60mins Day 4 - AM (2019)

GITEX 2019 TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS

Inspires Transformation

R epog rafix

GITEX TECHNOLOGY WEEK tahawultech.com

Show dates: 6-10 October 2019, Dubai World Trade Centre | Exhibition hours: 11am-7pm

Emircom’s CEO discusses GITEX presence

GSD launches new online CloudHost launches portal to empower new tech e-commerce partners’ collaboration platform – Cloud Souq

Emircom is participating at GITEX with two key partners – Oracle and Software AG. Mohamad Abou Zaki, Emircom

4 CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

GSD is launching a new online portal, Majlis, for their partners to connect and collaborate.

Gareth Hansford, Gulf Software Distribution

4 CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

CloudHost is launching a new e-commerce platform at GITEX Technology Week 2019.

Nikhil Katara and Rajesh Sajnani, CloudHost

4 CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

Barracuda executive predicts Avaya Oceana Solution HPE recognises government to improve data streamlines customer contacts partners and alliances protection regulation at Saudi medical facility at annual event Avaya’s Oceana Solution is now working with Saudi’s King Fahad Medical City.

Chris Ross discusses the main innovations that Barracuda is showcasing at this year’s show.

Chris Ross, Barracuda

4 CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

Fahad Al Selham, King Fahad Medical City

Dell Technologies is enjoying brisk uptake of its converged and hyperconverged infrastructure in the EMEA region.

www.tahawultech.com

4 CONTINUED ON PAGE 17

4 CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

PAGE 9

Customer centricity is the key for Injazat

Dell Technologies highlights converged, hyperconverged infrastructure as regional digitisation continues apace

Said Akar, Dell Technologies

4 CONTINUED ON

Logicom and NetApp partnership in the Middle East “working well” for both sides

Wassim El Mawas offers his insights on the importance of delivering great customer experiences.

Wassim El Mawas, Injazat - A Mubadala Company

4 CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

The partnership has been very successful in driving sales growth across the region.

Maya Zakhour, NetApp

@tahawultech

4 CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

4 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Emircom’s CEO discusses GITEX presence and partnerships Emircom, a leading partner to many heavyweights in the ICT segment in the region, is participating to GITEX with two key partners – Oracle and Software AG. Emircom’s CEO, Mohamad Abou Zaki, said, “GITEX is an important time for us, and we use this opportunity to talk not only about our products, but also about the great partnerships that we have with vendors.

“Our relationship and engagement with Oracle in the Saudi market has been extremely strong for the past 2 years. We aim to leverage the traction we are seeing for Oracle hardware to replicate the relationship and address the UAE market.”

Zaki also explained the importance of their partnership with Software AG as a strategic cornerstone for Emicom’s Transformative Technology Solutions unit.

“Together with Software AG we have built a very healthy pipeline that addresses the increase in the market demand for IoT and digitisation. At the Software AG stand, we are also showcasing the integration between SEnergy, our own energy management and monitoring solution, with Software AG’s IoT

Together with Software AG we have built a very healthy pipeline that addresses the increase in the market demand for IoT and digitisation.”

Mohamad Abou Zaki, Emircom

platform Cumulocity,” said Zaki.

Emircom is at the forefront of digital innovation and has been growing exponentially in the region especially in the

We don’t innovate blindly, and we make sure that our investments go where the market is maturing, or in areas where we are able to increase the awareness in innovation.” www.tahawultech.com

cloud market thanks to their partnership with major players such as Dell, Cisco and VMware.

Zaki explained that the IT leader has also expanded their offering in the data center space by partnering with leading providers such as Schneider and Huawei – these help them to deliver an end-to-end solution and they have built, for them and for their customers, large data centers, both private and public.

Discussing the future of the organisation, Zaki explained that it’s key to stay realistic to stay ahead of the curve.

“We need to innovate, but we also need to stay realistic. We want to be ahead of others, but at the same time we want the market to be acceptant of the offering. As a result, we don’t innovate blindly, and we make sure that our investments go where the market is maturing, or in areas where we are able to increase the awareness in innovation.

“As you are building a solution that is ver y advanced, it is impor tant that you are proactive, and predict how the customer will be transforming the way he conducts business as he adopts your solution.

This is how we are approaching our R&D in Blockchain, IoT, AI, and Energ y Management,” said Zaki.

Visitors can find out more Emircom's contribution to a techno-humanity society during GITEX 2019. @tahawultech

3

4 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

GSD launches new online portal to empower partners’ collaboration The portal will enables our partners to look across our network and find other partners who can help them deliver tailored solutions.”

Gareth Hansford, Gulf Software Distribution

Gulf Software Distribution (GSD) is launching a new online portal, Majlis, for their partners to connect and collaborate across the region.

The new marketplace is an extension of GSD overall mission to bring together partners and help them grow their businesses.

Gareth Hansford, General Manager at GSD, explained the platform will feed very well into the collaborative culture of the region.

“We are very excited to be launching Majlis at GITEX, our new online marketplace to bring partners together. We have been doing that for the past couple of years at

4

@tahawultech

physical events but now we have it online, facilitating collaboration across the whole region.

“It empowers partners to collaborate and find the right solution for their customers. It will enable our partners to look across our network and find other partners who can help them deliver tailored solutions,” said Hansford.

Partners will be able to share skills and knowledge, but also geographical coverage, across different countries in the region.

GSD hopes to see collaboration expanding across industries, borders and technologies.

“We want our partners to be able to connect online and engage no matter where they are based. The platform will feature the details of each partner, the industry and technologies they cover, as well as their geographical coverage – all of these will help our partners to easily connect with each other to empower their business,” continued Hansford.

Hansford also sees GITEX as a great opportunity to not only meet partners, but also to see what latest technologies will lead the future of the region – Artificial Intelligence, explained Hansford,

will be a major gamechanger in the Middle East and globally.

