16th July 2011 - UAE

Issue 140

16th July 2011

Distribution Disttribu ution Outlook Outlook 2011 2011 Coming Soon

Celebrating 1st anniversary Issue 140

16th July 2011

What’s New

Building partner loyalty

Packard Bell oneTwo S

Golden Systems wins awards from KINGMAX Golden Systems Middle East (GSME) has won the ‘Best Sales’ award and the ‘Best Contribution’ award from its vendor-partner, KINGMAX. Golden Systems was recognised for its outstanding sales performance, commitment and contribution to increasing KINGMAX’s sales and market share across the Middle East region.

“Golden Systems is equally happy and proud to win the ‘Best Sales’ and ‘Best Contribution’ awards from KINGMAX, our valuable vendor partner. These awards are a testament of our team’s commitment to offering only the best quality products with the best service and support. We are deeply honoured by the faith bestowed on us by KINGMAX, who share in our commitment for excellence, vision, and belief in global best practices,” said Ehsan Hashemi, COO, Golden Systems Middle East. ...continued on pg 6

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In Focus - TechAccess

Increasing the value proposition NETGEAR revealed its new global partner program as well as its partnership with Acronis at a roadshow in Dubai. Richard Jonker, Managing Director, Emerging Markets, NETGEAR speaks to VAR Magazine about some of the initiatives from the company about increasing the value proposition to partners and customers. ...continued on pg 6

Published by: VAR MEA Magazine. For enquiries, contact Tel: +971-4-3326647 Fax: +971-4-3326621 sales@var-mea.com or info@var-mea.com www.VARonline.com

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6 In Focus

16th July 2011

News

NETGEAR

...continued from pg 1 How do you see the channel’s market opportunities with Netgear solutions improving?

We cater to various channel partners s including the ISV channel, consumer channel and VARs. For VARs, we provide Business wireless, storage, security solutions etc.

We are trying to further develop our value proposition in the VAR channel. The products we offer are part of the solutions that an integrator would build.

We are seeing that Virtualistion is beginning to pick up in the region. There are a lot of storage and security needs that are coming up. There is a need for switching solutions etc and they would need to backup data being created. That is where the recent partnership with Acronis comes in.

What is your value proposition to the SMB segment?

We bring reliable, simple and affordable storage.

After the credit crunch, people have been looking at simpler, easy to use and affordable storage needs.

We bring enterprise technology to SMB products, similar to the way VMWare brings in virtualization technologies to the SMB segment. We bring the top of the line switches that can help virtualise servers and connect with the physical components that you need for enabling a virtualized environment.

We bring in storage and the switching part but at a price lower than was available. It gives transparency to the IT manager and he knows the data is safely stored.

How do you view growth in the storage market and how are you positioned to tap into these opportunities?

Storage is perhaps the fastest growing area which is good for us and our channel. The change is that storage doesn’t any longer have to be on site but can be pay per use basis storage. It is not important where your data sits anymore as long it doesn’t affect performance and is easily available. This can work only when internet connections are affordable and faster. At the end of the day, this is bound to happen.

There are many drivers of storage. The need for data backup is one of them. The fact that tapes are disappearing and NAS is taking over is another.

People want data of camera footage archives such a hotel. We work with camera vendors like Axis and Mobotix to tap into this segment. Further, the partnership with Acronis is helping us position a solution instead of mere products with basic software.

Would all you NAS appliances be bundled with Acronis backup?

All Business NAS would be bundled with Acronis. It is a 90 day evaluation free and once the customer decides to keep it, buy the license. Recurring licenses would open up a revenue stream for resellers. They have an additional solution to sell.

Discuss some of the technologies in your UTM solutions targeting the SMB? We have been selling a lot of VPN firewalls to Small Business customers. We have added some more functions like web filtering, content filtering and position towards mid size Businesses. UTM devices need more power to run with the addition of more applications. The UTM is almost like a mini server as it includes processor, memory, storage, network connectors etc. We acquired a technology called stream scanning from CP Secure which allows for real-time scanning of high-volume web and email traffic without degrading network performance which is integrated in ourUTM devices.

Do you manufacture IP cameras or do you partner with other manufacturers in this segment?

