer already has. The benefit of Surface is the fact that that it is multi touch. We have always spoken of collaboration but we do not have any devices that exist in the market today that enables people to truly collaborate.

If you think about a laptop or traditional computer there is only one person controlling the experience. With Surface you can have two or more people actually interacting with the same content.

is understanding user experience. The corner stone of this device is the fact that it actually provides engaging user experiences. So from a partner perspective though they clearly understand MS tools, infrastructure and technology, closer emphasis needs to be placed on understanding user experiences. And when two or more people interact with the application, what the user experience needs to be.

One of the things we have realised in the enterprise segment is customers want custom developed applications

It appears than partners may have an uphill and critical task to exploit the features of Surface and integrate it with an enterprise back end?

Palacanda: The additional work a partner will need to do is really understand the new interaction paradigm when you are taking an application written for a single instance of usage to multiple instances of usage on the same screen. You can leverage the same data but what you need to do is leverage the surface software development kit to enable you to use the multi touch controls in the software.

One of the paramount things with surface

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What is the process of incorporating and building the Surface user experience from a developer partner point of view?

Palacanda: We have a robust eco system that enables a developer to very quickly start leveraging the benefits of Surface including speed at which objects can move, how to move objects across the screen.

Your web site lists a dozen or so partners as proficient in Surface application development. Is that a sufficient eco system to move this technology forward?

Palacanda: More than four to five thousand companies have actually downloaded the Surface software development kit, since we launched the second version in July. However the ones we promote are the ones who have shown deep expertise and commitment to developing these experiences in a meaningful way. In the Middle East we have a few partners already that have been part of our technology adoption programme for the last two years and they have shown instances of deployments in various places.

In order to grow the momentum on interfacing with ERP applications are you directly approaching the solution vendors themselves? Or are end users sufficient to drive the adoption curve?

Palacanda: One of the things we have realised in the enterprise segment is customers want custom developed applications. Our developers are building more of customised solutions for customers because they want to differentiate the way they engage with their customers versus competition. Our learning with Version One was customised applications are what people would like to purchase, so a lot of the work we have seen in retail and hospitality has been driven by customised applications.

Speak out Imation

“We bring together our brands under a single vision: Store, Protect and Connect” Imation is a global technology company dedicated to helping people and organisations store, protect and connect their digital world.

What is your Middle East go-to-market and channel structure?

Imation has a multi level distribution model which encompasses regional distributors and in-country distributors who actively penetrate the market with the various product categories that we have to offer. They ensure efficient distribution through the retail and the reseller channel so our products reach our customers.

Who are your key channel partners in the region?

We currently have regional distributors for the Middle East as well as in-country distributors in each region for our brands.

How do you organise the multiple brands in the portfolio, such as Imation, TDK and Memorex?

At Imation, we bring together our brands under a single vision: Store, Protect and Connect. Through this, we then offer our products and solutions to consumers under four different brands. These are Imation, Xtrememac, TDK LoR and Memorex.

On what basis are they segmented and differentiated in the go-to-market strategy?

Broadly, we classify our brands and products under consumer and commercial categories. In the consumer space, we have differentiated products from different segments from the age of ten upwards the products and the categories being as I just mentioned. In the commercial space, our products are segmented from SMB to enterprise. We have individual go-to-market strategies for the four brands.

“We’re a global technology company dedicated to helping people and organisations store, protect and connect their digital world. We have a world-class portfolio available in more than 100 countries through a powerful global distribution network. Our goal is to be a company with strong commercial and consumer businesses and continued long term growth and profitability that creates shareholder value.”

Brian J Plummer, VP South Asia, Imation explains Imation’s value proposition.

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Prasad Ramchandran, Regional Manager - Middle East, East and West Africa, Imation Middle East

Do you have any joint promotion activities with other vendors or partners in the region?

From time to time, we carry out joint promotions as we see an advantage in cross promotion.

Are East and West Africa under the same operational structure as the Middle East?

Yes. We cater to these regions from our Middle East office, located in Dubai.

What are the specific business drivers for storage media business in East and West Africa?

Both East and West Africa have a significantly large population and we see the growing economic conditions in this part of the region - a few countries in particular - having good GDP growth. This gives us a huge opportunity to cater these emerging markets through our portfolio of the brands that we own.

Brand portfolio Imation: standard and scaleable storage, security, cloud and PC accessories Xtrememac: Apple accessories TDK LoR: high end digital music experience Memorex: gaming accessories for Wii, Xbox and PS3

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TOP 10 Champions of Value Addition

September 2011

Reseller Middle East

35

TOP 10 Rankings

Ranking of channel players Top 10 ranking (1-10) Name

Overall rank

Industry category

Industry rank

Year of Startup

Top executive

Title

Revenue ($M)

Redington Gulf

1

Distributor

1

1997

Raj Shankar

Managing Director

1,658.0

BDL Group

2

Distributor

2

1999

Tamer Ismail

CEO

770.0 740.0

Metra Computer

3

Distributor

3

NA

Mohamed Eissa

Executive VP and Managing Director

Logicom Public

4

Distributor

4

1992

Varnavas Irinarchos

Managing Director

607.0

FDC International

5

Distributor

5

1989

Marissa Safe

COO and VP

405.0

Aptec Holdings

6

Distributor

6

1980

Dr Amir Ali Baghdadi

Managing Director

395.0

Almassa IT Distribution

7

Distributor

7

1995

Mehdi Amjad

CEO and Chairman

337.0

Emitac Distribution

8

Distributor

8

1976

Patrick Mulligan

General Manager

304.0

MDS UAE

9

Systems Integrator

1

1981

Sami Abi Esber

President

300.0

Alpha Data

10

Systems Integrator

2

1981

Fayez Ibbini

Managing Director

210.0

Title

Revenue ($M)

Next 10 ranking (11-20) Name

Overall rank

Industry category

Industry rank

Year of Startup

Top executive

Asbis Middle East

11

Distributor

9

1998

Hesham Tantawi

Vice President

209.0

Mindware

12

Distributor

10

1991

Mario Gay

General Manager

183.0

Injazat Data Systems

13

Systems Integrator

3

2005

Ibrahim Lari

Managing Director

175.0*

Despec

14

Distributor

11

1996

Riyaz Jamal

Managing Director

171.9

Seven Seas Computer

15

Systems Integrator

4

1983

Nayagam Pillai

CEO

160.0

EMPA

16

Distributor

12

1998

Houssam Mobied

CEO

140.0

WestconME

17

VAD

1

1993

Steve Lockie

Managing Director

126.0

Trigon

18

Distributor

13

1997

Arun Chawla

CEO

125.0

Golden Systems Electronics

19

Distributor

14

1996

Ehsan Hashemi

COO

121.0

Achiever Computer

20

Reseller

1

2003

Vijay Narsinghani

Managing Director

102.0

Key to rankings • Companies have been ranked on the basis of latest annual revenue figure ($M) supplied by the channel player • Overall rank refers to the rank of the player across all submissions received • Industry category refers to the appropriate category of the channel player ie distributor, value added distributor, systems integrator, reseller or training company • Industry rank refers to rank of the player within the appropriate category

36

Reseller Middle East

october 2011

Following 10 ranking (21-30) Name

Overall rank

Industry category

Industry rank

Year of Startup

Top executive

Title

Revenue ($M)

Qline Electronics

21

Reseller

2

1993

Sunil Lalwani

Managing Director

81.6

Emitac Enterprise

22

Systems Integrator

5

1976

Miguel Angel Villalonga

CEO

74.3

Accent Office supplies

23

Reseller

3

1998

Sachin Gehani

Director

72.0

FVC

24

VAD

2

2000

KS Parag

Managing Director

68.0

Secureway Network

25

VAD

3

2005

Fari Boustantchi

CEO

60.0 57.0*

Mahindra Satyam

26

Systems Integrator

6

2001

Bobby Gupta

VP and Head, Middle East and Africa

Itqan

27

Systems Integrator

7

1984

Feras Al Jabi

General Manager

54.7

Computerlinks

28

VAD

4

2007

Lee Reynolds

Managing Director

45.0*

STME

29

Systems Integrator

8

1982

Salah Abu Shaar

CEO

40.0*

Smile Computers

30

Reseller

4

1998

Dharmendra L Sawlani

Managing Director

37.8

Others Name

Overall rank

Industry category

Industry rank

Year of Startup

Top executive

Title

Revenue ($M)

Al Moayyed Computers

31

Systems Integrator

9

1979

SM Hussaini

General Manager

35.0

Ninja Group of Computers

32

Reseller

5

1992

Rajkumar Kalwani

Managing Director

27.2

Max Touch

33

Reseller

6

2003

Ramesh Belani

Director

27.2

Advanced Business Computers

34

Reseller

7

1997

Dharmesh Belani

Managing Director

21.8

Comguard

35

VAD

5

2002

Ajay Singh Chauhan

CEO

21.0

Middle East Distribution and Marketing

36

Distributor

15

1992

Robert Kikano

Managing Director

21.0

Paramount Computer Systems

37

Systems Integrator

10

2001

Premchand Kurup

CEO

20.0

Printek Supplies

38

Reseller

8

2004

Manoj Tiwari

Managing Director

19.6

Optimus Computers Trading

39

VAD

6

2008

Meera Kaul

Managing Director

19.0

Premier Computers

40

Reseller

9

1997

Prakash Menghani

Managing Director

19.0

Ashley

41

Distributor

16

1998

Ahmed Farahani

Managing Director

17.7

EMW

42

Systems Integrator

11

2003

Serjios El Hage

CEO

15.0*

Fast Lane

43

Training

7

1996

Josef Miskulnig

CEO

12.0

help AG

44

Reseller

10

2005

Stephan Berner

Managing Director

12.0

Spectrum Training

45

Training

10

2004

Ajay Singh Chauhan

CEO

3.5

*RME Estimate october 2011

Reseller Middle East

37

TOP 10 Rankings

Ranking of channel players Distributor ranking

Systems Integrator ranking

Industry rank

Name

Revenue ($M)

Industry rank

Name

Revenue ($M)

1

Redington Gulf

1,658

1

MDS UAE

300

2

BDL Group

770

2

Alpha Data

210

3

Metra Computer Group

740

3

Injazat Data Systems

175*

4

Logicom Public

607

4

Seven Seas Computer

160

5

FDC International

405

5

Emitac Enterprise

74

6

Aptec Holding

395

6

Mahindra Satyam

57*

7

Almassa IT Distribution

337

7

Itqan

55

8

Emitac Distribution

304

8

STME

40*

9

Asbis Middle East

209

9

Al Moayyed Computers

35

10

Mindware

183

10

Paramount Computer Systems

20

11

Despec

172

11

EMW

15*

12

EMPA

140

13

Trigon

125

14

Golden Systems Electronics

121

Reseller ranking

Valued added distributor ranking Industry rank

Name

Revenue ($M)

Industry rank

Name

Revenue ($M)

Achiever Computer

102 82

1

WestconME Group

126

1

2

FVC

68

2

Qline Electronics

3

Secureway Network Distributors

60

3

Accent Office Supplies

72

4

Smile Computers

38

5

Ninja Group of Companies

27

6

Max Touch

27

7

Advanced Business Computers

22

4

Computerlinks

45*

5

Comguard

21

6

Optimus Computers Trading

19

*RME Estimate

8

Printek Supplies

20

9

Premier Computers

19

10

help AG

12

Key to rankings • Companies have been ranked on the basis of latest annual revenue figures ($M) supplied by the channel player. • Players have been separated based on their appropriate industry category ie distributor, value added distributor, systems integrator or reseller

38

Reseller Middle East

october 2011

Give Customers More Options with Touch Use the exciting dimension of touch to generate more customer engagement and metrics vs. traditional signage. Interactive Digital Signage displays from Elo TouchSystems Interactive Digital Signage displays from TE Connectivity are attractive, large-format, professionalgrade displays rugged enough to handle the constant interactivity from public access. Typical consumer televisions or displays are not built to function in public access environments.

The new IDS displays are available in three sizes, 32-, 42- and 46-inches. Integrated Computer Modules are optional.

Please visit www.elotouch.com/IDS to learn more about the Elo TouchSystems Interactive Digital Signage (IDS) product family.