“If 2018 is remembered as the year of Blockchain, then we believe 2019 will be most famous for Artificial Intelligence, noticeably with many more tangible results.

There are many examples where AI has been incorporated into solutions to enhance the performance, improve the accuracy or increase the service levels for the users, which is why I think it will give us a lot more back than Blockchain did.

“One reason why it’s been successful so quickly is the ability and practice of incorporating AI into an existing application rather than starting from scratch. That often means a faster turnaround of idea to execution as generally the customer or solution provider has the necessary data and merely needs to add the AI component – which with IBM for example can often be done via an API call into a Watson service to tap in to the vast base of knowledge and skill needed to provide the AI feedback,” added Hansford.

Amongst this era of innovation, GSD will continue their mission to empower partner grow their business and adopt next generation technologies based on their needs and vision.

“GSD is focused on helping our Partners grow their businesses. Our success depends on their success, so we work with the business leaders of our partners to ensure they understand these new technologies available and build plans, skills and solutions to keep them ahead in the market.”

www.tahawultech.com

4 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

CloudHost launches new tech e-commerce platform – Cloud Souq Cloud Souq is a one-stop solution for all the IT needs for an organisation – from the domain, to the business applications and security servers, as well as user-based access, identity management.”

Nikhil Katara and Rajesh Sajnani, CloudHost

CloudHost, the technology innovation arm of the RVS Group, is launching a new e-commerce platform for technology, the first in the region, at GITEX 2019.

Cloud Souq is a one-stop solution for all the IT needs for an organisation – from the domain, to the business applications and security servers, as well as user-based access, identity management.

Nikhil Katara, Co-founder and Director Operations at CloudHost said, “Cloud Souq is transparent,

www.tahawultech.com

self-serviced platform. Normally all market spaces are just bill portals – we provide an end-to-end solution.

“It’s also a monitoring tool for products and billing purposes. The solution is AI and IoT enabled. We are starting with about 15 products on the marketplace and eventually we will feature 100, probably in a few months’ time.”

Rajesh Sajnani, Co-founder and CEO at CloudHost, explained the platform is the first in the region to provide this kind of service.

“Cloud Souq is going to be the main player in the region for cloud services. The idea behind it was to give the power to organisation to go to the cloud. We are removing the usual resistance to change – it’s all about making a user friendly and approachable platform to remove any type of scepticism to the cloud,” said Sajnani.

The platform will allow IT managers and CIOs to have all products and services in one place in the simplest way possible.

CloudHost aims to provide a technology version of the mainstream Amazon and Noon.

CloudHost is also supporting partners in using the platform by providing the backend solution for them to use.

From a security perspective, the end-to-end solution is strongly secured and transparent.

Katara added that the platform will

be a “next generation dashboard” for CIO and IT managers. The platform will be running on top of the virtual data centres.

CloudHost has also been supporting their partners at GITEX by meeting their customers and talking about their solutions.

Sajnani added, “GITEX has been the tech main event for the Middle East and it has always maintained its strength throughout the years.

Although we do not have our own booth, we have a lot of partners participating to the event and we have to be here to support them. We are also excited to have a look at the latest products and technologies being introduced this year.

“It’s always good to be around and this year is very special for us because of the lunch of Cloud Souq, which we believe it will be a gamechanger in the market.”

@tahawultech

5

Customer centricity is the key for Injazat Wassim El Mawas, Head of Sales, Customer Experience and Satisfaction at Injazat, A Mubadala Company, offers his expert insights on the importance of delivering great customer experiences in the digital age, Injazat’s role in delivering digital transformation and its participation at GITEX.

A big part of our role is helping our clients and customers to understand what is possible, and then aligning their operation with the right digital model.”

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES IN INDUSTRY 4.0: Delivering a great customer experience has never been more important as customers except ease when dealing with organisations. Digital-native enterprises have been so successful because a seamless customer experience was built into the original model, but many organisations need to catch up, which is where we come in.

A big part of our role is helping our clients and customers to understand what is possible, and then aligning their operation with the right digital model. The customer experience piece is key, and our central focus is on data.

We work very closely with our customers to gather, manage and analyse data and then to combine our data services with our horizontal services, such as our Agile Factory service, which empowers our clients to achieve their business needs through the development of platforms, mobility and AI. Here we utilise the best in standard leading proprietary and open source technologies to

6

@tahawultech

deliver customized cloud solutions, using an iterative, flexible and scalable agile approach.

Ultimately, the focus is customer centric, and the strategy is centred on their end user. We enable the enterprise to meet the needs of their end user in the most optimal way.

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION: We’re in a unique position as we’re able to deliver projects from strategy through to execution, given our size and our services and solutions. We see ourselves as a digital transformation partner, meaning that we work alongside our clients and customers to accelerate innovation for them.

The greatest asset a company can have is speed to innovation, and our newly launched agile practice and factory allow us to enable organisations to outpace competitors with sheer innovative velocity.

Injazat’s approach to digital transformation rests upon creating new business models.

Of course, there are elements of automation and digitisation that feed into the new models, but what we achieve is an entire shift in thinking and operating, starting

Wassim El Mawas, Injazat - A Mubadala Company

at the ground up, which focus on ‘transformation’ as the term suggests.

We are also unique in the scale of the projects we deliver. Our Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) have been very successful and we have delivered a healthcare project and a very successful initiative combining IOT, Fire and Safety.

During both projects, the model we used to deliver was to invest, build, operate and transfer. We are actively working on new PPPs as these were so successful.

GITEX 2019 GITEX is the most important event on the tech annual calendar. I view the exhibition as an accelerator

for market trends and is also a space where we can educate the market about our offering and announcements.

For Injazat, GITEX provides great opportunity to liaise with our key clients, customers and stakeholders. This year we are particularly excited about showcasing our strategic projects, emerging technologies portfolio and the services and solutions that enable innovation around customer experience journeys, which our all part of the new capabilities, approach and methodologies that we have been developing.