We work with two camera manufacturers, Axis and Mobotix. We try to be vendor agnostic. We have tested their products with our products. We sign up Axis partners in our reseller network. Cameras are an endpoint product which is how we see it. You need to integrate IP technology, optical technology, compression technology, video technology etc and that is not our strength and we would want to focus on our core strengths like NAS, switching solutions and innovations in connectors which help data communication across a network.

Why don’t you include surveillance software in your NAS appliances?

We don’t run the surveillance software on NAS because that can bring down performance. We have tuned down the OS in our appliances to the bare minimum And if you run our appliance and appliances from our competitors, you will see we are faster. We would be killing that advantage if we put software on our NAS devices.

How are you strengthening your partner investments?

We are investing in the partner business here. We are beefing up partner program. On top of that, we are building special programs – Platinum and Platinum plus for partners who do large installations and focus on a specific area as for instance storage.

We will sign on platinum partners in this program for those who do storage business and integrate Acronis. We will do the same with business wireless for the hospitality and surveillance market. We are tying up the program for the educational market.

We are targeting specialists and who are willing to focus and invest in Netgear’s business. We will invest in them as well.

Netgear is a cash rich company. We do smart acquisitions. We buy technologies and not competitors or their customers. We are not affected by the credit crunch and can help our partners grow along with us.

continued from pg 1 Golden Systems, KINGMAX’s distributor for the UAE and the GCC, has played an important role in the growth of KINGMAX’s business and market share in the region over the last few years.

“Golden Systems has once again proved to be our dedicated partner in the Middle East by playing an important role in our growth in this region. Their team has worked hard to promote our products and increase our market share. We are happy to recognize their contribution to our brand and sales in the region by giving them these awards. We are confident they will outdo their performance this year and look forward to working closely with them to take our brand to even greater heights in the region,” said Joe Liu, CEO of KINGMAX GROUP.

ComGuard to distribute GFI in the region ComGuard, a leading value added distributor for IT security products and solutions in the Middle East and North Africa region signs up an distribution agreement with GFI Software to distribute its wide portfolio of products and solutions across the Middle East region.

ComGuard will distribute the GFI web monitoring, and a range of network solutions including a vulnerability scanner, software for patch and log management and various monitoring, web and e-mail security solutions such as virus and spam filters, and endpoint security products. And, it will work with its channel partners to identify sales opportunities for GFI products and solutions.

Mohammad Mobasseri, Senior Vice President, ComGuard, said, “ComGuard helps its vendor partners create new business opportunities by providing channel partner support across the region. By adding GFI products and solutions to our portfolio for the Middle East region, we will be in a position to help our channel partners take advantage of an untapped and growing market in the region.”

ComGuard and GFI will work closely together to establish stronger business links in the region and to successfully promote GFI products in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco and Iran. ComGuard and GFi will run special joint programmes like Road shows, Technical training for their preferred partners.

Editorial

Some changing nuances of distribution In the past few years, as the much vaunted ‘value add distribution’ gained parlance almost to the point of sounding quite clichéd every time anyone used the word. However, the truth is that in the past few years, the shift has certainly happened and some of the distributors who were hitherto only known as strong broadline distributors were able to launch their value or enterprise sales divisions successfully. Distributors like Redington, Aptec, Almasa and Empa are some names that come to mind. Redington and Aptec have indeed powered their sales in the value segment quite successfully and look at the segment as a pillar of future growth.

Some of the other distributors on the other hand turned to retail and strengthened their focus there, increasing their sell out to power retailers and hoping to piggyback on the fast growth that the segment was achieving. However, it is not certain how many of those who strengthened their focus on the retail distribution have been able to keep up a healthy growth trajectory and also coped with the higher costs involved.

These two additional focus areas will continue to drive distributor strategies but the bet is that the enterprise value business segment will deliver more stability in the longer run.

16th July 2011

Post Box: 46900 Dubai-UAE e-mail: shivacom@emirates.net.ae, Tel: 04-3511069 Fax: 04-3511093 www.shiva-computer.com

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8 In Focus

16th July 2011 TechAccess

News

Building partner loyalty

Canon hosts event for Lebanon dealers Canon Middle East hosted its top dealers in Lebanon to preview its most recently launched printer models in the market. The event was instrumental in securing business of worth over US$ 20,000 during the 2 hour event and it has resulted in a 20% increase in sales projection for Canon in the office personal products (OPP) segment in the same month.