Visit us at Gitex

Hall # 2, Stand # 203

Dubai P.O. Box: 32610, Dubai, UAE. Tel: +971-4-3936247 Fax: +971-4-3936251 E-mail: info@trigon-gulf.ae www.trigononline.com

Bahrain: P.O. BOX 75149, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain Tel.+973 17292904, Fax: +973 17295183 Email: trigon@batelco.com.bh www.trigononline.com

TOP 10 Analysis

Survey findings Channel industry segmentation

Depth of partnership Name

Relationship years

Itqan

102

1984

Aptec Holding

100

1980

Emitac Enterprise

71

1976

Seven Seas Computer

67

1983

Despec

67

1996

Trigon

65

1997

Asbis Middle East

63

1998

Mindware

60

1991

Distributor

79%

Emitac Distribution

56

1976

Systems integrator

15%

EMPA

51

1998

Others: Value added distributors, resellers, training companies

7%

Accent Office supplies

44

1998

STME

36

1982

BDL Trading

34

1999

WestconME Group

31

1993

Base = $7.67B, 48 companies

Technology segmentation

Achiever Computer

31

2003

FVC

25

2000

Secureway Network Distributors

23

2005

Computerlinks

20

2007

Optimus Computer Trading

13

2008

UAE Exports

Hardware

51%

Software

15%

Peripherals and storage

8%

Networking

14%

Accessories and consumables

1%

Revenue within UAE

46%

Services, training, others

11%

Revenue outside UAE

54%

Base=$4.3B

40

Startup

Reseller Middle East

Base=$5.5B

october 2011

Key to analysis • Industry segmentation has been estimated based on the collective summation of individual company revenues • Technology segmentation has been estimated based on the collective summation of individual channel company splits • UAE Exports has been estimated based on the collective summation of individual channel company splits • Depth of partnership is the summation years of the top five vendor partnerships. The earlier a company was setup the higher is the maximum possible value. However it also linked to the effectiveness of the business partnership between the channel player and the vendor.

• Productivity range for a particular industry varies based on the business model adopted and the mainstay of the product portfolio. Typically a channel partner heavily embedded in solutions and services may have a higher productivity than a player selling only infrastructure.

Productivity range, distributors Name

Revenue ($M)

Employees

Productivity ($M/employee)

BDL Trading

770

262

2.94

Asbis Middle East

209

92

2.27

Emitac Distribution

304

150

2.03

Almassa

337

170

1.98

Redington Gulf

1,658

850

1.95

FDC

405

220

1.84

Despec

163

89

1.83

Mindware

183

128

1.43

EMPA

140

98

1.43

Trigon

125

88

1.42

Logicom Public

607

550

1.10

Golden Systems Electronic

121

120

1.01

Metra Computer

748

1,000

0.75

Aptec Holdings

395

650

0.61

Productivity range, Value added distributors Name

Revenue ($M)

Employees

Productivity ($M/employee)

Secureway Network Distributors

60

52

1.15

WestconME Group

108

120

1.05

Computerlinks

45*

70

0.64

FVC

68

125

0.54

Comguard

21

70

0.30

Optimus Computers Trading

19

65

0.29

Productivity range, Systems Integrators Name

Revenue ($M)

Employees

Productivity ($M/employee)

MDS UAE

300

550

0.55

EMW

15*

30

0.50

Emitac Enterprise

74

160

0.46

Itqan

55

120

0.46

STME

40*

100

0.40

Seven Seas Computer

160

450

0.36

Alpha Data

210

720

0.29

Al Moayeed

35

125

0.28

Injazat

175*

700

0.25

*RME Estimate october 2011

Reseller Middle East

41

TOP 10 Distributor

Redington Gulf Any product, anywhere, any time Redington Gulf is the largest distributor and channel player in the regional market on the basis of multiple parameters. Redington Gulf has the highest top line revenue, it has the largest number of vendor partners and has the broadest geographical reach amongst all channel players. It operates in 14 country markets, offers channel partners products and solutions from over 30 vendors and has logistical facilities in over 10 countries.

It has a broad business model with technology segments of hardware, software, peripherals, networking, accessories and consumables all contributing significantly to its revenue. Over the last three years it recorded a CAGR of 15%. To manage the requirements of its partners the distributor has divided its focus into volume and value divisions.

On the volume side of business, it deals with over 5,000 channel partners where the average relationship span is ten years. Its account managers use a CRM application to track the business progress and requirements

2000

Revenue {$M} 1,658

of the partners. To retain partner loyalty it runs various programmes including Partner Rewards, Partner Victory Trip, PC and Co Elite Club and others on a periodic basis.

It has enhanced service delivery standards at its 40 after sales support centres. It has improved its logistical support facilities for partners with less than 24 hour turnaround in UAE and less than 72 hour turnaround in GCC for retail partners. It has also increased the levels of inventory at its country warehouses to avoid delays in fulfilment.

On the value side, business is usually differentiated on the basis of solutions that require added value services around networking, voice, servers, storage, software, security and infrastructure. Partners are engaged through the Partner Connect programme, Value Plus quarterly publication, Value Plus fortnightly and events such as Big Connect. Partners are also encouraged to participate in technology certification training sessions conducted by the Value division.

Vendor profile

1500 1000 500 0

2009

2010

Apr-Mar 2011

Countries included in revenue UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, Libya, Ghana, Morocco, Uganda, Turkey

Address: 17266, Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Location of sales offices: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Morocco, Libya Location of support offices: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania Year of start up: 1997

No of active resellers: 5,000 Total employees: 850

Technical employees: 250

Top vendors by revenue contribution: Acer, Dell, HP, Samsung, Western Digital Top vendors by years of relationship: Acer, Canon, HP, Samsung, Toshiba

Systems: Acer, Asus, Dell, Fujitsu, HP, Lenovo, Packard Bell, Samsung, Sony, Toshiba

Value added services: Presales support, solution sizing and BoQ, Proof of concept, demonstration, Training, documentation, knowledge transfer

Peripherals and storage: Acer, Canon, Epson, Fujitsu, HP, Imation, LG, Samsung, Packard Bell, Sandisk, Western Digital, Seagate, APC, HP Servers and Storage, Fujitsu Storage, Tripp-Lite

Channel facing executives

Software and security: Checkpoint, Symantec, Trend Micro, Red Hat, SonicWall, HP

2008

Raj Shankar, Managing Director

Warehouse: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, Morocco

Networking: Avaya, Aastra, Cisco, LifeSize, HP Networking

Accessories and consumables: Epson, Canon, Samsung, HP, Imation Services and training: Acer, Dell, Canon, Fujitsu, IBM, HP, Nokia, Toshiba Others: Molex, Nokia phones

Ashish Bharti, Senior Vice President, Volume Division october 2011

Ramkumar B, Vice President, Value Division Reseller Middle East

43

TOP 10 Distributor

BDL Group Benefiting from public sector growth in the Kingdom The primary area of operation for BDL Group is Saudi Arabia. It also operates in Egypt, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman. To manage its operations across Saudi Arabia it has six branch offices in Riyadh, Jeddah, Khobar, Khamis Meshet, Tabouk and AlQaseem. It also maintains warehouses in Riyadh, Jeddah, Khobar, Khamis Meshet, Tabouk, Cairo and Dubai. Its business model is built around hardware and 100% of its revenue is from hardware. Products from Dell, Acer and Asus are responsible for generating more than 60% of its revenue. However the company actively considering smart phones as another line of business.

Inspite of its exposure to the Arab spring countries of the region like Egypt and Bahrain, BDL has a healthy CAGR growth of 19% over three years. A key factor contributing to its growth is the large scale government investment in IT infrastructure within Saudi Arabia.

Huge government investment in IT infrastructure is a major component of sector growth and will continue to be so over the coming years. The Shura Council has set an objective to bring the sectors contribution to the GDP to 20% by 2012. The government is playing a key role as the sector’s largest investor.

Saudi Arabia is undertaking a drive to install modern IT processes for all government agencies, streamlining management processes and enhancing service delivery for citizens. One major project is the introduction of automated financial management systems across all government entities. The PC ratio in the government sector is too low and there is potential for the industry to grow, to drive efficiency and to work on e-government, e-student and e-citizenship programmes.

Large scale investments in public services, health and education in particular, will also stimulate demand for IT services in both frontline and backroom operations. The 2010 budget allocates a record $37B to education, approximately 25% of the total budget, stimulating demand for innovative technology

44

Reseller Middle East

october 2011

driven products and services to support teaching and several major projects including some at KSA’s newer universities.

Other than the large scale IT projects, there are IT initiatives on a smaller scale. Ministry of Interior in conjunction with the Ministry of Civil Affairs, traffic police and the Passports department is launching a new system which registers and monitors the status of official documents such as passports, identity cards, driving licenses and residence permits. A major health IT project of national unification will link all 26 medical services division and 68 medical centres across 6 regions.

There are a number of factors which give Saudi Arabia the potential to become a local base for the sector providing services for the wider region. These include the relatively high level of IT development, increasingly highly skilled workforce, particularly with many well trained young people coming into the job market, good infrastructure, and broad investment environment.

With so many facilitators in its home country the BDL Group has a good opportunity to grow at more than 20% year on year in the time ahead.

Revenue {$M}

Tamer Ismail, Managing Director

Address: Box 68787, Riyadh 11537, Saudi Arabia Location of sales offices: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman Location of support offices: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman Year of start up: 1999 Total employees: 262 Engineers: 52

Top vendors by revenue contribution: Dell, Acer, Asus, Lenovo, Samsung, LG, MSI Top vendors by years of relationship: Dell, Acer, Asus, LG, MSI, Samsung

Value added services: Presales support, solution sizing and BoQ; Proof of concept, demonstration; Training, documentation, knowledge transfer

Exports

770

800

25%

700 600 500

75%

400 300 200 100 0

2008 2009

2010 Feb-Jan 2011

Out of UAE: 75% UAE: 25%

Metra Computer Group High levels of service dependability anywhere in the region Based in Egypt, Metra Computer has shown a rapid CAGR of 26% over the last three years.

The distributor operates in multiple countries including fast growing Saudi Arabia and Qatar and has managed to sustain its growth levels in spite of being exposed to the seat of Arab spring in Cairo. Overall the group has over 1,000 employees and a partner base of above 2,500. Its major operations are located in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and UAE. Its partners are focussed on SMB and medium and large corporate end users.

It strengths include its access to super retailers in the region, its added value support to the VAR community and state of the art manufacturing facility in Egypt. It is currently implementing SAP ERP to streamline and improve its multiple backend functions including production, procurement, warehousing and other supply chain bottlenecks. A typical snapshot of a year’s sales and operations includes 3 million printer cartridges, 1 million hard disk drives, 0.9 million laptops, 0.5 million printers, 0.45 million optical drives, 0.45 million

LCD monitors, 0.5 million motherboards, 0.15 million CPUs 5,000 partners billed for sales and 150,000 invoices generated.

A partner located anywhere in the world can place an order with Metra Computer and can expect to have the complete logistics and responsibility taken care of by the head office in Cairo. The head office is skilled in local custom and financial transactions in any of its countries of operations. Metra Computer manages its inventory movement through 20 warehouses distributed across the region.

The primary warehouse is located at Jebel Ali in Dubai. It has a storage capacity of 8,000 pallets at any particular time and a covered area of 70,000 sq feet.

The distributor provides unique win-win advantages for both vendors and partners.

For vendors it offers its extended sales force for partner development, added value support into the channel and predictable business planning. For partners it offers customised financial support and personalised account management.

Mohamed Eissa, EVP and Managing Director

Location of sales offices: Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Egypt Total employees: 1,000

No of active Resellers: 2,500 Warehouse: UAE (7,000 SQM) and 20 other locations

Vendor profile Systems: Acer, Dell, Fujitsu-Siemens, HP, IBM, Lenovo, Packard Bell, Samsung Software and security: AVG, Microsoft

Peripherals and storage: Samsung, BenQ, ViewSonic, Western Digital

Networking: Cisco, D-Link, Proxim Wireless, NetGear, Zyxel

BUYING CYCLE ENGAGEMENT

Accessories and consumables: Creative Components: Intel, Gigabyte

MDF, Goods transfer

Revenue {$M} 740

800

Metra Computer

Vendor

Credit, Programme Logistics, Market price

Tier 1, Tier 2, Select VAR partners

700 600 500 400 300 200

Forecast and feedback

100

PRE SALES ACTIVITIES

0

2008

2009

2010

Countries included in revenue are Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Egypt

october 2011

Reseller Middle East

45

TOP 10 Distributor

Logicom Public Riding the ups and down of global demand With fluctuations in global IT sales, the consolidated revenue of the Logicom Group has also shown equivalent fluctuations. The Group recorded a CAGR of 6% over the last three years with a dip in 2009 revenue. The distributor has a business model built around hardware, software and networking vendors. Products and solutions from HP, Intel, Cisco, Kingston and Microsoft are primarily responsible for driving the consolidated revenue of the group. In terms of vendor partnerships, engagements with Microsoft, Intel, Cisco and Kingston are above 15 years.

Vendor profile Systems: HP, Sony, MSI, Acer

Varnavas Irinarchos, Managing Director

Software and security: Adobe, Microsoft, Symantec, VMware

Address: PO Box 23472, CY-1683, Nicosia, Cyprus

Peripherals and storage: APC

Location of sales offices: Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Jordan, UAE, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Ukraine, Malta, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar

Networking: Cisco Systems

Accessories and consumables: Belkin Services and training: Stonevoice Components: Intel, Kingston

Revenue {$M}

Location of support offices: Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Jordan, UAE, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Ukraine, Malta, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar

Exports

Year of start up: 1992

800

No of active resellers: 4,550

607

700 600

Total employees: 550

41%

500

59%

400

Technical employees: 209

Top vendors by revenue contribution: HP, Intel, Microsoft, Cisco, Kingston

300 200

Top vendors by years of relationship: Microsoft, Intel, Kingston, Cisc, HP

100 0

Exports

2008

2009

2010

UAE: 41% Out of UAE: 59%

Countries included in revenue are GCC, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Levant, Other EU

Warehouse: UAE, Greece, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus (10,400 SQM)

Revenue breakup (%)

46

Hardware

Software and security

Peripherals and storage

Networking

Accessories and consumables

61

17

2

18

2

Reseller Middle East

october 2011

Services and training

TOP 10 Distributor

FDC International Strong growth by staying ahead of technology cycles ECS, Sony, Liteon, AMD, Intel and others. For FDC this category is the most important both from a strategic point of view and from differentiating itself from competitors.