We are extremely fortunate that there are so many great events across the Middle East in the ICT sector but GITEX is unique in that it brings so many sectors together, as opposed to smaller events that focus solely on niche industries.

As Injazat grows, and technology expands alongside us, it is more imperative than ever before that we are able to connect with every single sector as digital transformation is not industry specific. It’s a very interesting time to be in this industry. www.tahawultech.com

4 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Barracuda executive predicts government to improve data protection regulation integrates with Microsoft’s Azure Firewall.

How does Barracuda ensure protection against email threats?

Barracuda Total Email Protection ensures your organisation is secured against email-borne threats. Its multi-layered approach combines the most advanced protection available with the radical simplicity and ease of

In 2019, get ready for a skills gap tipping point.”

Chris Ross, Barracuda

Talk us through the Cloud Security Guardian for Azure solution that you’re demonstrating at GITEX this year.

This agentless Software-as-aService solution provides endto-endvisibility into the security posture of public cloud workloads, ensures continuous compliance, and automates remediation of security incidents.

Cloud Security Guardian is another example of Barracuda’s significant emphasis on their build-with motion with Microsoft.

It leverages Microsoft’s Security Graph API to provide security scores and alerts to identify and prevent security policy violations that can often turn into threats.

Cloud Security Guardian also

A big trend that will come into play over the next year is government and security companies starting to work together to improve regulations to protect companies and individuals.” www.tahawultech.com

use that Barracuda's known for.

The Barracuda email security solutions bundled into Total Email Protection lead the industry in power, capabilities, and ease-ofuse. Essentials Complete, Sentinel, and PhishLine provide multiple, integrated layers of security.

Tell us more about the Forensics and Incident Response solution.

Barracuda Forensics and Incident Response is an innovative solution allowing organisations to proactively respond to targeted attacks that were delivered to users’ inboxes. The solution automates a process that otherwise can take hours or even days to complete.

What security trends do you expect to see an uptake in for the rest of 2019?

A big trend that will come into play

over the next year is government and security companies starting to work together to improve regulations to protect companies and individuals. Time after time, organisations have shown they cannot be trusted with users’ data because it is not secured properly and ends up available to be exploited easily by attackers.

How important is it for companies to build comprehensive security awareness programs?

We’ll see security awareness training solutions evolve to provide further automation. This will go beyond making it possible for customers to download everything they need for a single campaign.

Organisations need to build a comprehensive security awareness program that addresses the most important security topics your users need to deal with, using campaigns that are tightly correlated and build on each other as part of a well-designed program.

What are your thoughts on the perceived lack of skill set in cybersecurity?

While it’s long been known that the cyber security industry has a significant skills gap problem, what’s lesser known is that this gap is also increasing. The balance between the resource, skills and expertise of the ‘good guys’ who are fighting attacks and the ‘bad guys’ who are launching the attacks in the first place is a very delicate one. In 2019, get ready for a skills gap tipping point. As cyber attackers’ tactics become ever more sophisticated and, more importantly, harder to spot, they are needing ever more hours of the good guys’ time to identify and stop. @tahawultech

7

8

@tahawultech

www.tahawultech.com

4 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Avaya Oceana Solution streamlines customer contacts at Saudi medical facility Managing calls, patient appointments and many other activities at Saudi Arabia’s King Fahad Medical City, one of the biggest medical complexes in the region, is no easy task.

However, technology from Avaya has helped to implement a system that has cut the number of missed appointments and made life easier for patients and staff alike.

The Avaya Oceana Solution went live at the hospital in December as an integrated omnichannel system that deals with patient calls, emergency alerts to doctors and much else.

Fahad Al Selham, chairperson of the Customer Care Centre at King Fahad Medical City (KFMC), says that patients call the hospital for everything from making an appointment to obtaining laboratory test results and ordering prescription medicines.

About a year and a half ago, KFMC began discussions with Avaya, a longstanding partner of the hospital, to find a way to streamline many of these processes.

“We found there’s a technology [from Avaya] called Oceana that collects all contact centre features in one platform,” said Al Selham.

Given that medical information is being dealt with, a key issue when dealing with telephone enquiries is confirming the identity of the caller.

With the new system, callers are sent an SMS code to their mobile to verify who they are.

Fahad Al Selham, King Fahad Medical City

Agents answering calls are presented with the individual’s details, allowing them to assist the customers more effectively.

Other initiatives include a queueing system that informs callers long they are likely to wait before an agent answers. This offers them the option to continue to hold or to have a scheduled call back.

“If you stay in the queue, your information is still there. After three minutes the operator will answer your call; a screen with all your information will come up,” said Al Selham.

Also, if a patient’s call is inadvertently disconnected, when they call back they will be put through to the same agent.

And at the end of a call, patients are forwarded to a survey that allows them to grade the quality of the service they received.

Since the Avaya Oceana Solution was implemented at KFMC late last year, the number of calls received from customers has increased from about 1,200 to 3,000 a day.”

Supervisors can then call back patients unhappy with their call.

Doctors are also very much connected to the system, and they may receive alerts through multiple channels, including voice calls, SMS, pager notification and overhead pager notification.

Since the Avaya Oceana Solution was implemented at KFMC late last year, the number of calls received from customers has increased

from about 1,200 to 3,000 a day.

Al Selham sees this as a good sign.

“It indicates that people start believing in our service,” he said. “In the beginning, if people called KFMC and they didn’t answer, you would tell your colleagues not to call them.”

Now, however, word of mouth means that more customers are happy to call the Customer Care Centre, confident in the knowledge that their enquiry will be dealt with efficiently.