TechAccess launched its Partner Loyalty Program recently.

Ahsan Ali- Senior Vice President, Marketing at TechAccess believes this will be a value differentiator. He discusses details of the program in the following interview.

Ahsan Ali Senior Vice President, Marketing, TechAccess

Please discuss details of the new TechAccess Partner Loyalty Program?

You seem to have kept it open ended in terms of allowing partners the flexibility to choose their rewards?

The TechAccess Partner Loyalty Program is the first of its kind in the partner community. It is basically designed to empower ‘its partners’ to choose how they wish to be rewarded from a breadth of unique reward offerings on both, business and leisure options. Our Partners who continue to grow business with TechAccess will have an opportunity to avail extravagant and exciting prizes which will give them a chance to experience ‘best of both worlds’.

TechAccess Partner Loyalty Program is a key differentiator in the market. TechAccess is the first Value Added IT Distributor to have launched such a premium program to acknowledge its top performing partners and value their growing business with TechAccess.

How does the reward system work?

The design of TechAccess Partner Loyalty Program is unique in the local IT industry in the sense that it offers leisure as well as business rewards to our partners who grow and build business with TechAccess.

Usually partner programs only focus on technical certification, whereas the TechAccess Partner Loyalty Program provides its partners with an opportunity to choose how they wish to be rewarded.

This is a yearly program in which partners will be rewarded on basis of their sales contribution to TechAccess in a Fiscal Year.

What are your objectives with the rollout of this program and does it cover the entire MENA region you operate in?

Through Partner Loyalty Program we take a step forward in strengthening relationships with our partners and reward them for growing their business with TechAccess. It also focuses at generating excitement amongst new partners to do business with us. This is a tool through which TechAccess recognizes the value of its partners in order to retain their loyalty in continuing to be our business partners.

This is a region based program and caters

to all TechAccess Partners in Gulf, KSA and LENA. Discuss the various rewards that the TechAccess Partner Loyalty Program offers?

The TechAccess Partner Loyalty Program provides the partners with a complete experience. Our top performing partners will have a chance to experience best of both worlds; they will not only have the opportunity to avail business prizes but also enjoy extravagant leisure rewards.

From a Formula 1 race, to an international business conference or a five star Mediterranean cruise experience or a Romantic gateway to Maldives; The TechAccess Partner Loyalty Program covers it all.

What are the priorities for Tech Access in 2011?

TechAccess has been in the industry for more than ten years and during this time we have achieved tremendous success. We market IT products and solutions of the leading Hardware, Storage, Software and Security vendors like Oracle, NetApp, Symantec and HDS, through our 100+ Channel Partners in over 16 countries in MENA, across multiple industry sectors.

Our key focus for 2011 is to develop our partners and analyze as to how we can retain margin, add focus into growth markets like KSA, develop our existing installed channel base and increase our product offerings and become the hub of value added services.

Discuss any new initiatives or partnerships that Tech Access has engaged in recently?

We have recently launched TechAccess Partner Connect. This is a partner portal that provides latest updates to all TechAccess partners about their day to day business activities with TechAccess. The Partner Connect provides our partners with Live 24/7 order tracking reports, latest financial updates and various other facilities. We aim to provide our partners with services and solutions that build business and ensure that all our strategies and initiatives fulfill our partner requirements.

IT dealers across Lebanon had access to information about Canon’s latest printing solutions to hit the market featuring more advanced functionalities including enhanced colour quality, speeds and wireless printing capabilities. Over 32 dealers attended the strategic partnership event at the Habtoor Metropolitan Hotel recently.

“Canon has always offered state of the art products that combine cutting edge technology and value for money along with meeting the expectations of the diverse consumers of the region. The partnership event has provided an ideal platform for Canon to understand the needs of the IT channel which will further empower our business partnerships with Lebanon’s robust network of IT dealers, System Integrators and Value Added Resellers (SI/VAR),” said Amgad Basha, Sales Manager, Canon Middle East.