The second category is storage and includes internal and external drives and home entertainment. Vendors in this category include Seagate and Western Digital. The third category is iStorage and includes memory, flash drives, MP3, MP4 and SSD. Vendors in this category include Kingston, Apacer. The fourth category is systems, servers and notebooks.

Vendors in this category include Acer, Lenovo, Asus and Packard Bell. The fifth category is software and includes Eset and Kaspersky.

It has recently received various vendor recognition awards including AMD Elite Fusion Award in 2011, AMD Premier Member Fusion Award in 2010 and Intel Inter Regional Award in 2010.

500

Revenue {$M} 405

Marissa Safe, COO and Vice President

Address: PO Box 17543, Jebel Ali, Dubai, UAE Location of sales offices: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan

Location of support offices: UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon Year of start up: 1989 Total employees: 220

Top vendors by years of relationship: XFX, Seagate, Western Digital, ECS, Apacer Warehouse: Uae, Saudi Arabia

Vendor profile Systems: Acer, Asus, Lenovo, Packard Bell Software and security: E-Set, Kaspersky

Peripherals and storage: Seagate, Western Digital

Accessories and consumables: nVidia, AviiQ

300

Channel facing executives

100

200

400

Services and training: Stonevoice

Components: Asrock, ECS, Asus, Intel, Apacer, Kingston, AMD, nVidia, Palit, Sony, Plextor

0

The component and specialised distributor recorded a healthy CAGR of 20% over the last three years. This is especially commendable because of the increasing global volatility of its primary product segment, namely components, processors and flash memory.

In the year 2011, FDC has increased its activity with retail partners, moving closer to meeting changing consumer needs around software and notebooks.

FDC is particularly strong in the super retail segment because of the number of brands that it manages. In terms of geography Saudi Arabia is a key focus in 2011 and FDC has been developing special product packages and partner loyalty programmes for this country.

FDC classifies its partners based on its magic four parameters. Partner customers that sell its full range of products, sell into assigned territories, show case its products and follow approved payment cycles, fall into this select club of preferred partners. Magic four partners are eligible for preferential marketing funds, incentives and rebates and contractual terms.

FDC believes in managing its partners in a proactive manner and target volumes and markets are decided on a joint basis.

If there are returns or a slow sell out situation with the partner, FDC believes in being involved in accelerating the sell out of goods from the partner. Partner forecasts and planning are important, especially for its fast moving component items and such items are usually ordered and stocked on the basis of back to back partner orders.

The distributor has divided its product portfolio into five categories. The first category is components and includes motherboards, graphic cards, optical disc drive and processors. Vendors in this category include XFX, Asus, Asrock,

2008

2009

2010

Countries included in revenue are UAE, Saudia Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan, Iraq, Kazakhastan, Uzbekistan

Girish Kewalramani Deputy Vice President october 2011

Alan Pourmirza Infrastructure Manager Reseller Middle East

49

TOP 10 Distributor

Aptec Holdings Moving aggressively into the value space The distributor has a well balanced business model across hardware, software and networking technology segments. It carries a sizeable and impressive portfolio of vendors for its channel partners, which has also helped to sustain its revenue growth of CAGR 14% over the last three years. The distributor has taken a number of strategic initiatives that have helped to improve its competitiveness in the industry, its ability to deliver with vendors and improved profitability for shareholders.

Aptec has refocused itself as a valued added distributor moving away from its

volume based broadline approach. As a result partner skills training and support has become an important channel deliverable.

It has invested in independent managed services and logistics support operations.

It has expanded into new geographies including the CIS countries and is looking at opportunities from the North African markets. It has launched its sustainable green IT initiative, aligning with global vendor products and solutions as well as increasing the awareness of channel partners in this area.

Dr Amir Ali Baghdadi, Managing Director

Address: PO Box 33550, Dubai, UAE

Location of sales offices: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon Location of support offices: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Pakistan, Azerbaijan Year of start up: 1980

No of active resellers: 4,550 Total employees: 650

Technical employees: 100

Revenue {$M} Exports

35%

Out of UAE: 65% UAE: 35%

65%

395

400

Systems: Dell, Fujitsu, HP, IBM, Lexmark, Oracle, Wyse Software and security: CA, IBM ISS, Mcafee, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP Business Objects, Symantec, Veeam, Vmware, NetApp, Tandberg Data Peripherals and storage: Belkin, BenQ, Lexmark, Logitec, APC

Networking: 3M, Allied Telesis, APC, Avaya, Cisco, DG-Link, D-Link, Linksys, NET, Riverbed

300

Value added services: Presales support, solution sizing and BoQ, proof of concept and demonstration, implementation, training and documentation, knowledge transfer, after sales support Warehouse: UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Turkey (6,500 SQM)

Channel facing executives

Components: Kingston, Seagate Others: Mobinil

100

2008

2009

Santhosh Kumar Software Business Unit Manager

2010

Revenue breakup

50

Top vendors by years of relationship: IBM, Fujitsu, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Symantec, D-Link, APC (100 years)

Services and training: ATS

200

0

Vendor profile

Top vendors by revenue contribution: Microsoft, Cisco, Dell, Hewlett Packard, Symantec (47%)

Hardware

Software and security

Peripherals and storage

Networking

Services

24%

29%

2%

18%

27%

Reseller Middle East

october 2011

Kaushal Shah Product Manager, Team Virtualization

Manoj PK Mario Veljovic Dell Business Unit Manager General Manager, ATS

Almasa IT Distribution Preparing for the big push The distributor has a business model focussed around component and storage products. With fluctuations in IT component demand from regional system integrators and assemblers, Almasa has also experienced a downturn in top line revenue. It has experienced a negative CAGR of 12% over the last three years due to changing demand pattern for Intel microprocessors. Currently its revenue is driven by products and solutions from Asus and Seagate which make up more than half of its revenue.

2010 was a year of restructuring and focusing on core business and strength and identifying strategic, long term vendors. Due to the changing nature of the volume and trading business, Almasa has also revamped its internal structure. It has created Almasa Value Distribution as a standalone company within Almasa Holdings group. The product portfolio will include vendors with solutions in the area of networking, communication and security.

Currently products and solutions from HP, Gateprotect and Avaya are being offered from Value Distribution.

The various support services to be offered

by Value Distribution are around sales, technology, partner management, finance and end customer support. These include high touch support, proposal generation, pricing, proof of concept, configuration statements, presales consulting, channel development, channel management and training, rebate and incentive schemes, bundling and promotions, participation in road shows and exhibitions, credit facilities, project implementation, project management and onsite maintenance.

Within Almasa, volume distribution has also been separated into another division.

This includes assembly kits, storage devices, CPU memory, multimedia products, computer systems, display devices, input devices, network and communication products.

Currently products from Asus, Acer, ASRock, ATI, Intel, Nvidia, Seagate, AMD and LG are offered by Volume Distribution.

While the volume and value side of its

distribution has been separated as independent divisions, to complete the full distribution offering, Almasa has also created the Retail Distribution division. With its regional offices spread across UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Egypt and its internal divisions aligned with the changing needs of its partners, Almasa believes it is better equipped to build new vendor relationships. It has identified Asus as a key strategic partner with a long term relationship perspective. Another key requirement is to partner with vendors looking at SMB as their target market.

Much of the recent restructuring has been initiated by Mehdi Amjad, CEO and Chairman of Almassa and visionary entrepreneur. At a young age he exhibited deep interest in the trading activities of the family business nurtured over the last three generations. In 1995 he started Almasa Computers, his first business in Dubai, marking the beginning of a commercial success story. Through his vision, passion and ability to orchestrate resources to make things happen, Amjad has been able to grow this small shop into a major IT regional conglomerate with a distribution network covering multiple regions.

Revenue {$M}

Mehdi Amjad, CEO and Chairman

Address: PO Box 30166, Dubai, UAE

Location of sales offices: UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Egypt Year of start up: 1995

No of active resellers: 1000 Total employees: 170 Engineers: 5

Top vendors by revenue contribution: Asus, Seagate, Avaya , HP Top vendors by years of relationship: Seagate, Asus, Avaya, HP, Intel

Vendor profile Software and security: GateProtect Peripherals and storage: Seagate Networking: Avaya, HP

Components: Asus, Intel, AMD, LG, Acer

500

337

400

Channel facing executives

300

200

100

0

2008

2009

2010

John David , General Manager, Components october 2011

Asheem Abdulla, General Manager, Sales Reseller Middle East

51

TOP 10 Distributor

Emitac Distribution New partnerships, new geographies, recipe for growth The overall growth of the distributor has show a negative trend due to its exposure to the North African markets namely Libya and Egypt. The company recorded a negative 11% CAGR over the last three years. To rectify the situation, Emitac Distribution has taken a number of strategic steps to restore its top line growth. It is actively leveraging the notebook vendors in its portfolio, namely Lenovo and Acer. It has aggressively entered into Saudi Arabia and will be making various formal announcements in the near future.

Other options on the cards are aligning with software vendors for enterprise business and expansion into the rest of Africa, namely East and West Africa. In terms of product portfolio, Emitac has aligned itself with mobile equipment vendors and is expecting

Revenue {$M} Exports (%)

34%

66%

Out of UAE: 66

350

400

UAE: 34

Vendor profile Systems: HP, Acer, Lenovo, Samsung Software and security: Microsoft

Peripherals and storage: Samsung,

Networking and Monitoring: HP, Azeti

Others: Motorola, Alcatel, Polycom, Zebra, Aiptek, Optoma

Patrick Mulligan, General Manager

Address: PO Box 8391, Dubai, UAE

Location of support offices: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan Year of start up: 1976

No of active resellers: Above 1,000 Total employees: 150 Engineers: 46

Top vendors by revenue contribution: HP, Acer, Lenovo, Samsung, Microsoft Top vendors by years of relationship: HP, Acer Microsoft, Acer, Lenovo

Value added services: Presales support team for enterprise channel Warehouse: UAE, Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia (50,000 SQM)

Channel facing executives

05

0

100

150

200

250

300

304

considerable growth from this segment.

Its business model is still heavily skewed into the systems and hardware side of technology and close to 80% of its revenue is generated by HP, Acer, Lenovo and Samsung.

In terms of relationships, Emitac has a 35 year relationship with HP and this relationship has been the mainstay for Emitac’s distribution business till now. With HP’s low margin, high volume sales model no more in vogue in the region and amongst reseller partners, Emitac’s current focus is to grow the business through new partnerships. The distributor is also well respected for its just-in-time retail fulfillment capability and Emitac has the opportunity to leverage this strength in any of its new and upcoming partnerships.

Countries included in revenue are UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Libya, Iraq, Bahrain, Oman, Yemen

52

Reseller Middle East

october 2011

Abdalla Mustapha, Abdul Razak Salman Razzaq, Director of Sales Ahmed, Head of Branch Manager and Marketing Regional Retail Sales Kuwait

Basem Salaymeh, Branch Manager Jordan

Benish Jacob, Branch Manager Qatar

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FDC International Plot No. S60511 - South Zone 6, Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai, UAE, P.O.Box: 17543 Tel: +971 4 8703333 | Fax: +971 4 8703330 | Email: enquiry@fdchq.com | Website: www.fdcinternational.com

TOP 10 Systems Integrator

MDS UAE Strong showing in services delivery The business model for MDS is dominated by revenue from services. The other technology components include hardware, security software and storage. Products and solutions from HP and Microsoft contribute close to 40% of MDS’ overall revenue. In terms of vendor relationships.

MDS has four primary solution divisions.

These include the systems group consisting of IT solutions for education and media: Apple; Telephone systems and VOIP: Nortel, Cisco, Avaya; Software licensing: Microsoft; Systems: HP, Lenovo, Acer, Dell; IT and security: ISS, Cisco, Nortel; Networking and communications Solutions: Nortel, Cisco, Juniper Networks; Printers and peripherals: HP, Xerox.