GovTech Founder, CPIMEDIA GROUP Dominic De Sousa (1959-2015), Publishing Director Natasha Pendleton, Group Sales Director Kausar Syed, Business Development Manager Youssef Hariz, Senior Sales Manager Sabita Miranda, Deputy Editor Sharon Saldanha, Editor Mark Forker, Deputy Editor Giorgia Guantario, Online Editor Adelle Geronimo, Design Manager Froilan Cosgafa, Senior Designer Analou Balbero, Designer Marlou Delaben, Operations Manager Cherylann D’Abreo, Web Developer Jefferson de Joya, Abbas Madh, Photographers Charls Thomas, Maksym Poriechkin

www.tahawultech.com

@tahawultech

9

10

@tahawultech

www.tahawultech.com

GITEX HIGHLIGHTS

www.tahawultech.com

@tahawultech

11

Riverbed Stand

12

@tahawultech

Stand: CC2-6

www.tahawultech.com

www.tahawultech.com

@tahawultech

13

4 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

HPE recognises partners and alliances at annual event

Kinda Baydoun, HPE Middle East

Hewlett Packard Enterprise has recognised the continuous efforts of their partners, distributor and alliances in the Middle East at their annual event.

Every year during GITEX, the HPE Middle East Channel

Awards 2019 attract partners and alliances from across the region to connect and network, but especially to reward them for their contribution to HPE’s success.

Kinda Baydoun, Channel and

At HPE we consider our partners at the centre of everything we do. We are a very channel friendly company and we rely on them to cover the market, as well as to complete our offering.”

14

@tahawultech

Alliances Manager at HPE Middle East, said, “At HPE we consider our partners at the centre of everything we do. We are a very channel friendly company and we rely on them to cover the market, as well as to complete our offering.”

Baydoun’s role is to empower HPE’s channel ecosystem and to make sure they are enabled to expand their solutions through different programs and providing different tools.

“In the UAE we have a very complex channel ecosystem – we classify our partners into four main categories. The top ones are very strategic and big companies with high revenue and who are very committed to the HPE strategy and vision.

“We also work with growth partners and invest a lot in this segment. These are much more agile, and faster in terms of learning and delivering solutions – it’s usually easier to get them familiar with new products and technology,” Baydoun explained.

HPE also works with “retained” partners on an opportunistic basis, and lastly with silver and business partners. These are smaller partners that can bring incremental business for the company and increase market share.

The focus of the IT leader at this year’s GITEX is their soonto-be open Digital Life Garage – a global initiative to build innovation centres around the world, that HPE has decided to launch first in the UAE. “Together with our partners we are going to showcase solutions as well as prototypes for products and technologies that are not even in the market yet – this is thanks to the

The Digital Life Garage will leverage the knowledge and skills of universities. It will be a place that students can use as a lab to test their projects, but also for start-ups to test their technologies before launching their products.” innovative approach of the Digital Life Garage.

“The Digital Life Garage will also leverage the knowledge and skills of universities. It will be a place where students can use as a lab to test their projects, but also for start-ups to test their technologies before launching their products,” continued Baydoun.

HPE Digital Life Garage will be a business accelerator based on a co-innovation model –operated in collaboration with local market and global partners to create innovative technological concepts, develop them into an actionable Proof of Value and accelerate the idea-toproduction lifecycle.

HPE is showcasing the Digital Life Garage’s potential in Hall 7, booth H7-A1. www.tahawultech.com

www.tahawultech.com

@tahawultech

15

16

@tahawultech

www.tahawultech.com

Dell Technologies highlights converged, hyperconverged infrastructure as regional digitisation continues apace Dell Technologies is enjoying brisk uptake of its converged and hyperconverged infrastructure in the EMEA region.

The US-headquartered technology giant is using GITEX to showcase, among much else, the diversity and the flexibility of its data centre solutions.

Said Akar, vice president, data centre sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at Dell Technologies, says that customers are looking for converged or hyperconverged infrastructure in order “to be able to deliver fast services”.

Dell’s hyperconverged infrastructure is billed as the only HCI solution developed in partnership with VMware, for which Dell is the majority shareholder “They’re modernising the data centre to be more agile, to leverage converged and hyperconverged,” he said at the company’s booth at GITEX. “Customers are also looking for flexible and easier solutions where we can take care of the edge to the data centre and the cloud.

“We offer different services, whether the customer prefers to build their own or prefers us to build it on their behalf or to navigate between private cloud

and public cloud services. With our capabilities, we help the customer achieve all of this.”

A key aspect of Dell’s solutions, says Akar, is their emphasis on security so that there is “no risk for the most important asset”, namely data.

“The type of customer is very diversified. Whether you’re a [commercial] organisation or even governmental, your business depends big time on the information, on IT, because it’s the digital transformation agenda,” he said.

He points out that government services are increasingly going online, just as banking operations have. Other sectors such as oil and gas, healthcare and education are also affected.

“All of these sectors, their business is fully relying on the digitisation agenda. This is where we can provide the services,” he said.

“We want to make sure we’re deploying the latest technology with speed and efficiency faster than anyone else.

“The region wants to compete with the rest of the world and for this IT is key to help them transform their digital agenda.”

For all the changes that have taken place, Akar says that the Middle East and Africa are still

Said Akar, Dell Technologies

at a relatively early stage as data centre markets.

“I would say both the Middle East and Africa are more like an emerging market. There is more in common between Africa and the Middle East than with

Whether you’re a commercial organisation or even government, your business depends big time on the information, on IT, because it’s the digital transformation agenda.” www.tahawultech.com

Europe,” he said.

“But if I’m meeting any CIO, whether they’re in the United Kingdom or France or Dubai or South Africa or Nigeria, they want to reduce costs, to transform the infrastructure, to have a higher level of security so their assets and information are always protected.

“There are tiny differences here and there. There are sometimes large institutions that, because they’re serving a much bigger population, their IT infrastructure might be much bigger, but it doesn’t mean they don’t need the same technology, just maybe on a different scale.” @tahawultech

17

18

@tahawultech

www.tahawultech.com

Logicom and NetApp partnership in the Middle East “working well” for both sides NetApp has praised its distribution partner Logicom for the “amazing” work it has done in driving sales growth in this region.