Basha also added that the objective of the event was also to help strengthen Canon’s relationship with their dealers. He said, “We want to demonstrate that we are their partners in every genuine sense of the word, and will support them with activities such as interactive product demonstrations and events to show how committed we are to their success.”

Charles Attalah, General Manager, Advanced Digital Imaging (ADI), Canon’s distributor for Imaging and Printing Solutions in Lebanon, commented "Canon has been very supportive of our marketing initiatives, and that reflects in our exceptional performance last year. Such an event was a great way of not only introducing products, but also engaging our customers on the most appropriate and effective solutions that will help them boost their businesses.”

The gathering of top dealers in Lebanon is the latest in a series of channel events organised by Canon Middle East which provide its Tier II partners with insight into the new Canon line up and forthcoming strategies relating to the new products, development of Channels and marketing initiatives.

Samsung claims huge growth in Notebook sales in the first quarter Samsung, one of the leading players in the notebook market, says it increased its sales by more than 183 per cent in the first quarter of this year. The market share of Samsung’s notebooks grew more than 18 % in the UAE in 2011 compared to the first quarter of 2010 where the overall market share is currently registered at 12 per cent. The Middle East is a strategic region for Samsung and notebook sales are expected to increase due to an increasing trend in desktop replacement.

Samsung has been frequently introducing new models and new technologies in the notebooks segment. Notebooks such as the recently launched Samsung Series 9 are driving the market forward in terms of design, display and powerful performance. The new Series 9 notebook is built with a Solid State Hard Drive which accelerates the notebook’s performance tremendously delivering 60 percent faster booting than a hard disk drive (HDD) notebook. The notebook is feather light at 1.31kg (2.88lbs.) while maintaining a super slim body that measures only 16.3mm (0.64inches) in depth and a screen size of 13 inches, Crafted with durable duralumin, the Samsung Series 9 is the premium notebook for consumers who look for design, performance and usability.

Raj Varma, General Manager of the Notebook Sales Group, Samsung Gulf Electronics states that Samsung continues to be a market leader in this category due to its commitment to giving consumers’ what they need. He also states that consumers can anticipate seeing a wide range of innovative computing devices from Samsung in the near future.

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10 In Focus

16th July 2011

News

D-Link

In the ascendant D-Link has been one of the leading brands in the networking business catering to SMB and soho customers. It continues to consolidate and expand its portfolio. Sakkeer Hussain, Sales and marketing manager at D-Link Middle East describes some of the key focus areas for the company. competitors. There are different kinds of consumers, some of them are more brand-loyal and insist on purchasing a certain brand, and others opt for the current offering independent of the vendor. Overall, we have been observing that the feedback from our end-users is very good. We always aim for repeating customers and we hence try to provide added services such as the implementation of better technical support to enhance the overall experience with D-Link products.

Sakkeer Hussain Sales & Marketing Manager, D-Link How has the year been in terms of growth across different product lines?

Traditional retail channels have been D-Link’s historical strengths. This market is still on a steady growth and we expect over 20% growth from this segment in 2011. The rapidly expanding power retail concept in more developed economies in the region is a new challenge for D-Link which evolves different thinking, different scope in planning, execution and support infrastructure. We expect to maintain our foothold in this segment, which is expected to grow rapidly for the next 4 to 5 years. With e-commerce limited in the consumer segment, the retail segment could still maintain the historical growth figures.

The SOHO and SMB segment are still expected to be on the steady growth path, credit crunches have a reasonable impact on selected industries and related enterprise segment, but viewing the whole markets in the Middle East and Africa, we expect the year 2011 to be good.

What are the key focus areas in terms of products this year?

On the consumer segment we have launched the Boxee Box, an amazing Social Network Media Centre which plays back movies in Full HD 1080p. This device is not just a media player, but also a great tool to share with your Facebook and Twitter friends the media files Boxee users most like. Apart from that we have a wide range of IP cameras, 3G, New HD Series Router and power line products. On the business solutions segment we offer the latest series of smart, PoE products, chassis switches and storage solutions.

What are the verticals you are pushing more this year?