The second group is the site and power group and includes Structured cabling: AMPPart of Tyco; Raised floor: MERO; Telecom

power systems: Emerson Network Power; Standby power systems: SAFT; Telecom shelters: PTS UPS: Liebert-Emerson Network Power; Generators: SDMO-Kohler; Precision AC: Liebert, Hiross; Frequency converter: Piller; Industrial batteries: SAFT, Hawker, C&D. The third group is the systems integration group and includes Data backup, recovery and archiving solutions: EMC, Symantec; Information storage and management: EMC, HDS, ADIC; High end Unix Servers: Sun Microsystems The fourth group is the solutions group and includes ERP Solutions: Dynamics-Microsoft Business Solutions; Web serves and SOA: BEA; Content and document management: Documentum; Enterprise asset management: MAXIMO-Part of IBM; IT platform and portal solutions: BEA; CRM (SAAS): Sales Force.com.

Revenue {$M} 300

300

Address: PO Box 7899, Abu Dhabi, UAE Location of sales offices: UAE

Location of support offices: UAE Year of start up: 1981 Total employees: 550 Engineers: 270

Vendor certifications: HP, Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, EMC, Dell, Emerson, Avaya, Juniper Networks, Apple

Top vendors by revenue contribution: HP, Microsoft, EMC, Oracle, Avaya Top vendors by years of relationship: Apple, HP, Microsoft, Oracle-Sun, Avaya

Value added services: Presales technology, Presales audit, Presales consulting, Solution sizing, BoQ, Proof of concept, demonstration, Implementation, Training, documentation, knowledge transfer, After sales support, Remote monitoring and support

Exports

250

Sami Abi Esber, President

Vendor profile

200

5%

Systems: HP, Dell, Oracle

150

Software and security: IBM Maximo, Oracle, Microsoft, Juniper Networks

100

95%

Peripherals and storage: EMC

05

0

Networking: Juniper Networks, Avaya

2008

2009

2010

Accessories and consumables: HP

Out of UAE: 5% UAE: 95%

Services and training: HP, IBM, Dell

Revenue breakup (%) Hardware

Software and security

Peripherals and storage

Networking

Accessories and consumables

Services, training, others

20

15

15

5

5

40

october 2011

Reseller Middle East

55

TOP 10 Systems Integrator

Alpha Data Restructuring towards a services led business model Currently the systems integrator has a business model built around infrastructure products and solutions. More than 90% of its revenue comes from infrastructure sales.

Its revenue is driven by HP, Avaya, Cisco products and solutions, which account for more than 50% of its revenue. On the vendor relationship side, it has deep relationships with Avaya, Microsoft and HP. The systems integrator is a 100% UAE based company and has vertical market segment focus into oil and gas, government, large and medium scale enterprises, education, health care and hospitality.

The systems integrator offers a range of solutions and services and these include:

automation systems, business continuity and disaster recovery, computer accessories and supplies, computer aided design and large format printing solutions, converged networks, data centres, digital signage and information kiosks, interactive and SMA television, network security, PA systems and paging systems, PCs and servers, printing solutions, projection and screen equipment, storage, structured and fibre cabling, telepresence, audio and video conferencing solutions, virtualisation solutions and voice recording solutions.

Alpha Data has decided to move away from the hardware reseller model towards a higher level of customer engagement.

Location of sales offices: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, UAE

Location of support offices: Abu Dhabi, UAE Year of start up: 1981 Total employees: 720 Engineers: 450

Top vendors by revenue contribution: HP, Avaya, Cisco, Microsoft

Value added services: Presales technology; Presales audit; Presales consulting; Solution sizing; BoQ; Proof of concept, demonstration Implementation; Training, documentation, knowledge transfer; After sales support; Post sales audit; Remote monitoring and support

300 250

Address: PO Box 45384, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Top vendors by years of relationship: Avaya (Nortel), Microsoft, HP, Cisco, Belden

Exports

Revenue {$M}

Fayez Ibbini, Managing Director

200

210

150

Vendor profile

0

100

Systems: HP, VMware, Oracle Software and security: Microsoft-Cura Peripherals and storage: HP Networking: Avaya, Cisco, Juniper Networks Accessories and consumables: HP Services and training: HP, VMware, Oracle, Avaya, Cisco, Juniper Networks, MicrosoftCura

05

Out of UAE: 0% UAE: 100% 2008 2008

2009 2009

2010 2010

Revenue breakup (%) Hardware

Software and security

92

56

Reseller Middle East

Peripherals and storage

Networking

Accessories and consumables

Services, training, others 8

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DESPEC MERA LTD. P. O. Box 61050 Jebel Ali Free Zone, UAE Tel: +971 4 8811191 Fax: +971 4 8811180 Email:

sales@despec.ae

next 10 Distributor

Asbis Middle East Positive growth despite spring upheavals The distributor has a mixed technology profile supporting its business model.

Hardware makes up the major part of its revenue, supported primarily by components and notebooks. Toshiba and Lenovo are the primary vendors on the notebook side and Intel and AMD are the primary vendors on the component side.

Other than these primary vendors, Asbis carries peripheral vendors like Seagate, AOC and Lexmark. On the networking side Asbis carries Netgear and Cisco through remarketing.

It also carries its home grown accessory brands Canyon and Prestigio catering to the lifestyle and retail markets.

Accessories make up the third largest segment of its revenue after hardware and peripherals. Another product focus has been made on software vendors.

Asbis has extended its portfolio and it now includes AVG, Eset, Acronis, Symantec, Ability and Netgear Prosecure.

Since the distributor began operations

Revenue {$M}

in 1998 it has developed deep and long relationships with a few vendors including Intel and Seagate for over twenty years and AMD for over fifteen years.

This extended period of relationship indicates the level of vendor satisfaction with overall business turnover and quality of engagement. Despite Asbis’s considerable exposure to the North African markets, it has managed to sustain its positive growth at 11% CAGR over the last three years.

Its loyalty Fusion programme is currently supported by component vendors AMD and Saphire. To maintain high-level services, Asbis has invested in an effective automated warehousing system. In collaboration with its existing ERP systems, online B2B and B2C portals, and online RMA support it ensures there is a reduction in process time and cost of logistics and warehousing operations. It also ensure there is a reduction in order processing time.

300 250

Software and security: Acronis, AVG, Symantec, Ability, ESET, Netgear Prosecure

150

200

Peripherals and storage: AOC, Seagate, Promise, Netgear ReadyNAS, Infotrend, Lexmark, Canyon,

100

Networking: Netgear ProSafe, Cisco (remarketing), Tripp-lite

0

Accessories and consumables: Canyon, Prestigio

05

Services and training: 2008

2009

2010

Countries included in revenue are UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Turkey

Address: PO Box 17706, Jebel Ali, Dubai, UAE Location of sales offices: UAE

Location of support offices: UAE Year of start up: 1998

No of active resellers: 1,000 Total employees: 92 Engineers: 5

Top vendors by revenue contribution: AMD, Toshiba, Intel, Seagate, Lenovo Top vendors by years of relationship: AMD, Toshiba, Intel, Seagate, Lenovo

Warehouse: UAE, Saudi Arabia (6,500 SQM)

Vendor profile Systems: Toshiba, Lenovo, Prestigio

209

Hesham Tantawi, Vice President

Abraham Koshy, Team Manager, Sales

Ammar Towir, Product Manager

Khaled Kandil, Business Dev Manager

Sergey Bezruchenok Marketing Manager

Components: Patriot, AMD, Intel, Gainward, Point of View, Foxconn, ECS, Sapphire Walaa Samy GM, Saudi Arabia

october 2011

Reseller Middle East

59

NEXT TOP 1010 Distributor

Mindware Long standing partner relationships with Microsoft and Intel The business model of the distributor has significant contributions from hardware, software, storage and networking technology segments. Intel and Microsoft generate the largest share of revenue for the distributor. Fluctuations in Intel processor demand levels from regional PC assemblers and system integrators have seen Mindware’s CAGR moving to a negative 7% across the last three years. Mindware also has a long standing relationship with Intel and Microsoft of over 20 years.

On the software and storage side, revenue levels are being driven by demand for security solutions from Symantec and virtualisation solutions from Citrix.

Networking revenue is being sustained by solutions from Juniper Networks, Nexans and Pace.

Mindware addresses the needs of 1,500 partners across the region. It supports partners across multiple countries including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Cyprus and North Africa. It supports partners in terms of fulfilment of orders as well as value added services. The range of value added services includes Presales support; Solution sizing and BoQ; Proof of concept, demonstration; Implementation; Training, documentation, knowledge transfer; After sales support and marketing.

Vendor profile

Revenue {$M} 300

Systems: Dell

250

Software and security: Microsoft, Symantec, Citrix

200

183

Peripherals and storage: Symantec

Mario Gay, General Manager

Address: PO Box 55609, Dubai, UAE

Location of sales offices: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt Year of start up: 1991

No of active resellers: 1,450 Total employees: 128 Engineers: 11

Top vendors by revenue contribution: Intel, Microsoft, Dell, Symantec, Citrix Top vendors by years of relationship: Intel, Microsoft, Dell, Symantec, Citrix Warehouse: UAE, Saudi Ariabia, Egypt, Lebanon (3,000 SQM)

Channel facing executives

150

Networking: Juniper Networks, Nexans, Pace

05

0

100

Components: Intel, Kingston

2008

2009

B Anees Rehman, Business Unit Manager

2010

Countries included in revenue are UAE, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt

Revenue breakup (%) Hardware

Software and security

Peripherals and storage

Networking

40

30

15

15

60

Reseller Middle East

october 2011

Accessories and consumables

Services, training, others Shadi Tahan, Solutions Unit Manager

J Vijaykumar, Business Unit Manager

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NEXT 10 Systems Integrator

Injazat Data Systems Injazat Data Systems is a regional provider of information technology, business process outsourcing and managed services, offering a broad range of engagements from IT strategy and consulting to systems integration and comprehensive outsourcing of IT and business functions. Injazat has extensive capabilities to manage, enhance and support IT and business processes of organisations both large and small. Injazat is currently serving key customers including Abu Dhabi Government entities, like Abu Dhabi Ship Building and corporate clients from industry verticals including oil and gas and telcom.

To strengthen its offerings and develop local knowledge, Injazat leverages on HP and Mubadala as shareholders, which participate as active stakeholders in Injazat’s on-going business development and expansion. To complement this, Injazat has the expertise to develop overall IT strategies and help clients stay on the cutting-edge of business and technology innovation.

As an example, Injazat provides consulting services in the area of IT strategy and planning, value management, business continuity planning, IT policies development, requirements engineering, application rationalisation, management of change and business process

mapping and re-engineering. In the area of applications it offers enterprise application services, application development, management of application services and transformation services. For the public sector, Injazat Defence Services provides business consultancy and technology related services to the defence sector.

In the education services area, Injazat delivers project management training and certification through its Injzat Institute Ti2. It has teamed up with global training company KBR Training Solutions to provide courses on e-learning and virtual education.

Injazat provides IT services to around 25 high profile public and private sector organisations with over 40,000 end-users. Customers using Injazat services are typically from the health care, education, banking and financial segment. It provides managed services from its Tier IV and ISO27001 certified data centre, a facility in the region for hosting, operations and management of IT services. Injazat has also achieved ISO20000 certification, the international standard for IT service management.

Injazat won Frost and Sullivan Leadership of the Year 2010 award for the UAE captive managed services market and is a gold certified Cisco partner.

Revenue {$M}

Vendor profile

200

175

Systems: HP

150

Software and security: HP, Microsoft, EMC

100

Peripherals and storage: HP, EMC Networking: Cisco, HP

05

0

Accessories and consumables: HP RME estimate

2010

Services and training: HP, Cisco, EMC

Ibrahim Lari, Managing Director

Address: PO Box 8230, Abu Dhabi, UAE Location of sales offices: UAE

Location of support offices: UAE Year of start up: 2005 Total employees: 700

Vendor certifications: MCSE, MCTS, MCP, TOGAF, ITIL, CCNA, CCIE Security, CCIE R&S, CCDA, CSE, CCSP, CCNP, CISSP, CCVP, CISA, MCP, VCP, DCSE, EMCTA, EMCIE, JNCIS, JNCIA, JNCIS, RHSE, Blackberry CSA, Prince 2, PMP.

Value added services: IT strategy and planning, value management, business continuity planning, IT policies development, requirements engineering, application rationalisation, management of change and business process mapping and re-engineering, enterprise application services, application development, management of application services and transformation services, defence consultancy services

Countries included in revenue are UAE, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt

october 2011

Reseller Middle East

63

Next TOP 1010 Distributor

Despec Looking for add-ons to its supplies forte The distributor has a business model built around supplies and consumables. Currently more than 80% of its revenue comes from sales of supplies and consumables. Also a very significant part of its revenue is driven by sale of HP products. It has maintained a positive CAGR of 6% over the last three years. Despec has tie ups with almost all printing vendors for their supplies including Lexmark, Canon, Samsung, Tally Genicom and Printronix. It has 15 year relationships with HP, Imation and Sony. It also operates in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Lebanon.

Other than the full range of supplies and consumables, Despec is also active in Africa

as a distributor for HP hardware solutions and across the Middle East with HP calculators. It has a strategic partnership with Wacom and is looking at leveraging Wacom’s range of new products like the Inkling and Cintiq 24HD into a new segment of partner customers.