The comments from the Californian-headquartered company, which offers data services for hybrid cloud, come as it uses GITEX to showcase its partnership with the motorcycle manufacturer Ducati.

Maya Zakhour, NetApp’s MEA partners and pathways lead, says that the tie-up with Logicom is “really a great partnership”.

“Logicom has done an amazing job between Saudi Arabia and the UAE during the past year, being the highest-growth distributor,” she said.

“It was really a great partnership and we thank them for that – double-digit growth and very good growth from our side.”

Kristian Kerr, NetApp vice president EMEA partner organisation, says that NetApp is keen to push four primary areas in the marketplace, namely artificial intelligence, enterprise applications, DevOps and cloud solutions.

“We can only be successful with [these] if we’re partnering with our channel partners,” said Kerr.

“Every partner that we’ve made since we’ve been here, when we ask them what are their key investment areas, it’s multicloud, it’s AI, especially in the UAE,

Kristian Kerr, NetApp

emerging technologies to support digital transformation, and as part of that, it’s IoT. “Fortunately we have got technology that underpins all of these investment areas. We’re uniquely positioned to support partners and customers’ growth aspirations.”

Among the more eye-catching pieces of equipment on display at GITEX is a shiny red Ducati motorcycle sitting at the NetApp booth. Ducati, based in Italy and one of the world’s most celebrated motorcycle producers, are currently lying second in the manufacturers’ standings in the MotoGP championship. Their lead rider, the Italian Andrea Dovizioso,

Maya Zakhour, NetApp

has scored two wins this season and is lying second in the riders’ title race.

“That motorcycle has 60 sensors attached to it. In the MotoGP, there’s a huge amount of data being pushed back to the engineering team so they can make decisions in real time and ensure the vehicle is racing to its maximum performance,” said Kerr.

NetApp worked with Ducati to create a data fabric, with the data services company employing its NetApp HCI (hybrid cloud infrastructure), a scalable onpremises solution. Additional NetApp technology involved in the project includes the company’s ONTAP software.

The key investment areas for our partners here are multicloud, AI, emerging technologies to support digital transformation, and IoT. Fortunately, we have got technology that underpins all of these investment areas.” www.tahawultech.com

We’re uniquely positioned to be able to capitalise because we provide solutions for on-premise, hybrid and public cloud providers.”

Among the other things that NetApp is highlighting at GITEX is its partnerships with three of the biggest cloud providers, namely Amazon, Microsoft and Google.

“What does this mean for an organisation? It means that an organisation can manage its data across multiple environments, whether onpremise or hybrid or any of the public clouds,” said Kerr.

“The underlying glue that pulls all this together is the data fabric.

For us, we’re uniquely positioned to be able to capitalise because we provide solutions for on-premise, hybrid and public cloud providers.”

For partners, this means there are greater opportunities to develop ongoing revenue streams in line with the move to subscription-based services.

“For partners, there’s more predictability,” said Kerr. @tahawultech

19

STANDS TO WATCH

WEBNMS

LENOVO

MINDWARE CORELIGHT

REDINGTON DELL TECHNOLOGIES

H8-B2

H7-B30

H6-B2 H6-D1

H3-E1 SR-B11

20

@tahawultech

www.tahawultech.com

AWS

Business France

MINDWARE FOCUS SOFTNET

REDINGTON FVC

CC2-2

H3-E1 H8-C20

www.tahawultech.com

H4-E30,H4-F30

H6-B2 SR-B2

@tahawultech

21

22

@tahawultech

www.tahawultech.com

Etisalat enabling the future of retail at GITEX 2019 Etisalat is demonstrating the retail spaces of tomorrow at GITEX Technology Week, with innovative and transformative showcases that can be enabled on the 5G network paving the way for future growth highlighting how smart technologies are becoming an integral part of the industry.

The intelligent retail experience will help visitors witness the evolution of retail and at the same time experience a connected store. Now with the 5G network, it will become a critical enabler of these futuristic use cases opening up a world of opportunities for the retail sector.

This year at GITEX, retail has showcases including AI assisted shopping, connected fashion, IoT self-checkout, autonomous vehicles, robotics and advanced payment solutions.

The Neolix self-driving delivery vehicle helps track via an app and simply use their smartphone to access items once the vehicle arrives. Moby Mart is staff-less and can be put anywhere: from a small village, to the city centers, to airports, office building, etc. VICKI is an IOT self-checkout solution for retail understanding her customers’ habits, preferences and even questions.

Caper, the autonomous shopping cart is a self-service checkout on wheels that can with the help of built-in sensors, identify every item that a customer puts into it. The complete shopping experience in the retail area is AI-assisted utilising state of the art facial recognition systems to identify specific users.

Swisslog’s robot-based solution ItemPiQ showcases highly efficient order processing

The intelligent retail experience will help visitors witness the evolution of retail and at the same time experience a connected store.” www.tahawultech.com

solutions for single items and is designed for repeated, reliable picking of a wide range of items to fulfil fast delivery of orders at low operating costs.

The AI powered robotic checkout assistant picks items at the checkout counter and identify each item being picked along with the price.

At the same time there is another autonomous checkout that dismisses barcodes and recognises the products immediately. There is also a lot analytics on the stand with technologies conducting real time face and body analysis.

The advanced payment demonstration of the biocompatible NFC implant is a unique showcase completing the intelligent shopping experience using the microchip implanted in the hand. Imagine a seamless digital interaction for everyday transactions.

For the fashionistas, the new connected fashion concept is framed in a realistic look and feel with visitors being able to interact with ‘Furhat’ the robot who will assist you in your complete shopping experience, the zone also consists of dynamic displays and interactive experiences, personalised shopping, product customisation, offline pickup for online purchased orders.

The retail area will also attract the foodies, with displays from ‘Natufia Kitchen Garden’, originally designed for Michelin star chefs is an environmental friendly concept encouraging chefs to grow their own herbs and vegetables right in their kitchen.