Since March 2011 we started to sell cabling solutions in the Middle East & Africa. This is a new product line which will help us to position ourselves in the cabling market as well.

How strong do you think is the brand acceptability of Dlink in the region?

Like with any brand, there are plenty of

Do you see SMB customers being more proactive in terms of investments in network infrastructure deployment?

Since the credit crunch in 2008, there has definitely been an increased willingness to invest in the proper network infrastructure. We still would wish users to be more pro-active with regards to the transition from IPv4 to IPv6 ready products. The near exhaustion of IPv4 addresses has contributed to an increased global awareness of the need for IPv6 adoption and more businesses and consumers should prepare their networks for interoperability with IPv6.

Discuss any changes in your distribution/reseller strategy or any new initiatives?

Our distribution strategy has been simple from the start, maintain a proper demand/supply channel with in-country distribution model, develop and enhance channel partners with our partner programs to develop the retail and solution business segments. Our long term strategy is to build more in-country resources, strengthen existing partners to grow and share the success of D-Link in the region.

How do you look at other markets in the GCC region – are several of them growing?

Which of these markets are concerns in terms of sales?

We certainly hope to progress further in the GCC markets. The current political condition in many Middle Eastern countries however keeps us hoping, that the demand for networking solutions will not decrease.

What are the challenges you see in the reseller market?

The challenge is to maintain the price levels at the given limit and not to go below it, so that partners will not suffer from profit loss. A healthy competition and Fair play will help to reach a more stable market environment.

Do you see some of the not so active resellers getting more active in the recent past? Do you propose to engage with more of the resellers in the market here and other GCC markets?

Overall we are very satisfied with the performance of our partners. We do see a lot of efforts from the majority of our partners and make sure to keep them motivated by deploying very enticing incentive programs.

We are also working on getting more well-qualified partners onboard to further our market reach, both in the local market and other GCC markets.

AOC holds 3 city road shows across Pakistan AOC recently held highly successful road shows in association with its distributor Online Distribution to spread awareness about the global new trends in the monitor space and how channel partners can benefit with their association with AOC brand in Pakistan.

The 3 city road shows covered Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, which witnessed a big attendance of channel partners in every city. The road shows were specially designed to update its channel partners about the wide range of AOC eco-friendly, feature rich, high quality, ergonomically designed, value for money, ultra thin LCD/LED monitors Year-on-year basis AOC has maintained an average growth of above 20 per cent in the past three years.

Commenting on the road shows in Pakistan, Brian Liu, VP - Sales, MEA & CIS Central Asia, AOC, said “AOC remained committed towards introducing practical solutions that take into account the diverse needs of today’s world, whether it is entertainment, gaming, presentations, displays or graphic applications. Worldwide, the consumer market is demanding products that offer design functionality, wider applications, green credentials and competitive pricing.”

AOC recently debuted in Pakistan with a superior product range, including the world’s slimmest VESA mounted monitor RAZOR. With a super slim and sleek look, AOC's new 'Razor' series are just 1.29 cm thick and are available in 18.5 inch to 23 inch sizes. Razor offers its users premium picture quality with a stunning Dynamic Contrast Ratio of 50 Million: 1, by far the highest in the Industry. This super high DCR gives the finest image details with a greater depth. According to the company's release, Razors USP is Minimum Thickness & Vibrant Colors.

Speaking at the occasion, Suchit Kumar, DGM Sales & Marketing MEA & CIS Central Asia, AOC, said “AOC has appointed Online Distribution as the authorised distributors for Pakistan and are confident of desired penetration for AOC in the region’s important market with their strong logistical and sale ability.

VIP Computers is OCZ Distributor VIP Computers, a leading distributor of components, peripherals and consumer products has signed an agreement with OCZ Technology Group, a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) and memory modules for computing devices and systems, to establish a partnership to make OCZ's SSDs readily available throughout the entire MEA region.

Harprit Singh The manufacturer, who recently shipped its one millionth solid Managing Director, VIP Computers MEA state drive, has identified the MEA region as a key area for growth in 2011. Peter Berkhout, regional Sales Director at OCZ Technology Group explains: “OCZ has established itself as the leading manufacturer of SSDs in the world and the potential is enormous, especially in the MEA region where we are looking to secure a strong foothold."