With so many competing supplies and brands, and as a specialist of the trade, Despec takes care to avoid conflict of interest issues. This is done by ensuring there is no push to swap reseller loyalty at the time of sell through. Also care is taken to maintain a steady average of brand promotion, partner training programmes and other focussed activities and brand awareness.

Revenue {$M} 200

Riyaz Jamal, Managing Director

Address: PO Box 61050, Jebel Ali, Dubai, UAE

Location of sales offices: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Kenya, Tanzania Year of start up: 1996

No of active resellers: 1,655 Total employees: 89

Top vendors by revenue contribution: HP, Imation, Lexmark, Canon, Samsung

Exports

Top vendors by years of relationship: HP, Imation, Sony, Samsung, Canon

172

Covered warehouse area (SQM): 40,000

150

Vendor profile

44%

100

56%

Software and security: Norton

Peripherals and storage: HP, Imation, Verbatim, IBM, Sony

50

Accessories and consumables: HP, Lexmark, Samsung, Canon, Printronix, Tally Genicom, Imation, Verbatim, Wacom, Double A

0

2008

2009

2010

2011

Regions included in revenue are: Southern Gulf, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Ea st Africa

Channel facing executives

Out of UAE:56% UAE: 44%

Revenue breakup (%) Hardware

64

Software and security

Peripherals and storage

1

13

Reseller Middle East

october 2011

Networking

Accessories and consumables 86

Services, training, others Saji Anthony, Area Sales Manager, Southern Gulf

Dipika Goyal, Marketing Manager MERA and Area Product Manager Levant

IT - TELECOM - CONSULTING - OUTSOURCING

Seven Seas are a leading system integrator and an ICT solution provider in the UAE. Seven Seas Computers is an ISO 9001:2008 certified company since 1983 and a Tiered partner to the major technology vendors and are the pioneers in delivering technology solutions and services in Enterprise Compute, Data Networking & Security, Voice & Telephony, Microsoft Licensing & Solutions, Value Added Services, Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery, Data Centers, Audio Visual, Access Control, CCTV, Video Conferencing and above all Outsourcing & Managed Services.

Seven Seas partners with leading technology vendors including HP, IBM, DELL, Microsoft, Cisco, CA, CITRIX, Websense, Stonesoft, Symantec, MessageLabs, Avaya, Mitel, Legrand, Brand-Rex, Panduit, Xerox, Mindtree and others. With over 300+ ICT trained and certified professionals, Seven Seas Computers delivers cost effective and efficient design, project implementations, maintenance contracts to further provide the customer with highest level of service in all industry verticals such as Large and Medium Enterprises, Conglomerates & Airlines, Government, Oil & Gas, Banking & Finance, Hospitality, Healthcare and Education sector. Seven Seas Computers can be your ideal ICT provider for all your IT projects and intents for technologies such as;

Enterprise Compute Data-networking & Security Microsoft Licensing & Solutions

( Servers, Blades, Storage, High-end Systems, Data Centers ) ( Routing, Switching, Wireless Data, Perimeter Security, End-point & Email security, Content management, UTM, DLP and Consulting ) ( Volume Licensing, Virtualization, MS-Exchange, Server Platform, Portals,

Unified Communication, System Center, Desktop Deployment, Hosting & Forefront security )

Managed Services

( AMCs, SSIPs, FMS, Outsourcing, DR, Hosting, NOC, Value Added Services and ITIL Consulting )

Structured Cabling

( Infrastructure Projects, Corporate and Fit-outs )

ELV, AV & Access

( CCTV, Access Control, Smart Homes and Audio Video )

Voice & Telephony

( VoIP based PABX, Contact Center, Call-billing and UM solutions )

Our strategic alliances with the vendors and partners further reinforces our status of a leading System integrator representing the ICT with the most prevailing technologies installed across industry verticals. Our roadmap further is to get endorsed with industry certifications on compliance, frameworks and best practices on the technologies and services offered.

The support team comprises of more than 150+ technical specialists across technology horizontals. Seven Seas have maintained extreme levels of customer delight and are continuing to build portfolios on the existing technology dominance. Our reference clients list comprises almost all the big names in all verticals, where we can provide references and testimonials against the availed skills and capability of Seven Seas resources.

For more detailed information, visit our website at www.sscomp.ae or call on the below Seven Seas offices.

Seven Seas Computers P .O. Box 8469 Dubai – UAE Phone: +971 4 308 3555 Fax : +971 4 336 6727 ssc@sscomp.ae http://www.sscomp.ae

Seven Seas Computers P .O. Box 44995 Abu Dhabi – UAE Phone: +971 2 681 2515 Fax : +971 2 681 6707 ssc@sscomp.ae

Enabling continuous improvement

Next 10 Systems Integrator

Seven Seas Computer Broad based technology skills keep it ahead The system integrator has a well distributed technology solution profile with hardware, security, networking and services contributing significantly to revenue. Microsoft enterprise and HP high availability server solutions contribute the most significantly to its revenue. It has long vendor relationships with HP (20 years) and Microsoft (15 years).

Its solution expertise lies in the area of enterprise computing, data networking and security, voice and telephony, Microsoft licensing and solutions, value added services, business continuity and disaster recovery, data centres, audio visual, access control, CCTV, video conferencing and outsourcing

and managed services.

In terms of products this includes servers, blades, storage, high-end systems, data centres; routing, switching, wireless data, perimetre security, end-point, email security, content management, UTM, DLP and consulting; Microsoft server platform, portals, UC, system centre, desktop deployment, hosting, forefront security; managed services consisting of SSIPs, FMS, outsourcing, DR, hosting, ITIL consulting, infrastructure projects; design, development, project management, CCTV, access control, smart homes, VoIP based PABX, contact centre, call-billing and UM solutions.

Revenue {$M}

Vendor profile

30%

Exports Out of UAE: 30% UAE: 70%

70% 200

160 150

Address: PO Box 8469, Dubai, UAE

Location of sales offices: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Colombo, Singapore, Malaysia

Location of support offices: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Colombo Year of start up: 1983 Total employees: 450 Engineers: 320

Systems: HP, IBM, Dell

Software and security: Microsoft, Cisco, Symantec, Websense, Stonesoft, MessageLabs, Citrix, RedHat Peripherals and storage: HP, IBM, Dell, CA, Citrix, Veritas, Xerox, APC Networking: Cisco, HP, Proxim, Aruba, Panduit, Systimax, Brandrex

Accessories and consumables: HP, Xerox

Services and training: Mindtree, Sify, SAI, Executrain

Vendor certifications: Microsoft, Cisco, HP, IBM, Dell, Citrix, Symantec, Avaya, Mitel, Stonesoft, Websense, MessageLabs, Polycom

Top vendors by revenue contribution: Microsoft, HP, Cisco, IBM, Symantec Top vendors by years of relationship: HP, Microsoft, Cisco, Avaya, IBM

Channel facing executives

Components: HP, IBM, Dell

100

Others: Polycom, Arecont, Life Size

Countries included in revenue are UAE, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia

50

Nayagam Pillai, CEO

0

July 2010-June2011

Technology platform specialisations: Microsoft Server, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft HyperV, Microsoft System Centre, Data network and Security, DR Hosting, Cloud Computing, Voice and Telephony, Unified Messaging, Client Server, High Availability, CCTV, Access Control and AV

Narendra Talreja, Director of IT and Managed Services

Mohammad Ali Iftequar, General Manager, Abu Dhabi

Rakesh Agrawal, General Manager, Enterprise Services

Taheri Vohra, Group Financial Controller

Revenue breakup (%) Hardware

Software and security

Peripherals and storage

Networking

Accessories and consumables

Services, training, others

29

33

7

15

2

14

october 2011

Reseller Middle East

67

Next TOP 1010 Distributor

EMPA Partnerships with tier two vendors While being a hardware centric distributor, it has been able to maintain a positive CAGR growth of 7% over the last three years. A principal reason for this has been its focus on tier two vendors and less emphasis on tying up with tier one vendors.

As per EMPA, tier-two vendors provide a higher profit margin but require longer lead times and more marketing effort with partners. Tier-two vendor products also do not create inter-dealer competition and multi distributor channel models.

EMPA has therefore brought in brands that have been successful and tested in Europe but are less well known in the Middle East. The consistently higher selling margins through partners have helped

the distributor retain partner loyalty. EMPA has looked at bringing in storage, security, wireless and tablet products. Currently, close to 80% of its revenue is through hardware products and the rest through storage, networking and software. Also 76% of its revenue is generated from outside UAE through its sales offices in multiple regional locations.

Moving forward EMPA expects its revenue from storage vendors and software products like Iomega and Lavasoft to go up significantly. Demand for its Fujitsu notebooks has been growing by more than 50%. Another initiative is to grow its enterprise division to bring in virtualisation, security and storage solutions.

Vendor profile

Revenue {$M}

Systems: Fujitsu

200

140

150

Software and security: Eset, Lavasoft, Edgewave, Serif

Peripherals and storage: Philips, Pleomax, Iomega, Toshiba

100

Networking: Netgear

Accessories and consumables: Tripplite

50

0

2008

2009

2010

Components: Kingston, Transcend, Biostar, PowerColor, Intel

Countries included in revenue are UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt

Houssam Mobied, CEO

Address: PO Box 17355, Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai, UAE Location of sales offices: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt Location of support offices: Jordan Year of start up: 1998

No of active resellers: 830 Total employees: 98 Engineers: 05

Top vendors by revenue contribution: Intel, Toshiba, Fujitsu, Kingston

Top vendors by years of relationship: Intel, Philips, Tripplite, Kingston, Toshiba Value added services: Presales support; Solution sizing and BoQ; Training, documentation, knowledge transfer; After sales support, Marketing

Warehouse: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt (8,000 SQM)

Channel facing executive

Revenue breakup (%) Hardware

Software and security

Peripherals and storage

Networking

79

3

14

4

68

Reseller Middle East

october 2011

Accessories and consumables

Services, training, others Shahood Khan, Director sales and marketing

Optical Media

Flash Drive & Cards

PC Accessories

Hard Drives

Grand Entertainer

STORE • PROTECT • CONNECT Imation Corporation is a leading global technology company dedicated to helping people and organizations “Store, Protect, and Connect” their digital world.

www.imation.com/en-ae

Next 10 Value Added Distributor

WestconME Group Leveraging on partner and employee empowerment The value added distributor has shown strong growth of 28% CAGR across the last three years despite adverse operating conditions.

It maintains one of the most sophisticated partner added value models in the regional industry. This consists of its six step go to market approach, annuity tracker, marketing as a service and credit as a service offerings for its partner community. Along with partner empowerment the Group has also placed

emphasis on employee empowerment. There is parallel development of both internal and external growth opportunities.

Cisco, Juniper Networks, Avaya, Motorola and Zebra are the primary vendors driving its revenue. In terms of vendor relationships, the Group has the longest relationship with Motorola and Juniper Networks. Overall networking solutions contribute the largest to its revenue followed by security.

Revenue breakup (%) Hardware

Software and security

Peripherals and storage

Networking

25

10

60

Exports (%)

70%

Services, training, others

Out of UAE: 70% UAE: 30%

150

126 120

Location of sales offices: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq Location of support offices: UAE, Saudi Arabia Year of start up: 1993 Total employees: 120 Engineers: 15

Software and security: Acme Packet, Cisco, Juniper Networks, Lifesize, SonicWALL, Sipera and Trend Micro Peripherals and storage: APC

Networking: Ascom, Avaya, Avocent Brandrex, Brocade, Cisco, CPI, Extrem, Juniper Networks, Motorola, Ortronics, Meru Networks, Proxim Others: Dascom, Datamax-Oneil, Pelco, RCG & Zebra

Channel facing executives

Address: PO Box 17124, Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai, UAE

No of active resellers: 750

5

Vendor Profile

Revenue

30%

Accessories and consumables

Steve Lockie, Managing Director

Top vendors by revenue contribution: Cisco, Juniper Networks, Avaya, Motorola, Zebra

Top vendors by years of relationship: Motorola, Juniper Networks, Cisco, Avaya, Zebra Value added services: Presales support; Solution sizing and BoQ; Proof of concept, demonstration; Implementation; Training, documentation, knowledge transfer; After sales support Warehouse area: UAE, Saudi Arabia (1,800SQM)

90

60

30

0

2008

2009

2010

2011

Countries included in revenue are UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq

V Subramaniam, Customer Services Manager

James Saldanha, Westcon Mobility, Divisional Director

Lakshman Nalvade, S Jawed, Westcon Westcon Security, Convergence, Divisional Director Divisional Director october 2011

V Menon, Sales and Marketing Director

Reseller Middle East

71

Next 10 Distributor

Trigon Specialised peripheral distributor With close to 70% of its revenue coming from peripheral products, Trigon has built up its reputation of being a specialised peripherals distributor. It has maintained a positive CAGR of 15% over the last three years and continues to sign up new peripherals vendors. In 2010, Xerox Emirates signed up with Trigon to develop channel partners and start marketing its entry level printer products.