The fully automated breadmaking machine ‘Breadbot’, world’s first smoothie vending machine ‘Alberts Robotic Smoothie Station’, and a disruptive coffee experience with ‘Robotic Barista’ are the other attractions on the stand. @tahawultech

23

24

@tahawultech

www.tahawultech.com

2CRSi secures highperformance server contract for European anti-crime agency

2CRSi has announced that it has been chosen by Airbus to provide very high-performance calculation servers that will be used by a European anti-crime agency.

This commercial success relates to the rollout of OCtoPus 1.8B servers for a total 3,744 CPU Intel Xeon cores and more than 7.45 million NVIDIA CUDA cores. These OCP (Open Compute Project) servers have been specially designed to function in immersion cooling tanks developed by Submer Technologies.

The range of OCtoPus servers, launched by 2CRSi in 2017, provides a tangible response to the energy requirements of datacenters in order to meet their ecological challenges. OCtoPus servers have provided a 23% reduction in the energy consumption compared

2CRISi and Submer Technologies have succeeded in making the difference as a result of the unique technical features of their submerges servers.”

www.tahawultech.com

to equivalent servers fitted with traditional cooling systems.

Under this Airbus project, the combination of 2CRSi servers and Submer Technologies cooling systems offers an even greater reduction in energy consumption through the elimination of airconditioning: the servers are immersed in a dielectric cooling liquid which is itself cooled through a water circuit.

2CRISi and Submer Technologies have succeeded in making the difference as a result of the unique technical features of their submerges servers. Other decisive factors that were considered in selecting the servers included the simplification and speed of the installation and fitting-out of the datacenter - 3 months are sufficient to install the datacenter compared to 1½ to 2 years for a traditional datacenter.

Moreover, long-term cost control was crucial for the future renewal of equipment: it will be possible to replace computer components (CPU and GPU cards, memory, etc.), where technological development, is very rapid. Feed and cooling modules will be retained.

In addition to the relatively limited investment budget, the operating costs related to the servers installed will be reduced by more than 60% - an achievement that is both economic and ecological.

“We are proud to have been chosen by an international security player whose requirements in terms of performance and reliability are clear. Once again, we have succeeded in making the difference through our innovative and competitive solutions. I would like to congratulate our teams who are at the heart of this new success, which further strengthens our commercial visibility internationally.” said Alain Wilmouth, Founder, Chairman and CEO.

Accenture Digital spotlights how Middle East execs are unprepared for mass disruption

Mike Sutcliff, Accenture Digital

Highlighting the importance of remaining up to speed in an ever-evolving world, Accenture Digital’s Mike Sutcliff used his GITEX keynote to put the spotlight on the ways that personalisation has taken on a new level of importance in the customer experience.

Sutcliff focused his keynote on the ways that organisations are helping to shape the UAE’s transformation in the run up to Expo 2020, as well as how the wider Middle East region is applying and changing its attitude to digital tools.

Accenture’s research shows that more than 80% of executives in the Middle East are anticipating further disruption in the coming

two years as competitors come into the marketplace. More than 70% of those same executives, however, say they are not confident that they know what to do to be more competitive than the new entrants to the market.

Sutcliff also highlighted the importance of doing things in real time, and how that will only be possible with the adoption of 5G. “Every year we try to bring some insight into what’s going on globally and how we see that emerging in the region, and how different companies are thinking about what the trends are, what the new tools and techniques might be and how they’re going to apply those to whatever their mission statement is.”

More than 70% of Middle East executives say they are not confident that they know what to do to be more competitive than the new entrants to the market.” @tahawultech

25

Dawex unveils decentralised data exchange technology

Dawex, a data exchange technology company and the operator of the largest data marketplace, has announced the release of Dawex Data Exchange Platform hybrid capabilities at GITEX 2019.

Combining decentralised and managed modes, the platform supports the exchange of data and related payments between data providers and acquirers.

Data is a strategic asset that dramatically increases its value when easily and securely exchanged between multiple business entities. The role of a data marketplace and a data exchange

platform is to establish trust and enable secure and efficient data transactions between data providers and acquirers.

The announced hybrid capabilities allow the parties supplying and sourcing the data, as well as the operator of the data exchange platform, to choose between two operating modes for managing the actual transfer of data, and the related payment, when transactions are monetized. The decentralised mode takes advantage of the blockchain to allow the exchange to take place without intermediary,

while providing maximum trust, traceability and transparency. This new capability completes already existing blockchain-based features for making licensing contracts forgery-proof. The managed mode allows stakeholders to rely on the data exchange platform’s rich capabilities to manage the exchange of data and payments, and benefit from various valueadded services.

“Being the largest data marketplace totaling more than 8000 member-companies worldwide, puts Dawex in a unique position to understand the market dynamics when it comes to data exchange” says Laurent Lafaye, co-founder and co-CEO at Dawex. “What we observe is that corporations engaging today in data exchanges want the ability to decide which model to use and when. With Dawex hybrid approach, we’re in a unique position to provide flexibility to organisations’ evolving data strategies.”

Some organisations are envisioning the emergence and the rapid adoption of decentralized blockchain-based models. Dubai is at the forefront of innovation.

TazTag brings biometric tablet to Middle Eastern market

French biometrics firm TazTag has announced the launch of its new government biometric tablet to the Middle Eastern market at this year’s GITEX Technology Week.

The tablet features an FAP50 fingerprint sensor, IC card reader

26

@tahawultech

and a printer built-in an IP64 rugged design.

In celebration of its tenth anniversary, the company is also debuting its rugged and secure line-up of tablets. It’s new 5-inch TazPad XS comes also comes

with an IC card reader, as well as NFC, fingerprint sensor, and an optional EMV POS and printer – the ultimate tool for door-to-door banking and point of sale services.

In addition, the new TazPad LTR features an 8-inch screen, again with IC card reader and FAP20 fingerprint sensor – a multi-purpose Android tablet with software development kit.