“We are looking for further growth in this area, especially as corporate end customers and consumers start to recognize SSDs as a performance enhancing driver rather than a storage option," continued Mr. Berkhout. “VIP Computers have a strong presence with a focused and dedicated sales and marketing team in the burgeoning MEA area which is why we are pleased to be partnering with them.”

"OCZ products are of the highest quality and are a perfect addition to our product offering," said Harprit Singh, Managing Director at VIP Computers MEA FZCO. "Our company was founded on delivering the best quality products, and the ability to provide our customers with innovative OCZ solutions reaffirms our commitment to this growing market."

VIP Computers is headquartered in the UK, with regional operations in the UAE, Spain, the Netherlands, Romania, and the USA.

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16th July 2011

What’s Xerox DocuMate 4440

Packard Bell oneTwo S Key Features:

Key Features:

• Packard Bell now enlarges its successful range with an unprecedented 20-inch format: the brand-new Packard Bell oneTwo S.

• A new compact, sheet-fed document scanner intended to reduce paper chaos, document storage requirements and security y risks associated with unorganized paperwork in healthcare and insurance urance offices.

• It is one of the fastest and easiest to use scanners ers in its class offering duplex scanning performance of up to o 80 images per minute (40 pages per minute), plastic hard d card scanning, Kofax VRS image enhancement and ultrasonic double feed detection.

• The advanced features of the DocuMate 4440 help healthcare and insurance offices eliminate cumbersome, expensive and time-consuming paper-based processes: • The DocuMate 4440 is a low-cost scanning solution for front-office scanning, patient receiving and registration with TWAIN 2.1 Certified Drivers.

For more details, log on to www.xerox.com

• Its ultra-slim, streamlined design saves space.

• The chassis comes in glossy black, matte white, chrome and silver to easily match with any decor.

• Chrome-colored back-stand can be adjusted with one hand to get the best viewing angle.

• The 20-inch high-definition display provides vivid HD ready images.

• The optional TV-tuner enhances a boundless experience just like on digital TV, enriched by the True studio-audio of THX TruStudio PC.

For more details, log on to www.packardbell.com

ROG G74Sx 3D gaming notebook Key Features: • Powerful it may be, but the G74Sx 3D always keeps its • The G74Sx 3D is a high-performance notebook for gamers who cool with an innovative thermal design that uses twin fans don’t want to drag a full PC around to gaming events, or do not have to draw cool air from the front of the case and twin rear room at home for a full desktop set up. exhausts to expel warm air out the back.

• The G74Sw 3D has the clean, angular lines of a stealth fighter and • The gamer-friendly keyboard brings an extra edge to the the power to match, thanks to the latest second generation playing field, too.

Intel Core quad-core i5 and i7 processors.

• The metallic base is does not flex, the backlit keys ensure • NVIDIA GTX 560M graphics ensure blistering frame rates at frags in dimly lit environments and a large cursor key cluster native resolutions and high detail settings on the 17-inch sits away from the main keyboard to minimize mistyped keys Full HD screen, while NVIDIA 3D Vision offers players a new in the midst of the action dimension to games and movies.

For more details, log on to www.aus.com.tw

New ColorQube 8870 Desktop Solid Ink Printer

Kaspersky Internet Security 2012

Key Features:

Key Features:

• The second desktop product under the ColorQube brand-makes color printing even more affordable for businesses of all sizes.

• The Xerox ColorQube 8870 solid ink color printer’s cartridge-free ink produces high-quality color prints and generates 90% less printing waste than comparable color laser printers.

• With print speeds as fast as 40 pages per minute in both color and black and white.

• Vibrant, affordable color • Exceptional color print quality • Environmentally responsible printing • The ColorQube 8870 solid ink color printer price starts at $2499

• Combines our fast and efficient antivirus software with premium Internet threat defense • Delivers real-time protection from new and emerging threats • Identifies suspicious and dangerous websites and search results • Secures your identity while online banking and shopping • Provides a safe social networking environment • Prevents hacker attacks with best-in-class firewall • Filters out dangerous and unwanted emails • Keeps your children safe and responsible with advanced parental controls • Easy-to-use interface and Desktop Security Gadget

For more details, log on to www.xerox.com

For more details, log on to www.kaspersky.com

Wireless Gigabit Router 450N X6 Key features: • Easily create a secure, high-speed network with wireless speeds eeds of he 5 GHz up to 300 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz frequency, 450 Mbps on the frequency and cable speeds of up to 1000 Mbps.