Trigon’s revenue is 100% from inside UAE and supported by its 300 odd reseller partners Trigon’s portfolio includes Samsung laser and multi laser printers, notebooks, LCD monitors; LG LCD monitors and ODD, Xerox A3 laser printers, ViewSonic LCD

monitors, projectors, tablet PC, Creative MP4, speakers, headphones and headsets, D-Link networking and wireless products, Elo LCD touch monitors and touch kiosks, BenQ LCD monitors, projectors, digital cameras, Ergotron mounting solutions, EMR Carts, Iomega external storage and media players. Revenue from Samsung and LG make up almost half of its overall revenue.

Much of the distributor’s consistent revenue and growth has been because of the presence of its CEO, Arun Chawla. He has been with Trigon since its start up in 1997 and many of the vendor relationships are because of this long term consistency of leadership.

Revenue {$M}

Arun Chawla, CEO

Address: PO Box 32610, Dubai, UAE

Location of sales offices: UAE, Bahrain Location of support offices: UAE, Bahrain Year of start up: 1997

No of active resellers: 300 Total employees: 88 Engineers: 11

Top vendors by revenue contribution: Samsung, LG, Xerox, ViewSonic , Creative

Export

Top vendors by years of relationship: ViewSonic, Creative, D-Link, BenQ, Samsung

150

Value added services:

125

Warehouse: UAE (2,000 SQM)

120

Vendor profile

90

Systems: Samsung,

60

Peripherals and storage: Samsung, LG, Xerox, Viewsonic, Elo, BenQ, Ergotron, Iomega

30

Networking: D-link,

Accessories and consumables: Creative

0

2008

2009

2010

UAE: 100%

Countries included in revenue are UAE

Channel facing executives

Revenue breakup (%) Hardware

72

Software and security

Reseller Middle East

Peripherals and storage

Networking

Accessories and consumables

Services, training, others

68

7

10

15

october 2011

Kamran Khayal, Sales Manager, Channel

Rohit Bhatt, Sales Manager, Retail

Technology is short term, but partnership is long term

Global sourcing - local support In a world of technologies, focusing on the ones that deliver benefit is good for your business.

That’s why FVC partners with global IT leaders to bring the most effective, most transformative products and technologies to you, our channel. From telepresence to network traffic management, security to WAN optimisation, we are the leading VAD in MENA, supporting products with logistics, implementation and training. Let us be your partner of choice for tomorrow.

Next 10 Distributor

Golden Systems Electronics In its fifteenth anniversary, 2011 is the year for pushing ahead Revenues for this component distributor have been growing at a steady pace of 13% CAGR over the last three years. Gigabyte, Kingston and Zotac are the primary component vendors driving its revenue. On the peripherals side, Epson and Logitech are the primary vendors.

Other than these vendors its component portfolio consists of Intel, AMD, Nvidia, Leadtek, and Axtrom. On the peripherals side the portfolio includes Viewsonic, Hitachi, Western Digital, Choiix and Cooler Master.

With the overall slowdown of the market and the fluctuation in regional stability the company made concerted efforts to concentrate and shift its sales focus from the entry-level range to the mid and high level market segments. Although the margins had eroded for the entry-level segment, a complete product basket that covers all ranges helps to smoothen out overall margins. It has also expanded its product portfolio by introducing new brands like ZOTAC, Cooler Master, Choiix, BitDefender and G Data Software to its existing basket of brands. The company increased its push into CIS countries, North Africa and Iraq while strengthening its existing channel network by signing on new resellers across the entire Middle East region. It earns 70% of its revenue from outside the UAE market.

To mark its fifteenth anniversary this year in 2011, the distributor has increased the scale of its routine annual activities. It is participating in Gitex in a bigger way, as well increasing the scale of its annual partner meet. Golden Systems plans to use Gitex as a platform to promote its innovative technologies including

showcasing world-class products from its global vendor-partners. It has also increased the level of its sponsorship at various events, like gaming events and retail outlet branding, as well as the overall visibility of its brand.

Partner loyalty programmes are an important part of its channel development activity. The Avardz programme is Golden Systems’ flexible online loyalty programme created for qualified individuals from the IT retail industry who support, promote and distribute the company’s selected portfolio of products directly to end-users in the market.

Avardz rewards its members by offering them a variety of exclusive benefits and privileges.

Revenue {$M} 150

121

Ehsan Hashemi, COO

Address: PO Box 262221, Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai, UAE

Location of sales offices: UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Yemen, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon, Sudan, CIS Countries Location of support offices: Year of start up: 1996

No of active resellers: 600 Total employees: 120

Top vendors by revenue contribution: Gigabyte, Epson, Zotac, Kingmax, Logitec Top vendors by years of relationship: Gigabyte, Zotac, Kingmax, Logitec, Epson Warehouse: 3,000 (SQM)

120

90

Channel facing executives

60

30

0

2008

2009

2010

Countries included in revenue are UAE, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, CIS countries, Lebanon, Syria, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait.

Iman Mozaffari, Senior Products and Sales Manager

Abdul Khalegh, UAE Sales Centre Manager

Revenue breakup (%) Hardware 60

Software and security 2008

5

2009

Peripherals and storage

Networking

30

5

2010

Accessories and consumables

Services, training, others Mohamed Samy, Business Development Manager october 2011

Abdul Rahim, Manager, Logistics Reseller Middle East

75

NEXT 10 Distributor

Achiever Computer This is one of the leading resellers in terms of annual revenue generated. The business model is heavily tilted towards hardware vendors including HP, Dell, Acer, Toshiba and Asus. Close to 95% of the resllers revenue is generated from sales of hardware. Other vendors that make up the hardware profile include Sony Vaio and Packard Bell. The balance comes from sales of peripherals including Samsung and BenQ monitors. The reseller categorises itself as specialising in laptops, desktops, monitors, printers and other peripherals. The other part of the business model is the focus of the resellers towards exports out of UAE. The target export destinations for Achiever Computers, includes complete African region, CIS, West Asia, Iraq and the Middle East.

Only 25% of its current revenue is from UAE and

the rest is from exports.

The reseller is able to develop a high degree of loyalty with its customers based on various positive aspects of its business. These include: transparency in deals and business negotiations, availability of major brands under one umbrella, dedicated account manager for business customers with considerable attention span, logistical support for export and forwarding, custom driven flexibility in fulfilment and ordering process, proactive information sharing and forecast generation. While Achiever Computers was set up quite recently in 2003, it seems to have hit the sweet spot in terms of repeat business and associated customer loyalty. The industry can expect higher than average growth levels and demonstrated performance from this reseller.

Revenue {$M}

Export

Vijay Narsinghani, Managing Director

Address: PO Box 51461, Dubai, UAE

Location of support offices: Dubai, UAE Year of start up: 2003 Total employees: 70 Engineers: 05

Top vendors by revenue contribution: HP, Dell, Toshiba, Acer Top vendors by years of relationship: HP, Dell, Toshiba, Acer, Samsung

Vendor profile

120

102

25%

Systems: HP, Dell, Acer, Toshiba, Asus, Samsung

90

Peripherals and storage: HP

75%

60

30

0

2010

UAE: 25% Out of UAE: 75%

Countries included in revenue are UAE

Revenue breakup (%) Hardware

Software and security

95

76

Reseller Middle East

Peripherals and storage 5

october 2011

Networking

Accessories and consumables

Services, training, others

FOLLOWING 10

Sunil Lalwani, Managing Director

Address: PO Box 65625

Qline Eletronics Since 1993 when the business was first started it has grown to include four shops in prime business and shopping localities of Dubai.

In 1996 itself, when the second shop was opened the business had grown to include visitors from all parts of GCC and Africa. In 1997, Qline approached HP and Canon for becoming a partner for sale of office supplies.

While Qline is based in the UAE, it also expanded to Saudi Arabia in 1999 setting up a retail shop in Jeddah. The shop is managed by a multilingual sales team.

In 2005, Qline opened up its third shop and additionally approached Epson, Samsung, Acer, LG to become reseller partner. Now in 2011 with four retail shops sporting its brand, it has decided to bring in office supplies, office automation including photocopiers, fax machines and certified security products.

Revenue {$M} Year of start up: 1993

120 100

78

Reseller Middle East

october 2011

Location of support offices: UAE

No of active resellers:

82

80 60

Top vendors by revenue contribution: HP, Dell, Canon, Acer, APC, Lenovo, Epson, Topica, Fingertouch, Texecom

40 20 0

2010

Emitac Enterprise Solutions The systems integrator business model is built around hardware infrastructure, software, storage and networking. It has a vendorpartner relationship with HP that goes back over 35 years. It’s engineers have in depth vendor certifications from HP, Microsoft, Cisco, Juniper Networks, Symantec, Oracle, Asset, VMware, HP Software, HP Networking, EMC, HP Services. Its revenue comes primarily from solutions from HP, Microsoft, Symantec, Juniper Networks, Oracle. 24% of its revenue is from UAE and the rest is from other countries primarily Qatar. It focuses on government, telecommunication, banking and finance and education market segments.

The SI provides a broad range of value added services that include Presales technology; Presales audit; Presales consulting; Solution sizing; BoQ; Proof of concept, demonstration; Implementation; and more.

Location of sales offices: UAE

Miguel Angel Villalonga, CEO

Address: PO Box 8391, Dubai, UAE

Location of sales offices: UAE, Qatar

Revenue {$M} Year of start up: 1976 Total employees: 160

120 100

74

80 60 40 20 0

Location of support offices: UAE, Qatar

2010

Engineers: 85

Vendor certifications: HP, Microsoft, Cisco, Juniper Networks, Symantec, Oracle, Asset, VMware, HP Software, HP Networking, EMC, HP Services

Top vendors by revenue contribution: HP, Microsoft, Symantec, Juniper Networks, Oracle Top vendors by years of relationship: HP, Microsoft, Oracle, Symantec, Juniper Networks

Sachin Gehani, Director

Accent Office Supplies The reseller has a diversified business model across hardware, peripherals and supplies. Each of the segments contributes 30%, 20% and 20% respectively to the overall revenue. The primary vendors contributing to its consistent revenue include HP, Canon, Dell, Lexmark and Brother. The reseller has a deep relationship with HP that goes back 14 years. It also has relationships with Canon and Brother that are more than ten years old. Other vendors in its portfolio include Lenovo, Microsoft, Epson, Sony, Imation, Panasonic, Oki, Ricoh, Intel.

Accent Office Supplies does approximately 50% of its sales through local end users and the remaining 50% from channel partners from North Africa and rest of the Middle East.

Address: PO Box 51074, Dubai, UAE Location of sales offices: Location of support offices:

Revenue {$M} Year of start up: 1998

120 100

72

Total employees: 45 Engineers: 03

Top vendors by revenue contribution: HP, Canon, Dell, Lexmark, Brother

80 60

Top vendors by years of relationship: HP, Canon, Dell, Lexmark, Dell

40 20 0

2010

Value added services: Presales technology; Presales audit; Presales consulting; Solution sizing; Proof of concept, demonstration; Implementation; Training, documentation, knowledge transfer; After sales support; Post sales audit; Remote monitoring and support KS Parag, Managing Director

Address: 500285, Dubai, UAE

FVC The value added distributor has a business model built across five key technology service areas including Unified Communication, Networking, Security and Cloud Computing. Its revenue primarily comes from Polycom related enablements supported by Riverbed, Alcatel Lucent, Barracuda ad HP Tipping Point.

With regional offices across Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco and Lebanon, the distributor is an active champion of its partner programme called CHEER, which stands for channel enablement, empowerment and rewards. This programme seeks to enhance a partner’s capability to resell and support emerging technologies, creating differentiation and enhanced profitability for their respective businesses. It addresses three key challenges faced by partners: demand creation, differentiation and profitability. Only 20% of its business is from the UAE market.

Location of sales offices: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco and Lebanon

Revenue {$M} 120

68

100

Location of support offices: Nigeria and Pakistan Year of start up: 2000

80

Total employees: 125

60

Engineers: 30

40 20 0

2010

Top vendors by revenue contribution: Polycom, Riverbed, Alcatel – Lucent, Barracuda, HP TippingPoint

Top vendors by years of relationship: Polycom, HP TippingPoint, Barracuda october 2011

Reseller Middle East

79

FOLLOWING 10

Secureway Network Distributors The value added distributor has a strong focus on security and networking solutions and 90% of its revenue is from the software, security and networking technology solutions. While its primary revenue is from Fortinet and F5 solutions other vendor technologies in its portfolio include Imprivata, Loglogic, Lumension, Sophos, Sourcefire, Vasco, Actividentity, Infoblox, Ipanema.

The distributor has also invested in skills development for its partners and manages an authorised training centre for certification of Fortinet, F5 and Sophos skill programmes.

Only 35% of its revenue is from UAE and the distributor has sales offices in other countries including Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Jordan. However Secureway supports partners in multiple other countries including Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Pakistan, Qatar and Yemen.