“For the last six years, we have equipped more than 6,000 point of sales in the UAE, offering solid identity control and back office solutions for a wide range of services,” said Eric Fouchard, CEO, TazTag. “Our new devices

With Dawex hybrid approach, we’re in a unique position to provide flexibility to organisations’ evolving data strategies.”

GITEX is the ideal venue to launch Dawex decentralised data exchange capabilities and demonstrate the combination of technological prowess with the business expertise in operating a data marketplace at scale.

“Trust is key for organisations to engage in data marketplaces” adds Fabrice Tocco, co-founder and co-CEO of Dawex. “It is a one-stop place where multiple organisations, operating in different industry sectors, regardless of their size, meet to exchange data. Strong participants’ vetting processes are required to create trust. By implementing blockchain-based mechanisms for data exchange on the Data Exchange Platform, organisations will now benefit from an additional layer of algorithmic trust.”

Our new devices are already approved by Emirates Identity Authority and will be a serious match for the new challenges and next generation of services here in the Middle East.” are already approved by EIDA (Emirates Identity Authority) and will be a serious match for the new challenges and next generation of services here in the Middle East.” www.tahawultech.com

www.tahawultech.com

@tahawultech

27

GITEX 2019 HIGHLIGHTS

28

@tahawultech

www.tahawultech.com

www.tahawultech.com

@tahawultech

29

GITEX 2019 HIGHLIGHTS

30

@tahawultech

www.tahawultech.com

www.tahawultech.com

@tahawultech

31

Using digital technology to transform the world Huawei is showcasing the benefits of a connected world in areas ranging from education to healthcare. Hani El-Kukhun, the company’s vice president strategy for the Middle East, describes the transformations that are coming.

5G HAS BEEN BRANDED AS THIS YEAR’S GAME-CHANGING TECHNOLOGY. WHAT IMPACT DO YOU THINK 5G WILL HAVE ON ORGANISATIONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST? GITEX comes at a critical point as large-scale 5G network launches are now imminent. 5G will have an impact on every aspect of society from businesses and government to individuals.

The biggest technical perks of 5G are greater connectivity speeds and lower latency, and the value of that to society is enormous.

Today, that means powering new applications in areas like virtual reality, cloud gaming and robotics, and bringing endless use cases to nearly every vertical industry.

5G will also open up collaborative and remote workspaces like never before. It will create more efficiency and productivity, too, as being tied to a desk becomes a thing of the past.

For organisations that operate remote equipment – such as air traffic control centres, emergency services with monitoring cameras, big industry, and so on – 5G will again power smarter solutions with greater connectivity.

WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE AT GITEX TECHNOLOGY WEEK 2019?

At GITEX, we will showcase end-toend ICT solutions that contribute to building a fully connected,

32

@tahawultech

Hani El-Kukhun, Huawei Middle East

intelligent world.

Artificial intelligence and 5G will play a major role in this transformation. They are the most significant technologies that are reshaping our society today. This advanced intelligence will be felt across every touchpoint of the digital economy.

We hope to demonstrate the benefits of that connected society,

and how together with our partners and customers, we are bringing digital to people, homes and organisations across the region.

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES ORGANISATIONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST FACE IN THEIR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION JOURNEY? On a global scale, there are

GITEX comes at a critical point as large-scale 5G network launches are now imminent.

5G will have an impact on every aspect of society from businesses and government to individuals.” two major factors that impede digital transformation: lack of understanding, and limited budget.

Smaller companies tend to have an advantage when it comes to digital transformation, as they have fewer resources to convert. While they may not have the budget to hire a digital strategist or a CIO who can lead the transformation, they can rely on partners to provide advice and customised solutions.

Larger organisations face different challenges. Many have appointed CIOs who are devising and leading digital transformation efforts successfully.

However, overhauling operations for companies that have hundreds if not thousands of employees can be a massive endeavour.

That requires considerable time, training, and investment.

That being said, I think many organisations in the Middle East have moved quickly to capture the value of digital. Take AI as one example. Those of us in the ICT industry have been championing the benefits of AI for some time now, and many organisations in the Middle East now realise these benefits and are embracing the AI movement as a real game changer.

www.tahawultech.com

www.tahawultech.com

@tahawultech

33

WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST TRENDS THAT WILL TRANSFORM THE MARKET YOU’RE OPERATING IN, BESIDES 5G? In the Middle East, governments are strongly pursuing digital transformation in their pursuit of economic diversification. That confidence comes as the world’s economy has started to benefit from this historic technology pivot.

As we digitise and connect more things, AI is becoming a new general-purpose technology, and perhaps the most significant trend impacting the market today.

We can see this in Huawei’s latest Global Connectivity Index.

We have found that industries are embedding AI in key enabling technologies – broadband, datacentres, cloud, big data and IoT – to turn connectivity into intelligent connectivity, unleashing innovation to propel a new wave of economic growth.

This economic value will be bolstered even further by the roll-out of 5G broadband. Enabling more people, things and devices connected with high speed and low-latency bandwidth than ever before, 5G will facilitate the kind of

real-time data sharing and analysis at the heart of AI applications.

A RECENT STUDY BY IDC SHOWS THAT, BETWEEN 2018 AND 2022, IT-RELATED SPENDING ON DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION WILL TOUCH $7.5 TRILLION. HOW WILL ORGANISATIONS ADAPT TO THESE CHANGES? Businesses and governments will continue to invest heavily in digital transformation in the coming years.

There is a growing realisation that digital strategies must be adopted now in order for organisations and

Those of us in the ICT industry have been championing the benefits of AI for some time now, and many organisations in the Middle East now realise these benefits and are embracing the AI movement as a real game changer.”

34

@tahawultech

public institutions to survive in an increasingly connected world.