• With the Wireless Router 450N X6, you can easily create a wireless network heral devices. and share a broadband Internet connection, files and peripheral grated in the • This solution has Sitecom Cloud Security: the security integrated rcrime when router protects all the devices in your network against cybercrime surfing the Internet.

• It has a range which covers three storeys, the garden and the balcony with wireless speeds of up to 300 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz frequency and 450 Mbps on the 5 GHZ frequency. equency.

For more details, log on to www.sitecom.com

• This Gigabit router supports cable speeds of up to 1000 Mbps.

• This Simultaneous Dual-band router simultaneously uses the standard 2.4 GHz frequency and the less congested 5 GHz frequency for the optimal wireless performance of heavy applications.

• The router is suitable for heavy applications such as simultaneously downloading and streaming large HD files and multiplayer gaming.

• The router has “out of the box” security as standard with the WPA2 security protocol.

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16th July 2011

Gartner Says Spending on Gaming to Exceed $74 Billion in 2011 The gaming ecosystem is undergoing major technology and business model transitions that will last beyond 2015. Gartner, Inc. estimates that worldwide spending on the gaming ecosystem* will exceed $74 billion in 2011, up 10.4 percent from 2010 spending of $67 billion. By 2015, spending will reach $112 billion.

Overall, Gartner estimates that the gaming software component will represent $44.7 billion in 2011, and it will continue to dominate the overall gaming market in the next five years as it absorbs almost two-thirds of consumers’ gaming budgets.

“This large market size means that many consumers embrace gaming as a core piece of their entertainment budget and will continue to play as long as game publishers deliver compelling and fun games,” said Fabrizio Biscotti, research director at Gartner.

Quad-Core Microprocessors in Half of All Notebook PCs in 2015

In 2011, the gaming software spending will be followed at a distance by gaming hardware and online gaming, reaching $17.8 billion and $11.9 billion, respectively (see Table 1).

After making major inroads into the desktop market, quad-core PC microprocessors now are set to conquer the notebook segment, with about half of the mobile computers shipped in 2015 expected to employ these advanced chips, according to the new IHS iSuppli report entitled “Desktop and Notebook PC Technology Penetration Forecast,” from information and analysis provider IHS (NYSE: IHS).

Within the gaming software market, mobile gaming will experience the largest growth opportunity with its share growing from 15 percent in 2010 to 20 percent in 2015.

A total of 49 percent of notebooks in 2015 will employ quad-core microprocessors, up from 9 percent in 2011. Shipments of quad-core notebooks will total 160 million units in 2015, up by nearly a factor of eight from 21.2 million in 2011.

The segment that will drive the largest revenue will come from video game consoles (hardware and software). In 2010, it generated more than two-thirds of the gaming ecosystem revenue, and Gartner predicts revenue to grow 4 percent in 2011.

Shipments of six-core microprocessors also are on the rise, with 18 percent of notebooks shipping with the technology in 2015, up from zero in 2011.

Shipments will total 58.9 million units in 2015.

MPU Penetration Recent product introductions in this area include Intel Corp.’s six-core Core i7-970, as well as Advanced Micro Devices Inc.’s six-core Phenom II X6 processors, with both processors currently aimed at the desktop market.

Over the next five years, gaming hardware’s market share will remain constant while software spending will lose share to online-gaming spending, the fastest-growing segment. Gartner estimates consumer spending on global online gaming (subscriptions and microtransactions) will show a compound annual growth rate of 27 percent through 2015, with consumer spending on subscription fees 2013 2015 slightly declining while 24,621 27,354 spending on virtual 51,129 56,512 goods will grow exponentially.