Revenue {$M}

100

60

Address: PO Box 500640, Dubai, UAE

Location of sales offices: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Jordan

Location of support offices: UAE, Saudi Arabia Year of start up: 2005 No of active resellers: 400 Total employees: 52 Engineers: 22

80

Top vendors by revenue contribution: Fortinet, F5, LogLogic, Sourcefire, Infoblox

60 40

Top vendors by years of relationship: Fortinet, F5, LogLogic, Sourcefire, Sophos

20 0

Fari Boustantchi, CEO

2008

2009

2010

Value added services: Presales support; Solution sizing and BoQ; Proof of concept, demonstration; Implementation; Training, documentation, knowledge transfer; After sales support

Bobby Gupta, VP Middle East, North Africa, Turkey

Address: PO Box 30810, Dubai, UAE

Mahindra Satyam Mahindra Satyam is an India based systems integrator that is gaining market penetration based on its combination of technology expertise and global customer accounts. In the region it has decided to prioritise its market focus in select verticals including public sector, healthcare, e-government, communications, oil and gas and sports. Its primary technology platform expertise for the region is SAP ERP, Oracle ERP, Microsoft ERP. A major opportunity that the SI is looking to exploit is to be a strategic one-stopshop for regional sports requirements. This includes corporate sales, sponsorship, rights management, stakeholder systems, digital asset, financial and facilities management, ticketing, physical sales management, merchandising, membership management and loyalty club affinity transaction systems.

80

Reseller Middle East

october 2011

Revenue {$M} 57

60 50

Year of start up: 2001

Location of sales offices: Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE

Total employees: 29,500

Vendor certifications: SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, HP, IBM

40 30

Top vendors by revenue contribution: Oracle, SAP, HP, IBM, Microsoft

20

Top vendors by years of relationship: Oracle, SAP, HP, IBM, Microsoft

10 0

2008

2009

2010

RME estimate Countries included in revenue are Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and UAE

ITQAN Al Bawardi Computers The singular aspect of Itqan is its long and deep relationship with Microsoft of over 15 years and inclusion of Microsoft technologies in all its major solutions. Microsoft technologies are also the basis for its primary revenue realisations followed by HP, Dell, Cisco and Oracle. With its deep relationship with Microsoft, Itqan continues to receive regular recognition of its expertise and skills and recently included Microsoft Partner of the year, Server Platform, Finalist 2011 and Microsoft Partner of the year, Dynamics GP, Finalist 2009.

Much of the dynamism of Itqan over the last ten years has been from the leadership of General Manager, Feras Al Jabi. This includes the expansion into the western area of UAE and Malaysia. It was also the first systems integrator to become ISO 20,000 certified.

Feras Al Jabi, General Manager Address: PO Box 51526, Abu Dhabi, UAE Location of sales offices: UAE

Revenue {$M} 60

55

Year of start up: 1984

Location of support offices: UAE

Total employees: 120 Engineers: 85

40

Top vendors by revenue contribution: HP, Dell, Cisco, Oracle Top vendors by years of relationship: HP, Oracle, Cisco, Microsoft, Open Text

20

0

2010

Value added services: Presales technology; Presales audit; Presales consulting; Solution sizing; BoQ; Proof of concept, demonstration; Implementation; Training, documentation, knowledge transfer; After sales support, Remote monitoring and support

Lee Reynolds, Managing Director

Computerlinks Computerlinks is a value added distributor with diversified revenue model. Its revenue streams are almost equitably distributed across hardware, security, peripherals.

Revenue is primarily driven by solutions from EMC, Juniper Networks, Bluecoat, Websense and McAfee. Other than these vendors, the value added distributor also supports RSA, Gfi, Kaspersky, Symantec.cloud, Gigamon, Q1 Labs, F5, Aerohive and Extreme.

Computerlinks also operates across multiple geographies and regions including Asia Pacific and India. This gives the value added distributor deep understanding of its 1,800 partners and end customer dynamics.

The distributor is actively involved in partner recruitment and has identified Northern Gulf and Saudi Arabia as potential regions for partner development and enablement due to absence of vendor presence.

Revenue {$M} 60

45

Year of start up: 2007

40

No of active resellers: 1,800 Total employees: 70 Engineers: 15

20

0

RME estimate

Address: PO Box 341027, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Location of sales offices: Dubai, Riyadh, Singapore, Mumbai

Location of support offices: Dubai, Riyadh, Singapore, Mumbai

Top vendors by revenue contribution: EMC, Juniper Networks, Bluecoat, Websense, McAfee 2010

Top vendors by years of relationship: RSA, GFI, Bluecoat, McAfee, Juniper Networks Value added services: Presales support; Solution sizing and BoQ; Proof of concept, demonstration; Implementation; Training, documentation, knowledge transfer; After sales support october 2011

Reseller Middle East

81

FOLLOWING 10 Salah Abu Shaar, CEO

Address: PO Box 67223, Dubai, UAE

STME The systems integrator has built its business model based on regional storage and security solution requirements. Revenue is primarily driven by solutions from NetApp, HDS, Symantec and IBM. STME also supports solutions from Quantum, Spectralogic and Emulex. Its technology platform specialisations also include P series servers, Blades, X series servers, Enterprise storage solutions SAN, NAS, ISCSI, Robotic tape libraries, Virtualisation platforms, Virtualisation software, Backup software, Archiving software, Replication software, De-duplication solutions, Switches and HBA switches.

Close to half of STME’s revenue is generated from peripheral and storage solutions followed by security and hardware infrastructure.

Revenue {$M} 60

40 40

Location of sales offices: Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Riyadh, Alkhobar, Jeddah, UAE, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore Location of support offices: Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Riyadh, Alkhobar, Jeddah, UAE, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore Year of start up: 1982 Total employees: 100

20

Engineers: 50 0

RME estimate

2010

Top vendors by revenue contribution: Netapp, HDS, Symantec, IBM

Top vendors by years of relationship: Symantec, Netapp, HDS, IBM Dharmendra L Sawlani, Managing Director

Address: PO Box 43148, Dubai, UAE

Smile Computers The reseller is a leading supplier of vendor brands including Adata, Apple, Dell, HP, Symantec, Sony and Toshiba. It has close to 12 years of experience in the IT and consumer electronics industry. It has strong customer relations with over 450 resellers in the Middle East and Africa. The office of Smile Computers is located in the heart of Computer Street, Dubai and caters to local and export customers. Smile Computers also has excellent relations with power retailers and commands loyalty from retail brands.

The full range of products that Smile Computers deals in includes audio and video equipment, DVD and CD supplies, household electronic components, electronic accessories, GPS fleet management, home appliance trading, photographic equipment and accessories, computer equipment, others.

82

Reseller Middle East

october 2011

Location of sales offices: UAE

Revenue {$M}

Location of support offices: UAE

60

40

Year of start up: 1998

38

Top vendors by revenue contribution: HP, Toshiba, Adata, Plextor, Dell, Apple

20

0

Total employees: 12

2010

Introducing Lexmark’s new laser printers and multifunction device...closer than ever to your needs Great performance. Outstanding colors. Eco design

C925DE

X466DE

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Georges Saliba Gulf Regional Manager Medmark- Dubai UAE P.O.Box 61065 Tel : 0097148838448 Fax : 0097148838608 Mob : 00971506509910 Mail : Saliba@medmark-me.com

Samih Khaddaj Levant Regional Manager Medmark - Lebanon P.O.Box: 90-883, Jdeideh Tel.: +961-1-895 666 Fax.: +961-1-873 558 Mobile: +961-3-234 126 E-Mail: khaddaj@medmark-me.com

Nadim ElKhoury Sales Manager Medmark - Saudi Arabia P.O.Box: 30595, Al-Khobar 31952 Tel : 00966 3 890 3753 Fax : 00966 3 890 3743 Mob : 00966 502706499 E-Mail: nkhoury@medmark-me.com

PRODUCTS & TECHNOLOGY Eset

ESET Smart Security Ver 5.0 ESET was founded in 1992 in Bratislava, Slovakia. Its flagship product Smart Security has an installed base of over 9% amongst PC users. The product is built for combating banking Trojans, Android threats, Mac Defender, BlackHat SEO and social

engineering threats and is an integrated solution of antivirus, antispyware, antispam and personal firewall modules. One of its latest features is its unique cloud-based early warning technology called Live Grid. We take a look at the main features of Version 5.0.

Setting up the solution The setup menu is the main menu of Eset Smart Security solution. It consists of the following primary options: Computer, Network, Web-email and Parental control.

Computer protection setup allows you to enable or disable the following components: Real-time file system prot.ection, Document protection, HIPS, and Gamer mode. The Network section allows you to enable or disable the personal firewall. The Web and Email protection setup allows you to enable or disable web access protection, email client protection and antispam protection.

The Parental control section allows you to enable or disable parental controls.

Cloud based advanced warning

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Reseller Middle East

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ESET Live Grid is an advanced warning system against emerging threats based on reputation.

Utilizing real-time streaming of threat-related information from the cloud, ESET virus lab keeps the defences up-to-date for a constant level of protection. User can check the reputation of running processes and files directly from the program’s interface or contextual menu with additional information available from ESET Live Grid. The ESET Live Grid collects information about a computer related to newly-detected threats. This information may include a sample or copy of the file in which the threat appeared, the path to that file, the filename, the date and time, the process by which the threat appeared on the computer and information about the OS. By default, ESET Smart Security is configured to ask before submitting suspicious files for detailed analysis to ESET‘s Virus Lab. Files with certain extensions such as .doc or .xls are always excluded.

Excluding known SSL certificates For SSL communication to work properly in your browsers, it is essential that the root certificate for ESET, be added in the list of known root certificates. In some cases, the certificate cannot be verified using the Trusted Root Certification Authorities store. This means that the certificate is self-signed by someone and considering this certificate as trusted is not always a risk. If the Ask about certificate validity option is set, the user will be prompted to select an action to take when encrypted communication is established. An action selection dialog will be displayed, where you can decide to mark the certificate as trusted or excluded.

You can set the Block communication that uses the certificate option to always terminate an encrypted connection to the site that uses the unverified certificate. In addition to the integrated Trusted Root Certification Authorities store where ESET Smart Security stores trusted certificates, you can create a custom list of trusted certificates. The Excluded

certificates section contains certificates that are considered safe. The content of encrypted

communications utilizing the certificates in the list will not be checked for threats.

Network traffic regulation

The Personal firewall controls all network traffic to and from the system. This is accomplished by allowing or denying individual network connections based on

specified filtering rules. It provides protection against attacks from remote computers and enables blocking of some services. It also provides antivirus protection for HTTP,

POP3 and IMAP protocols. Personal firewall configuration can be found in the Setup pane after clicking on the Network title. It allows you to adjust the filtering mode, rules and detailed settings.

The only option for blocking all network traffic is to click Block all network traffic: disconnect network. All inbound and outbound communication is blocked by the personal firewall with no warning displayed. This option is used only if you suspect critical security risks requiring the system to be disconnected from the network. The disable filtering: allow all traffic option, is the opposite of blocking all network traffic. If selected, all personal firewall filtering options are turned off and all incoming and outgoing connections are permitted. It has the same effect as no firewall being present.

Five filtering modes are available for the ESET Smart Security Personal firewall.

october 2011

Reseller Middle East

85

PRODUCTS & TECHNOLOGY News Eset

Securing web content access Parental control section works on the basis of a named account. Once an account has been defined a total of 26 web site categories are available for further browser. A child would have the minimum rights of access and an adult the maximum. Selection in the adjacent box allows a particular category of web sites to be enabled or accessible based on the account name. An unchecked box implies that category of web sites is disabled.

Parental control can be setup as enabled or disabled based on the time of the day.

Parental control settings can also be security controlled by a password. Moving the mouse over a category will show you a list of web pages that fall into that category. Blocking or allowing a specific web page can be more accurate than blocking or allowing a whole category of web pages. Specific web sites can be added in addition to the category of blocked web sites. Specific web sites that are allowed can also be added through the

exceptions option. At the end of the day if the browsed web sites need to be reviewed they

are available through the Show Log option under Parental Control.

Log of events The Log files contain information about all important program events that have occurred and provide an overview of detected threats.

Logging acts as an essential tool in system analysis, threat detection and troubleshooting.

Logging is performed actively in the background with no user interaction. Information is recorded based on current log settings. Log files are accessible from the main menu. Select the desired Log type using the Log dropdown menu at the top of the window. The following logs are available: Detected threats, Events, HIPS, Personal firewall, Antispam protection.

86

Reseller Middle East

october 2011

PRODUCTS & TECHNOLOGY News

Acer Aspire S3 notebook The Aspire S3 notebook blends PC capabilities with the advantages of tablet PCs and smartphones, plus the additional innovations of Acer Green Instant On and Instant Connect. The open cell design of the 13.3” HD LED display contributes to the thinness and durability of the cover by using the lid and bezel to form an aluminium frame for the screen, and in the process, conserves materials. Furthermore, the highefficiency battery requires less charging, making the Aspire S3 a greener choice for environmentally-conscious buyers.