As more organisations adapt to these changes, Huawei believes that digital inclusion must be a priority. Digital inclusion means using technology to promote inclusive development and leaving no person, home or organisation behind. Our philosophy is that technology shouldn’t sit in an ivory tower. Instead, it should benefit all humanity.

In practical terms, that means using digital technology to give more people easy access to better healthcare resources. It means using technology to give the disadvantaged equal access to education and enrich education resources.

Eliminating development gaps for various sectors can also be achieved by ensuring equal access to digital resources. Moreover, we can use innovative technologies to more efficiently protect and conserve environmental ecosystems. It is all part of building a fully connected, intelligent world. www.tahawultech.com

www.hpe.com www.tahawultech.com

@tahawultech

35

36

@tahawultech

www.tahawultech.com

STANDS TO WATCH

HUAWEI

INJAZAT

LOGICOM

SCREEN CHECK

Z2-A10

H7-D1

www.tahawultech.com

S3-A1

H4-C10

@tahawultech

37

38

@tahawultech

www.tahawultech.com

Ivanti to spotlight Unified IT Strategy at GITEX 2019 IT software vendor Ivanti will spotlight their Unified IT strategy at GITEX Technology Week.

Ivanti has been in the region under different names through various acquisitions. The company has now reached a point where they are excited to announce their full platform that covers IT across enterprises and SMB market.

Husni Hammoud, GM, Middle East, Ivanti, said, “GITEX is a great platform to meet all our customers and partners under one roof. It is an ideal venue to display and learn about the innovative technologies and solutions, which customers are seeking today.”

Hammoud also highlighted that the company will be presenting ‘Ivanti’ that can tackle workspace management, asset management, identity management and automation. These areas are available and pluggable which makes it easy to deploy at cost factor to any company in the region and the world. They can do their own business while being focused and agile within record time.

As a company, Ivanti has had several historical channel partners and distributors through the different acquisitions.

“Ivanti has a strong focus on building customers for life and making them part of our DNA. We aim to have a regionwide enablement on our vision for unified IT. We are working towards being a responsible driver in the market towards digital transformation. We will be www.tahawultech.com

We aim to have a region-wide enablement on our vision for unified IT. We are working towards being a responsible driver in the market towards digital transformation.”

Husni Hammoud, Ivanti

We will be doubling our market presence in the Middle East and ensuring we provide value-added solutions to new organisations.”

doubling our market presence in the Middle East and ensuring we provide value-added solutions to new organisations,” he added.

Ivanti sees a huge potential in the market due to the digital transformation taking place all over the Middle East. Organisations are moving towards automated and effective processes, improving culture and striving to provide a better and secure experience.

This is in turn creating immense opportunities for the firm as well as their partners.

Ivanti will be exhibiting in Sheikh Rashid Hall, Stand SR-F13 @tahawultech

39

STANDS TO WATCH

SOLARWINDS

BARCO

VERITAS

WESTERN DIGITAL

H7-D40

SR-B2

SM-D1

H7-E20

40

@tahawultech

www.tahawultech.com

STC

EMIRCOM

OGLOBA

RIVERBED

SR-E2

H3-8

www.tahawultech.com

H5-ORACLE POD 2

SR-J14/CC2-6

@tahawultech

41

“Tech firms must learn to recognise their problems and resolve ethical dilemmas”: Tyler Shultz numerous issues with the bloodtesting technology and the failing promise of a grand ambition.

Shultz confronted Theranos’s leadership about the various issues he foresaw, but was consistently brushed aside. Risking legal fees of up to $500,000, Shultz knew he was potentially jeopardising his

Tyler Shultz

Making his GITEX debut, keynote speaker and Theranos whistleblower Tyler Shultz recapped his experience at the company that was once tipped to be the next big thing to come out of Silicon Valley.

Drawn to the vision of founder Elizabeth Holmes, Shultz recalled

instances where colleagues who raised concerns about the business were immediately fired. Theranos’ devices were meant to save lives, but instead put people’s health at risk.

As he spent more time in the company, Shultz discovered

career and future by going public against the well-funded startup.

He highlighted the need for employees to demand transparency and said that whistleblowers will play an important role in the technology industry. The inability of businesses to recognise challenges will lead to more Theranos-like scenarios, he said. Employees must also be protected and encouraged to speak up as that will truly help businesses.

Shultz is now the subject of an internationally acclaimed documentary, “The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley.”

Whistleblowers will play an important role in the technology industry.”

“We had to do less to truly grow”: Souq.com CEO Ronaldo Mouchawar, co-founder and CEO of Souq.com, was a major highlight on the GITEX Brick-&-Mortar and Beyond stage on Day 3 of the 39th edition of GITEX Technology Week.

Mouchawar discussed the ‘magic’ behind Amazon’s famed acquisition of Souq, culture change and how the integration with the tech giant has impacted the business. “At Amazon, there is an exercise you do when you are thinking of innovation – you write a press release, imagining that your customer is going to read it, so you write it by keeping them in mind. It’s a one-page narrative explaining your vision using customer-centric language, so it helps identify what they really want and address their pain points,” he said.

He added that Souq made

42

@tahawultech

mistakes in its journey of tremendous growth. “We had a lot of sections at the start on Souq.com; for instance a car section, a real estate section. And over time we realised that to be known for something particular we needed to do less in order to grow, so we retired our auction site, and then our car section.

This is what you learn in journeys like these,” he said. “Our real

drivers were taking customer insights backwards and making sure we are solving them.”

On a parting note, Mouchawar shared his tips with budding entrepreneurs in the region.

“Entrepreneurs need to focus on what customers want and that should be the key driver to take important decisions among other things. Focus drives depth and depth drives innovation,” he said.

Ronaldo Mouchawar, Souq.com

Entrepreneurs need to focus on what customers want and that should be the key driver to take important decisions among other things.

Focus drives depth and depth drives innovation.” www.tahawultech.com

www.tahawultech.com

@tahawultech

43

44

@tahawultech

www.tahawultech.com