21,453 28,298

The rise of multi-core microprocessors illustrates the ongoing march of technology in the PC market, even amid the incredible rise in consumer sales of lower-performance media tablets. The PC industry continues to refine its products by improving performance, refining the design blocks around the system and adding new features.

Total Gaming Market Spending, 2010-2015 (Millions of Dollars) Gaming Hardware Gaming So ware Online Gaming Total

2011 17,797 44,730 11,899 74,426

97,204

Along with the move toward higher-performance multi-core designs, notebook PC microprocessors also are evolving to suit mobile lifestyles.

Today’s consumers are demanding computers that can be used on the go, all day.

One such evolution is the recently introduced graphics-enabled microprocessor, which places the graphics processor actually on the processor die. While in their early stages today, such microprocessors will be found in excess of 90 percent of notebooks sold in 2015. These chips deliver improved power management of the on-chip graphics unit, although in terms of graphics performance, are not able to outperform standalone graphics processing units used in discrete graphics cards.

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Source: Gartner (June 2011)

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16th July 2011

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16th July 2011

DCG resolves to pursue recovery of outstanding from runaway resellers Recent runaway episodes in the channel have heightened anxiety about the health of the channel and the alarming credit exposure to the tune of millions of dirhams with the runaway resellers. DCG, the trade body in the channel with a membership of 150 is taking corrective steps to persuade or enforce the defaulting resellers to clear their debts in the channel.

While there have a few cases including Karya Technology , 7 Secure, Yousuf Mallala and Al Riga, DCG is primarily concerned with these cases of the former two since these case have directly impacted some of DCG members. Karya reportedly has duped the market to the tune of AED 30 million or so and the reseller has fled the country since. 7 Secure, one of the other resellers that was also associated with Karya, has also effectively gone out of business with a debt to the tune of allegedly 8-10 million AED. Shailendra Rughwani, President of DCG said, “We are taking strong steps to initiate action against Karya’s owner and are confident we will be able to recover the money for our members. In the case of 7 Secure, he has settled partially the outstanding with two of our members.

One more member needs to paid out apart from some distributors. He has been given some time to settle that failing which action would be pursued.”

It is believed, that the owner’s brother was negotiating phased settlement options with creditors. In the case of 7 Secure, an outright settlement of the remaining amount looks doubtful.

Pramod Aggarwal, Operations Director at Kobian Gulf and a DCG committee member says, “The party doesn’t seem to be interested in settling. One of the formulae the he has been floating is that he will settle about 10-12 % and then further we need to start working with him, offering credit and every 3 months or so, he would settle further 10% or so of the outstanding. That way, it would be quite a long time. We are not here for a five year plan of settlement since the value of the money gets eroded anyways.”

However, it is suggested that some of the affected parties are agreeing to the phased settlement options at the time of going to press.

As a follow-up, DCG has done internal meetings as well as met with distributors to ascertain what steps would enable that the market is better placed to take care of runaway cases in future. A few of the distributors have reportedly borne the brunt of damage from Yousuf Malla’s default and exit from the market a couple of months back. Allegedly, the hit was to the tune of nearly 10 million AED in this case.

As one trade member of the association puts it, “Distributors have their own meetings and sub-distributors have their own. We are trying to bridge that and to ensure Information flow could be smoother which can ensure that we curtail many of these incidents.”

Rughwani adds that firm steps would be initiated to ensure that as many loopholes

in how trade is transacted between resellers is also reduced. That would be one of the preventive measures the Association is looking at.

“This has been a cyclical trend in the market. Our communication between members has become stronger and in future, we hope to have preventive measures in place. Credits would be monitored and in cases where a reseller is selling below cost, we will be sure to initiate some firm steps to see that this doesn’t further happen.”

DCG wants members to be alert and transparent in sharing information that can help in time actions that prevent an errant reseller from making a quick getaway.

He adds, “We depend on information given by members. We cannot and do not want to police. If there is something obviously amiss with a resellers’ business model or transactions, the coordinator goes there and talks to the Management about the rumours. If there are issues, we talk to the market and calm it. Fortunately, none of our members have been among the runaway cases.”

DCG says it is also screening resellers who are interested to join the association now based on their credibility. Currently the number of members hovers around 150.

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16th July 2011

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16th July 2011