Acer Green Instant On technology has two sleep modes from which the Aspire S3

resumes ultra-fast. In Sleep the Aspire S3 will resume in a mere 1.5 seconds, and in Deep Sleep it resumes in 6 seconds.1 Furthermore, Acer Instant Connect accesses the Internet in only 2.5 seconds,1, which is four times

faster than conventional connections, reducing waiting time so users can go faster for better productivity and infotainment enjoyment. With Acer Green Instant On, the Aspire S3’s battery life lasts up to 50 days.

Canon PIXMA iP4950

The printer is ideal for professionals and families. Updated Full HD Movie Print now lets users merge frames from full HD movies captured on Canon digital still cameras and Canon digital SLRs, giving a sense of motion to printed still photos. The newly introduced Layout Print mode also lets users select a small movie clip and use a comic-strip effect to print a storyboard.

Easy-PhotoPrint EX software, which uses

88

Reseller Middle East

october 2011

favourite images to print photos, calendars and albums, now features Fun Filter Effect which provides a selection of instant photo effects, including blurring backgrounds and applying a soft focus or fish-eye effect, with the touch of a button. Photos can be transformed so they appear to be of smallscale models with Miniature Effect, or as if they were photographed using a pin-hole camera with Toy Camera Effect.

To reduce the environmental impact of printing, the PIXMA iP4950 features Auto Duplex Print which automatically prints documents on both sides of the paper, helping reduce unnecessary waste. The new ECO Information feature provides a visual display of how much CO2 and paper is being saved when selecting Auto Duplex Print. The PIXMA iP4950 also utilises a 5 Single Ink system which makes it easy to replace each ink tank as required and reduce overall ink wastage, keeping costs down.

The PIXMA iP4950 features Canon’s advanced FINE print technology, with a minimum 1pl droplet and up to 9600dpi print engine, capable of producing professional quality prints and sharp and vivid text based documents. The PIXMA iP4950 has an enhanced print speed of 12.5ipm for mono, 9.3ipm for colour, and produces a borderless 10x15cm photo in approximately 20 seconds.

Samsung Qwerty remote control Samsung MV800 MultiView camera

The Samsung remote control keyboard is an addition to Samsung’s Smart TV portfolio. It is required to use the social media facilities in Smart TV products more effectively.

Consumers can purchase this device from Eros or Harman House showrooms. The keyboard weighs in at 181 grams, allows users to sign-in and surf any site, chat with friends,

navigate through apps at a touch of a button.

Organizing folders and apps are made easier with direction key and optical sensor, enabling users to select points on the screen through the use of an arrow keypad. The keyboard remote control is compatible with Samsung’s LED D6600 and above. The keyboard remote control is priced at AED 399.

Acer Iconia Tab A100 The new Acer tablet has a 7” display and a weight of only 410g. It is equipped with Android 3.2, the latest Android operating system with super-smart screen scaling mode. Another improvement is full support of Micro SD card, which can be accessed from a PC via USB connection.

Powered by dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor, the device provides the same performance as the 10” tablet in the Acer Iconia Tab series. On this 7” full touch screen with resolution of 1024x600 you can enjoy movies, read books and browse the web with Flash 10.3 support. You can run and play premium arcade games and complex online 3D games. For sound it has Dolby Mobile technology. It also has 5 mega pixels auto-focus rear camera to capture high-resolution photos and 720p videos and a 2 megapixels front-facing camera to engage in live chats with your friends. It is available in blue and cool cherry red covers.

The camera has the unique ability to capture images from any angle.

It builds on the success of Samsung 2View technology and the premium compact model features a 3.0” wide flip-out MultiView Touch Display. The flip-out display opens up a world of artistic possibilities, whether it is capturing the perfect self-portrait or extreme low and high angled shots to demonstrate your photographic prowess. The camera has a colour depth of 16.1 Megapixels, a 5x optical zoom lens to capture detail in close-up and 26mm wide-angle lens for capturing larger gatherings in high definition. It uses a Schneider Kreuznach lens with focal length f/4.7 to 23.5mm The innovative Live Panorama function, meanwhile, enables the easy photography of large groups by simply holding down the shutter button, then previewing the whole scene that’s been captured, via the LCD. Moreover, by simply connecting the Samsung MV800 MultiView to a 3D HDTV, images and panoramic shots can be viewed in outstanding 3D in-depth quality instantly.

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PRODUCTS & TECHNOLOGY News

Inkling digital pen Do you start your artwork with pen and paper?

But at the same time regret your work is stuck on paper until you have scanned the image? The Inkling pen is an indispensable tool for you. This digital sketch pen allows you to sketch with a real ballpoint pen on any paper. While you are drawing, strokes are recorded electronically which can then be imported as raster or vector artwork in to your preferred graphics application for further editing.

You can record layers, for instance, to separate preparatory and final drawings. It has 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity for natural pen strokes

Specifications • Sketch size A7 to A4 paper size, portrait or landscape • Transmission type infra-red and ultrasonic • Dimensions (L x D) 153 x 17 mm

• Battery rechargeable Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) battery • Working time up to 15 hours • Charging time up to 3 hours

Kingmax’ giant 128Gb flash drive Kingamx has released its 128GB huge capacity USB 3.0 flash drive, the ED-01. The ED-01 sports a sleek contoured design, read and write LED indicator to display the flash drive’s status and a clip-cap design that prevents the cap from accidental drop-offs or loss. Made with durable plastic combined with a special finishing procedure, the leather-like texture of the ED-01 is smooth to the touch.

The ED-01 USB 3.0 flash drive is fully compliant with the European Union’s RoHS. It also passed CE certification in the EU, met the United States’ FCC criteria and was awarded the

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latest Windows 7 certificate that guarantees its compatibility with operating systems.

Specifications: USB 3.0 Storage: 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB Dimensions: 74.5x20x9 mm Compatible with USB 2.0 LED light indicator 5-year product warranty

Samsung CLP775ND laser printer Designed for high volume, business colour printing, the CLP-775ND is equipped with a 600Mhz dual core CPU, providing print through speeds of up to 33 A4 pages per minute. Its superior processing power, anti-jam technology and enhanced connectivity ensure that the CLP-775ND is a cost-effective solution for businesses looking for a high-quality, trouble-free printer.

The CLP-775ND comes with a 1Gb Ethernet network connection as standard, allowing the printer to be conveniently connected to a high-speed, high-volume network. It has a volume bin of upto 1,600 sheets across three trays requiring less frequent refills. It can also handle thicker and higher quality paper. The printer is environmentally friendly, requiring 22% less power than previous products.

The printer has an inbuilt Rendering Engine for Clean Page technology, to improve the overall quality and vibrancy of colour printing. It automatically sharpens the focus of both graphics and text, while solid objects are overlapped to eliminate white gaps. Edges are intelligently smoothed using Samsung’s Edge Resolution Enhancement, which adds dots along the edges of characters so that they appear much sharper. It is priced at AED 3,669.

Strategic ICT Partner

GREEN CHAMPION AWARDS AWARDS CATEGORIES Vendor awards Green Champion – E-waste handling Green Champion – Hardware Green Champion – Management software Green Champion – Product innovation Green Champion – Market education End-user awards Green Champion – Data Centre Green Champion – E-waste Green Champion – Desktop / printing Green Champion – Operational Green Champion – Innovation

Green principles in IT is not just about technology, it is about an organisational mindset.

With Sustainable ICT 2011, CNME – the region's premier technology magazine – and CPI, one of the leading publishing houses of the Middle East is bringing together producers and consumers of green technology solutions to discuss and debate the relevance of these solutions to the region, and ways in which adoption can be increased across enterprises in every corner of the Middle East.

Sustainable ICT 2011 will play host to more than 100 stakeholders from the ICT industry as they voice concerns and learn from each other on adding value to the bottomline, while being ecologically relevant, with green IT and technology.

To register, visit www.sustainableictme.com

Contacts: Sathya Mithra Ashok Senior Editor, CNME +971 4 440 9111 sathya@cpidubai.com

Strategic ICT Partner

Organised by

People Movement

Omar Draghmeh has been appointed as Country Managing Director Kuwait, HP Middle East. Draghmeh will lead a team of professionals to develop strategic partnerships with Kuwait Public and Private sector. A US national, Dhaghmeh brings more than 20 years of IT experience to the role, with 18 of these based in the Gulf countries.

Prior to joining HP, Draghmeh worked with Microsoft Corporation, with his most recent position as Director for Government Sector in Saudi Arabia. His previous experience includes Microsoft Kuwait, where he held the position of Enterprise and Partners Group Manager for five years. Before that he led Microsoft Financial Services in Northern Gulf. Draghmeh holds a Bachelor of Science in Information Systems.

Microsoft Gulf has appointed Jawad Al Redha as Head of Government Interface for Intellectual Property Rights and Small and Mid Market Solutions and Partners Business Development effective from September 2011. Al Redha, who previously held the position of Microsoft Gulf’s IPR Manager, has been an integral part of the company’s region-wide efforts to protect intellectual property rights. Al Redha has over 12 years of experience in promoting IPR and working in close coordination with various Arab governments in the region.

Avnet Technology Solutions named Henry Godwin as regional director for the Middle East and Africa.

Godwin will be responsible for the strategic direction of Avnet Technology

Solutions in the region. Godwin will report to Graeme Watt, President of Avnet Technology Solutions, EMEA. Godwin joins Avnet from Computacentre, where he was head of category, responsible for product categories spanning the data centre, networking and software. Before working for Computacentre Godwin was vendor divisional leader at Bell Microproducts, where he reported directly to the European Board and was responsible for achieving the revenue and profit targets of the company’s HP business in the UK, and Symantec in EMEA. Throughout his career, Godwin has become known for developing strong vendor relationships and support teams, exceptional supply chain management and an ability to deliver specialised data centre solutions.

Injazat Data Systems has appointed Antonio Antonuccio as its new Chief Operating Officer.

Antonuccio joins Injazat from HP Enterprise Services MEMA. His experience in strategy consulting and corporate transformation and extensive exposure to the Middle Eastern markets will be tapped at Injazat.

Prior to joining HP, Antonio was Associate Partner within the Italian Telecom, Technology and Media division of global management consulting firm Bain & Company. He also worked for the company’s UK, Brazil and USA offices. Moreover, Antonio worked for Goldman Sachs in the UK before moving to Hong Kong.

He has an MBA degree from MIT Sloan, Boston; an International Programme of Management degree from HEC, Paris; and a BA in Business administration from Bocconi University, Milan.

Brocade has added a number of industry veterans to its Europe, Middle East and Africa sales leadership team, to enable the company to scale up its operations throughout the region.

Manu Bonnassie has been appointed as Regional Sales Director, Central Europe, Middle East and Africa. He will be responsible for leading one of Brocade’s largest EMEA geographical territories, driving sales revenue, scaling the local organisation and partner expansion across the region. Prior to this role, he held several international positions within a four year tenure at Brocade, most recently as Regional Sales Director for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. He also served as EMEA Strategic Business Development Director during the same period Amar Wadjih has been appointed as Regional Sales Manager, Saudi Arabia. Wadjih will oversee a targeted partner recruitment strategy. Prior to joining Brocade, Wadjih held senior sales leadership roles within Computer Associates and Sun Microsystems over a career spanning more than 25 years.

Blue Coat Systems announced Gregory S Clark has been named President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors. Clark will succeed Michael J Borman, who has departed as President and CEO and Director.

Clark most recently was President and CEO of Mincom, an enterprise software company that was acquired in July by the ABB Group. Prior to joining Mincom, Clark was CEO of E2open, a leader in cloud-based supply chain applications. Earlier in his career he founded the security software firm, Dascom,

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PEOPLE Claire Jones

Cisco empowered working mother

All rounder

Cisco’s Claire Jones came to the UAE straight from university in 1995. She had a brief stint at BT and a longer stint at 3Com before joining Cisco in 2005. Today she is Regional Partner Manager for UAE and is responsible for strategic partnerships, channel management, channel governance, operational excellence and people management. At Cisco in her current role, Jones feels fortunate to be empowered to work with her team and partners and develop the business within market conditions. She loves to innovate with her team with the idea of business improvement.

Settling into UAE at an early part of her

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professional life has given her the richest experience in terms of cultural awareness and respect. Jones herself comes from a varied family background, which has helped her appreciate the multi cultural aspect of UAE society. With parents from UK and Singapore and husband from Syria, Jones herself is a blend of many.

She likes to start the day at the gym and finds this to be a good stress reliever for rest of the day. Other stress relievers are eating out and reading bedtime stories to her daughters. While she labels herself as a Blackberry junkie, being connected all the time and facing little patience for a delayed

response, tops her list of work challenges.

Another personal challenge is managing the duality of expectations as a working mother in UAE. And she appreciates the flexibility that Cisco gives in this area. Another personal feel-good factor is the amount of formal or informal learning that Jones adds up at the end of the year. Attending a formal learning session is a must-do for her somewhere in a year.

At work Jones describes herself as a hardworking, humorous, self driven perfectionist. And at home is the desire to give her two daughters the best social, emotional and spiritual life.

To experience Huawei X7 Switches visit us at GITEX 2011